Not smart enough to be an RN?

LPN44yrs · Aug 12, 2014

I have been an LPN for four years. I did very well in nursing school having kept a B average. Most of my pre reqs for RN are done and I recieved an A in all of them. Until....I reached A&P1and it all went down hill. I recieved my first F in college on the first and second test AND another F on the first quiz. So I took a year off from school under the assumption that I was just burnt out and took the class a second time. Again more Fs and I attributed it to too many work hours and down sized my life to make more room for studying and took the class a third time and still got an F on the first and second test. I dropped out feeling that I'm not so smart after all. This is a shame because I feel that I'm a very good nurse and have recieved multiple compliments from co-workers such as "You were born to be a nurse" and "You should keep going to ARNP" I haven't been in school now for two years and I feel like I may just not be smart enough to be an RN.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 12, 2014

Welcome to Allnurses.com!

Have you done some careful introspection and self-evaluation to figure out why you've repeatedly failed your A&P quizzes? Everything happens for a reason, and hopefully you can pinpoint the reason for performing poorly in A&P.

Good luck to you.

Nurseeverywhere, CNA, LVN · Aug 12, 2014

Maybe taking classes separately would make things easier even if it takes longer. Less pressure.

smmctowelie69 · Aug 13, 2014

Have you tried tutoring. They may be able to help with study skills or test anxiety. I had a hard time with a and p also. I made many flash cards. You could also try you tube or anatomy games. Keep trying you'll get there.

caliotter3 · Aug 13, 2014

I once knew a man who took college algebra five times before he passed it. There is something to be said for persistence. Since you received A's prior to this course, I hardly think that you lack the intelligence. If I were you, I would take the time to approach the instructor you had last, or the current instructor, and have a heart to heart about what you could do to insure success in a retake. Avail yourself of a tutor. Study on your own in a nonenrolled status to get the material down pat before a retake. Then take the course online from a different school. When you pass, have that course transferred to your current school. If you need to, take it again in a different setting. Take the course until you pass it. Do whatever it takes, because you would be doing yourself a disservice if you give up now. Best wishes.

libran1984, ASN, RN · Aug 13, 2014

You are smart enough.. When i bridged over from LPN to RN; the there were two core nursing classes that were different from my LPN program.... Critical care and mental health. What a joke! The whole thing was just jumping through hoops!!! RNs are not smarter than LPNs! It is all an individual thing. And honestly, there is soooooo much more to be said for persistence. It took me 8 years to become an RN, and I was an LPN for 4 of those years. I retook A/P 4 times!! I retook Peds/Ob 3 times!!! I retook every stinking math class twice for a total of at least 6 - 8 times i've been in and paid for those classes. 8 years for an associates degree. But you know what, it stuck with me... all of it stuck with me. I'm smarter because I retook all of those classes!!!! I'm talking to and studying with NP students now! This is fabulous!

Just be persistent! Don't give up! Even if you decide that an RN isn't for you, an LPN is a proud honorable profession that should receive high praises!!!

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2014

Good day, LPN44yrs:

First off, whether one is geared towards a given vocation, career, etc. involves a lot of things other than intelligence. You've proved how smart you are by passing LPN school and your LPN boards. A&P is a very hard class; is it possible you tried old techniques that worked in the past and continued trying them when they were failing you in A&P? Is it possible you need to find different techniques to learn each segment of A&P? When you do poorly in an A&P test, did you immediately (or very shortly after the test) ask to see the professor to go over what you got wrong, and why? Did you go to the learning/tutoring center for A&P help? Did you go to every class? Every lab? Stay the entire time for both? Do they have a model/lab room available for outside of class time to spend?

I ask these questions because just maybe there's something you've not tried yet, should you want to continue pursuing this dream. Should you try again, this is what I did in A&P to do well:

For lecture:

1. Record every lecture, and re-listen to the lectures as often as possible -- driving to school, to church, while shopping, at home, etc. I especially made it a point to re-listen to the very last lecture just prior to the upcoming new one so that whatever was said would join up in my mind.

