I am completing my first year of nursing school in a university, and I am not doing as well as I would have hoped. I can't believe this is happening to me.
In high school, I used to have excellent marks, and on top of that, I have a hearing disability so I went an extra mile to achieve these marks. Now that I'm in nursing school, I'm barely scratching a C+. I am in disbelief and I know that you have to lower your expectations - it's not about marks, but passing the school. I agree with that, but how can I get over this attitude that "I have to get high marks"? I'm always that type of a student. Everyone keeps reminding me that first year of university (no matter which program) is always difficult.
While I'm studying for exams, I keep asking myself, "should I switch programs to Science or something else?" I really don't want to switch the programs because of the phenomenal support I receive from the staff of nursing school. If I were in other program, I believe I would have gotten higher marks, but in the end, there's no job for me. If I stayed in nursing, I would do something productive with my life. I have decided to go into nursing because of the volunteer experience I've gained before, and I know I want to get involved in patient care and interaction and advocating for my patient's health. I know I want to do that.
It's just that I am getting low marks in nursing school and it's killing me. I'm commuting to the university from my house which takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
...If I did it, you can, too. It just depends on how much you are willing to sacrifice. If you're not willing to make the sacrifices it takes to get As, then you just have to find peace with the level of sacrifice you *are* willing to make, which is within YOU, not something we can tell you on an internet forum.
I don't really agree. I sacrificed several weeks of personal life equivalent to you, if not more, and still managed to fail my last test, even knowing the information and facts backwards and forwards. I don't doubt you worked hard and earned your As nor do I submit that there are not those who are currently underacheiving because they place their Nursing School on a lower priority than you did but there is clearly some level of inherent ability too. It isn't really fair to set such a high bar for everybody any more than it would be fair for a male World Weight Lifting Gold Medal winner to say that anyone could lift as much as he did if they just worked at it. The brain is an organ, no different from muscles, after all.
As for the OP, I think simply passing with a C+ is quite a feat, really. Nursing is a pretty hard program, so you should be happy you are getting through - you say that is what you want to do so once you get that license and get to work being the best patient advocate you can be, nobody will care what your GPA is. In my class, one of the fellows who is currently really struggling actually tried out at law school and said he finds these tests harder (he may be full of it, as I can't verify that claim, but he is not a dumb guy).
Be proud of doing as well as you are.They will care what kind of care you give. You are trying hard, you seem nice enough; I think you are the type who will give great care, from the sound of it. Just focus on what this is all really about: your future patients and you giving them the best, safest care you can. Good luck to you.
I am really coming late to the party, but one post on this page upset me. I have two B.S. degrees and an MBA from a top 5 University. I always wanted to do nursing, but my father pushed me in another direction when I was young and he was paying for school. I was in a coma 6.5 years ago and after that I evaluated my life. I was determined from then on to get into my BSN program. It took me a while because I had to work full time and I had to work a class schedule with a work schedule. But I got here - 2nd semester student.
I am determined. I have a husband, I have a home, I have a toddler, and I, too, have a family Anna. Oh, and I do work. All of these things, besides work, have been put aiside for nursing school.
I was a 4.0 in my B.S. degrees. I was a 4.0 in MBA program. But guess what, I am no longer a 4.0 in nursing school. I just failed my first PathoPharm exam. I was already working hard as ding-dong, but now I have to work THAT much harder to stay afloat for the rest of the semester.
Is this becasue I am not making sacrifices so I can study? Absolutely not. Is this because I fail to go to lecture or guided study session or do not use the free tutors. Again, absolutely not. I don't even have to deal with making food for the whole week; my husband thankfully prepares all our meals. I will say that teenagers are pretty self-sufficient when paired up to a toddler, but I am not going to keep nitpicking.
The way MY brain works is very different than how they are testing us. Couple that with ADD, the stuggle has been real. I came from an IT background/career and it was much more cut and dry, and less of the critical thinking. You did have to do some critical thinking in IT, but that environment is very natural to ME and was very easy. Add in the fact that every nursing students science/A&P background is at VARIOUS levels. I have to consistently go back and refresh myself on simple concepts. Some stuff I think my A&P Proffesor just left out of our cirriculum!
