Family at school orientation?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Do you think it would be okay to bring a family member to you nursing schools orientation?(it doesn't say on my letter if it was okay or not)

Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.
That makes me sad.

That's how my family is, and it's not sad at all. We are not into making each other sit around for a couple of hours and make small talk to complete strangers for the 20 seconds it takes to walk across a stage and get handed a piece of paper.

At my school, it was actually mandatory to bring family to orientation or you would lose your spot. They were that serious, their argument being that they needed family present to impress on them the seriousness of nursing school and how much their support would mean to the student's success. I remember all the hoops I had to jump to prove I had no family near-by before they allowed me to be there by myself.

If faced with this absurdity, I would have contacted all the students in my class who had children (particularly YOUNG children) and had them bring THEM along. I personally would have escorted a preschooler and toddler. And made sure the school had lots of playspaces, snacks, and bathrooms with easy access.

Bet they wouldn't keep THAT requirement for long! LOL.....

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

What I find most interesting about this thread was the large number of people who made assumptions and reached a conclusion without know the facts. What does that say about our culture and our assessment skills?

Obiously, the CORRECT answer would have been to advise the student to find out what the expectations were -- what type of orientation ... were family members invited ... were they planning on only students (and there wouldn't be enough seats or food if other people showed up) .... etc. ... and then to follow the norms of the school she was entering. Not one person suggested that she find out the facts before making a decision.

What I find most interesting about this thread was the large number of people who made assumptions and reached a conclusion without know the facts. What does that say about our culture and our assessment skills?

Obiously, the CORRECT answer would have been to advise the student to find out what the expectations were -- what type of orientation ... were family members invited ... were they planning on only students (and there wouldn't be enough seats or food if other people showed up) .... etc. ... and then to follow the norms of the school she was entering. Not one person suggested that she find out the facts before making a decision.

Interesting in that there was more than one answer to this question, as shown by the varied responses.

But overall, what you're saying reads more like Monday Morning Quarterbacking, doesn't it? So very easy to figure out the play AFTER it's been played.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
Interesting in that there was more than one answer to this question, as shown by the varied responses.

But overall, what you're saying reads more like Monday Morning Quarterbacking, doesn't it? So very easy to figure out the play AFTER it's been played.

Not really. It was the first time I saw the thread. More information was needed to answer the question properly. So, I looked through the entire thread to see if the information was ever requested. The "varied responses" you mention are just assumptions and conjectures based on inadequate information -- not solid assessment of the real situation. People talked about what was appropriate for THEIR school and gave answers appropriate for THEIR school ... when they should have told the OP to find out the expectations at HER school.

Not really. It was the first time I saw the thread. More information was needed to answer the question properly. So, I looked through the entire thread to see if the information was ever requested. The "varied responses" you mention are just assumptions and conjectures based on inadequate information -- not solid assessment of the real situation. People talked about what was appropriate for THEIR school and gave answers appropriate for THEIR school ... when they should have told the OP to find out the expectations at HER school.

True. I think it was probably a knee-jerk reaction on all of our parts because the answer seemed so very obvious to us (based on our own experiences in school and, well, life). Clearly, that was a false assumption.

And now for the $64,000 Question: OP, what happened at YOUR school?

Maybe I'm being presumptuous here, but bringing Mom or Dad to your nursing school orientation is (at best) socially awkward under any circumstances at any school. It seems incredibly childish and just plain bizarre. I don't know, maybe I'm being too harsh, but I would have been really be shocked (and not in a good way) if a classmate had brought their mother with them to their NS orientation. I think most would agree.

I mean, why would you even ask the school what their policy is re: brining family to orientation? We didn't advise this because to most of us it seemed like a no-brainer. If the OP had asked if she should bring her cat with her, should we have advised her to ask the school what their policy was on bringing pets to orientation? If she had really wanted to wear a tank top and daisy dukes to orientation, should we had advised to ask what the school thought of such an outfit? To some extent, telling her to ask if she can bring mom or dad would have been akin to telling her to put herself in a position where she could potentially sound incredibly naive and maybe even stupid.

Not one person suggested that she find out the facts before making a decision.

Why would we do that? Nobody ever listens to that advice anyway. Might as well have fun instead of posting something reasonable.

What I find most interesting about this thread was the large number of people who made assumptions and reached a conclusion without know the facts. What does that say about our culture and our assessment skills?

Obiously, the CORRECT answer would have been to advise the student to find out what the expectations were -- what type of orientation ... were family members invited ... were they planning on only students (and there wouldn't be enough seats or food if other people showed up) .... etc. ... and then to follow the norms of the school she was entering. Not one person suggested that she find out the facts before making a decision.

It appeared to me that she was incapable of coming to that conclusion by herself, so therefore that left the floor open to any interpretation or misinterpretation desired.

I can't believe how many allegedly adult people come here for answers to questions that they should have enough basic knowledge to identify themsleves with the appropriate resources, e.g., "Call the school and ask them; how the heck should we know what they want?"

And no, this is not the odious NETY, and it is not belittling. Think of it, those of you whose knee-jerk reaction that is, as a wake-up call. Bring your A-game to the table if you want to go to nursing school; maturity is not a option.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
Why would we do that? Nobody ever listens to that advice anyway. Might as well have fun instead of posting something reasonable.

That response actually makes sense to me -- that people knew that they were just making assumptions that might be completely wrong, but decided to have a little fun rather than give the OP serious advice.

I guess I just feel sorry when a newbie comes here with a simple question looking for a serious answer and we jerk him/her around with responses that don't help him/her do the right thing and maybe learn something in the process.

Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

Yes but everybody that posts on this board as a nurse or student is an adult. We kind of expect people have to have common sense........ but common sense is not that common at all is it?

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
haha! I thought the same thing! I'd guess she was kicked out of the program. I'm sure she would have been kicked out of the program I was in!

I think she was out too, as her last post was in that thread, and her last access to AN was that June.

To the OP of this thread, situational! If they aren't asked specifically, no don't take them. Family days are different.

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