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

Specializes in Home Health, Family Medicine.

I have been a nurse since 1993, we have a college here that graduates nursing students so one of there clinical sites happens to be with our facility. Most of the students go with me during clinicals. I have to say I have absolutely no idea what there grades are when they go with me but I can tell which ones are going to be good nurses and which ones aren't by their interactions with the patients. I guess what I am saying is grades don't have to be everything, and hiring should not be all about grades. The patients I've talked to after students leave usually have the same ideas I did about which ones are going to be good and which ones aren't. Nursing is not a glamour job but it is very rewarding if you are there for the right reasons and that can't be graded.

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GPA is one predictor of performance. It is by no means a perfect predictor.

Example: Google (the company) had been putting great stock in GPAs as performance predictor. Lately, however, Google has scaled back their weighting of the GPA factor in making hiring decisions. Note: This is Google!, the nirvana for academic propeller heads. For Google to say that GPA isn't necessarily the bottom line, is saying a lot.

Another example: Way back in the 1970s, I remember reading how a medical school (was it Michigan State's?) discovered that the doctors who were rated as being the most effective several years out of medical school were those who had B averages upon entry into medical school, not A averages. As I recall, this medical school (whatever school it was) subsequently reduced their emphasis on GPAs when admitting students, because they wanted to optimize the quality of their doctor output.

In related area, Bill Gates of Microsoft said in one of his books that he, at first, put great stock in gigantic SAT scores and IQs. For example, the current CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, had double 800s on the SATs. Later on, however, Gates said that he discovered these numbers aren't necessarily "fungible" (his word) as far as performance is concerned.

I myself had straight As in nursing school, but I will tell you right away that there were better nurses who had C averages. They had a much better feel of how to proceed during chaotic periods on the floor, etc. Often, these were nurses who immediately after leaving class went home to take care of their own children and maybe held down a job to boot. Too bad there isn't some way to factor having children and a job during school into new grad hiring decisions.

Though I have an A average transcript, I know I am not the greatest nurse by a long shot. I know what I am all about: I am better at methodical book learning, and dealing with one to three patients, than dealing with a huge "real life" workload quickly, which of course is what much of the nursing world is about.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I don't know where I fall. I have made As, Bs, and Cs, in school. I've made all kinds of grades.

I wish more C students would come in and stand up for themselves. Honestly, everyone that has come into this thread has claimed to be a staright A or B student. there is no shame in admitting that you are a C student. I know I've made Cs and I'm proud of myself.

I for one would have no problem admitting what grades I made. (I don't start nursing school until August) I know I am a smart intelligent person with a great personality to boot. Will I completely blow off my family to have those few extra hours to get that 98% if I had the choice?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! If I know the material, and I feel confident that I know the material, I would enjoy those extra hours with my family. If I ended up getting a B or low A I would sleep just fine at night.

Good grades to me are important. BUT they are not the end all of me. While I will not do just the minimum to get C's, I will not kill myself to get perfect scores either.

I am one of those people that does not freak out when it comes to test time. I don't sit there after I finish the test for an hour going over every question 5 times. You either know it or you don't. IMO

I study for my classes, but I don't spend 30-40 hours a week studying like some kids talk about. I don't have the patience for that.

No silly person on a message board though could EVER make me doubt what kind of Nurse I "am" or will be though over what kind of grades I pull.

It's been mentioned many times, an A in someone program might be a B in others, and a B in someones program might be a C in an others. So some of the people here talking about their perfect A's or B's might really be B and C students in comparison. YIKES the horror of it all HAHA

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Shouldn't we all be a little divisive in this profession? We have all worked with those that are really only in it for the pay. We have all worked with those that don't give 100% every day. We have all worked short because of those that just didn't feel like coming in that day.

Don't the patients deserve a little better than that?

And no self centered does not describe me at all. In fact, I am quite selfless. Part of why I want to be a nurse. I believe a caring nurse gives of herself to care for her patient.

Well the great thing is, you will have no idea what kinds of grades your Nurse or your Co Workers made. Who is to say you really even have a 4.2. Anyone can claim to be anything they want.

Seriously if we all had badges that said what grades we made, and you were coming into a trauma room as a Pt. and the only nurse on hand to do CPR on you was a C nurse, are you going to wait for the A nurse to come do it?

A Nurses make Mistakes, B nurses make mistakes, Look how many Doctors make mistakes and they have to make even better grades then nurses in school.

No one is immune to mistakes because we are all HUMANS. Getting C's in nursing school doesn't mean you are going to be a Bad nurse and getting A's doesn't mean you are going to be an excellent nurse. There is so much more to nursing then a grade.

