Students who get As are bad bedside nurses

bsnprg · Mar 24, 2015

Don't listen to these comments ; study, practice your skills, do all your readings, pay close attention to the lectures and when you have reviewed all the materials, join study groups ðŸ˜‰

You will be a great nurse.

If you are an organized student, you will be an organized nurse. Passing the NCLEX or getting the license wont abruptly change a person , but what you do at school now and how you practice organizational skills, time management, and managing stressful situations will change you as a person.

Good luck!

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Gooselady, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2015

I heard them too. I had A's in everything except nursing research and a couple of non-nursing classes, and felt very confident in school. At the bedside, not so confident. I went to one of my instructors about how different I felt in clinicals and she agreed and said some more 'cerebral' nurses had initial trouble because nursing is such a DOING kind of thing.

I think it is blatantly irresponsible and damaging for a nursing instructor to allow that crap to come out of her mouth. I'm a little suspicious of HER grades, and why she's an instructor in the first place, hmmm. Nothing in life is that black and white. I think she's got a big mouth and thinks too highly of her personal opinions.

I wouldn't say there is no truth whatsoever in this. And that 'book smart' versus 'clinical smart' aren't the only personal challenges for the up and coming nurse. Too much confidence is a VERY bad thing in a student nurse or new grad, and plain old annoying and potentially bad in any nurse no matter her experience level. Don't fall into this instructor's close-minded false dramas, it's just distracting you from what's before you. Not every nursing instructor is going to be a paragon of maturity or professionalism. Sounds like you have one leg up on her already.

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · Mar 24, 2015

If you're the type of person who "reads and recites" as opposed to understanding, I could see how you might get excellent grades and be a less stellar nurse. I think most people who have excellent grades in nursing school also have a good understanding of the subject matter, though.

In any case, don't feel sorry for yourself for getting high grades. If you don't pass, you can't be a good or a bad nurse.

bsnprg · Mar 24, 2015

I mean don't listen to your classmate's comments about not studying ....

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UnaNayeli · Mar 24, 2015

Fr what it's worth: Every bit of knowledge you gain makes you better able to advocate for your patient. Do what you're doing and believe what you tell yourself over the noise you will hear from others in this life. Time will tell: they cannot. Looks like you're off to a good start if you ask me!

excited1 · Mar 24, 2015

IMO, people CAN and ARE both A students and A++ nurses. People are always going to judge. As long as you are safe, advocating and have good rationale for what you are doing, to heck with what everyone else says. Sometimes people say things to make themselves feel better. Focus on you and your patients!

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Mar 24, 2015

You do need to learn in order to have a sense of WHY you are doing something, and what it means as far as the big picture (ie:patient goal).

As a pp pointed out, part of what you are learning will help you to be a better patient advocate.

Any good clinical skills you can be involved in, the better--and assessments are so important. So is knowing your resources.

Make sure that if your instructor tells you that you can do things on your own, that you are 100% sure of the process, and go over it with her before doing anything (for instance Lovenox should always be given in the abdomen stuff) JUST so you have yourself covered in the event of an error. And depending on the facility, the goal is to be able to have the patient be functional--and to give (or family member give) their own lovenox shots. You should understand why they are getting this injection, and is it a bridge to other anti-coagulants, and if there is any printed patient education that you can give to the patient to read. So in other words, it is not just the skill but the thought of how to make the skill clear to the patient.

You can get "A's" in everything, and still have no clue how to apply it. Just like people can be stellar in practice, but really not so stellar when it comes to grades. There are book smart students, and hands-on students. Grades were important in high school--honors tracks, AP classes...all to raise a GPA to be able to attend the college of one's choice. Your general education classes are sometimes grade dependent to be able to go on to the next level of becoming a nurse. Beyond that, it is a mix of what you know, and how you apply it.

I would most definitely shadow as much as you can, and at the same time, start experimenting with how you can be organized, and stay organized in the unit setting. Paper brains, clipboards, a notebook--whatever works for you organizationally. Most nurses have anywhere from 5-8 patients at a time. So one of the important things is how to keep on top of that patient load.

Finally, I would at least get the work email of any of the nurses with whom you have shadowed and worked with the most. And whose advice and guidance you most admired. Be sure to thank them for said guidance. Also, this will establish your reputation and network. Finding a job can be networking, as well as letters of recommendation some day.

Best wishes!

klone, MSN, RN · Mar 24, 2015

Hogwash.

There are people who get straight As in book learning and are awkward and uncomfortable at the bedside.

There are also people who barely pass and are equally awkward and uncomfortable.

And there are people who are the opposite.

There is no one rule.

It is true that good grades in didactics is not a great indicator of how well one will perform at the bedside. They are two different skills. But it is certainly possible to be good at the book stuff, and also be good at the hands-on stuff.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Mar 24, 2015

My knee-jerk reaction is your instructor is an idiot. Is this her way of telling you that she was an awful student, but a wonderful nurse? Or that she was a wonderful student, but is an awful nurse? Really, she can't win her via her OWN statement!

We see it here on AN all the time, people complaining that So and So never got good grades but is an excellent nurse, and Such and Such was an exceptional student but is a terrible nurse. Why do people so frequently go to extremes in these kinds of scenarios?

Here's another one: "I know plenty of LPNs who run circles around RNs" or "I know plenty of ADN RNs who run circles around BSNs".

With all this running around in circles, how is anyone ever determining WHO is good and WHO is bad?

flyersfan88 · Mar 24, 2015

When your instructor says grades aren't everything and that straight A's doesn't make the nurse...that doesn't mean she implied the opposite. You can get good grades and be a good nurse. But reciting things from a text book means nothing. It's about application. I think you misconstrued the entire point.

RobotNurse · Mar 24, 2015

Really, though, I just don't see how getting good grades is going to make me a ****** nurse. Is this something people say to make people who are earning grades they wish were better feel better, or is there truth to it? I'm trying to keep my confidence up, but I hear this sentiment several times a week, and I'm really wondering what I don't even know I'm missing.

yes. it's also a way to drag you down and make you feel insecure. it sounds like you are both patient-smart AND book-smart; if other people feel threatened or jealous because you work hard and have developed skills in both areas, they can up their game or they can keep deluding themselves with the idea that they are somehow at an advantage because they are less successful academically. don't let it affect you.

unfortunately some nursing instructors are just as bad; it's as if they don't want students to be over-confident so they go overboard in trying to make them feel as if they know nothing and are one step away from failure. you absolutely can have both people skills and academic intelligence.