Anglfaith1

Unlike some of the other post, I discourage anyone from just squeeking by in their path to becoming a registered nurse.

"You only have to pass those classes, not excel at them."

This is the wrong attitude. Would you want someone like this to care for your loved one? Remember that the degree obtained is a Bachelor of SCIENCE in Nursing. Never settle in doing a half-assed job in learning. This is true as a student or as an experienced nurse. Push; push yourself to be the best. The best that you can and then realize that there is always more out there to learn.

However, I do have some encouraging news.

Non-traditional students do better; they are more focused and often set the high end of the bar. And you have something that will help you even beyond that and you don't even realize it, "...I am horribly intimidated..." We experienced nurses call this the healthy level of fear. This intimidation or fear will keep you focused, careful, motivated, and aggresive in your desire to improve. We experienced nurses love new hires that are intimidated because we know that they will ask before they do something questionable. You are safer and more careful. It is the young "I know it all's" that scare the sh*t out of us preceptors and experienced nurses.

Pursue nursing. It is wonderful, but it's not easy (during school or in the field), but that's okay. You don't become a nurse looking for "easy." Study hard and since you've had a child and worked with nurses, I think you will now find math and science far more intresting than you did when you were in high school. It's that interest that will forward you from one level to the next.

Best of luck,
Bossy

This is the wrong attitude. Would you want someone like this to care for your loved one? Remember that the degree obtained is a Bachelor of SCIENCE in Nursing.

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care

John Maxwell

Quote:

This is the wrong attitude. Would you want someone like this to care for your loved one? Remember that the degree obtained is a Bachelor of SCIENCE in Nursing.

LOL, Bossy, no one was saying "Do a Half-Ass Job". For some people, getting a C in Chemistry is their very best, and it's hard work for them to get there. That C is a great victory (see rascal's response). But, last time I checked, knowing what shell the electrons are in and following their movement around in space has very little to do with making me an excellent nurse. But it does help me to understand pharmacology, and physiology, all important if you plan to work in certain specialties, like Cardiology.

Bossy, you need to remember that some women feel a certain amount of anxiety around math and the sciences, and so they allow themselves to feel intimidated by these subjects, causing them to perform poorly. It doesn't mean they aren't smart and they can't excel at being a nurse (where people skills are equally, if not more, important). It just means they may struggle in the classroom. That's a huge difference.

Would you want someone to care for your loved one who got straight A's in the classroom but could not empathize with their patients? Someone who doesn't know what it means to struggle and work hard to achieve their goals?

And as a P.S., I graduated Magna Cum Laude from one of the top nursing schools in the country (even carried a pre-med course load during my undergrad work), and got Sigma Theta Tau honors, so I did excel at the sciences as well as my nursing classes. But I had to take the "soft sciences" like sociology and psychology, too. However, most of my patients don't really want to know how smart I am, or how I performed in my undergrad work, they want to know how much I care.

Quote:

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care

John Maxwell

And, if you have a BSN, you are at least marginally aware that some nursing theorists describe nursing as the science of HUMAN CARING.

managers here say I have a very calm and approachable aura

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Bossy, you need to remember that some women feel a certain amount of anxiety around math and the sciences, and so they allow themselves to feel intimidated by these subjects, causing them to perform poorly.

Ginger Snap, for someone who graduated with all the bells and whistles that you listed, I am really surprised that you would be chauvinistic on this level. There are many MEN that are also anxious in regards to math and science. Honestly, I don't believe that the sex of a person matters when it comes to a persons capacity to learn or anxiety level. Male or female, if you want to learn and excel, you have to study and practice.

Also...

You said, "...most of my patients don't really want to know how smart I am..." Unless you work in newborn nursery or a place where the patients don't have the capacity to know how smart you are, EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW AND CARES exactly how smart you are. My God, you are caring for them or their loved one; your knowledge base is what will give them the comfort they seek. Every answer or explaination you give is a reflexion of your knowledge base and if someone thinks you are less than acceptable, "how much they care" will be made very clear to you.

If you ment that patients don't care about Magna Cum Laude, Sigma Theta Tau, CCRN, CEN, etc... You're right, they don't care and neither do your colleagues.

If you ment that patients don't care about Magna Cum Laude, Sigma Theta Tau, CCRN, CEN, etc... You're right, they don't care and neither do your colleagues.