Carryovers are a dreaded occurrence for any university student, but for nursing students and most of the other major professional courses, they are even more drastic. A carryover indicates that the allotted marks to get a pass in that course were not reached, and there will be a need for such a student to retake the course and resit its exams. For most courses offered in Nigerian universities, it is of no consequence if the sum of a student’s assignments, projects, tests, and exams is less than 50 or even 40, but for nursing students, there is a different benchmark for a pass. Any nursing student who scores a cumulative score of 49 or below in any course, be it departmental or borrowed, (a course from another department but also a prerequisite for nursing students) theoretical or practical will be mandated to retake the course in the next session, i.e, their next class, hence the term carryover.
Healthcare is undoubtedly important in society and the nation, so the rigorous training of its workers is understandable. It should not happen any other way, but this demands a lot from every student studying nursing. Being required to rewrite an exam for not meeting the passing mark is tasking and majorly exhausting, as students who have carryovers will have to juggle both their new courses at their new level and the failed/carried courses together. The reality of carryovers includes low CGPA, nothing reduces a Cumulative Grade Average than a carryover. Because carryovers are caused by low scores, they also add low points to your cumulative grade average, and they drop your CGPA further than is admired.
Carryovers show a need for more effort on the student’s part. It also rings a loud bell of warning for students to do better or face the consequences of an extra year in the university. However, for nursing students, that is not its only implication. Carryovers are extremely abhorred by professional bodies that regulate the professional exams that nursing students have to write, and they are hardly tolerated. Students who have to retake a course to get a passing grade are not allowed to sit for the professional exams with their peers. This may lead to an extra year of studying to qualify for the exams as most courses in nursing are prerequisites, courses you need to pass before you can proceed to advanced coursework.
Unfortunately, the most drastic consequence of carryovers is not an extra year, but a letter of withdrawal or transfer from the nursing department to a department that the education management board feels is more suitable to the efforts of the student. More than two or three carryovers in a session or more may prompt such a reaction. If the student is lucky and the carryovers are not in major courses, they may be mandated to repeat a level or year to get better at their weak points and if this measure fails or shows no improvement in their grades, they are asked to be withdrawn permanently from the nursing department.
Like a little ball of snow rolling down a hill, low test scores can result in a massive ball of hindrance that is a carryover, stopping you from writing the qualifying exams to get your license to the noble nursing profession. It is best avoided by not letting a small snowball form at all, or preventing its slide down the hill. No one actively works toward getting a carryover, so every task, assignment, project, and tests that award marks in a course like nursing should be taken seriously to avoid the very heavy consequences of carryovers in the future.