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?
Regardless of your GPA in nursing school what is needed to be a successful bedside nurse is Emotional Intelligence. In my opinion emotional intelligence plus any GPA will mean better success.
What do you nurses who are actually out there on the floor think?
I don't care what your GPA is; if you have no experience taking care of people, you are going to have a lot more trouble learning the profession than classmates with extensive direct care experience.
I think this is a very good point, and something I have been thinking about. I DON'T have a lot of patient experience (tons of people experience, but not so much patient). I applied for a paid internship this summer, and if I dont get that I am going to work as a CNA for the summer.
OP: When I was in nursing school, I received the same sort of message from the instructors. I graduated in the top 5% of my nursing school. Here's what I had heard:
"A lot of the time students who are really book smart like you are have difficulty with the practical skills."
"What we're asking is for you to dumb down the careplans a little bit."
These ignorant comments are highly pervasive in nursing school unfortunately.
In our school our instructors are also our clinical advisors for that rotation. Almost every clinical my instructors have pulled me aside and told me that they are very surprised at how well I function in clinical - because I have good grades... I'm glad they are happy with me, but it is frustrating to know that my teachers assumed I would fail in clinicals!
To the OP, I have had instructors say the same thing. I think it's because the personality type of the 4.0 student. Some, not all, tend to be very rigid and OCDish, which can make them more difficult to teach and adapt. They think the B or C student is a little more laid back.
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This makes a lot of sense. Being rigid and OCD would make a good 4.0 student, but definitely not a good nurse! I wish they (the professors and such) would SAY this instead of A vs B,C. Something like "having knowledge is important for nursing, but so is personality, critical thinking, and flexibility."
- a professor telling med school students that mediocre students make better doctors
- a law firm saying that they prefer "B" or "C" students, because they make better lawyers
- a recruiter saying the company wants to hire "B" or "C" students because they make better engineers
Being an "A" student doesn't guarantee that someone will transition well to a job, but it is a good indication that the person is capable of learning and knows how to work hard.
I would challenge you only on the idea that B and C students are "mediocre."
I was a very driven student who struggled with college because of non-academic reasons, and learning that a B was a mighty fine grade and not a giving-up point was part of the balance that helped me get through nursing school.
Do you ask your doctor, lawyer, or engineer what their GPA was? Do you believe it matters?
I think the idea that a number on a paper makes you more or less capable is kind of odd. The classmates I had that were the most obsessed with their GPAs were kind of unhinged, and it was about the status, not the knowledge. That doesn't mean that good students only care about status. And no GPA can tell what kind of social skills you have and whether you actually care about the people you will be caring for. GPA doesn't matter if you can thrive in the real life environment. That's the purpose of an education - to prepare you for the real thing. If you are prepared, it doesn't matter what your GPA was.
My D starts law school in the fall. She has met with several attorneys to get their advice on school, life after passing the bar, etc. Every single one of them has emphasized how important it is to make top grades. She has been told she needs to either graduate in the top 10% of her class, hold an important post in the Law Review, or excel and be at the very very top (higher than top 10%) of the class in a particular field of law if she wants to be hired in a good job at a good firm at a decent salary.
There is a glut of lawyers right now, so grades are very important in Law.
The whole "if you make straight As in nursing school, you can't be clinically competent" line is and has always been total bunk.
As for B and C students, when I graduated, an A was 90 and up, B was 80 and up, C was 70 and up, and everything below 70 was failing. So someone making a C was someone who was clearly struggling and not likely to be the star in clinicals either.
I didn't say anything about jobs after passing the boards, just that the B & C'ers still got their licenses.
The school I went to didn't have a 10 point scale. Anything less than 80 was a fail. We had a very accelerated program. Our C students had been A students every where else.
I'm not saying that C students make better nurses. I am saying that academic ability doesn't always translate well into career and nursing skills.
Especially these days, where most of what students are learning is how to pass tests.
I would challenge you only on the idea that B and C students are "mediocre."
I was a very driven student who struggled with college because of non-academic reasons, and learning that a B was a mighty fine grade and not a giving-up point was part of the balance that helped me get through nursing school.
Do you ask your doctor, lawyer, or engineer what their GPA was? Do you believe it matters?
I think the idea that a number on a paper makes you more or less capable is kind of odd. The classmates I had that were the most obsessed with their GPAs were kind of unhinged, and it was about the status, not the knowledge. That doesn't mean that good students only care about status. And no GPA can tell what kind of social skills you have and whether you actually care about the people you will be caring for. GPA doesn't matter if you can thrive in the real life environment. That's the purpose of an education - to prepare you for the real thing. If you are prepared, it doesn't matter what your GPA was.
I never said that someone couldn't be a good dr., lawyer, or engineer if they were a B or C student.
I said that you never hear professors and employers telling students that B or C students make better Drs, lawyers, or engineers.
It is absurd that nursing instructors are telling students that B & C students make better nurses than A students. It is one thing to tell them that a B or C student can still be a good nurse. It is another to tell them that they will be a better nurse than the A student just because they got lower​ grades.
Personally I think grades and where you went to school matter when you are applying for your first job in the field.
I never said that someone couldn't be a good dr., lawyer, or engineer if they were a B or C student.
I said that you never hear professors and employers telling students that B or C students make better Drs, lawyers, or engineers.
It is absurd that nursing instructors are telling students that B & C students make better nurses than A students. It is one thing to tell them that a B or C student can still be a good nurse. It is another to tell them that they will be a better nurse than the A student just because they got lower​ grades.
Personally I think grades and where you went to school matter when you are applying for your first job in the field.
After that work experience matters more.
I agree with all of the above.
I wouldn't have been accepted to the critical care graduate nurse residency if I hadn't had very high grades. I haven't been asked about my grades since that job, but I had to provide a copy of my transcripts when I applied. Grades do matter in certain circumstances.
I bet nursing school would go a lot more smoothly if students stopped comparing their grades and skills with one another. Do what you're supposed to do. Be safe. Ask questions if you don't know something. Research what you don't know. The last thing that will help you is comparing yourself to other non-nurses.
Farawyn
12,646 Posts
cali, what disconnect?
This seems to be a Professor thing, not a student thing.