Is it impossible to get A's in NS?

MIA-RN1, RN · Sep 3, 2005

I have been thinking about grades and how at the ripe old age of 38 I really want to do great in NS. I have my dh and all my family 100% in my corner. I have however encountered people who just seem to want to find something wrong with my choices. The most recent thing I've heard is it's impossible to get A's in nursing school, especially with a family (I have 4 kids too). I don't believe that to be the case. I think that when I want something this bad nothing is impossible. That being said, I have never been to nursing school and don't know what to expect. I say I can do it and I will do it 1) to give God glory, 2) for my own personal satisfaction and 3) to prove the naysayers wrong
Is it impossible? I know it will be very hard, but is it impossible?
Blessings

No its not impossible. Nursing school is work, but it is definitely something one can excel at. I am 36, will be 37 when I graduate in May. I am a high-acheiver, and I am used to mostly getting A's. First semester, I got a B+ and was disappointed. Second semester, I got an A-, missed the A by one point. I had the A wrapped up for a while, but there was one test, mid-semester, that came at a terrible time and that I didn't do great on. (We had received a false-positive on my husband's latest PCR test and were waiting for a second to return to see if his leukemia had come back. At the same time, husband invited several old friends from high school over for a party that was stressful for me (two of three were past boyfriends!) and both of our children had been sick.) So oh well, one point.

What I am trying to illustrate is that yes, life still happens. But getting high grades and doing well is certainly possible.

The other side of the coin is that you can't beat yourself up if you don't get the A. I learned that too. You do your best, and you KNOW you've given it your all, then you have succeeded. You can't do more than that and a B or even a C once in a while does not mean that you are not a success. You can do it! :)

Rosa2Little · Sep 3, 2005

Nothing is impossible. But yes, there are some days when you will need to study, but instead you are at the Pedi's office, soccer field, or attending to some other thing that has come up unexpectedly. Life is bigger than just NS.

Nursing school is stressful. You will be stressed enough, with out the added stress you place on yourself by worrying about maintaining all A's. Focus on learning as much as you can, and doing your personal best.

Best Wishes. You can do it!

From a 39 year-old mom of 3 (16, 15 & 3 years)

lisamc1RN, LPN · Sep 3, 2005

It's not impossible. People do it all the time! :) I have 4 childen as well and have straight A's. You can do it! It will take a little bit of organizing and time management, but you can do it!

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Sep 3, 2005

I'm 29, have three kids under 4, am pregnant with #4, will graduate in December, and have gotten mostly A's. Its totally possible. You just have to be able to tune out the negative people cause they are everywhere.

OUBobcat94 · Sep 3, 2005

I am a single mom of 3 kids aged 3, 5 and 9. I have gotten As the past 2 semesters. It's a lot of work, but it can be done. I study during the day when my kids are at school/daycare and at night when they sleep (they go to bed at 8). I don't think about nursing school from the times my kids are home until they go to bed....that is their time. :) After they hit the sheets, I hit the books!! :chuckle I haven't watched TV in a year (no great loss), but that is what works for me. Good luck to you!!

nursewannabe07 · Sep 3, 2005

You guys are my amazing. I am so happy I found this site. It seems as though we all have a whole host of things going on and life is about much more than NS. I know that in my heart, but the perfectionist in me keeps on rearing it's ugly ol head!

Thank you!

tencat · Sep 3, 2005

It is possible to get A's. I'm a major perfectionist, and if I don't get A's, I freak out. I did well in Summer session, but I was constantly studying and neglecting my family. Some people are blessed with the ability to study very little and get A's. I'm not. When I got my first degree I didn't have a child, so it was easier to spend more time with the books. For me it's kind of hard to balance family and study. I have decided that family is my priority, followed by sleep (I have to get up at 4:00 A.M. to get to 7:00 clinical). That means that I won't be getting all A's. I'm still trying to be ok with that. :rolleyes: I don't think I'd flunk out because I can pull C's with less study. I have to remember that even if I get C's, I'll still be an RN when all is said and done.

