Nursing Program Rumors

I have been wanting to write this thread for awhile! I just want to say to all high school seniors applying to college to be a nurse and all pre-nursing students applying to nursing school: DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED BY RUMORS! The biggest thing that bothers me is students/counselors from College B talking about my College (College A). I have had students from College B try to tell me what classes are required for the nursing program at College A (though it clearly says on the website what classes are required ), try to tell me about waitlists (non-existant, I found out), lottery (non-existant, I found out), people only getting in because their Mom/Aunt/Grandma/Sister's ex-boyfriend's niece is an alumni, only CNAs getting accepted, and all kinds of other stuff!

Yes, people should check with their OWN schools to get information because they're all different. However, some of the things you mention above are indeed in existence at some schools. Only CNAs are accepted at my nursing school. And there are people who get in because of who they are and who they know.

Absolutely!! I have worked hard to dispel rumors at my school that are so similar to these. No waitlists, no you don't have to have ALL A's or you have no hope, no you don't have to get 95% on the TEAS. Ugh. I've heard potential nursing students say they're not even going to apply because they just KNOW they won't get in, even though the have every possibility. I try to encourage them but hate these are the kinds of things they're hearing.

It is extremely competitive at my school and a student does pretty much have to have all A's or at least an A average and make a pretty decent score on the HESI. I try to encourage other students to try hard to make A's and focus only on the classes required to be successful. They take the GPA after fall semester and then your HESI score, so I will try and get them to take the classes they know they can make A's in during the fall semester in order to keep their GPA high or even bring it up. I didn't get in my first year and I did everything I could to raise my GPA like re-taking a course and taking other easy courses to bring it up and I got in the next year. Just keep trying, you can do it! :)

Absolutely! You would not believe some of the **stool** spews out of peoples mouthes about how to get into nursing school. Almost all of which is verified in 10 seconds on the schools website.

Some of what i have heard over the years:

**Passing Genetics with a B+ will gaurantee you entry into any nursing school.

**From a medical assistant: My MA school clinicals count towards nursing school, so I only have to take theory.

**The minimum GPA to apply is a 2.5, so I am gauranteed a spot with my 2.7.

The truth is, follow the schools instructions. Get the best grades you can. Verify everything before acting on it!

Always check out information from the schools. Tip: Talk to a few nurses at your local hospital -ask them what schools they would reconmend based on what they have observed of the students doing clinicals.

Absolutely! You would not believe some of the **stool** spews out of peoples mouthes about how to get into nursing school. Almost all of which is verified in 10 seconds on the schools website.

Some of what i have heard over the years:

**Passing Genetics with a B+ will gaurantee you entry into any nursing school.

**From a medical assistant: My MA school clinicals count towards nursing school, so I only have to take theory.

**The minimum GPA to apply is a 2.5, so I am gauranteed a spot with my 2.7.

The truth is, follow the schools instructions. Get the best grades you can. Verify everything before acting on it!

Wow, people these days are brilliant... The MA one made me laugh the most.

Whats a nurse with a C average??? a Nurse. =) im not finished yet, but thats what my teacher told me !

buttons93, you're already on the right track to join a profession based on evidence and critical thinking. keep at it. we need more of you.

whats a nurse with a c average??? a nurse. =) im not finished yet, but thats what my teacher told me !

please don't take any offense to what i'm about to say as its not directed to you personally, but your teacher. i precept ems students. while they are not nursing students, many of the same standards apply. apparently, one or two of their instructors are of the the same train of thought: a paramedic with a "c" average is... a paramedic!

take a step further and consider that not all nurses (or paramedics in my case) are equal:

if you take the usually-accepted grading scale of:

a = excellent

b = good

c = average

d = below average

f = fail

then i see that there is a great chance for a "c" nurse to be "average" when considering not only their grasp of theory, but skills and patient interaction. obviously, many earned that "c" because they could not or would not put forth the effort to understand everything correctly in class; not very politically-correct to say, but is true. i don't care if the instructor was dull, or the textbook was hard to read, or whatever. other resources of information are literally at your fingertips for further study, all for the googling.

so, they may eventually have an rn after their name. as working nurses, they may also blow through their ces for an "average" score and only further their understanding of disease and care processes only just as much as they have too, like any other "average" nurse or paramedic would in their employment.

however, i would see an "excellent" nurse as one who puts in the extra effort to really understand the theory behind what is happening with their patients (striving for an "a" in the courses) and excel at his or her skills and patient care with the same degree of motivation and desire. this is the one i would want to care for me or my family. wouldn't you?

why is this a big deal to me? a classmate of mine from about a decade ago lost his paramedic certification, his job, and has no idea what else to do to support his young family. apparently, breezing though cardiology and other classes with a "c" (and i knew his study habits contributed greatly to this) along with doing only the minimal outside learning and ces didn't help him any. sure, he passed the test and got his certification in the mail years ago. it only took one response: he couldn't put 2 and 2 together to understand what was really going on with the patient's heart. it was a mistake that should have never happened, and resulted in severe consequences to him, his family, and his patient.

if the "c" student doesn't buck up to learn more now, when will they? after they find that they cannot work in the field they love?

sorry about the rant... we have students again. one of the poor souls got the same lecture from me when he would rather play with his phone app and text his buds instead of asking anything about the unusual patient we just cared for. he's only getting his ems education because the fire department won't even look at his application unless emt certified. the student just thought it was weird that the tetrology of fallot patient was squatting when we arrived on scene, but didn't want to know why.

Nursing school paranoia.

There is always going to be an average nurse. The average will shift but there will always be an average. Honestly considering the standard you have to achieve to get that C there's nothing wrong with being average. There are plenty of positions where average will do. Average does not equal sloppy or lazy or stupid or negligent.

Being that I've always been a type A A++++ seeking and achieving kind of girl I never would have thought that I would have said that but its true. Average is not a death sentence.

buttons93, you're already on the right track to join a profession based on evidence and critical thinking. keep at it. we need more of you.

thank you! i really needed that right now

Those rumors abound. I'm beginning the nursing program at my school in August, and it is required for anyone who is going to apply to go to an informational meeting before applying to the program. During that meeting, one of the things they addressed was what you did (and did not) need to have a shot at getting in. The people who hosted the meeting were some of the nursing instructors and they asked us all if we'd heard any rumors about getting in (we had) and they addressed them. It really cleared some things up and you left with a crystal clear picture of what you needed, how the wait list worked (my school has one), etc.

It really was a blessing! Some of the rumors were so out there I was in a panic before that meeting!

One note on the "C" student. In the program I'm going into, the range for a C grade is 78%-84.9%. So a C in the nursing program could very well equate to a mid-range B in other classes. I'm a good student (honors and high honors), and I'm not aiming for a C...but if I get one I'll try not to beat myself up over it.