2. I took notes, and would compare the notes to what I recorded when I got home. I would then take my hand written notes and type them up.

3. I would read the chapter(s) in advance of the lecture. During the very first chapter reading, I would preview the material focusing on terminology (often bold or italic), section headings, figures, and tables along with noting what study tool the chapter itself might have available. I would then highlight the terminology. During the reading (after the preview), I would use different color highlighters to highlight what I believed to be extremely key areas (trying to be careful not to over highlight or otherwise create a rainbow on the page). The highlighting was meant to help for future re-reads in terms of focusing only on the highlighted areas for reading.

While reading, I tried to follow the following plan:

Reading 25 minutes or less

Review 5 minutes

Break 5 minutes

Then rinse and repeat

Where I would try to do something physical during the short break and actually be away from the material. Physical for me does not mean turn on the TV ;-)

4. I would take the terminology and processes and put it into flashcards on quizlet.BIO121 Anatomy and Physiology 1 Lecture, Professor Mason, Fall 2013 | Quizlet are the flash cards I created for the lecture portion of A&P 1 that I finished -- thanks to Jesus -- this past fall semester. I would print out those flash cards (typically in table format) for quick review while at school prior to any test.

5. I would do the quiz material at the back of every chapter; and our book had a web site that would generate practice quizzes and exams; I would do those within three days of the lecture exam to test how well I was getting the material.

For lab, I would do the following:

1. Stay the entire lab time to focus on learning the models and material. Often times before the end of the lab, there would just be two to four of us left not including the professor. I believed staying through each lab for the entire time allowed really helped and took off pressure for any form of cramming.

2. Use the learning center -- they had some of the lab models -- twice a week for approximately one hour each time.

3. Take pictures of the model, and where appropriate create a study guide. I did the study guide for muscles where I included insertion and origin along with the muscle name and picture -- often several different views of the model, and it really made a difference in passing that exam with a good grade. BTW, for the skeleton model, I found actually kinetic - hand holding, caressing (not in any sexual / romantic way) the bones even with my eyes closed so I could tell the orientation, feel the markings, etc. to be very helpful.

4. Use Google Images to look up pictures, models, and what not of the lab material

5. I would also use quizlet, but most of the flash cards that I used I found made by others, and just added to the class. BIO121 Anatomy and Physiology 1 Lab, Professor Mason, Fall 2013 | Quizlet are the lab flash cards I used for A&P 1.

In both lecture and lab, I was also blessed to have mostly consistent study partners where we would ask each other (test like) questions to see how well we knew the material and models.

Do read https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-stu...ny-846733.html as it is an excellent foundation for all classes.

Also, in terms of determining study time, I would treat the AP lecture as one three credit class, and the AP lab as one three credit class.

Thank you.

LVN2RNMom, ASN, BSN, LVN · Aug 13, 2014

Every teacher is different and every student learns differently. It does not mean you are not capable, just means you possibly didn't understand the teacher? Also, because you got all A's I wouldn't assume anything by that either. Take a deep breath and retake the class. Possibly take it at a different college and use rate my professor.com to go over student reviews. It isn't always 100% accurate but it does help. Also, some schools teach A&P together and some have it separate. I would advise you to take it separately and only 1 class at a time. I also purchased flash cards from Barnes & Noble that helps. Don't worry and just do something different. Good Luck to you!

LPN44yrs · Aug 24, 2014

What great feed back! I am really looking forward to returning to school now. Reading these posts, I realize that my poor grades had more to do with the emotional state I was in at those times. When I became a nurse I was very disapointed over the patient overload and there was a small voice in the back of my head whispering "Do you really want to live with this stress for the rest of your life?"

After reading theses posts and doing some soul searching I realized that I had some unresolved doubts about my new career that greatly interfered with my focus in the classroom. Thank you so much for your feedback. I really don't want to give up on being an RN and now I am pointed in the right direction to obtain my goal.