Reading alot of posts discussing "A" nursing students vs "C" nursing students

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I still want to voice my opinion. Lately, I've been reading alot of post discussing "A" nursing students verses "C" nursing students. It breaks my heart that there are students that are so hung up on grades that they rather want an "A" nurse taking care of them over a "C" nurse. Come on now ! When was the last time a patient asked you what your GPA was ? When was the last time as a patient yourself you asked your nurse what her GPA was ? Nursing school is stressful enough and while I strive everyday to make A's on exams I don't. I started out with A's and now I'm hanging around with high C's. Don't me wrong, I take NS and my grades very seriously... the only difference is that I don't let my grades whether A's or C's determine what kind of nurse I'll be. I graduate in a few weeks and I'm not sure if I'll still have my above 3.0 average, but I tell you one thing I'm still going to hold my head up high and take care of patients to the best of my ability . I'll still be a nurse and no less of a nurse then my classmates that got A's through nursing school. These are nursing exams, the real test starts when you start working and providing competent care to patients. So I'm saying enough is enough ! To you students who are A students I want to give you a big :clphnds: I know you deserve your A and worked hard for it. For you students who are " C " students I want to give you a big :clphnds: as well and you also worked hard for you grade as well. No one goes into nursing school wanting to make C's all the time, however it happens. I haven't met one student that said" I'm studying my butt off for that C. Students now days are so caught up in grades instead of the true meaning of nursing. :crying2:When my pt. comes in with cardiac arrest and is in alot of pain he won't care what grades I got, he cares about my compassionate and me providing good quality care. Come on A and C students can't we all get back to what nursing really is about.A nurse is a nurse . Once you pass that nclex you are a nurse:nurse:

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I'm done you all can yell at me now. :sofahider

This is pretty much what I am saying. I think those that put their all into what they are passionate about are the ones we need. The rest need to rethink what they are doing. Some seem to think I am some kind of self centered, narcissistic, divisive snot or something. I'm not. I just feel that the healthcare arena really is no place for people that are not willing to sacrifice to be overachievers in all they do. Isn't that what the patient wants and needs and pays for?

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Family medicine.
I didn't even finish reading your response. I am a lousy test taker! So? It doesn't mean I don't know the info. Sometimes its just how a question is asked that makes me second guess myself or even the person asking it can be so intimidating to me.

That is just something that takes time to get over. I wasn't given a whole lot of responsibility as a child and when I had to get out there and make decisions it showed.

Some instructors act like they can't wait to make fun of students by puttting them on-the-line I call it. I used to freeze up, but I got over that.

Please instructors I am asking that you give your students the time-of-day and treat them like human being....you will get more in return if you do!

Queen777, just a suggestion, your response will never hold any weight if you respond by stating...."I didn't even finish reading your response." This is someone that hires. The better approach might be, "what do you suggest a C student do to improve his/her chances of being hired?"

I know this all seems very personal, but the fact is, as humans, we'd like to have everything be black-and-white, but it is not. We can't help but allow our personal experiences and subjective opinions affect what we do.

You cannot change the grades that you have been given in school, but you CAN learn how to take peoples' responses with a grain of salt if you do not agree and continue to be the best nurse you can be. It is a great way to learn how to work with differences in the workplace. Unfortunately, we don't always agree.

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Specializes in Renal/Cardiac.
This is pretty much what I am saying. I think those that put their all into what they are passionate about are the ones we need. The rest need to rethink what they are doing. Some seem to think I am some kind of self centered, narcissistic, divisive snot or something. I'm not. I just feel that the healthcare arena really is no place for people that are not willing to sacrifice to be overachievers in all they do. Isn't that what the patient wants and needs and pays for?

Over achievers are NOT always straight A students I was on average a B student and I was known in my class as a overachiever ---so again staight A people do not have the corner market on that and I also have what they call "test anxiety" so this is why I wasn't a straight A student and I imagine that some of the C student are probably also the same way--not all C students are bad

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I know some instructors are hard on their students, but at the same time, our society has turned out a lot of people that have a crazy sense of entitlement without earning it. No sense of responsibility, or accountability. The instructors need to keep us on our toes, and ready to take on some very difficult situations and not "wimp out". Sometimes the last chance to weed out those that are not up to what is needed out there, is in the last part of the program. I'm not saying there aren't some really awful instructors out there, because there certainly are. There are a lot more great ones. And they really are doing what needs to be done to satisfy the demand for nurses that can achieve and surpass the hectic and stressful job of nursing.

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Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
I didn't even finish reading your response. I am a lousy test taker! So? It doesn't mean I don't know the info. Sometimes its just how a question is asked that makes me second guess myself or even the person asking it can be so intimidating to me.

That is just something that takes time to get over. I wasn't given a whole lot of responsibility as a child and when I had to get out there and make decisions it showed.

Some instructors act like they can't wait to make fun of students by puttting them on-the-line I call it. I used to freeze up, but I got over that.

Please instructors I am asking that you give your students the time-of-day and treat them like human being....you will get more in return if you do!

By the way intelligence does not equal those that perform. One girl I went to LPN school with was an A student across the line, but she let another student intimidate her and she quit just because the other girl said something about the way she took a B/P.

I found out later that the intimidator had attended a college in Miami and was almost finished with her RN degree when she dropped out for some reason. So when both were in our class both got top grades, too probably in contention with each other. But since the one dropped outed out the other girl got the scholorship to finish her RN degree which she almost had anyway. We always wondered how she could work 3-11 and sleep in class and still have the highest grades. I found out later too after the program was over all of this was very hush hush!

