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.

I was implying that the OP is rationalizing why he/she did poorly on the test. Not to rationalize to find the correct answer.

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Agree

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At my school it is no secret that the first year instructors ARE there to make or break us and weed out the weak. They pretty much said that at orientation. So far, they've managed to get rid of 6 and several more are failing. We'll see what things are like in January when the next semester begins.

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I'm beginning to wonder can some nurses be corrupt like some cops. Just a musing. Because, seriously, some get on a power trip with a one way ticket that they will never come back from.

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At my school it is no secret that the first year instructors ARE there to make or break us and weed out the weak. They pretty much said that at orientation. So far, they've managed to get rid of 6 and several more are failing. We'll see what things are like in January when the next semester begins.

lol interesting

I'm in the first cohort of a brand new program. There are only 21 of us. If they weed us there won't be a second year program, lol. Word of mouth advertising is key. In fact, by talking to the ADN program, our BSN program is easier nursing-wise. There are more detailed classes, but I like that. About half of the 21 already have a bachelor's degree or college credits from their past so it's like most of us are starting back to college are a hiatus. There are only a handful of the 20-21 crowd.

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lol interesting

I'm in the first cohort of a brand new program. There are only 21 of us. If they weed us there won't be a second year program, lol. Word of mouth advertising is key. In fact, by talking to the ADN program, our BSN program is easier nursing-wise. There are more detailed classes, but I like that. About half of the 21 already have a bachelor's degree or college credits from their past so it's like most of us are starting back to college are a hiatus. There are only a handful of the 20-21 crowd.

My program starts with 26. Usually, by the time graduation rolls around, there are only around 5-7 left. And most of the time, those few students include a few who weren't even part of the original class (transfers, readmissions, etc). So, the weeding out really takes care of the majority.

There are several in my class with bachelor's degrees, including myself. Most of the students are married or have children and are "nontraditional" students. We have a few who are recently out of high school. A few too many, to be honest...

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It's one thing to "weed out" students who can't remember that Ibuprofen is an NSAID or giving a glam make-over to a patient over giving another patient their insulin shot. It's another if the difference between passing and failing are a couple of poorly-worded, contestable test questions. I can't presume to know which it is. For me to pass tests, I had to "not think too much" because if I tried to bring all that I'd studied to bear on a test question, I was bound to "read too much into it" and get the darn thing wrong!

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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.

Gawd I see ur one of those thick-headed people that need more explanation. My course syllabus for this class has exam date and times sweetie......that's it. No material on what it will be over. They gave a separate sheet of paper of chapters that will be covered but as far as an exam blueprint....no. At our school only ONE course has done that so far. I have done 4 years in college already sweetie and no, no instructors were ever this unorganized....ever. I read chapters and I read them well. I take notes, I utilize all of my resources. It would be nice if we could get a gun and hold it to the teachers head and tell them to get us a blueprint of the exams to come. It really would be nice but unfortunately dear...um, we can't do that sweetie. I suggest you DON'T go into teaching dear because if you were smart enough from reading my original post you would have gathered the data and come to the conclusion that maybe this person is lacking information from the professors or in my case instructors. This is a school that in orientation they BOAST about having a very low graduation rate. Did we just go with this....no we did not. We did our research dear and half of the people we contacted said the program was mostly bullschitt. One girl had proof to back it up and showed us that the instructors for that year were working from a book that was not appointed for the class and even testing from that book and there were typos and missed slides on their powerpoint notes and it was very unorganized. The weeding out was a forewarning because some students are offered private, facilitated learning while others were left to fend for themselves, and they are still doing that now! So yes sweetie if you can understand what I am saying here I am saying that I have figured out that I am not in a very good nursing program. Im not sure if you know this dear but not all nursing programs are going to be GREAT. I have to make the best of this mess. But yes please re-consider before you think about becoming a teacher, lol. Your understanding of things seems to be limited.

