So I have heard time and time again from nursing professors and clinical adjuncts that "4.0 students often have a hard time transitioning to the floor, B or C students make better nurses". While I totally get that there are some people out there that are so cerebral that they don't do well on the floor, I think this blanket statement is a bunch of bunk.
I bring this up because I am a 4.0 student. I am also involved in clubs and student groups, volunteer outside of school, and often get complimented in clinicals. However, even with that I still hear the comment over and over that A students don't make as good of nurses as B and C nurses.
What do you nurses who are actually out there on the floor think?
Totally not true! I was a 4.0 student and I've never had a problem working the floors. I think it comes down to how adaptable you are as a person -- and SOME high-achieving students can be very rigid. You also need to be apply to apply the knowledge you learned in school -- which some people struggle with.
(but I must say, the good part about being a nursing geek with high grades though, is getting into grad school, having opportunities to do research or work in super specialized areas)
I really don't think that any general statements can be made about the correlation between GPA and Nursing abilities. There are people who are capable of earning a 4.0, but have responsibilities other than school so they don't have a 4.0. Then there are people who do have time to study and do earn the 4.0, or people who have time to study but don't/can't. I didn't graduate with a 4.0, but worked my rear-end off to earn an A average, and made the transition from school-to-floor relatively easily. The people I fear are the ones who don't put their full effort into school, and advocate, that "passing is passing". I think that thought-process leads to an attitude of, "minimum effort is fine". In Nursing, that's just plain scary.
madricka, BSN, RN
123 Posts
Totally not true! I was a 4.0 student and I've never had a problem working the floors. I think it comes down to how adaptable you are as a person -- and SOME high-achieving students can be very rigid. You also need to be apply to apply the knowledge you learned in school -- which some people struggle with.
(but I must say, the good part about being a nursing geek with high grades though, is getting into grad school, having opportunities to do research or work in super specialized areas)