Besides even though I didn't make it to go into the second phase of nursing as an RN student, I later had a job working as the desk nurse on a subacute floor. Lots of stuff happened too and I was put there, I didn't want the title,but my boss said I was better than most of his RNs! You just never know what you can do until you try!

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Specializes in Tele/PCU/ICU/Stepdown/HH Case Management.
this has got to be the most nauseating thread i have ever read! although i agree that people should obviously strive to do their best while in school, i think it's insane to compare grades with one another. i assure you that in my school, with the way they do the grading system, my b is technically higher than some of your as. in other schools, the system may be higher than ours. i was a 4.0 student (prereqs) before starting actual nursing school. now, i'm a 3.something. not only was the content much harder, but the grading system changed. you have to make an 86% at my school to be considered a b student. that's the very lowest percent to make a b. no rounding up at my school, no bonuses. so, to compare one nursing program to another is absolute stupidity. there are lots of c students in my program, some graduated with an 85%, and they are still c students! you guys need to get a grip. i can tell you that i worked my butt off for my b. my school ( a community college) is well known for the wonderful nurses it produces. hospitals love to hire our nursing students. tons of clinical time, and tough curriculum. then of course, one needs to also look at the person as a whole. some people are raising families without outside help. some people have serious health problems. some are so broke that they eat ramen noodles every night. some have dealt with death of loved ones, divorce, loss of homes, etc. while in the program. some have dealt with multiples of these issues! at what point did you guys stop critically thinking? if you judge your patients like you judge others, i'd hate to be in their shoes! it's terrific to be proud of your accomplishments, but pride comes at a cost when you let it consume you. passing judgment on others (like i've read here) is a definant character flaw!

i reiterate!

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Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
I'm not looking forward to work with arrogant people,seriously.Strange class you had hmmmm since you claim to have such outstanding grades,99%of my class had no time to party.

I would not want to work with you! You have no idea what it takes on the floor because you are still a student. You don't have full responsibility yet. And you will continue to miss your children's everything because you are working hard, still. C nurses are great and I am one of them. There is so little that you have studied that you will actually use in the work place. Most of it is hands on, at least for me, and lots of asking questions.

No one showed me in school how to preservere over unclogging a feeding tube, how to empty a foley cath while another pt is going into a diabetic coma, what to do when a pt pulls out a trach, or what to do when another nurse takes the phone out of your hand while you are repaging a doctor and she hangs up the phone after saying "cancel call". Or how you respond when the

DON expects you to work all by yourself on 11-7 between 2 floors, which is against the law, but she says to you ,"Just wing it".

You have a lot to learn if you think a C nurse is not capable of what you can do on the floor!

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Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
I would not want to work with you! You have no idea what it takes on the floor because you are still a student. You don't have full responsibility yet. And you will continue to miss your children's everything because you are working hard, still. C nurses are great and I am one of them. There is so little that you have studied that you will actually use in the work place. Most of it is hands on, at least for me, and lots of asking questions.

No one showed me in school how to preservere over unclogging a feeding tube, how to empty a foley cath while another pt is going into a diabetic coma, what to do when a pt pulls out a trach, or what to do when another nurse takes the phone out of your hand while you are repaging a doctor and she hangs up the phone after saying "cancel call". Or how you respond when the

DON expects you to work all by yourself on 11-7 between 2 floors, which is against the law, but she says to you ,"Just wing it".

You have a lot to learn if you think a C nurse is not capable of what you can do on the floor!

Sorry this was mean for the little party girl who doesn't like C nursing students!

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Family medicine.

Can we please put this thread out of it's misery?? :eek:

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let's see, I am not a little party girl. I don't party at all, and I actually don't think much of the students that do and are slackers because of it. I am a 41 year old wife and mother working my butt off for my grades. Also, I work on a med/surg floor in a 500 bed hospital in Kansas City. I have worked here for 7 years as an aide and I can tell you exactly how difficult it is.

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The whole "C's get degrees" bugs be because I have worked my butt off for my A's and B's. I never got anything less than a B on any of my classes. I never went to any of the school parties, I missed out on my grandfathers funeral, I missed out on many family gatherings, I did extra clinical hours, I had no social life...so for some one with a C average to compare my degree to theirs with words like that...Well, I am just glad that I did all those things because in this economy employers can chose to be selective and stating that I graduated with honors, along with all the other extra stuff, was impressive to them.

So was really worth missing out on major life events-ie grandfather? is this only about the grades the book learning? if it is nothing but book knowledge does that mean that is the only way of knowing does that mean the person with the As know how to apply the knowledge to reall life and lower grades do not?

in a conversion with a person you should be able to predcit how well the application of knowledge is- that is the real point the application and interaction with people and not with the books

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Some of the problem with this is that it can go either way.

Some people make C's because they just don't apply themselves and READ like they are suppose to for an understanding. Then you have people who makes C's because they have 3 kids and a husband and they are studying in between and have a job as well. THOSE are the C students I commend. EVERYBODY else, IMO, should be STRIVING for an A, because the objective is to learn and know the material for future reference. I get very frustrated with some classmates that think that its just for the grade. No! It's to learn how to be a nurse so you won't KILL PEOPLE!

I would much rather have a nurse that made A's and B's than someone who felt like kicking back and sliding by with just reading the outline's. To me, this low level of expectation from one's " self" is what is killing the nursing industry right now. This is coming from someone with a fulltime job, 2 kids and in a fulltime nursing program with A's. It can be done! Just... READ!

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