my college is scaring me

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in postpartum.

I have a question...I'm a student finishing the prereque's for the nursing program (and I have to say I never thought I'd get hungry when disecting sheep parts, but it happened last week), and some of the students in my classes are scaring me....

All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm looking at my courses now as foundation for what I'll be learning later....I'm worried that with some of the people I go to school with that things will get kind of dumbed down.

Thanks,

Rhee

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Specializes in ER, CCU, LTAC.

Instead of admitting students on their GPA, they need to do a lie detector test and ask them questions about the profession to see how they really feel. It would help to weed out all those people that are going into this profession just because there is a shortage!:uhoh3:

I have a question...I'm a student finishing the prereque's for the nursing program (and I have to say I never thought I'd get hungry when disecting sheep parts, but it happened last week), and some of the students in my classes are scaring me....

All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm looking at my courses now as foundation for what I'll be learning later....I'm worried that with some of the people I go to school with that things will get kind of dumbed down.

Thanks,

Rhee

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"All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's? "

Being just a few days away from graduation and having worked in LTC for almost 10 years, I can say that there is a need for clear communication!!!! People who are unable to adequately express themselves in written word even though they are competent otherwise will be a frustration and a hindrance to their coworkers and to their patients.

Yes it's frustrating to have to take these 'other' classes when you want to concentrate on nursing but it all fits together like a puzzle. It's the foundation to the work you'll be doing. you have to understand the mechanics of the body to understand the actions of drugs, the effects of one system on another, etc.

You've obviously got the right attitude. Don't let the others distract you from the goal. You are going to be so happy you considered the 'extra' classes as important as the nursing classes. And it does help to be able to get them done before beginning Phamacology, Nursing through the Lifespan, Assessment and other classes. OF course, the one class I could have done without was "career strategies". That was a college requirement. I did NOT want to write a resume while I was working on assessment class and OB and such. Blah. :rolleyes:

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I will say English messed me up...well not really, but when documenting I kept using those insignificant words :rolleyes: such as "the" & "is" ex. The wound is healing...instead of: wound healing..., it was really hard for me to stop because I was taking an essay writing class during the first half of the semester.

We do have a few college required courses that everyone must take to graduate (for all majors) that I think are worthless, but I agree that the courses required for nursing do build a foundation that will be built upon during nursing classes (even English ;))

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I have a question...I'm a student finishing the prereque's for the nursing program (and I have to say I never thought I'd get hungry when disecting sheep parts, but it happened last week), and some of the students in my classes are scaring me....

All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm looking at my courses now as foundation for what I'll be learning later....I'm worried that with some of the people I go to school with that things will get kind of dumbed down.

Thanks,

Rhee

I think some of the stuff I took in school was a joke, nursing theory for example. Why I need to know what nurses did in 1910 is beyond me. It hasn't helped my practice any. English on the other hand is good. You want to know how to write your nursing notes and not come off like an idiot. I somehow still accomplish this sometimes though since I don't know how to put my thoughts on paper. Micro is good too...I wish I remembered more of that stuff. Physical Education I think is a waste of time though. What else?

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Read here a little and you'll see there's no dumbing down in education. Those who are "dumb" will not make it. School is a weeding out process. General education classes are both at once good and a waste of time depending on where your strengths and interests lie. You will never need to know how to use a graphing calculator in nursing yet you may need to know it in college algebra, oh well. I hated math and was one of those who griped about having to take it. Writing is easy for me and couldn't understand why people griped about writing class. It's all relative. Just worry about yourself and don't let others scare you or worry you.

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Instead of admitting students on their GPA, they need to do a lie detector test and ask them questions about the profession to see how they really feel. It would help to weed out all those people that are going into this profession just because there is a shortage!:uhoh3:

Right, and every licensed nurse is a saint and another Florence Nightingale. Gimme a break. :rolleyes:

I'm one of those students who's going into the profession because there's a shortage. I've been downsized to death and, yes, I need a career with some stability. We all gotta eat and pay bills.

