I failed nursing school. What do I do now?

[Aly23]

Hi,

I'm new to this site and joined to seek advice from other nursing students or current nurses. I have always known that i wanted to be a nurse and never gave other careers much thought. My first semester of school caught me off guard because i wasn't prepared for intensity of my courses. Over the semesters I gradually excelled and even made deans list! At this point i was already in my second semester of nursing school. It was finals week and the semester was coming to an end. With only a week left of classes, one of my professors tells me that i was 3 points away from passing her course. The course consisted of theory and lab. You have to pass lab in order to pass the whole course and that's where i was 3 points off and there was nothing left to do because the final i still needed to take was only for theory. I was so upset because i was unaware of my current grade in lab and thought it was unfair that she waited till the last week of class to inform me. I was so distraught that i spoke with the dean and explained my frustration. The schools policy is that you're allowed no more than 2 fails, after that you're removed from the program. With all the money i had already spent on schooling, i didn't want to risk being in my last semester and possibly failing a class and then getting kicked out of the program as well. It was a lot i had to consider and so i came to the decision to not continue with nursing. Since i have all my A&P and sciences, i still want to put it to use in another major similar to nursing. I'm not sure what to major in or even if i should stay in the medical field. I would really appreciate any advice or comments regarding my situation. Thanks :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I can't tell if you failed a class in your first semester. If you did, you should ask your professor for a make-up assignment; if it's lab (what kind?) perhaps s/he will give you another chance.

But if you didn't fail something first semester and this is your first failure, there's only one answer: Stay in nursing if you want to be a nurse, and don't fail another class.

In the future, have a higher level of awareness of your ongoing grades in every class; do not wait until the end of the semester to know. Like your credit rating, it is your responsibility to ask, not the faculty's responsibility to keep after you.

If you don't want to be a nurse anymore and want to transfer your courses to another major (where you think it would be ok/safe to fail another course? really?), go to the academic advising office and ask them. They will know the other majors and requirements and you can see how your transcript and desires fit into a transfer plan.

[springchick1, ADN, RN]

I'm sorry you're going through this. I will say, in nursing or any other course, it is YOUR responsibility to know what your grade it. It isn't your instructors job to tell you and that's just part of school. Surely, you've known all semester what your test grades were like and that you were close. I know you said that your lab grade factored in but maybe next time, you will keep up with your grades throughout the semester. And if you do change majors, same advice. Keep up with your grades. Your nursing instructors aren't being mean and not telling you, they are just treating you like an adult.

[johsonmichelle]

Your lucky,your allowed to fail twice. In my school, only one failure is accepted. As a nursing student you should stay on top of things, its not the teacher job to tell your grade on a regular basis. THAT'S YOUR JOB. In my school, grade sheets are given,so we can write down our scores which allows us to track them.And we are free to ask about our grades and where we stand in the program on the regular basis. If your not sure about something ask questions.Whether you want to continue or transfer to any other field , I think you need to reevaluate yourself.