Kvetch over Chemistry I -- is this really necessary?

[Mr_D]

I have to kvetch.

I am taking a break from studying for 5 minutes.

I have never studied so hard in my life only to have a 'C' average in this bleeping class. I'm taking it at a local engineering school (mistake #1) and it's ALL math based. Stoichiometry out the wazoo. If there is a way to make it in a formula, we are doing it. The prof speeds through the calculations on the board once. It's all I can do to write it down before she erases it -- forget trying to follow the logic. Worse yet, the labs do not sync up with the lecture at all. I'm doing a lab Wed night for a chapter we don't cover for another two weeks -- BUT WE GET GRADED on it NOW. Very very frustrating.

I'm not sure what I'm learning -- certainly very few concepts. I couldn't tell you squat about why alka-seltzer fizzes in water or why candles burn. This class is so abstract and numbers based -- nothing to do with daily life. I could calculate the molar weight, the gas volume, the AVG root mean square of the particles, and balance a redox reaction, etc etc. But don't ask me what I did __ I don't always understand my own calculations!! So I go to office hours -- same thing, she flies through the problem at the speed of light (2.99 x 10^8 m/s) and then repeats herself if you ask a question. Ask her to slow down -- fergit about it!! she doesn't comprehend that students may not understand this stuff after being shown just once!!

Other that learning how to covert ml to cc, i really wonder how much of this is necessary for nursing?

Ok i'm done. I try to stay positive with people around me so I come here to complain. Test Wed night -- gases and thermodynamics. Back to the books, 35 total hours studying and counting for this test. Three more test to go. It's all over in December. It's all over in December. It's all over in December. It's all over in December. OK, going to back to studying now.

[Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN]

Good goin'!

Good example of hangin' tough when the prospects look dim.

[Sheri257]

This is an interesting question: Why do we need to learn all of this stuff if we're not going to use it?

I had to laugh because I was reading my textbook yesterday, and this one section basically said: "You're not going to use this in the medical profession, but you need to know it anyway." :chuckle

Supposedly all of these science courses create a knowledge foundation that will help us later on.

Personally, I think it's mental masturbation for textbook authors and instructors who want to torture students the way they were tortured in school.

But it's ok with me. My attitude is --- Bring it on. The harder it is, the harder it will be for someone else to take my job when I finish.

[germain]

It depends on which speciallty you go into in nursing if you will use chemistry or not, but it is not worthless. Nurses do a lot of calculations, so being comfortable with math on some level is important. Nurses where I work tell me they use it, especially fro med calculations. The BSN program I want to get into requires 2 quarters of org. chem in addition to chem 101-lol. whicsh me luck

actually, I liked chemistry- oh well.

[hobbes]

Well, I guess I'm going to take the opposite view. Although chemistry can be quite difficult, I found it to be good foundation for the A&P and Microbiology classes that I took and guess it will be for pathphys and pharm. down the road. Understanding acid/base reactions is quite relevant to acid/base balance; an understanding of the universal gas law makes comprehending pulmonary respiration and the role of the partial pressures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc much easier; an understanding of some of the biochemical pathways of metabolism - how fats/sugars/protiens are broken down/sythesized - will help in the ability to critically analyze. Since I plan on getting into critical care, I want to be able to fully understand what is going on to the best of my ability, and without a solid foundation in chemistry certain things will just not make sense. Just my 2 cents.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

Originally posted by hobbes

Well, I guess I'm going to take the opposite view. Although chemistry can be quite difficult, I found it to be good foundation for the A&P and Microbiology classes that I took and guess it will be for pathphys and pharm. down the road. Understanding acid/base reactions is quite relevant to acid/base balance; an understanding of the universal gas law makes comprehending pulmonary respiration and the role of the partial pressures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc much easier; an understanding of some of the biochemical pathways of metabolism - how fats/sugars/protiens are broken down/sythesized - will help in the ability to critically analyze. Since I plan on getting into critical care, I want to be able to fully understand what is going on to the best of my ability, and without a solid foundation in chemistry certain things will just not make sense. Just my 2 cents.

I have to totally agree with you here. I have found just my Intro to Chem class (I'm taking Chem 1 next month) to be *very* helpful in all the classes I have taken after (Physio, Micro, Nutrition, Biology, etc).

I think it has been *very* useful and -anyone- in the health professions is going to use it, whether they realize it or not! I can tell a BIG difference in the students at my school who have taken chem and those who have not.

Marilyn

[luv2yoga]

I just got my book and I thought it actually looks fairly interesting, do-able and relevant. Maybe I didn't look hard enough! This is just the intro class, but that's all I ever have to take even for the BSN at my school. The book web site (thanks to another member for telling me to check that!) has a math tutorial. I spent only about 45 minutes on it Wednesday and it was very helpful. It's been exactly 20 years since I graduated from college the first time, so I badly need a refresher.

I hope this doesn't kill me. I am telling myself just to keep up, keep up, and keep up. I have to get at least a B or I for sure won't get into nursing school here, based on what I've been told about the last class admitted.