I flunked and Got back in, now what?

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Okay, everyone. I'd posted in the past describing how devastated I was flunked my clinical and just recent got back in. The class starts in several weeks. Currently, I'm reviewing the old notes that friends passed down and reading the book. But I can't help feeling stress out and the anxiety is building up. I have to pass this time; it's a MUST. Ever since I failed, I feel defeated and hopeless in many ways you can't imagine. Now that I can get back into the game after skipping a semester, I don't confidence I was before. Friends are moving on and I'm left behind:(

Is anyone of you ever experienced that before? I just need some advice to how you deal with it and to do well this time. How to study or prepare. How many hours do or did you spend on studying to make good grades. I tend to have an unusual study habits. For intance, I can't stay still for longer than 30 minutes reading the book then I'm off doing something else. As to study for the drugs, how do you get a better memory retention? I bought some new Pharmacology Memory Notecard. It seems nice and I'm getting better with classification but the only problem I have is the adverse reactions portions. They all seem to apply to everyone of the medication to me and it gets me so frustrated that if you ask me for the adverse effect of any drug, I might not even able to answer it :(

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Hey I'm in a similar boat. I tanked med-surg 1 last fall and just got back in. The only way I've made it through was to take things mortally serious this go around. Last year I just kinda coasted and ultimately it wasn't enough.

I spent the spring and summer trying to re-acquaint with all the basics and really nailing down the A&P, Fluid/Elec balance and so on. Come this first exam I was prepared and my work paid off. It was like a thirty point improvement.

Bottom line is you just need to find your own way to make things make sense. For me it was reading and re-reading things over and over. Making organized tables and just rewriting things over and over again like Bart Simpson on the blackboard until they stuck.

I also realized that as a single person with no kids that I had no reason to not be able to do this. I questioned my own motivation and found that I had way more time than I needed to get acquainted with the material even with a full time job. I cut out just about all the tv and useless web surfing. My xbox has an inch of dust on it and I can just barely remember what my GF's face looks like. But in the end it will be worth it.

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I just want to wish you good luck and I agree with JD. I was dropped this Fall for failure to pass the Math Comp exam we take each semester. I missed by 2 pts and we only get one chance a semester to take it. I was a good student otherwise, so my only fear is losing all my skill and info after 3 semesters out (our nursing classes aren't offered in the Summer semester)! I will have to wait clear until next Fall to get back in and I will have no more chances if I fail anything so I will be working my butt off! I'm going to get a job in the hospital this Spring to help with my skills retention and my friends have been kind enough to give me notes for the semester to follow along with them. Just feel good about the fact that you got in the first time and then again the second time, they don't always let people back in, so they see your potential! Be glad your only one semester behind and dig in your heels, you can do this! If you can't sit still very long to read then allow yourself a break, but limit it to 15min or so. You can try JD's suggestion of writing notes over again or making notes as you read that may help you sit still longer before needing a break. Most of all don't be hard on yourself, you need to be your best cheerleader now and you can do this!!

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I just want to tell you all - YOU CAN DO THIS!! I did it and am, as of July an RN. Some people wondered how I could go back after "failing". I wondered how I could not - all that work down the drain, I don't think so. Everybody fails due to different circumstances - Both my parents had major health problems and I missed by less that 1 point.

My confidence was shattered also. Do what is right for you, if you are so anxious that you need meds for a while - get them. Make sure you study, study, study. I listened to self confidence CD's every night before sleeping - seems silly, but it worked for me. Go to your schools counseling center about your confidence issues - it helps and they have great tips to ease your anxiety. Read your notes into a recorder and listen to them while driving.

Do what ever it takes, and don't worry about what others do or don't do - do what is right for you and what earns you that degree!!

Good Luck!

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I just want to wish you good luck and I agree with JD. I was dropped this Fall for failure to pass the Math Comp exam we take each semester. I missed by 2 pts and we only get one chance a semester to take it. I was a good student otherwise, so my only fear is losing all my skill and info after 3 semesters out (our nursing classes aren't offered in the Summer semester)! I will have to wait clear until next Fall to get back in and I will have no more chances if I fail anything so I will be working my butt off! I'm going to get a job in the hospital this Spring to help with my skills retention and my friends have been kind enough to give me notes for the semester to follow along with them. Just feel good about the fact that you got in the first time and then again the second time, they don't always let people back in, so they see your potential! Be glad your only one semester behind and dig in your heels, you can do this! If you can't sit still very long to read then allow yourself a break, but limit it to 15min or so. You can try JD's suggestion of writing notes over again or making notes as you read that may help you sit still longer before needing a break. Most of all don't be hard on yourself, you need to be your best cheerleader now and you can do this!!

Wow! One chance to take a math test? I'm sorry to hear that. Did you exit the program and when are you planning to come back in? Thanks so much for inputs. I do really appreciate it

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I just want to wish you good luck and I agree with JD. I was dropped this Fall for failure to pass the Math Comp exam we take each semester. I missed by 2 pts and we only get one chance a semester to take it. I was a good student otherwise, so my only fear is losing all my skill and info after 3 semesters out (our nursing classes aren't offered in the Summer semester)! I will have to wait clear until next Fall to get back in and I will have no more chances if I fail anything so I will be working my butt off! I'm going to get a job in the hospital this Spring to help with my skills retention and my friends have been kind enough to give me notes for the semester to follow along with them. Just feel good about the fact that you got in the first time and then again the second time, they don't always let people back in, so they see your potential! Be glad your only one semester behind and dig in your heels, you can do this! If you can't sit still very long to read then allow yourself a break, but limit it to 15min or so. You can try JD's suggestion of writing notes over again or making notes as you read that may help you sit still longer before needing a break. Most of all don't be hard on yourself, you need to be your best cheerleader now and you can do this!!

Wow! Oh my goodness. I have never heard of only one chance to pass the math. Our program sent us a letter in the mail over the summer saying we had to get a certain med-math book and study 10 chapters of it. They wanted us ready to pass the math when we got there. Within the first week or two, we started taking the quizzes. We were allowed 3 tries, and you had to make an 80 or better. You have to make an 80 or better on EVERYthing in our program. It sucks, but keep trying! You WILL make it! No one else will believe you can unless you believe it first. :)

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Wow! One chance to take a math test? I'm sorry to hear that. Did you exit the program and when are you planning to come back in? Thanks so much for inputs. I do really appreciate it

Yeah we are the only program in my area that only gives one try.There are 4 other schools in my area and they all require a higher grade to pass, but you get at least 2 chances. I had an exit interview right after it happened, you have to do this if you want to reapply, and I wrote a letter before I left the Dean's office to request readmission next Fall. The Dean said my record was excellent last year, my grades were good and my clinical evals were great, plus I had no absences last year. She said she has every confidence that b/c of this I will have no trouble getting back in...so now I wait. I have several friends in the program, so I am getting all the inside dope and notes galore! I will be very ready next year! Thanks for the sympathy also...my family is very supportive, but only fellow nursing students can truly know the work it takes to stay in this program!:nurse::up:

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