Ask many of the nurses on these very boards. So many of them have said that school compares NOTHING to real life nursing. The most everything they "learned" was their first years actually WORKING as a nurse.

If I am a Pt. in a trauma room, I want the nurse that KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING. I don't care if that means they made A's B's or C's shoot if the janitor can preform CPR and they are the only one available, then by all means, I will be GRATEFUL to whoever saved my life.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.

No silly person on a message board though could EVER make me doubt what kind of Nurse I "am" or will be though over what kind of grades I pull.

That's the most intelligent statement I've read on this entire thread.

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I think we have forgotten that in school, a "C" is considered average, and anything above a "C" is above average. So, it's not as if a nursing student making C's is below par in any way...they still have the adequate knowledge to provide safe, quality care to patients. What we also need to remember is that knowledge is something that is ongoing, even after nursing school we will continue to learn new information, however, compassion and a passion for helping others can't be taught - you either have it or you don't, and as a "C" student who just graduated with a 3.2 GPA, I have every confidence I will be a TREMENDOUS nurse, because I love helping others! :yeah:

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80 students, 2 theory classes, 1 lab, and 1 clinical. 21 students looking to re enter next years program, some looking for a spot in the LPN program. Zero with a 4.0.

It may be great to strive for perfection. I will begin to strive for perfection in my practice as well. I can learn and retain only so much in the books and 2 clinicals a week for 2 years but to experience it in my practice and build that knowledge base is what will make me a great nurse.

I have to provide for my family while at school. I support my wife and 3 children and work 40 hours a week. I barely know my children till after finals. Even our mid term breaks and Holidays are filled with activities and projects. There is never a break till finals it seems. I had 4.0 with all pre req. With NCLEX style tests and brutal team teaching courses I am happy with one B and one C since lab and clinicals are not graded (P/F).

I wouldn't have the time to make straight marks. Its an impossibility for me. For those that do hats off to ya but your preceptor or mentorship will show your true skills. One of the smartest people I met in class this year failed Psyche because of a language barrier. She is a RN from another country. She knows the human body inside and out but lacks the language to understand clearly the concepts of Psychology of nursing. I will miss her greatly! :(

Sorry for rant

Musky

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After 34 yrs. of working as a nurse, in both the clinical setting as well in an administrative position, I see that the majority of "A" students have an overwhelming amount of book sense, but very little common sense. It seems they have been so "trained" in how to pass a test, that they have a limited base to truely assess a real patient. The nurses who are not your "A" student seem to have more common, as well as, Patient sense. These nurses are easier to mentor and seem to not have that "I already know it all" attitude. As much as the book work is needed, nursing students need more clinical time to help avoid that completely overwhelmed first day on the job feeling I'm sure they all have. A little more time careing for real patients helps tremendously to curb a lot of that new nurse anxiety.:loveya:

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See.. I knew that someone would find something negative in my post, even though I agreed with both sides LOL! This is what I mean. It's the attitude. I may make a C tomorrow, but it sure won't be that I did not study that material back and forth. If I make a C, I want to know why and what I did not understand. I don't need to know 75% of how to calculate medication. I need to know 100%, or I better know where to find out.

To the poster who said that a C is a C. You are correct, I'm withdrawing the statement that it is OK to be bogged down with life and not have time to LEARN the material. So let me say this again. Is family important, or murdering someone because you were sleepy in class that day when they were explaining about a safety precaution. I'll take no murder for $200.

I guess it all depends on how you look at things. My kids..totally understand that mommy is trying to learn to care for a dying person. They totally understand. Why don't we?

seriously I dont understand the point you are trying to make.Family vs.murder?Say what? I think you meant negligence?You really dont have to get As to use common sense and put up the siderails,plus if your child is sick and you fail to take care of him arent you "murdering him as well per say:rolleyes:

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I never knew this! Could you please post the study/link where these points were taken from? I would love to show this to some of the Nursing instructors that bring their students through the Hospital for clinicals! Thanks!

Seriously,this is the worse stereotyping I saw in the long time!

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Well the great thing is, you will have no idea what kinds of grades your Nurse or your Co Workers made. Who is to say you really even have a 4.2. Anyone can claim to be anything they want.

LOL:))))

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Well the great thing is, you will have no idea what kinds of grades your Nurse or your Co Workers made. Who is to say you really even have a 4.2. Anyone can claim to be anything they want.

LOL:))))

We are all wildly intelligent and beautiful on line!

I cannot believe this thread is still going :deadhorse.

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