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?
After your first year of nursing, no one is going to give a damn about your grades. I say this as someone who passed the NCLEX with 75 questions on the first try with a 3.75+ gpa. No one has asked me about my grades. They only care about my license and, in my overly saturated state, my four-year degree.
This needs to be on a poster in every single nursing classroom! Purple_roses, you nailed this one!!!
I second this.
My 2.65 GPA as an LPN landed me two positions straight out of school-the ink was barely dry; this was in 2005.
My 2.65 GPA allowed my personal critical thinking to identify what a very unstable rehab patient had sympathetic storm post craniotomy and made it a learning abstract for staff.
My 2.65 GPA and my nursing experience allowed me to be able to be involved in making policies for my job, precept new RNs and LPNs with a 90% success of producing competent nurses.
My 2.89 BSN GPA allowed me to get every position I applied for with a 80 percent success rate; I have been a successful supervisor, preceptor and mentor to new staff.
I passed the boards the first time with 75 questions.
I didn't always get A's; partly because I had major test anxiety and I needed to find what learning style worked for me in addition to my kinesthetic learning style; upon entering my BSN program I did exceptionally well; I needed to bridge the gap and as the information became complex, my did drop; however, I still understand the material because I currently work in a critical care environment and understand those complexities and have worked in such settings where the knowledge has benefitted me.
I think my 2.89 is respectable-I guess my employers thought that as well; however, my advantage of being a LPN may have given me an edge as well.
I may have to take additional courses and take the GRE to get into grad school, but that's not the end of the world...
After your first year of nursing, no one is going to give a damn about your grades. I say this as someone who passed the NCLEX with 75 questions on the first try with a 3.75+ gpa. No one has asked me about my grades. They only care about my license and, in my overly saturated state, my four-year degree.
If employers were so enamored high GPAs, my impression would be that they wouldn't have given me a job in the first place.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Not one of my employers over 20 years gave two turds what my grades were, didn't care I was a 4.0 student. As a 20 year nurse, nor do I. I learned a lot, much more, out of school, than in.
Am I "smart"? Maybe to get good grades, but I know I am a pretty decent nurse!
Where do people come up with such stupid generalizations?
I like my 4.0, it looks so pretty on my transcripts. But the reason I am obsessed with getting A's is 1) I want to be the best nurse I can, and I want to learn as much as I can during nursing school, which in my brain equates to A's and 2) I have my eye on the prize: grad school. I slacked off at my previous college, and didn't get the grades that I wanted, but since switching to a new state and college, I have a 4.0 here and I need to keep that if I want to be competitive for admission further along the line. Simply passing is, to me, not pushing myself and makes me feel as though I didn't try as hard as I could have. Others have different lines of thinking and that OK. I don't concern myself with them, I focus on me because ultimately, it's my future career I have to worry about, not theirs.
I know my weaknesses and am fully committed to working on them so that I can be the best nurse I can be.
I like my 4.0, it looks so pretty on my transcripts. But the reason I am obsessed with getting A's is 1) I want to be the best nurse I can, and I want to learn as much as I can during nursing school, which in my brain equates to A's and 2) I have my eye on the prize: grad school. I slacked off at my previous college, and didn't get the grades that I wanted, but since switching to a new state and college, I have a 4.0 here and I need to keep that if I want to be competitive for admission further along the line. Simply passing is, to me, not pushing myself and makes me feel as though I didn't try as hard as I could have. Others have different lines of thinking and that OK. I don't concern myself with them, I focus on me because ultimately, it's my future career I have to worry about, not theirs.
I know my weaknesses and am fully committed to working on them so that I can be the best nurse I can be.
* Don't go into your first job thinking you know everything about being a nurse. You know squat.
* Do things the way your preceptor shows you. Even if you know another way. Unless the way your preceptor does it would cause serious harm to the patient, there's usually more than one way to do something.
* Do not roll your eyes at your preceptor or the other floor nurses.
* If you have a question about something your preceptor demonstrated, ask her about it when the two of you are alone. NEVER make a scene in front of a patient.
* Carry one of those little spiral notebooks with you. Jot down things you would like to study in more depth. You're an adult, that's how adults learn.
* Know that you're going to make mistakes. Any nurse who says she's never made any kind of mistake is lying to you. And herself.
* When you make a mistake, own it. If it was a relatively minor one, thank whatever deity you look to that you didn't kill your patient. If it was a serious one, be prepared for consequences. And also think of ways to make it never happen again. Managers love that.
* Asking questions and getting another brain involved when you aren't sure of something goes a long way toward avoiding those serious mistakes.
* It takes at least a year to really feel comfortable in a new job. You're going to have days when you wonder if Nursing is really for you. Like maybe you should be a Walmart greeter. Even after you're out of orientation, any preceptor worth her salt will have an occasional, casual "How's it going for you?" Answer honestly.
* Take some time to learn the unit culture. You aren't going to be an insider for awhile. Some co-workers will never be particularly friendly. That's ok. You can have a professional relationship without being besties.
This is one of the best pieces of advice that I have received about nursing. I'm a new nurse and been trying to adjust to everything that comes along with it. There is a lot of nurses eating their young where I work and it becomes intimidating at times. I'm very happy I came across this post, Lord knows I needed some encouragement. Thank you so much.
