If I hear "C Nurses make the best nurses" one more time I will scream!

Nursing Students General Students

Published

I'm in my first quarter of nursing school and I keep hearing "C Nurses make the best nurses". It makes me absolutely crazy. I'm the first to admit that being book smart does not mean that you have a lot of common sense, but I don't think that A nurses are destined to be bad nurses.

Our school has a tough grading scale, anything below 80 is failing, and I understand that makes it tougher to get really good grades. However, every time I hear that little manta, it feels like a put down, even though I don't discuss my grades.

I work extremely hard to get good grades-- I think it is important for obvious reasons and because I'd eventually like to attend CRNA school. I made the decision to be poor for two years and live on student loans so I could spend a lot of time studying. It is only the first quarter and I'm already tired of being made to feel like I won't be a great nurse because I dared to overachieve!

Does anyone else feel this way too? Thanks for letting me vent.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

C students party animals? Oh jeez, we've strayed.

Bowing out.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

For those of you wondering where the OP is... I've been doing what student nurses do... going to school and studying :) I have a bad habit of spending way too much time reading this board when I should be doing other things, so I usually stay away during the week. (Now if I could just get rid of my addiction to CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, and every forensic show on the planet I'd be great!)

I think the whole C nurses make better nurses thing is B.S. which is why I find it so annoying and chose to vent here. I did not mean to start some sort of debate over what GPA translates into nursing excellence.

If you ask me, GPA has far, FAR less to do with nursing excellence than common sense.

If the question was:

"Who would you choose for your nurse if you were admitted to a hospital?"

a) a nurse who was an A student

b) a nurse who was a B student

c) a nurse who was a C student

d) a nurse with a lot of common sense

my answer would be d every time. I know A students and I know C students and there are some in each category that I wouldn't let care for my great danes.

I originally posted because I was tired of feeling insulted every time someone said "C nurses make the best nurses". I don't recall making any judgements about grades and if I did I apologize, but the whole point was that I was sick of hearing that little mantra every five minutes at school. If they went around saying "nurses with common sense make the best nurses" I wouldn't be annoyed because it sounds logical and rational.

Just my first quarter student 2 cents.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

At my school, our saying is "C IS PASSING!!!" If you do better, great, the rest of us just want to pass!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

A "c" student failed out her last semester where i go. She was good, too. Unfortunately some other HORRIBLY INCOMPETANT C students passed. *sigh*

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ok, I wasn't going to post on this thread again after some of the ridiculous statements and rude comments I've read, but I couldn't resist-

If anyone here really, truly believes that good grades don't make any difference, then I found this t-shirt that may interest you-

Maybe the words "proud of it" on the shirt could be changed to "really defensive about it."

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/T-Shirts/wlodek/underachiever.jpg

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My husband is determined that I will fail as a nursing student because I don't have a lot of God given common sense, but I'm fairly book-smart. I think I may just have to work harder - we all have our own strengths and weaknesses to overcome - for some it's common sense, for others it's more intellectual/academic related issues.

Of course, I suppose it's better to be happy and proud of your C's, then to stress yourself out about making A's to the point of being physically ill. :o

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Ok, I wasn't going to post on this thread again after some of the ridiculous statements and rude comments I've read, but I couldn't resist-

If anyone here really, truly believes that good grades don't make any difference, then I found this t-shirt that may interest you-

Maybe the words "proud of it" on the shirt could be changed to "really defensive about it."

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/T-Shirts/wlodek/underachiever.jpg

Oh my Heavens! You broke out the big guns! A Bart t-shirt! Noooo! Nottt Bart! :rolleyes:

Thing is, Hellllllo Nurse, I don't think that anyone's saying necessarily that good grades don't make a difference but rather....being a C student does not make a person a failure......or an underachiever.

If the grade I have at the end of my studies is a C and I'm that nurse by the bedside who manages to relax that patient for surgery or helps a patient breathe easier, will I be an underachiever then?

Any nursing student out there who is making As. Shoot, of course you should be proud of them! You worked hard for them! It's a wonderful accomplishment!

However, don't look down on the student who came out with a C or assume he/she didn't try as hard. Fact is, they should be proud too. There's no shame in a passing grade, no matter what it is.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

We used to say "C=RN" meaning it's o.k. to make a C, without obessessing anal retentively over grades and crying for days over an A minus. I graduated with honors and worked my fool but off, but it was always nice to have that gentle reminder that life would go on, and I would still pass NCLEX if I made a C (which I never did. :))

To me the "C" phrases aren't really in praise of C students, but to remind us to keep things in perspective.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

To me the "C" phrases aren't really in praise of C students, but to remind us to keep things in perspective.

EXACTLY!!!

Congrats on your achievement! :balloons:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
My husband is determined that I will fail as a nursing student because I don't have a lot of God given common sense, but I'm fairly book-smart. I think I may just have to work harder - we all have our own strengths and weaknesses to overcome - for some it's common sense, for others it's more intellectual/academic related issues.

Don't listen to this "common sense" versus "book smart" mantra. It's total nonsense and yet another lame justificiation. Of course you need some common sense, but this isn't some job at Wal-mart. There is nothing "common" about nursing or the medical profession, for that matter.

Has anyone read their textbooks? Has anyone noticed how complicated and detailed this stuff is? There's nothing "common" about it. If you don't have the knowledge base, "common sense" will get you absolutely nowhere except, perhaps, a malpractice situation.

I'm sure the inevitable "I knew a nurse who had no common sense" stories will follow. I don't buy it. Why do you think they want us to learn all of this material in nursing school? Just to waste our time?

I'll take a "book smart" nurse who really knows her stuff over a "common sense" nurse with less of a knowledge base any day of the week.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Oh boy...now we're wondering into common sense Vs book smart. That should be interesting.

I think it's interesting that ppl assume because some of us will back C=RN, means we are getting C's. That's not true at all. Ya know, it is possible to blow a test and end up with a C and still know the material. There was a guy in my A&P class who blew tests all the time..major test anxiety, but he knew more than anyone else, he studied his rear off and he passed but with a C+. I still bet this would be different if some of you are getting C's. Oh. and HelloNurse, whats wrong if someone is proud of their C's? Are you saying you are better for not backing someone with a C? That they shouldn't be proud? Should they be ashamed? With your last post you just added to the ignorance of this thread.

You ppl can flame me all you want...it seems every thread lately needs a whipping boy.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This is so crazy talk about competition. We are all here for the same thing (I hope) and that is to be a caring HOLISTIC nurse! Have some of you forgotten that? Its not who is "book smart" or who has the most "common sense" because a person with straight A's may not be caring at all. Isn't that what makes us wonderful nurses? obvisously if you passed the NCLEX then you know your stuff- to a point, but remember being a nurse is more than being a A or C student. Ever think about those who just cannot take tests and just maybe they too get ALL A's on their other papers. I sure would not want a nurse who did not care about me, or who did not know I was a human being, do you have to be an A student for that? I've read all these posts and no one cared to mention that theres more than books or more than common sense to actually be on the unit make it thru a night short handed, still be able to give to your patients, with out saying to your self what have I gotten my self into. It takes a hell of a lot to be that nurse to sit down with some one who is sad and scared and actually give that paitent a relieved peice of mind-because some one took the time to care, not look at that patient as just another nursing procedure. I hope all of you the best of luck no matter what kind of grades you get, but remember no one is really going to care about what you were like in school, they care about who you are, people can see right thru you no matter good or bad! You win shine at the end if your heart is into it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment