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

[JennInColumbus]

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.

[MryRose]

I am quite surprised at the "tone" this whole thread has developed. It's quite embarrassing since I just recommended this site because of the "support" that is available here.

Nursing is a "team" effort..... I hope that should I land in an E.R., fighting for my life, that the nursing staff is more concerned about keeping me alive than about any competitiveness between themselves.

Think about it.

MaryRose

[tomorrows RN]

One more thing...

heres an example any one in A&P 1 or 2? Its hard to get straight A's , have any of you asked a nurse if they used every thing they learned in A&P on the floor? I have I work with nurses good ones and bad ones and both say NO! So do you think that a book smart person is going to be a better nurse because they know where the ventral root or white and gray matter are? Just because some one gets A's like in A&P does'nt mean s---! I bet if you ask a book smart nurse that question I'm sure she'll say "I never needed that so there for I forgot it". So tell me again why does A's B's or C's matter, if you pass you pass, you learn way more when your on your unit working as anurse not just as a student. So every one give your self a pat on the back because we are all working hard... nursing school is hard, don't make it any more harder!

[Squeeta2]

Individuality...wow..now theres a thought. It is what makes people excel or fail in all areas of life. It is also what makes nursing such an inspiring field yes? Patients & Nurses alike. Lets forget about book vs common sense...what I want is a confident and competent nurse. I have never had a pt ask me what my grades were and I have never asked another nurse what their grades were like in school. Ability and performance are what counts.

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

I never posted in this thread saying that C nurses should not be proud of passing- I posted my own experiences of C students at my particular school being hateful and nasty to the A students. I'd appreciate not being put down or insulted by someone who only skimmed my post and does not know what I actually said.

I stick by my statement that only people who make poor grades say that good grades don't matter.I have worked with and gone to school with people who flunked out of nursing school and who are constantly saying that "grades don't matter" "education is just a peice of paper" and other self-justifying statements.- They are always trying to minimize and disregard the achievements of others because of their own feelings of failure and jealousy. This is a common defense mechanism. And, frankly, it's getting really old.

The nursing program I attended was small and intimate- we all knew what was going on with each other, each others study habits, social lives, etc. And the C students in my program did not try as hard and were mean to the A students. In group projects, the better students always ended up carrying them. They did not pull their weight. Several were always trying to pressure me into giving them copies of my notes and care-plans. Most of them were just plain not very bright.

Trying your best and getting a C is not the same as being lazy, getting a C, and putting down those who've done better.

I have so much sympathy for the classmate who spent three days in Vegas just before the final exam, then whined and cried about how unfair it was that she failed.

And yes, some posters here stated that grades do not make any difference as long as you pass. One stated that making an A in A&P "doesn't mean s$%."

I think that the A&P students that I tutor would beg to differ.

If an A were no better than a C, classes would be "pass-fail."

Some people will always minimize the achievements of others in order to justify their own mediocrity.

[iliel]

you can stand by your belief and that's no skin off my back but I'm sitting here today, telling you that grades do not always matter to me. I refuse to kill myself over a freakin A. I am an A student and I get the feeling you think because I say grades don't matter then therefore I must be happy with mediocrity. That's crap! I don't try to take away from other when they get good grades and I don't look down my nose at thoes who do get C's.

There is so much more I could say here but you ppl just aren't listening and believe that you are right so I'll let you own that!

Cheers!

[Ortho_RN]

You know this thread goes nowhere... Some people are so closed minded that they don't/can't/won't see other peoples view points and leave it at that..

[BETSRN]

I have never heard that before. I think it takes any nurse from whatever training she comes from a while to become a good, competent clinical nurse. Sadly, a lot of nursing school concentrate on the academics (which are of course very important) and give their students the feeling that the clinical skills are secondary. I think that's a very unfortunate approach.

I do think that some are cut out to be nurses and some are not, though.

Good luck to all of you students here! We were all students once upon a time! :rotfl:

[RedSox33RN]

you can stand by your belief and that's no skin off my back but I'm sitting here today, telling you that grades do not always matter to me. I refuse to kill myself over a freakin A. I am an A student and I get the feeling you think because I say grades don't matter then therefore I must be happy with mediocrity. That's crap! I don't try to take away from other when they get good grades and I don't look down my nose at thoes who do get C's.

There is so much more I could say here but you ppl just aren't listening and believe that you are right so I'll let you own that!

This is exactly what I meant also. I do get A's, and they are important to me, but I know that isn't the case with everyone, and personally I don't care. Not only do I not care what they get in class or on test, I really don't want to know. But I would never judge someone because they got C's. Heck, I was a C and D student in HS. Back then I didn't care. Now I do. To me, it's a personal achievement of what I have never accomplished before. I probably do put too much pressure on myself, and that may change once I get into nursing school (or I should say, IF! LOL)

I'm going to school for me, not for what other's think of me. To judge others on their grades is ridiculous.

Some people knock themselves out just to get a C. I know math is like that for me, so I could never judge someone on getting a C on a test. It doesn't mean squat in terms of who is smarter/dumber/better/worse.

I told my 13yo daughter the other night, after she complained about a grade her friend got she thought was unfair, that if she is concerned about other people's grades, she should be a teacher!

[tomorrows RN]

Hi

Can we all just forget about this thread, its going no where and its very senseless to be complaining about other peoples grades - WHO CARES! I study for myself and if I get a C or an A either way I studied and I know my weaknesses and strengths. There are people out there who spend sooo much time studing and yet still get C's I'm one of them at times. How dare any one say a "book smart" nurse is a better nurse. I'm going to be a great nurse, it takes more than being an A student any ways, lots of people will learn that they can't pass thru just on A's on the unit. Theres alot of things we will never learn in school, and frankly the "A" I got in life span will take me no where! I'm a nursing assistant and just doing that taught me so much that the books can't! We all need to just stop this!

[BETSRN]

Book smarts does NOT mean a person is successful at what they do. has anyone ever heard the term "book smart,life dumb"? There is a LOT of truth in that expression.

[jenrninmi, MSN, RN]

This thread should be closed as well, imo.

[Ortho_RN]

wannaBEanRN... I love what you told your 13yr old... I think some people on here could benefit by that statement..

"if you are concerned about another person's grades, then you should be a teacher."

Great quote :)