What is YOUR opinion on nursing school exams?

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Hi everyone. So yeah we took some exams this week. The one for Fundamentals of Nursing I didn't necessarily bomb it but I was still unhappy with my grade. But really the test to me made no sense whatsoever and the answers to most of the questions were solely based on someone else's clinical opinion. Any RN of high stature (practitioner, DSN, etc.) would highly disagree with some of the things presented on the exam as being the "best" thing for a nurse to do. How do I know that? Because I have books from highly distinguised nurses and doctors and they are all up to date on what is going on and why is that....well because they are currently in the clinical setting and not just somewhere writing books about past experiences. So the bottom line is....these tests are used to weed people out. Yeah I said it. And to all the "saints" in the forum hold your response because I feel like I can say what I want here.

Ladies and gentlemen, weeding season has begun. They use these tests to weed out people who can not read between the shullbit. The teachers teach from different books than the ones "recommended" for the course. Ha! I've already found my way around that. And also they contradict themselves in lecture because things are so different on exams. They mess with your head by throwing this useless crap in lectures that never shows up on tests. So yes, it is weeding season. I just hope you guys don't get plucked out of your programs. It's a conspiracy with nursing school. Just look at the healthcare industry and then ask yourself also why did half of those instructors decide to become instructors instead of being active nurses. I have one instructor who looks to be about 38-40 years old who said she hadn't worked in the clinical setting in 15 years and her lectures are the very worst lectures because she does not know much nor does she follow the book but then they have the nerve to try and make the tests difficult. That stuff is not critical thinking it is just mindless bs with some of the answers. "They are all right, you just have to choose the best one". The best one according to who? To you, to Lippincott, to Mosby, to who?????!!!!!!! I have done a 4 yr stint in college prior to this and I have taken many a test where you had to utilize critical thinking and nursing school has yet to show me critical thinking. Half of the examples they use for "critical thinking" actually isn't critical thinking at all its just using common sense with a little bit of nursing knowledge thrown in. So yeah Im not fond of the tests that some of these people are giving and I feel it is just a way to weed people out. If you weed people out you have a low graduation class, which leads to a continual shortage in nursing, which perpetuates the problems in healthcare. I just wanted to know what do you guys think or how do you feel about the tests that are given in your program.

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Wow, sorry your program approaches it that way. Sounds like the opposite of my program.

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I agree with the previous post, my nursing school is nothing like this, and it sucks that the people are supposed to be teaching you don't know what they're teaching. All of my instructors worked in the clinical setting for 10+ years, and all but the head of the program (whom doesn't actually teach anymore but is present for check-offs, sometimes at clinical, etc.) just came off of the floor within the last 5 years.

Also, as far as textbooks go, we have a set list of them, and a course outline that tells us what information will be coming from what book. For example, we needed to buy Saunder's Fluids and Electrolytes book, but it was for clarification purposes, and the test itself would come from Potter & Perry's Fundamentals of Nursing. Also, our instructors are accessible, which helps a lot.

Thing is, the difference between a good nursing school and a bad nursing school isn't the books used, or the amount of time spent in lecture, but the instructors teaching it.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

Sorry you're having such a bad experience! At my school, all of our profs are still involved in clinical nursing. Most of them work w/e @ a local hospital. One does w/e @ an IPU (hospice). Our tests are all NCLEX style with questions taken from lecture/pp/textbooks.

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Specializes in CNA.
I just wanted to know what do you guys think or how do you feel about the tests that are given in your program.

I should probably wait until I cool off before posting this, but oh well. I just took the second exam of the semester and it left me scratching my head and thinking some of the same thoughts you posted. I did fine - 88%, but many of my study partners just bombed it.

The test had a lot of straight up trick questions, strangely worded questions, and questions on material not covered at all during lecture. The entire class focused on the material that was presented in lecture; we worked dang hard on this challenging material. We used NCLEX practice questions from our Lewis Study Guide, Evolve NCLEX questions and case studies, Saunders and other NCLEX based review materials. Then the exam barely covers anything we studied.

This left me asking, "What are they trying to accomplish here?" Too many questions were formatted so a person who was very familiar with the material was likely to be tricked into selecting the "wrong" correct answer. None of the NCLEX guides I used had questions like this. They had good, challenging questions that assessed knowledge and depth of familiarity with the material.

Now, I know nursing tests are hard and often you get obscure or roundabout test questions. That's cool, but this exam just had too many of them. It looked like it's purpose was to fill bodybags. One student started breaking down during the test, and when he received his score (instantly scored on the computer) sobbed loudly with his face in his hands. While others were taking the test.

Nice one, professor. Is this what you wanted? Does this make you happy? A student works his tail off studying the material you present then you don't include this material on the exam. Now a few more students who very well may know the material and are doing very well in clinicals are failing Theory. What is the point of this?

