Pretty much failed A&P2..

[Camjayjayy, BSN, RN]

It looks like my freshman year has been pretty much a failure at this point for my first year in nursing school. I nearly passed A&P 1 with a C+. However with A&P2, i've just finished my final and looks like i'm at the D+ to C range instead. These sciences has never been my strong suit and am just wondering should I change my major at this point?? My mom is the one who really wanted me to major in nursing given she's a nurse herself so I feel bad for failing the class and wasting her money. I feel pretty lost right now not knowing what to do next at this point. Would it be wise to try and change majors now or try continue to pursue this degree?

[cturtle234]

It sounds to me like you're only pursuing this career because of your mother. That's a terrible reason to pursue any degree, but especially one that is as brutal as nursing. If you aren't good at science (and, I presume, don't like it much), then nursing school probably isn't the best fit for you.

You deserve to pursue what YOU want. Your mother got to pick her career path, and now you get to pick yours.

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

If you don't actually want to be a nurse, then yes, you should do something else. If you are going to continue the path, you will need a strong grasp of A&P, so I would seek out some help with your study habits.

[iWish, ADN, RN]

These science courses are difficult for sure. Nursing courses are even more difficult than they are to be frank. If you don't really really want to be a nurse, that's okay! There's absolutely nothing wrong with changing your degree path. If you do absolutely want to be a nurse and to make it into nursing school, try to join/make a study group. It helped me so much to study with other students during my prerequisites. If you can teach it, you know it.

[UnicornPuppy]

I believe that you can turn this around if it is what you really want. First of all I would begin by reflecting on whether you actually want to be a nurse. Look into what nurses actually do by volunteering, working as a CNA, or otherwise getting experience in a health care setting. If you decide that nursing is what you want then honestly assess your study habits. Something that works for me is first studying the lectures independently. Then for topics I don’t understand I look up a short summary video on YouTube and consult my textbook. My main focus especially for anatomy and physiology is to study to understand instead of studying to memorize the information. Before the exams I then meet with a study group to further go over topics. Best of luck.

[Camjayjayy, BSN, RN]

Hi guys, thank you for our responses. I’m still quite unsure what to do, but I got a C in the class. That doesn’t cut it because i needed a C+ ?

I have to break the news to my parents soon and I know they’ll be pretty upset. The least I can do now is try to retake this course this or next summer in 2020.

I do want to ask, would it be a bad idea to wait until next year to retake a summer class?

[CamMc]

I was in nursing school about 10 years ago, at the time my school had it set up where Anatomy was one class and physiology was a separate class. The first time I took anatomy I got a D, which was really hard for me to accept, but I also knew I had a notoriously hard teacher and for many they struggle with these classes. The first time I took that course was in the fall semester, by the time I knew I had failed I believe it was too late to sign up to repeat it that spring, so I took it that summer. I had a different teacher and because I was more familiar with the subject that time I got a B. So I would encourage you, if you are going to retake AP 2 to do it this summer while it is still fresh and you should do really well, also look at if there are any reviews of professors. I can also say, when I went into nursing the first time (I am in the process of getting back into nursing school now 10 years later), I did have an interest in nursing, but I was more going into nursing because I had gotten engaged in the middle of my freshman year of college and my mom had said that I needed to wait until I finished school before I could actually got married (thank you, Mom). I left the school I initially went to half-way through my sophomore year and it was the semester I came home and started working with a student with epilepsy I decided I wanted to go into nursing. While I did have some personal interest in going to nursing school, it was something I approached as a quick way to finish school, have a decent job, and be able to get married. The first day of nursing school my engagement and relationship ended, so I think I lost a lot of motivation and was dealing with a lot during nursing school, but got C's the first two semesters and got a D and ultimately failed out of nursing school my 3rd semester. I decided not to bother retaking that course and moved on. The point being, if you're not doing this for you, it's going to make the struggle even harder and nursing school is hard. As for telling your parents, it sucks, I get it I was terrified to tell my mom I had gotten a D in nursing, I had previously been a A/B student, but my mom understood, especially because I went to her with a plan (I had decided to finish up my associates and go to a state school to get my bachelors in social work). Hope that helps and good luck with whatever you decide to do!