Classmates complaining about program, I think it is fine

SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN · Nov 18, 2011

Are we at the same school??? :lol2:

daystarmike · Nov 19, 2011

Just because you are doing well does not mean the school or program is run well. There are nursing schools that may still have tyrannical instructors and an administration that is only concerned with University politics. I am in a class that has several (meaning more than 5) students who have scored in the top 2% of the nation on their HESI exams, but are struggling to pass the course for which they took the HESI. This generates the feeling that maybe things are not fair. Their class scores are not representative of how they study or what they know. I have a class (JR II level) which last semester failed 30 of 55 students in a course. I honestly have no idea if this is the norm, or if that is a high number. As someone who has come from the business world, that ratio would not be acceptable without an explanation. In another class the average of each course exam was an 82 throughout the semester, but the final had an average of 60. Am I to assume that all the students studied during the semester but at the end decided they didn't need to for the final? And that they are just whiny when they complain about it? Or maybe, just maybe some students have a valid critique. It is easy to identify the whiners, but I will tell you that in my class there are very few of those. I am very proud of my classmates. I see them in the library and off campus in study groups. I hear of the time they put in, and I know the vast majority take this very seriously. Because of this, it is very frustrating when a previously straight A student prepares 20-25 hours the weekend before an exam studying (on top of the countless hours during the weeks prior), and they do not see that effort reflected in their score.

Nursing school should be hard. This is not a game. We are dealing with people's lives, and errors can cause the loss of life. I have no problem with making a curriculum challenging, and it does no good to get a degree if you cannot pass the boards. In my opinion (and that along with $1.65 will get you a tall coffee at Starbucks) Nursing school (because of NCLEX) is not a place where you go to accumulate as much knowledge as possible that can be applied in caring for patients, but it has become institutions who teach you how to test well (If I hear the phrase "critical thinking" one more time stated as if nurses, and nurses alone, invented the concept and are the only ones who use it, I just might have duct tape my head to keep it from exploding). If you are a person who tests well no matter how much you study, good for you, you chose the right career path. For those who may not test quite as well as you, but just want to be good nurses, you might have a little more compassion. I have been told the number one thing employers are looking for is Nurses who can work in a team environment (I have been told this by instructors, I have no idea if that is correct or not). If that is the case, I would think learning to get along with classmates would be a good start at developing those skills.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Nov 19, 2011

A lot of my classmates are complaining about our program, saying that it is too hard and that the teachers don't cover what's going to be on the test.
I chime in and say that the program is just fine, our school has an impressive NCLEX pass rate, and you cannot expect them to cover everything in class you've got to do the readings. And then the consensus was that they ask too detailed questions on the test and that you can't expect people to remember specific details like that if they don't mention them in class.
I think I'm in class with a lot of babies and instead of taking responsibility for their grades they're blaming the program. If they made the program so easy and spoon fed you questions that were going to be on the tests then they'd graduate people that weren't ready for the NCLEX and our pass rates wouldn't be what they are.
Am I insensitive or disconnected from my classmates? A lot of them are repeating this mantra of "this is a smart group, there shouldn't be so many people failing or barely passing". And I'm just like .

Are we in the same program? Whenever they get a bad grade, they ***** and moan about how they dislike how the program is run, but when they get a good grade, I hear no complaints.

I don't think my program is bad at all. If anything, we are spoiled with recorded lectures that we can access online and printed course packets and practice tests that help us study.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Nov 19, 2011

Yep, I was told what I was getting myself into, but knowing what I know now, I would have either found a different program that had "lower" standards or I would not have entered nursing school.
I have a very difficult time with these 2 credit hour classes that, in my opinion, should be mostly informational, but the amount of reading and work required is equivalent, if not more, to our 3 or 4 credit hour classes. These classes remind me of history class, which I have ALWAYS hated and have NEVER done well in those types of classes.

I have a one credit hour course like that. It is ridiculous and some of her test questions are poorly worded.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Nov 19, 2011

Who cares what they think? :confused: If they whine, turn up your iPod. :)

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Nov 19, 2011

I stay away from the people that get 97 on an exam or paper and complain about it.

aachavez · Nov 23, 2011

I'd be the same as you if i had classmates constatnly complaining like that. If it's too hard, then maybe you shouldnt be here. I make a point to stay away from attitudes like that, not gonna let it get me down!

dope a mine · Nov 23, 2011

There are a lot of people in my program that aren't doing so well (1st semester) and they do complain a lot. They study more than me and still manage to fail every exam and complain it is the instructors fault, or the tests fault, never really taking responsibility of their own grade. Thats why they don't really improve. I find that some of these people try to memorize every bit of information from the texts books. They don't use critical thinking to see how it would relate to a patient. They don't put the puzzle pieces together in their head. Thats why they will eventually drop out.

Bob_N_VA · Nov 24, 2011

There are a lot of people in my program that aren't doing so well (1st semester) and they do complain a lot. They study more than me and still manage to fail every exam and complain it is the instructors fault, or the tests fault, never really taking responsibility of their own grade. Thats why they don't really improve. I find that some of these people try to memorize every bit of information from the texts books. They don't use critical thinking to see how it would relate to a patient. They don't put the puzzle pieces together in their head. Thats why they will eventually drop out.

It only gets worse as you go along. Rote memorization will get you by in the early stages, but later on, you have to understand the fundamental systems in order to integrate everything you have learned to answer some pretty ambiguous questions.

A perfect case is point is the difference between right and left handed heart failure. Each has a laundry list of symptoms and folks will try and memorize them for a test. It makes more sense to treat the heart as a pumping system and to understand where blood will back up if it cant be pumped through. Two years into the program and I have heard folks say they still haven't quite figured out how the heart really works. Sooner or later that has to change.

Streamline2010 · Nov 24, 2011

...
2 credit hour classes ... but the amount of reading and work required is equivalent, if not more, to our 3 or 4 credit hour classes. ...

^ That fact is one that, in my opinion (ThatGuy ) should be told to prospective students, indeed, should be drilled into their heads, before they ever submit their applications. Compared to typical college classes, the nursing courses are grossly undervalued in credit hours, when you consider all of the time and extensive paperwork that they require outside of class. I think that if students fully understood before they set foot in Nursing I that the amount of effort (and self-teaching) that they are expected to do is going to look extremely excessive compared to what all of their non-nursing courses required, that there would be less overall complaining of "unfairness." In other words, the nursing schools set themselves up for complaints, by failure to make a full disclosure.

Streamline2010 · Nov 24, 2011

RIGHT ON, daystarmike !!! :yeah: I also went from business and manufacturing to RN School, and got a permanent dismissal for telling the twits that having 75% - 80% of the class fail at least 2 exams WAS the school's fault, not lazy students! Tutor us, back up, re-teach us, or re-test us. But don't call students lazy.