I also make good grades and take the responsibility seriously. Doesn't mean I'll be a bad nurse. I'm not trying to claim I'll be particularly great nurse either, but don't tell me that every nurse is an altruistic saint and isn't in it for the money too. The vacancies in lower paying nursing positions is proof of that.

BTW, I'd say the same thing during a lie detector test. Quite frankly, I'd trust a nurse who's honest about these things over a nurse who's constantly proclaiming they're an altruistic saint.

:p

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When I met with my intended University over the weekend, it was stressed to me by both students and faculty that writing skills are essential. You do a lot of writing in school and on the job.

No need to be scared, just stay focused and work hard!

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Right, and every licensed nurse is a saint and another Florence Nightingale. Gimme a break. :rolleyes:

I'm one of those students who's going into the profession because there's a shortage. I've been downsized to death and, yes, I need a career with some stability. We all gotta eat and pay bills.

I also make good grades and take the responsibility seriously. Doesn't mean I'll be a bad nurse. I'm not trying to claim I'll be particularly great nurse either, but don't tell me that every nurse is an altruistic saint and isn't in it for the money too. The vacancies in lower paying nursing positions is proof of that.

BTW, I'd say the same thing during a lie detector test. Quite frankly, I'd trust a nurse who's honest about these things over a nurse who's constantly proclaiming they're an altruistic saint.

:p

I totally agree with you. I too am going into nursing because of the oppertunities. I often question myself for my decision, due to the comments like the ones above. Fellow students are always proclaiming how they discovered the need to help peolpe and its always been what they wanted to do etc......i think thats fantastic- but don't knock the people whom want a stable job so they can support themselves and their families.

I just wanna say i am not in compition with anyone. There is room for all of us! :kiss I cannot stand the rudeness i feel from fellow students sometimes, we are all only human- not super saint mother threassas.....(sorry for any spelling errors.)

krissy

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I have a question...I'm a student finishing the prereque's for the nursing program (and I have to say I never thought I'd get hungry when disecting sheep parts, but it happened last week), and some of the students in my classes are scaring me....

All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm looking at my courses now as foundation for what I'll be learning later....I'm worried that with some of the people I go to school with that things will get kind of dumbed down.

Thanks,

Rhee

You know Rhee I feel the same way too about my fellow students. Believe it or not in A&P most were saying we aren't going to be required to know this in nursing. My mouth dropped open. I could not believe what I was hearing. I expect by the time I get into the nursing program that those people will have changed their mind or will not make it far in the nursing program. It is sad because they are nice people but they didn't take the prereqs seriously. For the other classes that are just general ed classes like sociology or even english I look at those classes as a way to broaden my horizons. Maybe to help me understand other people more or to get me to have intrests outside of nursing. Because once out of nursing school I'm going to need other intrests to think about to get my mind off of nursing.

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I don't think you have to be a "saint" or "Mother Teresa" type person to be an excellant nurse, BUT, it really peeves me when someone goes into this profession thinking of it as just a job & doing it only for a paycheck.

I have seen and worked with some horrible nurses who are miserable with working in this field because they had that attitude...or developed it over the years. It makes everyone around...patients, co-workers, DRs, etc...wish they'd go somewhere where they would be happy and quit making those around them just as miserable as they are. When a patient is sick or hurt, they don't need someone with a bad attitude attempting to care for them just because that person is only doing it for them money. There's too much of this kind of attitude everywhere anymore and it's a shame. I wish everyone would find something that they enjoy and are good at and go with that.

NOW, back to the original post...you sound pretty mature, so please don't let how those others at school act bring you down with them. My first semester of Anatomy/Physiology, I too wondered how so many of my classmates thought they could handle being a nurse because of the way they couldn't handle the sight of anything in lab and they too wanted to be spoon fed. My instructor said one day that ones like those don't usually make it through even if they do make it into the nursing program part. Guess what? She was right. So, you just continue to learn all you can and I think you'll do great! :)

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Instead of admitting students on their GPA, they need to do a lie detector test and ask them questions about the profession to see how they really feel. It would help to weed out all those people that are going into this profession just because there is a shortage!:uhoh3:

are you joking? really I am asking in earnest.

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