Just when I thought I was going to be prepared for my exam this week on hematology and oncology. On Monday AFTERNOON, our instructor just happened to mention (via e-mail) that she "forgot" to add a 60-page chapter on Breast Cancer and added 26 NEW lab values that we had to know for our exam today.
Then when we had lecture on Tuesday...she never bothered to cover the the Chapter on Breast Cancer nor another chapter we had on Shock at all.
I had clinicals all day on Wednesday and a night class on Wednesday night...so instead of reviewing my material like I had planned...I had to cover NEW material for an exam whose reading assignments and objectives have been in our Syllabus since August.
That proved to be a devastating error on her part as I am now mathematically too far behind to pass unless I get a perfect score on each test from here on out, and that is impossible to do.
I sent my children to my sister's house for tonight. I just can't deal with anything more right now. I have no idea of what I am going to do and there is no way I want to re-apply to this nursing program. These are the worst instructors I have ever had in my life.
Hang in there but if you have dropped from the program try another school. I think all nursing school programs are designed to frustrate students.:cry::cry:
Thanks...I have an appointment with the Dean tomorrow morning at 10:30.
I hear the 'test bank" issue all the time from my students, there is no test bank. I have asked the instructor to look at the test ahead of time and I only found a few questions that I felt were out of bounds, but the answer was in the text book. The bottom line my students do very well in the NCLEX and that is what the college officals and state looks at.
What I would lobby for, is the chance to retake the class at the school's expense. The reason being someone should take the time to review the questions you got wrong and the rationale why you got them wrong. Also you should have a had an academic counselor to talk these issues over with.
Last you should have had the information greater than 72 hours before the exam.
Ps How are you doing in your clinical work? Ask your clinical instructor for support.
I hear the 'test bank" issue all the time from my students, there is no test bank.
We have a test bank...every text books for the teaching staff comes with one. Our teachers don't make their own questions. Sometimes we even see questions we have done on the disk from the student text or the end of chapter questions on the test, that is always a bonus for people who took time to do those questions...I know I always do!!:wink2: We had some problems with people doing well on the first 2 tests in Med/Surg 1 and a lot of people in the class started worrying they wouldn't make it. We talked to our Dean and she came and met with us during class and they changed the testing procedure for the next exam. Our staff really tries to be helpful for the most part. This semester they have decided to give all campuses (we have 4) the tests on Wednesdays, so everybody school wide can take the exact same test. Sometimes going to the Dean does help!
Yup, both my LPN and RN school used test banks for all exams. We also saw many of the same exact questions as on the CDs, study guides etc. I made it my life's mission to find as many questions from each publisher as I could and they were almost my sole method of studying. Nursing school is as much about strategy as it is about smarts, imo.
Thanks...I have an appointment with the Dean tomorrow morning at 10:30.
I was shocked to read of your travails,Hopefull! You seem to be intelligent and insightful, I suspect that you'll end up overcoming this obstacle. Let us know how your meeting goes?
I hear the 'test bank" issue all the time from my students, there is no test bank. I have asked the instructor to look at the test ahead of time and I only found a few questions that I felt were out of bounds, but the answer was in the text book. The bottom line my students do very well in the NCLEX and that is what the college officals and state looks at.
What I would lobby for, is the chance to retake the class at the school's expense. The reason being someone should take the time to review the questions you got wrong and the rationale why you got them wrong. Also you should have a had an academic counselor to talk these issues over with.
Last you should have had the information greater than 72 hours before the exam.
Ps How are you doing in your clinical work? Ask your clinical instructor for support.
I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma. I rarely post to this site and am still "thinking" about going to RN school next Fall. Your post really brings to light the reality of nursing school. It's hard enough hearing my daughter's, yes my daughter!, struggle in her nursing program, especially the first semester. I give her credit she's in her 2nd semester in a Bachelor's program. Some of her instructor's are unbelievable. I seriously reconsider going to school at my age of 40+, I don't think I could handle that kind of school work and stress and I'm a straight A student. It's a shame to hear that nursing schools make it so difficult in times of a shortage. Like the previous comment, not only is it hard to actually "get in" a program but they make it just as hard to graduate from one!
Hopeful, I KNOW you will come back and come back strong. Good luck.
Proudmom of 3, don't let this discourage you. If you want to be a nurse than go for it.
I never understood what the heck was so different about nursing exams. That is, until I took my Fundamentals final this week. Everyone left the exam saying "what was that?!". I passed with a nice grade (and I believe is was due to doing hundreds of NCLEX questions, my past HC experience, and just knowledge I gained from this site), but many classmates failed miserably. NS exams are certainly different.
I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma. I rarely post to this site and am still "thinking" about going to RN school next Fall. Your post really brings to light the reality of nursing school. It's hard enough hearing my daughter's, yes my daughter!, struggle in her nursing program, especially the first semester. I give her credit she's in her 2nd semester in a Bachelor's program. Some of her instructor's are unbelievable. I seriously reconsider going to school at my age of 40+, I don't think I could handle that kind of school work and stress and I'm a straight A student. It's a shame to hear that nursing schools make it so difficult in times of a shortage. Like the previous comment, not only is it hard to actually "get in" a program but they make it just as hard to graduate from one!
I hope you, change your mine and decide to fight to the end, Nursing school is a war, and we nursing students must keep fighting the battles. Many people are in a hurry to get in and finish, however, a person must realize that it may take a while or a few chances to make it, a person should ask themselves how long or how many year left to do them have to work, until they retire, and if it 20 -40 yrs left, then they should ask themselves how do you want to spend that time, I rather spend my last years as being a nurse, so don't give up on your dreams and remember that your have time, you must show your kids that their mom never give up and succeeded in reaching her goals. Hang in there this is not the end.
That same thing happened to me in grad school. The whole class flunked the exam because the instructor threw in completely different stuff on the exam. We complained to the dean and the test was thrown out. We were given a new exam over the original material and all of us passed! SPEAK UP. DON'T LET SOME DUFUS DESTROY YOU. I am a former nursing instructor, but I am on your side. Good luck
I think you should try to get back in (tell the board that it was the stress talking) and ACE every test from here on out. YOU CAN DO IT. You've come this far- it seems a shame to give up now.
As far as you withdrawing, I think you should have waited. You've already paid for the semester and maybe you could have tried a bit harder to get the situation resolved before giving up. I need to ask and please don't take this the wrong way but were your grades on the low side so that one portion of an exam was sufficent enough to throw you off so that you were going to fail the semester if you didn't get perfect grades? Look at all the hard work and hours of study you just flushed down the toilet. I think your decision was impulsive. Your venture ended today because you wanted it to.
justme1972
2,441 Posts
Thanks...I have an appointment with the Dean tomorrow morning at 10:30.