Is it normal to go from straight As in prereqs to b- grades in nursing classes

SarahBean87 · Oct 5, 2012

My school provides the Kaplan program as part of our tuition which I am guessing is good cause I have seen a few comments about using a study tool such as this. We won't be able to access Kaplan for a few weeks yet but thanks for all the advice I will start using Kaplan to review ASAP after we get our passwords.... I got a perfect score on one of my tests since I posted this so that was a self esteem booster to tell me I can do this thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments and advice :)

OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2012

A little but not totally. I don't know I got straight A's just about not completely in pre-req's and I still get quite a few A's mixed in with a few B+'s and I think one B. Truthfully, I wouldn't care if I got a B anymore though I just want to finish. Don't stress it f you're passing be happy and move on.

Also I wil add that my A's in nursing school I wor much harder for just becuase the grading scale is much more strict..

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2012

samadams8,

I appreciate what you are trying to say. I really do. And I think that we both agree that the best nurses are both caring and knowledgeable, and that ideally, it is not either/or.

However, when you state:

People that don't know what they are doing, in general, haven't taken the time to understand that compassion means rightful application of knowledge. That is the real issue.
What we hear in discussions is "I'd rather have this than that." No, that isn't the real issue; for if you care, you will learn and know how to apply--and you will do this for the core reason, at least ideally, that you care.

...it sounds to me like what you're saying is that if you really care, then you will also have the aptitude to gain and apply the knowledge and skills to provide safe and competent nursing care (sounds kinda like an "I'd rather have this than that", to me).

I would agree that if one possesses the capacity to do better but just doesn't bother, then that would reflect a deficiency in caring. However, I do not agree that simply caring is enough to overcome a lack of aptitude.

Simply caring about music will not make me a great musician. Simply caring about dancing will not make me a great dancer. Simply caring about architecture, philosophy, physics, or astronomy will not automatically make me excel at those things. There must also be aptitude.