Anyway, I am ******* ******. At where I am in my nursing careera and for the plain fact that you, Anna, are sort of sitting on your high horse and judging people.
I make sacrifices EVERYDAY for nursing school. And I am NOT at peace with where I am.
I just wanted to respond. I am a 37 year old female, with a lof life experince. A lot of the kids in my cohort are 17, 20, 21, etc. I wouldn't want somebody googling and getting this page as a resource. That means, potentially, they would read Anna's post and maybe feeling ***** about themselves.
I am determined. I have a husband, I have a home, I have a toddler, and I, too, have a family Anna. Oh, and I do work. All of these things, besides work, have been put aiside for nursing school.
Mmmkay, so you want a gold star or something?
I was a 4.0 in my B.S. degrees. I was a 4.0 in MBA program. But guess what, I am no longer a 4.0 in nursing school. I just failed my first PathoPharm exam. I was already working hard as ding-dong, but now I have to work THAT much harder to stay afloat for the rest of the semester.
Sounds like par for the course for nursing school to me.
The way MY brain works is very different than how they are testing us. Couple that with ADD, the stuggle has been real. I came from an IT background/career and it was much more cut and dry, and less of the critical thinking. You did have to do some critical thinking in IT, but that environment is very natural to ME and was very easy. Add in the fact that every nursing students science/A&P background is at VARIOUS levels. I have to consistently go back and refresh myself on simple concepts. Some stuff I think my A&P Proffesor just left out of our cirriculum!
And?.....
Anyway, I am ******* ******. At where I am in my nursing careera and for the plain fact that you, Anna, are sort of sitting on your high horse and judging people.
Nope, I simply shared my own personal experience. Seems to me that *you* are the one judging *me*. I worked hard to get where I am, and nobody is going to make me feel badly about that.
I make sacrifices EVERYDAY for nursing school. And I am NOT at peace with where I am.
That is your prerogative.
I just wanted to respond. I am a 37 year old female, with a lof life experince. A lot of the kids in my cohort are 17, 20, 21, etc. I wouldn't want somebody googling and getting this page as a resource. That means, potentially, they would read Anna's post and maybe feeling ***** about themselves.
It's not my job to make sure that people who are attempting to enter into a career where lives are at stake feel good about themselves in nursing school. Nursing school destroys your self confidence- that is a pretty universal experience. Nursing takes a lot of inner resources such as the ability to take your lumps when you screw up and still get out of bed and come to work the next day. If someone is feeling ***** about themselves from one post on an internet forum, then maybe they're not cut out to have lives in their hands.
High horse? Hardly. I've screwed up plenty and have earned my place, because I have the personal integrity to hold MYSELF, not instructors, other nurses, doctors, patients, or anyone else accountable for my own personal shortcomings.
I'm tougher on myself than I am on anyone else, and you have some nerve to come in here and judge me.
Vysection
7 Posts
I don't really agree. I sacrificed several weeks of personal life equivalent to you, if not more, and still managed to fail my last test, even knowing the information and facts backwards and forwards. I don't doubt you worked hard and earned your As nor do I submit that there are not those who are currently underacheiving because they place their Nursing School on a lower priority than you did but there is clearly some level of inherent ability too. It isn't really fair to set such a high bar for everybody any more than it would be fair for a male World Weight Lifting Gold Medal winner to say that anyone could lift as much as he did if they just worked at it. The brain is an organ, no different from muscles, after all.
As for the OP, I think simply passing with a C+ is quite a feat, really. Nursing is a pretty hard program, so you should be happy you are getting through - you say that is what you want to do so once you get that license and get to work being the best patient advocate you can be, nobody will care what your GPA is. In my class, one of the fellows who is currently really struggling actually tried out at law school and said he finds these tests harder (he may be full of it, as I can't verify that claim, but he is not a dumb guy).
Be proud of doing as well as you are.They will care what kind of care you give. You are trying hard, you seem nice enough; I think you are the type who will give great care, from the sound of it. Just focus on what this is all really about: your future patients and you giving them the best, safest care you can. Good luck to you.