Should I not look back at nursing ever again?

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I need some guidance. Sadly, I did not pass my Med-Surg 2. The clinical instructor failed me for clinical because of potential unsafe medication administration. While asking me questions, she felt that I did not catch unto the patient information and medication information fast enough to provide safe administration. She gave me an F for failing the entire course and clinical. I was heartbroken, upset, and angry but I understood why it came to be.

I came into the BSN nursing programs with A's and B's in my pre-req and nursing courses. This is my first failure and I was shocked...I am a hardworking and determined student. I felt that this F do not define me. I was given the chance to retake the course but I was conflicted in the amount of stress, disappointment, and lack of confidence to succeed in the program. Then, I switched my major to the health science at the end of my junior year. I am a rising senior now. I would say I have "failed out" of nursing school since I did not re-take med-surg 2.

I have heard students who go off to nursing school with their BS degree in health science. If I take this route, I do not know if I will be able to succeed if I go into nursing school again. I feel as though my confidence has been completely shattered from my past experience. Out of my experience, I can say that I had good experiences with the patients and nurses I've met on the floor. I've had only bad experiences with the clinical professor. However, I felt that nursing school was overall extremely stressful and many professors were less accommodating to student's needs.

I have also realized there are other health professions that also involves patient-oriented focus such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, lab technician etc. Part of me wants to go into a different health profession and the other wants to take some time to gain enough experiences to give nursing school one more try in the future. However, again, I feel that this occurrence in Med surg 2 tells me I may not be competent to be a nurse. It's a very difficult decision for me because I came with the determination and motivation to succeed to this upsetting result. I have never imagined it would come to be this way.

I would like to hear anyone's suggestion on this. I am 21 years old and I have some time to think about whether I should stick with nursing or go into something else.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.

Nobody escapes nursing school unscathed. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. Nurses who make it are strong, determined, and don't back out of a fight.

If if you had a patient who said "I want to live, please help me!" had a 50 year smoking history, was total care, MRSA/VRE, stage 4 cancer, and was doing badly, would you say that it's not worth trying to save them because "the amount of stress, disappointment, and lack of confidence to succeed"was too much?

Of course not! And you have to decide for yourself if your nursing career has a DNR or wants to live too!

You said that this one F doesn't define you, but if you quit then you will have decided that it, in fact, DID!

Now get back in there and make sure your student loans weren't for nothing!! :mad: :up: :yes:

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That's terrible. You didn't fail a Academic class but failed according to the instructor a 'action' you stated (potential unsafe medication administration) and you continued to say it (wasn't fast enough.) Actions are subjective and many times nothing more then an opinion. Yes your instructor has that opinion and responsibility to make sure your professional and safe. Not knowing all the details but on face value it seems to me to more so reflect a failure on your instructor to properly teach. After all, your skills are a reflection of her teaching. No one should fail clinicals unless it was a medical error or you didn't follow policy. If you didn't measure up, to her speed, that subjective unless it is stated in the program. You should of appealed the grade. It might not change the results but it would call to account your instructors actions and more times then not if it where to be investigated could reveal the failure was the instructor and not yours. You should be sitting in office of the school dean and express yourself to him or her instead of here. We can't change things but the Dean can.

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That's terrible. You didn't fail a Academic class but failed according to the instructor a 'action' you stated (potential unsafe medication administration) and you continued to say it (wasn't fast enough.) Actions are subjective and many times nothing more then an opinion. Yes your instructor has that opinion and responsibility to make sure your professional and safe. Not knowing all the details but on face value it seems to me to more so reflect a failure on your instructor to properly teach. After all, your skills are a reflection of her teaching. No one should fail clinicals unless it was a medical error or you didn't follow policy. If you didn't measure up, to her speed, that subjective unless it is stated in the program. You should of appealed the grade. It might not change the results but it would call to account your instructors actions and more times then not if it where to be investigated could reveal the failure was the instructor and not yours. You should be sitting in office of the school dean and express yourself to him or her instead of here. We can't change things but the Dean can.

We only heard one side of the story. I believe some people fail clinical, not because their instructor doesn't do their part trying to teach them, but in some cases because the student isn't progressing or never will. Just because a person got into nursing school doesn't mean they will graduated or even should be in nursing school.