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Gawd I see ur one of those thick-headed people that need more explanation. My course syllabus for this class has exam date and times sweetie......that's it. No material on what it will be over. They gave a separate sheet of paper of chapters that will be covered but as far as an exam blueprint....no. At our school only ONE course has done that so far. I have done 4 years in college already sweetie and no, no instructors were ever this unorganized....ever. I read chapters and I read them well. I take notes, I utilize all of my resources. It would be nice if we could get a gun and hold it to the teachers head and tell them to get us a blueprint of the exams to come. It really would be nice but unfortunately dear...um, we can't do that sweetie. I suggest you DON'T go into teacher dear because if you were smart enough from reading my original post you would have gathered the data and come to the conclusion that maybe this person is lacking information from the professors or in my case instructors. This is a school that in orientation they BOAST about having a very low graduation rate. Did we just go with this....no we did not. We did our research dear and half of the people we contacted said the program was mostly bullschitt. One girl had proof to back it up and showed us that the instructors for that year were working from a book that was not appointed for the class and even testing from that book and there were typos and missed slides on their powerpoint notes and it was very unorganized. So yes sweetie if you can understand what I am saying here I am saying that I have figured out that I am not in a very good nursing program. Im not sure if you know this dear but not all nursing programs are going to be GREAT. I have to make the best of this mess. But yes please re-consider before you think about becoming a teacher, lol. Your understanding of things seems to be limited.

Jeez, condescending much Sweetie?

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I have never had a "blueprint" for my exams. Actually I have never even heard of such a thing. I study the material that is covered in class. I read the chapters that cover the material discussed in lecture. At times I may even need to go back and read sections of books used for previous courses. Somehow I can still manage to get As....must be all that studying I do.

So may I ask why you are even interested in staying in a program that has low graduation rate and inept professors?

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People complain when they do poorly on tests. It is always someone else's fault, the teacher didn't cover the material, the questions are subjective, blah blah blah, but it is really no one else's fault but your own if you did not obtain the grade you were hoping for. Hopefully you won't be one of the students "weeded out".

I absolutely LOVE how you people are coming to these instructors' defense yet you don't know them or their styles of lecturing or giving information about tests and exams!!! It's really funny! I came into this program with a 3.85 GPA....I have no problem with reading, studying, taking notes, recording lectures, studying NCLEX books....I do it all. I never said I made an awful grade on the exam because I didn't! I just thought it was crap! It came from the opinions of the instructors panel which I didn't even know they could do! You people have no idea of this school or of me. I graduated magna cum laude in 2007 with my Bachelor's in Computer Science and even the low B's I did receive, when I received the few I had, I never complained that it was a professor's fault. My professors at my original alma mater were very thorough, dignified, organized, and up-to-date. I am not having problems with the material in nursing just the way it is being presented. How would you feel if instructors were constantly changing information each week from the information they previously gave out? "Oh students we need those sheets back we forgot to add some information we wanted you all to know". Half empty syllabi from more than one course, little to NO information given on the exams to come. I read. I read and I read very well. But um....who can remember the book? Who can remember 12 chapters, each with about 30 pages worth of stuff including boxes and tables....who remembers ALL or most of that? Right. You people don't know. You have no idea. But oh well, I am stuck now. Can't get out now or wait 5 years to find a much better program. They present to be such a well-rounded school but get in there and boom....they're crap. But hey...alot of you in here also missed out on the fact that in the title of my post it says "What is your OPINION on nursing school exams". These are my opinions people and I am going to voice them. Anyone who doesn't agree or feels my post is inappropriate please hit the "report" button. Thanks!

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I have never had a "blueprint" for my exams. Actually I have never even heard of such a thing. I study the material that is covered in class. I read the chapters that cover the material discussed in lecture. At times I may even need to go back and read sections of books used for previous courses. Somehow I can still manage to get As....must be all that studying I do.

So may I ask why you are even interested in staying in a program that has low graduation rate and inept professors?

WHAT!!! I know you're not serious man. It's a crappy program, but hey. My mother is a medical practitioner but was an RN and Nurse Practitioner before so she has given me guidance and will continue to do so. In MY state, if you drop a nursing program or they drop you, you have to wait 5 years before being accepted into another so um.....no sweetie not an option. But hey while Im talking to you I just discovered a couple of my classmates on our school Blackboard petitioning to the Dept. chair about that one particular test. Now mind you, we've had 5 tests already, and one to come this week in Holistic Health which will be grand but it was just that one class. There are even people on the petition I thought myself were doing well but I guess it is for the greater good of the class.

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