Vent, my school is making me mad!

[Nursetastic]

I just need to vent and get this off my chest to people who may provide another point of view and talk me down from the ledge I'm standing on.

We are currently on summer break and classes resume on August 20. Our program mailed all students a letter, post marked August 6, informing us that we will be required to successfully pass a skills test the first week of school and also a math test. The skills have to be "proficient and safe" and the math has to be 95% and we can't use calculators. Ok, no big deal right? EXCEPT the open lab and tutor times WERE August 5, 6, 8, then again on Aug 11 and 12. The letter wasn't even mailed until the 6th! So we missed out on 3 possible days of practice that all of the 11 people I've talked to would have attended. The unit secretary admitted to not mailing the letters until the 6th (they are dated July 31) because she had a batch going out to the CNA students that she was waiting on to send at the same time. Excuse me? So the secretary just stole 3 days of practice from us! Last semester her ineptitude lost us 4 or 5 days of CLINICALS AT THE HOSPITAL due to not getting our background paperwork completed and sent in a timely manner! And she still has a job? One girl talked to our director (who by the way has been on the job less than 60 days) who "will be happy to meet with anyone who is unhappy". I asked her to let her know it would just be easier to have her show up to the first day of class.

In addition to the lab times, the letters should have gone out over a month ago because they changed our class schedules without informing us (we figured it out online) and charged our student accounts $250 in misc fees with no explanation. Most people have already arranged work and daycare schedules and are having to go through it all over again. Whe have never been charged these fees before! And when we called nobody had an answer. Turns out, through the grapevine, that the charges are for books and programs some students have already paid for. The rest of us were unable to get the websites to accept payment. We kept getting told there was no outstanding balances on our accounts. The school was no help, their answer was to keep using the program and eventually it would let us pay. Soooo....since we used 3 months of the program for free and the company complained to the school, the school decided to pay for everyone then charge our accounts for payback for this semester. Which would be fine, except the program is $98 a semester; not $250. So what is the rest of the money going for? Nobody can explain it. This is very frustrating.

Thanks for listening/reading.

[myhalo]

I wish I could put a different slant on it and make you feel better, but what they did is wrong!! You have a right to be angry, I hate how students are treated sometimes!

If it makes you feel better our program does similar things, the $250 thing happened here to some students too (they forgot to charge some students each semester then took it all at once)!! We do not get a schedule until the day before class begins and we do not get a clinical schedule until the week or two before we start usually!! There is so much we do not know when we start classes every semester!!

Your school should definitely offer more open lab times, the remaining two will be crowded!!

Hang in there, it will only make you stronger, plus you know what you are doing so just review it, walk through it and get your self ready for the test!! Getting over being nervous is usually the biggest stumbling block of the skills tests. Talk through what you are doing as you do it, you know this stuff, prove it!!

PS, don't do what I did and forget to say you are putting on gloves....they may not tell you until you have gone through all the motions on the dummy!! :chuckle

[Nursetastic]

I wish I could put a different slant on it and make you feel better, but what they did is wrong!! You have a right to be angry, I hate how students are treated sometimes!

If it makes you feel better our program does similar things, the $250 thing happened here to some students too (they forgot to charge some students each semester then took it all at once)!! We do not get a schedule until the day before class begins and we do not get a clinical schedule until the week or two before we start usually!! There is so much we do not know when we start classes every semester!!

Your school should definitely offer more open lab times, the remaining two will be crowded!!

Hang in there, it will only make you stronger, plus you know what you are doing so just review it, walk through it and get your self ready for the test!! Getting over being nervous is usually the biggest stumbling block of the skills tests. Talk through what you are doing as you do it, you know this stuff, prove it!!

PS, don't do what I did and forget to say you are putting on gloves....they may not tell you until you have gone through all the motions on the dummy!! :chuckle

We have an instructor that won't let us talk our way through skills. She thinks we "memorize the words" instead of understanding our actions.

Gloves and I are best friends since I had to retest on a skill because I got my scoop and pinch backwards and contaminated my gloves.

[JStyles1]

your school is $98 a semester?

[LMRN10]

Wow, that definitely wasn't right!! The secretary, considering she has done this before obviously, needs to either have a strict talking to or needs to be let go...end of story! And you director, your right, she needs to just show up the first day of class as I am sure everyone is just as upset as you (with good reason).

Good luck...hopefully you can get some answers, but sounds like they aren't being too helpful. Please keep us posted!

[llg, PhD, RN]

OK ... Here's the other perspective you asked for.

While I completely understand why you are angry and frustrated, you need to take a deep breath and start working calmly through these isses. These are bureaucratic snafus similar to ones you will encounter throughout your nursing careers. Healthcare is complex and the work environment is often a pressure cooker. There will be days, weeks, and months like this in the future. Those who thrive in nursing are those who learn to respond to such problems in a positive way by working calmly to resolve them -- and don't get sidetracked into wasting time and other resources running around angrily in circles.

Assess -- Diagnose -- Plan -- Interven -- Evaluate.

Use the basic nursing process here. Collect and document the information about the nature of the problem. Diagnosis = "Undue hardships for students due to bureaucratic mix-ups."

Identify your resources and mobilize them. etc. You say that director of the program is new -- and willing to meet with the students. MEET WITH HER and present your information to her in a clear, concise manner. Ask for help in resolving the issues. See how she responds before assuming the worst. Give her a chance.

[Nursetastic]

OK ... Here's the other perspective you asked for.

While I completely understand why you are angry and frustrated, you need to take a deep breath and start working calmly through these isses. These are bureaucratic snafus similar to ones you will encounter throughout your nursing careers. Healthcare is complex and the work environment is often a pressure cooker. There will be days, weeks, and months like this in the future. Those who thrive in nursing are those who learn to respond to such problems in a positive way by working calmly to resolve them -- and don't get sidetracked into wasting time and other resources running around angrily in circles.

Assess -- Diagnose -- Plan -- Interven -- Evaluate.

Use the basic nursing process here. Collect and document the information about the nature of the problem. Diagnosis = "Undue hardships for students due to bureaucratic mix-ups."

Identify your resources and mobilize them. etc. You say that director of the program is new -- and willing to meet with the students. MEET WITH HER and present your information to her in a clear, concise manner. Ask for help in resolving the issues. See how she responds before assuming the worst. Give her a chance.

You are absolutely correct. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Nursing will be my second career (1st was management) so I understand snafus happen. I'm letting my "manager" mind take over here and am searching for someone to hold responsible. Thanks for the feedback, I will take a deep breath and schedule a meeting with our new Director. Thanks again!

[myhalo]

Ok, so I was just thinking after reading the other posts, it is true when you are in NS you are very focused on the "small things". I remember being stressed out about a skills evaluation like it was the most important thing in the world. But now that it is over looking back it is such a small step in the much bigger picture. That is probably why we think it is a big deal that we have little notice of a skills test/math test when the educators think...well that is how it is on the job, what is the big deal. It is the pass/fail aspect of it that puts the pressure on!

You are threatened with "must pass or else", and that creates a lot of pressure and makes the nerves get the best of you. I have found when I am doing a new skill or practicing one I have not done for a while if I can just say "I am going to do my best and if I get this IV, great, but if I miss it is not the end of the world. That gets rid of the nerves for me and I can just do what needs to be done, I have been successful so far. I have watched nurses and doctors having trouble getting IV's in, so I feel no pressure to be perfect.

The math test also, don't get nervous and think "I have to pass, I have to pass" use common sense and ask yourself..."does this make sense?" I try to figure out from the question about how much I would give so I have a idea then do the calculation and make sure it is within the range my common sense told me before I did the calc.

Good luck!!