Your signature suggests you are an NP. If so, did everyone in your program really belong in the program? Did everyone pass, including boards, the first time?

OP, I'm not saying you should have failed clinical. You could have gotten a raw deal. I don't know both sides of the story but they offered you a second chance. Many times they won't do this if they feel there is no hope. I've known several people who failed clinical only to go back and do fine. Then there are those who don't.

I guess your answer lies in the question, do you want to be a nurse?

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I suppose that's the question I'm asking myself. I still want to be part of helping patients which I decided to go for nursing because nurses provides the patient care. Yet, I realize I do not necessarily have to be a nurse to help others. I am thinking whether I should try for a different healthcare profession which measures to my strengths and ability.

I still admire the compassion, strength, and bravery nurses go through daily. It is not an easy job. I have found this the hard way, unfortunately.

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Are you telling us everything OP? I'm not calling you a liar or anything, I just find it strange that you failed a course because of an instructors opinion. Also, why wouldn't you just repeat the course? If you were in Med Surg 2, then you were likely in your final or 2nd to last semester, correct? Please keep us informed on your decision.

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Are you telling us everything OP? I'm not calling you a liar or anything, I just find it strange that you failed a course because of an instructors opinion. Also, why wouldn't you just repeat the course? If you were in Med Surg 2, then you were likely in your final or 2nd to last semester, correct? Please keep us informed on your decision.

The point I'm trying to come across is that I failed clinical, that is my reality and my feelings toward it. I am not trying to change the situation because the event already happened. It was the instructor opinion but she deemed me as potentially unsafe. I am evaluating some of my strengths and weakness to determine whether I should try nursing school again. I see myself as someone who strives to improve and succeed but the fact that I worked hard throughout the semester and got this result makes me think about if nursing was really the profession for me. I ask some questions to myself, "Am I competent?" "What do I lack?" "How can I emotionally handle this for my patients?"

I am passionate about helping my patients but feel conflicted whether I can achieve this goal through nursing. That is the main reason I seeked for some guidance.

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Specializes in Allergy/ENT, Occ Health, LTC/Skilled.

Did you get a debriefing from the clinical professor and your other nursing professors? For example, saying XYZ events occurred however many times and this is why we feel we need to hold you back. In my experience, if someone fails out due to the clinical portion, the student is given a clear run down of what happened. Were you ever evaluated before the dismissal and given tools to correct your mistakes and did not do it? I feel like we need more info about what lead up to the dismissal.

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If the school admins thought you could not do it, they would not have given you a chance to repeat the course. You are the person who is now failing you. Before you give up nursing completely, consider an LPN program. That might be just what you need to boost your clinical confidence and the LPN license should ease your way back into this, or another, RN program. Just something to consider.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Any nursing program you apply for will investigate your previous nursing program experience and uncover the fact that you left due to a failing grade. This may make any sort of nursing program 're-entry' very challenging for you.

To me - leaving a nursing program because of one failure is like responding to a flat tire by slashing the other 3.... Coping with adversity (even situations of our own creation) builds resilience and adaptability. Don't let a bad experience determine your fate. I'm speaking from my own experience. You know the old saying "everything happens for a reason".... well, in my case the reason was usually because I made a really bad decision.

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There are hardly any students in my upcoming nursing class that are 21 or younger. You have a lot of time left for your career, and you can have multiple careers as they arise.

I heard tons of people in my previous nursing class are on anti-anxiety medications, and shake before tests. You are not alone--you are never the only one experiencing what you are feeling. If you want to be a nurse, I would wait until you are ready to take it on so that you don't repeat what happened before.

I'm in my 30s, and feel like being my age has an advantage--I've lived through more than the younger students and have experienced more situations. Not that it won't be hard for me either. I don't have any experience in the medical field. It is hard to be my age and just starting a new career, but that's how my life panned out.

I wouldn't give up if you want to be a nurse, especially since they let people in your program re-take clinical. However, if you are just over it, then find a career you will be happy in. You can always go back to nursing, it is only 2 years or so for an ADN or BSN.

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Girl friend! You better PREACH. That was well put!

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