Mom & Dad were right: I'm a screw-up

Nursing Students Male Students

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I'm into my first three weeks of nursing school and I just can't seem to get it together.

Up until the beginning of this semester, I've pulled a 4.0 in EVERY class. However...

I took my first test and scored a 74 (75 is passing). I went to do my first skill check-off today (aseptic technique) and got an unsatisfactory. Apparently, I moved my sterile field with a gloved hand at the border, as opposed to the center of the field (where it's not contaminated).

For a guy who's used to doing well, this stinks. I'm giving all I have to give in the studying arena... and still coming up short.

Help.

Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.

suture self - A few words of encouragement...

We are not creatures of circumstance ...we are creators of circumstance. ;)

Whether you believe you can do a thing, or believe you cannot... you are right. :wink2:

No one conquers who doesn't fight. :)

The most drastic & most effective remedy for fear is direct action. You gain, strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you must really stop to look fear in the face, then you must do the thing you cannot do. :beer:

When an optomist finds a worm in his apple... he goes fishing. :cool:

Most spectacular performances are preceded by unspectacular preparation. :coollook:

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.

yelper42 - You are proof... it is not the number of times that one falls down, but the number of times one bounces back that is a true measure of character. Congrats on the NP exam letter!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Sometimes I yhink it's harder for those who are used to making 4.0 grades.

Everyone I have spoken to tells me you will NOT ace the Nursing courses.

We just had our first pharm exam and the highest grade was 78. I have had to learn not to beat myself on the grades. You WILL pass. Remember, that is the goal!

Ray

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Some of the best nurses I know convey to me that they struggled at the beginning......be positive, confident - and keep working.

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Specializes in ER, Med/Surg.

When you become a nurse, you are an RN, not an RN-(A in my classes), or RN-(C in my classes).

I mean, as long as you pass, it doens't really matter what "grade" you get. We just started with the sterile field today. There is a lot to know and remember, and which hand you are using for what....whew.....

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Anybody who can get a 4.0 in pre-reqs is a pretty smart guy, as simple as that. So since you are so smart and hardworking, you'll catch on to what you need to do in nursing school to get the grades you want. You may have to re-think a 4.0 as a goal, but no reason you can't do VERY well once you get the hang of it! I think of very well as B+ to A- , but everyone has a different idea of what constitutes 'very good' in nursing school...be kinder to yourself. The start of nursing school is the very toughest, its so unlike everything before it. You WILL do better once you figure out the ropes- hang in there!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER.

YEP Nursing school SUCKS!! It is not your everyone can do it profession. However those who make it come out a lot stronger! You can do it! Make them proud!!!!!

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humble pie anyone?

I had a 4.0 also down to a 3.6 now. dont worry, you will make it!!!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.

suture self ( I love that name by the way!)

At one time or another, we all fall short of what we believe to be our true capabilities. To call your self a screw up is admitting defeat! Keep studying your heart out and get extra practice with your skills...try not to be too hard on yourself! Nursing school is challenging, but you must meet that challenge head on with self-confidence. Good luck to you!

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You know, it takes awhile. And nursing isn't easy by any means. It is always a learning process. I remember having worked for several years as a nursing assistant before going to nursing school so figured I had bed making down to a science. Well, guess again....Change the tapes (oops, cds) playing in your mind...If you could be perfect in nursing or any aspect of medical care, then there would be no patients because they would have all been cured....Patients don't expect perfection...They expect and need to be listened to and cared for and about. A little perfection is lovely but humility and the ability to accept that you can't always do it all exactly right every time, will endear you to far more patients than any perfect score in school will...

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The fact that you got into nursing school proves that the admission board believed in you. I am a senior nursing male student and believe me I have walked in your shoes. I remember it like yesterday when I felt like the world's biggest screw up. I have fell on my face more than a few times, picked myself up, dusted my frustrations off, worked harder on my weakness, stayed focus, and alas...success. Talk to your advisors, use other students as resources.

Believe in yourself. Don't wait for others to validate you. Validate yourself first. Keep your head up high. From what you wrote...by all appearances you can only succeed and don't forget the ones that become behind you (the lower level students). Lift them up when they have those DOWN days as I have lifted you up. What goes around comes around.

take care

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Specializes in med-surg, radiology, OR.

Hey, don't beat yourself down too much. My professor told our class once that it is not about the grade, it is more about how we think (critically) and make sound clinical judgements based on scientific knowledge (theories). I was a 3.91 pre-clinical and now down to a 3.5. I have one more semester and I graduate. I used to stress myself in the beginning and get intimidated...I had the overwhelming urge to learn everything and if I don't know it all, I just failed myself and might as well not go on. Needless to say, I was unecessarily hard on myself with such high expectations. There are several things I learned in nursing school...there is no way to know everything, instead, learn all the basics and from there you can pretty much make sound decisions. Everything else will come with experience. ADN program is such a short program that covers almost the same amount of content a BSN program covers. It's tough, but not impossible. It's initmidating, but it really isn't. I told myself, I graduated with a BA in liberal Arts, I learned how to read and write 2 other languages, I learned how to operate appliances, I know how to budget my money and balance my checkbook...then it dawned on me...what can I not learn? NOTHING!!! from then on forth I have been getting better grades, not perfect, but good enough, what's more important is that you are confident that you really understood the material and that you know you are only human and that you are capable of learning.

PS

I spoke to nursing student who is in her last semester and she was telling us how hard it is...I would have been trembling in fear and anxiety have I not have any faith in me. I told myself, hmm...difficult huh...nothing to worry about...I will understand the underlying concepts and kick some ASS.

just my long two cents.

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