Is my nursing school making me dumber?

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I'm livid. I got my first B (92) for in a nursing course (Pediatrics). But this is not why I'm angry. Sometimes we are tested on straight garbage, where test creators seem more concerned about tricking you than providing a valid question.

Seriously my professor laughed at me when I made my case for aynuria being more critical than a heart murmur in a 3 year-old with CHF. I was asking my self are you laughing because your sick in the head or just plain dumb.... Or that we should strap on a helmet, knee pads, and elbow pads so a kid can kill himself crashing his bike into a tree as opposed to swimming (more logical) when he has hemophilia. Or at 3 months Vit D is more important than iron in an infant. I can go on and on about the horrible questions. But the point is that these test questions are becomming so petty.

And this is comming from a person who gets straight As. I freakin obliterated pharmacology with a 96 while 13 others failed out that semester. Why? Because I love science and like to focus on the real and actual rather trying to figure out whether the test creator means purple or violet. I will be the kind of nurse that will save your ass and show thoughtful care in the process. I got one more semester to go, and I plan finishing with a 3.8+.

To me grades don't matter, but they do to the people who will look over my grad school applications. This is the only reason I care. Once I make it in, knowledge and more knowledge will be my only benchmark. To all you guys frustrated in nursing school, I hear you. Don't get discouraged. Get ****** off and come back stronger.

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical.

Welcome to the plight of every nursing school student.

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Specializes in Cardiology and ER Nursing.

Yeah unfortunately nursing education at the pre-licensure level is filled with a lot of nonsense. Apparently the NCLEX-RN is the same way where you are to apply some faulty logic to a question and pick "the best" answer to said question. I wonder if it wouldn't be a better measure of clinical practice to have an exam that is like the Bar Exam. Where candidates are given a scenario and asked how they would respond to said scenario and make their case as to why their actions are the best and correct actions to take. The exact wording to these questions and how they would be "graded" I haven't given much thought to since nobody really gives a crap what I think anyways.:p

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.

Is my nursing school making me dumber?

Short answer...Yes. :D (Not really though! They just want you to feel that way. LOL)

I consider myself smart. I graduated a year early from high school and was top ten in that class. Mostly A sometimes B type student. Once I went to nursing school I swear I was dumber than the dumbest thing you could think of! I failed for the first time EVER in nursing school with a freaking 79.8. My first 70 something in a class to boot. Talk about having a crisis :D

Don't worry once you are out of nursing school you will look back at those days and smile! And you will be stronger for it!

I hope you have much MUCH success!

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One of the problems with some nursing schools is that instructors often have no education background. They may have exceptional knowledge, experience, and clinical skills. Unfortunately, if they aren't naturally inclined to be a teacher and they lack educational training, they can be quite incompetent in instruction, and test writing skills. These folks know absolutely nothing about test reliability, test validity, or score distribution. The problem is compounded when these incompetent instructors are unpleasant, unkind, and arrogant. It's not good situation for students when nursing instructors have neither the heart of a nurse or the heart of a teacher.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Ortho, Subacute, Homecare, LTC.

Oh, this post is fiery. I like it!

There were quite a few of these situations I encountered in school. Just go with it for now and bust out those brain cells once you pass your nclex.

Also, anuria... but I'm guessing that was more of a keyboard mistake than spelling...

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Does nursing school make you dumber? Maybe. More neurotic? Heck yes. Happened to me. And the tests are the reason why.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

They're prepping you for the NCLEX, which you will leave feeling like you didn't have ANY of the correct answers for by the way. If you think you're stumped now... just wait.

In my nursing school tests, there were at least two right answers for every test. One was "more right" within the context of what we were taught that quarter. Good times

Oh and for the record "B is the new A" in nursing school according to my instructors... I am so glad I am through with school!

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I don't know about dumber, but it definitely makes you think you are. As for instructors, I concur, there are just some people that have no business teaching (I have had an instructor who refuses to fail anyone, regardless of what they have done [i.e., cheating on the final]) and some, not all, that will prove that "nurses do eat their young". But, then you have that one instructor who is truly a mentor, who is invested in her students, the one who makes you stretch your mind beyond what you thought were your limits and you love every minute of it.

One of the most valuable things any of my instructors ever told me was that the NCLEX-RN, test on Utopia hospital. In other words, you have everything you need to take care of your patient (i.e., every doctors order, every piece of equipment, etc.). The school that I am attending tends to test us on the same type of material. Sadly, it seems that no matter what you feel is the right answer, it is always something different and no matter how hard you argue your point, you cannot convince the instructor to see it, and they argue you in circles.

You can make to the end, you almost there, just grit your teeth and don't let them see you sweat.

Good Luck

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Specializes in ..

I feel your pain. I encountered the problems you speak of when I had faculty that insisted on writing their own questions. They were the worst and would not consider any other arguments even when it became clear that the question or the answer choices were flawed in some way. There are so many educational services that provide true NCLEX style questions. I wish more instructors would use them. That being said, the NCLEX is anything but logical. That test is a beast. I took the GRE and MAT during my last semester and neither was as bad as the NCLEX. Play the game for now and always remember this. After grad school you may tire of bedside nursing or NP and want to teach.

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Yeah unfortunately nursing education at the pre-licensure level is filled with a lot of nonsense. Apparently the NCLEX-RN is the same way where you are to apply some faulty logic to a question and pick "the best" answer to said question. I wonder if it wouldn't be a better measure of clinical practice to have an exam that is like the Bar Exam. Where candidates are given a scenario and asked how they would respond to said scenario and make their case as to why their actions are the best and correct actions to take. The exact wording to these questions and how they would be "graded" I haven't given much thought to since nobody really gives a crap what I think anyways.:p

A similar test existed as part of the three exams required for RRT licensing. Unfortunately, the human element led to issues of people not grading objectively. At least with a computer based exam, you do not have people making decisions based on your clothing, personality and so on. Unfortunately, that means we have to take a monster of an an exam on the computer, a five hour exercise in pain called the clinical simulation examination.

Any educational programme has two components that must be successfully negotiated by it's students. The first is preparing the entry level student for "real world" practice as a clinician. This is more of a pragmatic exercise of theory, lab and extensive clinical experience. The other component is preparation for the board examination/s. This is often an exercise in pure didactic theory. Unfortunately, the material required to master these concepts/components often are not fundamentally compatible.

As an instructor, I go to great lengths to explain the importance and rationale of teaching students both ways. I also define what is a "test" concept versus "reality." Students need to recognise, understand and differentiate the differences. While I do not like it, a person can not go on to become a great provider if they cannot pass the board exam/s first. Therefore, much of this "fluff" material must be covered in order for the student to have a chance at passing the board exam/s.

I am just as pretentious as the next student with dreams of straight A's and linear, easy to understand tests. However, the reality is much different and hopefully easier to accept and digest when explained. I find many students feel much better when you take a little time to explain why we test them in certain ways. I often hated both my nursing and respiratory instructors. However, that quickly ended when I found my self staring at a screen full of ambiguous and often obscure test questions that needed to be answered in a very specific way before I could hold a license in my hand.

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Gah!!!! I'm about to start my school's Generic Entry RN program this fall and this thread has seriously terrified me! lol :uhoh3:

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