I’m still saddened by the fact that 33% of my class failed out this semester. Apparently, 50% is the norm for a nursing class.

I was speaking to two nurses at my job one an older nurse “T” (she still wears her RN nurse cap. Isn’t that awesome?) and a younger nurse “B” who just graduated a couple of years ago, and both of them said that that is the norm.
If you take the 4 people we lost first semester and the 9 we lost this semester it’s probably 45% of our beginning class. Wow!

There are such high expectations in nursing school never mind in an accelerated program like mine. I remember crying from
Anticipatory stress, in the cafeteria line after the first half of orientation think I could never live up to those expectations and the other RT in my class gave me a big hug. That was kind.

Med (adult health) has been the hardest class. So much harder that Maternal child health and peds Ben though it was taught to me in
A short 5 week semester. I think it’s really the sheer amount of information that is thrown at you. Next semester will be more advanced med surg. I am
Happy that I took a pathophysiology class in my RT bachelors program I think it helped some but really it’s from
a different perspective in nursing school.

This class will also cover HIV and AIDS something the state of Florida stopped requiring continuing Ed on a couple of years ago. I took an entire 16 week class on HIV and AIDS in my RT bachelors program as well. That was a really good class albeit a twice weekly emotional flogging because the teachers two adopted children have HIV although one serconverted back to negative and the teacher eat slept and breathed HIV and felt we should too. We learned a lot in that class. From how the virus is transmitted to how all the drugs worked to stop replication of the virus (and at which point in replication each drug worked on) we even had a project using M&M”s as HIV medications and we had to follow a drug regimen for a week as a person with HIV would. It was tough.

For me Being an older student failing was not an option. Really I imagine failure is not an option for anyone. But for me especially. I’ve reduced my work hours so I can be more successful in the program, from 36 to 24 hours a week. As a result I’ve taken student loans to make up what I perceived would en the short fall. So if I fail out it would be such a waste of money I have to pay back.

If I had been aware of the the high attrition rate I may not have done this. A clue to this should have been the dwindling size of the class pictures in the walls of the nursing building. Ask move into the next semester I pray that I do well and am able to attend my pinning ceremony on May 2nd.