I'll be fine. I have a very high average and if the world ends, I'll get a B. No problem. But for many others, who worked hard and learned the material, this is just not the case and it doesn't sit well with me.

I've kicked around the idea of becoming a Nursing School Instructor and I have had classmates and instructors tell me how good I would be at it. But I don't think I can do it. I suppose instructors have to look at failing students like a working nurse considers patients who pass away. They cannot internalize or share the suffering when a student fails.

I work in hospice, home care and LTC. I've had scores of patients who have died. But dammit, I didn't freaking kill them. I never made it my job to kill them or go out of my way to hurt them and I never notched my belt or headboard when they died.

I'll be a good nurse, but I swore today I would never be a Nursing instructor because I don't want to become like that.

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I found fundamentals at my school to be very similar. It changed after that, it was a lot more clear cut. Harder, more material, but less of the ambiguous crap. Good luck, hang in there. Sadly many of us have been in this same situation.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

I found your post to be rather humorous. I love the fact that you complain about material that is presented on exams, but has never been lectured upon in class. Did you not receive a syllabus? If you did, does it not tell you want chapters you need to read for each week? Why do you feel it’s the professor’s responsibility to cover every bit of information from the chapters? You’re in college now. It is expected that you read, take additional notes, and ask questions on topics not understood.

As for the differences in what your professor says versus the textbook, do you suppose that it is possible the information has changed? I mean, evidence-based research drives nursing practice. It could be argued that last year, yes a particular method of doing a dressing change was acceptable and the professor was not aware of the new change per the newest textbook edition.

Don’t assume the professor who has not worked the floor in a while is a bad professor. I can introduce you to a couple of my professors who have 30+ years of experience, but who are horrible professors. In fact, my plan after graduating is to get a couple of years experience and begin teaching. I am choosing to do this not because I am horrible in clinical or in the classroom. I find education to be an interesting area of nursing, so I plan to pursue it.

I don’t think the nursing courses are “weed-out” courses. I find the students just aren’t cut out to make it through the program. It’s more than just studying. It is understanding the material and applying it. I don’t think you have a clear picture of this yet. Just wait until you get into Adult Health 2 and Critical Care.

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Wow, I guess I am lucky b/c I don't feel that way about our test. We have only taken one test in Fundamentals and I think the class average was about an 85% so that wasn't too bad for a first test. We have our second test next week and I am scared. I do study and it does specifically indicate in our syllabus that the test can include questions from the chapters, power points and lecture. There are defintely some questions that have two good answers and like you said we have to know which one is the "best" answer. The professor did give everyone a point for one of the questions even though we got the wrong answer because over 60% of the class got it wrong so I thought that was very fair. Nursing school is tuff no doubt. I mean there are really no second chances. Demonstrations are the worst, you have 2 chances if you fail the second time you are out of the program, period. So far I think my professors are very fair. The demonstrations are difficult b/c each instructor is different so one may fail you for something another one would not so you just never know.

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Specializes in CNA.
I found your post to be rather humorous. I love the fact that you complain about material that is presented on exams, but has never been lectured upon in class.

I found your post to be derogatory and offensive.

You love it and it's funny when someone suffers? How nice for you. I also complained about my exam and I also did fine. But I questioned the purpose of many of the questions, especially after seeing some good students get blindsided.

Part of being a nursing school instructor is dealing with students who can't cut it or fail for one reason or another. That's part of the job. Just like being a working nurse often means dealing with patients who die. However, nurses don't revel in the joy of these deaths or find them funny. And they certainly don't actively kill anyone.

The problem with the tone of your post is that it sounds like you can't wait to start doing the killing/weeding out.

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I found your post to be derogatory and offensive.

You love it and it's funny when someone suffers? How nice for you. I also complained about my exam and I also did fine. But I questioned the purpose of many of the questions, especially after seeing some good students get blindsided.

Part of being a nursing school instructor is dealing with students who can't cut it or fail for one reason or another. That's part of the job. Just like being a working nurse often means dealing with patients who die. However, nurses don't revel in the joy of these deaths or find them funny. And they certainly don't actively kill anyone.

The problem with the tone of your post is that it sounds like you can't wait to start doing the killing/weeding out.

Part of being a nurse is realizing that different people have different communication styles....or you can just walk around getting offended by people, it's up to you.

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Specializes in CNA.
Part of being a nurse is realizing that different people have different communication styles....or you can just walk around getting offended by people, it's up to you.

Different people are different? Wow, that's deep.

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Different people are different? Wow, that's deep.

Yup, that's exactly what I said....good work on your reading comprehension!

See, what I wrote above is sarcasm....it is a part of a communication style. These styles not only vary greatly from person to person, but also regionally and culturally.

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