Race Mom, ASN, RN · Sep 3, 2005

I am the same way too! I have recieved all A's (one A- in A&PII) and was determined to get all A's through NS and graduate with honors. Well, during orientation, they let us know that you need to be happy with B's & C's. I had to withdrawl from the program (was doing well) and have now reapplied. I am still determined, after all, someone has to have the highest grades. Probably wont be me, but I would love it!!!

I go into every semester remembering this, and it really helps.....

You have straight A's at the start of every semester, just need to keep it there.

Good luck to you!

Woogy

mariedoreen · Sep 3, 2005

It's possible, but that's not the point. Nursing schools turn out many outstanding nurses who made As, Bs, Cs or more likely, a combination of those grades. Don't feel that to be a good nurse you HAVE to get an A on everything. And don't feel that because someone said it can't be done that you have to sacrifice all your other responsibilities (or joys) in life in order to prove them wrong. My suggestion: keep your grades to yourself and tell them you're doing fine, learning a lot and loving the whole experience. That's all they need to know.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Sep 3, 2005

I have been thinking about grades and how at the ripe old age of 36 I really want to do great in NS. I have my dh and all my family 100% in my corner. I have however encountered people who just seem to want to find something wrong with my choices. The most recent thing I've heard is it's impossible to get A's in nursing school, especially with a family (I have 4 kids too). I don't believe that to be the case. I think that when I want something this bad nothing is impossible. That being said, I have never been to nursing school and don't know what to expect. I say I can do it and I will do it 1) to give God glory, 2) for my own personal satisfaction and 3) to prove the naysayers wrong
Is it impossible? I know it will be very hard, but is it impossible?
Blessings

Of course it's possible, and probable if you are a compulsive studier and tend to do well in classwork. But that's irrelevant, frankly...it's not getting straight A's you need to think about, but just doing well overall: A student who makes straight A's but doesn't do well enough in clinical doesn't graduate. A student who gets C's but knows her way around a patient confidently passes.

No one you will be working on/with in clinical is going to ask you what grade you got on your last case study or test. They are going to care how well you handle yourself in the clinical setting!

So, work hard, strive for the best you can be, but don't beat yourself up if that grade isn't an A. Some of my program's best students are NOT always getting A's, but ARE always working on skills :) As long as you ARE passing, be happy!

For what it's worth, I got straight A's in all my pre-requs for 2.5 years. Then I got a B, and a B+ as final grades in a couple of nursing classes, and I had a hard time adjusting to that. I knew if I'd been in the "other" school in the region, they'd have been A's but so what: My grades are great, but my skills are what's going to matter most in the end.

Sue7573 · Sep 3, 2005

I don't know if this is a little off subject. I started the semester determined to get all A's. I have 2 kids (3 if counting dh). I HAVE to work to make ends meet. I have a fair to good support system. You know the ones that say I will do whatever I can to help while you are school ie babysit, run errands well while the gesture is nice when it is time to call on the help you are avoided like the plague. Now I have to give them credit they will help if I find them to be able to ask. Anyway I started out, really in a haze everything from the first day has been a haze I didn't know even what the instructors were asking of me. I mean we got a calendar in the beginning of the semester it has everything on it that we will be doing from day 1 trick is though that the only numbered day on it is day 1. so now I have all this information on what we are supposed to be doing just running together and not any real organization. Then having three instructors and they switch up as much as 4 times in a lecture session, without direction as to what each of the three are lecturing on. I sat in class for more that ten minutes trying to find in my book where the instructor was, to realize half way thru that she was lecturing out of our hand book. It is al very, what is the word, hmmm bewildering. So I go home I sit down to study and I am looking at the pile of notes and pulling notes out of every book and try to put them together. Oh my goodness it just wears me out. Then I don't know what happened last week but I just lost myself. I mean we had an exam scheduled for friday and on thursday night I was sitting at the desk in absolute amazement at the amount of studying (half of it I don't even remembering covering in lecture) We are lucky though we have two websites set up that we are able to refer too and take "practice tests" and from those tests the instructors pulls several questions word for word on our exam. Plus there are practice tests in the back of each chapter of our study guide. So they have helped a great deal. I am holding on to a very strong B at the moment with two exams and two quizzes already taken. I don't feel like i have studied, applied myself enough to expect an A, so I am very pleasantly pleased with the B.