I don't think that's strictly true. I think the issue they are seeing without even knowing it is that often students who do well in school haven't met and overcome much adversity.
The first year of nursing practice is grueling and every new nurse has a lot of trouble finding the swing of things. In my experience many great students get frustrated and end up being the "nursing isn't for me" or "the old nurses are eating me" or my favorite "do I really need any experience before I get a desk/ management job". Many straight A students can't accept that there is no 100% score in floor nursing.
while B and C nurses may be more comfortable not being awesome at first but working to be ok.
as always it's really about personality, but I can see where someone could make that generalization and be more right than wrong
I couldn't have said this better. It's also similar to the "book smart vs. street smart" debate. It's good to have a good mix of both with any career. Every situation isn't going to be "straight from the book" I guess that's why some say NCLEX nursing isn't exactly REAL WORLD nursing.
Nursing is the only profession I'm aware of in which many people claim that less formal education is superior and that mediocre students are preferred.
Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.
I didn't get straight As in nursing school, and it hasn't held me back so far in my nurse life. I've only seen that "smart students make bad nurses" generalization play out a few times, mainly because those nurses couldn't adapt to the "nursing is a GREY, GREY area" of bedside nursing. Had nothing to do with their intelligence.
They are much more suited to academia: both are happily working on their DNPs as we speak.
Nursing is the only profession I'm aware of in which many people claim that less formal education is superior and that mediocre students are preferred.
It's not even close to the only profession in which people question the benefit and net effects of greater formal education requirements.
I have done some teaching -- but mostly have worked with student externs and new grads as a Staff Development Specialist. This is a big, important topic for me. This is my perspective:
1. I don't like to generalize too much because I believe it is a matter of personality that varies from individual to individual.
2. However, I have definitely seen a constellation of troublesome behaviors in many students and new grads with exceptionally high GPA's that can make it the transition period difficult. For me, the super high GPA is a "red flag" that warns me to pay special attention to this person so that I can help him/her avoid some of problems I have seen. Those problems include:
A. Not accustomed to receiving negative feedback -- and therefore, not responding to it well. Sometimes, they over-react and blow it out of proportion. Other times, they refuse to believe they need to change. It's particularly bad if the negative feedback comes from someone whose educational level or perceived intelligence level is below theirs. They "consider the source" and disregard the valid critique.
B. Competitiveness. They are used to being #1 and don't like it when other orientees are doing better, receiving more praise, progressing faster, etc. Not being used to that situation, they may not cope well.
C. Dislike of ambiguity. They are used to knowing the right answer -- and real nursing doesn't always have "1 and only 1 right answer."
D. Paralysis due to fear. They are afraid to act until they are 100% sure because they are afraid to take the risk of being wrong or making a mistake. So they double-check everything ... and then check it again ... and then ask for a 2nd opinion before they do anything. So they can be exceedingly slow and not get their work done on time. I remember 1 case in which the new grad was just too afraid to do anything on her own at all. Nursing requires well-reasoned risk-taking and more than a little bravery.
E. Sometimes, the behaviors rewarded by faculty members (with praise and good grades) are not appreciated by staff nurses and preceptors. Example: Asking too many questions, raising controversial issues or challenging the nurse at the wrong time, getting extra double-checks before doing anything, reporting possible deficiencies in the practice of others, etc.
F. Some can be dismissive of people who they deem less intelligent or less hard-working or in some other way lacking. Since they were not satisfied with "B's," they don't respect people who were happy to get "B's." Attitudes like that don't lead to good teamwork. Teamwork is critical for a successful unit -- and anyone who doesn't fit in well with the team is a "problem employee."
3. As for "C" students ... I can't say much about them because we don't usually hire them. We like people to have at least a 3.0 to show us that they have been able to master the school material well enough to move to the next level. But the 4.0's make us a little nervous because we've had some bad experiences with them as described above.
4. Years ago, I read an article in the MENSA journal (Yes, I used to be a member.) called "Accepting the Bitter with the Better." I discussed how parents think they want their child to be "gifted" -- but then get a shock when they discover that "gifted" children come with some common problems (like the ones discussed above) that they are unprepared to deal with. I have thought of that article often as I have dealt with intellectually gifted students and staff nurses who struggle to fit in with their new nursing co-workers in a world where the path to success is different than it was in school. I try to help them and their colleagues see the "bitter" for what it is and work on resolving any problems it is causing.
FYI: MENSA member me had an undergrad GPA of only 3.1 because I had extreme trouble fitting into the nursing school. It wasn't my thing. But I had no special problems with the transition to professional practice. My MSN GPA = 3.9 and my PhD GPA = 3.8. I "hit my wall" in college (after super-success in high school) and survived. Most of us "hit a wall" at some point in our lives. For some it is nursing school: for others it's the transition period: etc. The fact that it happens is not what counts -- but how we react to it defines who we are.
ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP
1 Article; 2,594 Posts
After your first year of nursing, no one is going to give a damn about your grades. I say this as someone who passed the NCLEX with 75 questions on the first try with a 3.75+ gpa. No one has asked me about my grades. They only care about my license and, in my overly saturated state, my four-year degree.