Venting

[karleeek1992]

Having a hard time with clinicals. I thought I was doing extremely well, which I am I guess, but apparently my instructor doesn't think I'm more than "average". Really upset about this because not once has one of my 3 clinical instructors mentioned that I need improvement on anything, and then they give me a grade below my expectations without even talking to me about it. I just wish they'd be a little more helpful, I mean isn't that their job? I asked my main instructor at campus how they come up with these grades, because others in my group were given 100%, and she showed me. Made me feel like absolute CRAP, had me crying and everything because I never knew about all of these things I am satisfactory at until she laid everything on me all at once. A majority of those things, I might add, didn't even feel true, especially when you see the clinical instructor maybe 3 times (not including conference) for 5 minutes all day! Even the nurses I've been assigned to have given me more feedback and have ended each day saying "you're going to make an excellent nurse." I think the worst part for me is that I do so well in all of my other grades but the clinical skills brought me down to a B, whereas others in my class had B's and got brought up to an A because of the clinical skills. They get higher grades than me when my grade was originally higher than theirs. I don't know, I guess it is kind of silly to be upset about a B, because "passing is passing" but I think its just not being informed that I could be doing better that really bothers me. And I'm so used to excelling at everything, it really hurts when I don't. I'm just disappointed in myself, but I think that the situation could have been avoided entirely.

[Nienna Celebrindal]

I completely understand why you feel frustrated. They definitely handled it poorly. I've been in a similarish boat. Give yourself a day to feel like crap about it, then you just have to get over it. Nursing school is long and agonizing, if you focus on things you can't change it will wear you down and affect everything else. So give yourself time to be mad and then move on. Let me tell you, once you have that license in hand no one but you will give a crap about what your clinical grade was. Don't let them bring you down!

[duskyjewel]

Why the hell are your instructors showing you other people's grades?! That's a serious violation of federal educational privacy laws, never mind just plain ethics, and I'd be threatening to sue if I were one of those other students. I'd demand a written censure of the professor in his/her permanent personnel file before I'd back down.

[Alisonisayoshi, LVN]

I'm confused. Did the instructor show you other students grades? Or did they tell them to you?

Aside from that, your grade is your grade. It wasn't given to you to hurt your feelings or spite you or ruin your life. It is a reflection, usually based on a rubric, of your instructors evaluation of your performance. I really don't understand why people seem to think it's okay to negotiate for better grades.

I have found that if I concern myself more with my grades, rather than the grades of my classmates, I tend to get better grades in general.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I'm confused. Did the instructor show you other students grades? Or did they tell them to you?

I thought that the OP stated that they broke down how they grade; I HOPE they are not revealing grades.