The number one fear of every nursing student I’ve ever met is failure. Sometimes, no matter how hard we work, failing can feel inevitable. I’ve personally had some scares regarding failing a class, as failing just a single course in nursing can lead to you being delayed for up to a year in the BScN or RPN program. I have seen others struggle to regain footing after failing a class. Just know that if you did fail a course in nursing, that does not make you a failure. Nursing has consistently been amongst the top 15 hardest undergraduate degrees in modern history, which also includes degrees such as biomedical engineering, and physics. So don’t feel bad for failing a course! Someone who never gives up is not a failure in my eyes, so have some confidence!
Things to Note
If you fail a course during your fall semester (assuming you take 2 semesters every year, once in the fall, and once in the following winter term), you will inevitably be behind on the program schedule. Depending on what class you fail and during which year, you may have to do more or less work. There is one exception though, and that is the intro to nursing course in the fall term of the first year of BScN. If you do not score above a 60% in that course, you will be kicked out of the program. Thankfully, this is the only class (that I know of) that is like this. Every other class has a maximum of 2 attempts before you are unfortunately booted from the program.
If you fail a course during your winter semester, there is a chance to retake the course before the next term starts, since the summer semester is in between the end of the winter term, and next fall term. Unfortunately, Humber college does not offer most required BScN or RPN courses to be retaken over the summer, and many students have had to take courses from other institutions to meet the requirements. For example, if you failed the Pathophysiology 2 course, another institution such as McMaster University may offer the course (not confirmed) to be taken over the summer and could potentially count as a credit towards the Humber Nursing degree if done according to the standards of the course organizers.
Finer Details
If you fail a course during your fall semester and you can retake it, you will most likely retake it during the next available opening (this also applies to the winter term if you choose not to take a summer credit). That next available opening is usually the next fall semester/winter semester for those who did not take a summer course. While you could take a failed fall term class over the summer and take a transfer credit, in the BScN and RPN programs most classes are prerequisites for other classes in later semesters. Therefore, the number of classes you end up missing can snowball which ultimately means that you are going to be behind on the following winter term as well. So if you are unsuccessful in a class during the fall term/winter term, you should speak with your program coordinator and come up with a plan as to what you are going to do during the next year. Some students take all the necessary electives they can throughout all of nursing during their “gap” year, and others choose to relax and come back for the next term. Ultimately, it is up to you to plan based on what the coordinators offer.
To conclude, failing a course is not the end of the world. Nursing is hard, and you should feel proud to be in the nursing program, failed class or not. But if you were to fail, there are always both outside and inside resources that you may have access to regain your footing. Personally, I have seen many nursing students fail courses and continue to become successful later in their lives. So don’t give up! There is always a way.
- Marcus Tamir
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