We all failed!

Nursing Students General Students

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Today we got back the paper that counts for 30% of our grade in Fundamentals and everyone, myself included failed. As far as our instructor is concerned no one, not a single soul, did exactly as she wanted and therefore we have all gotten F's on our papers. She assigned a number grade to our papers. Out of a possible 100 the lowest was a 2 and the highest was a 50. No, I am not lying she actually gave someone a 2. We are a cohort so it's not like we can get away from this woman by dropping her class and she is the chair so what are our options?

The only thing that is in the works is that several students have written letters of complaint to the president of our college and this week it was promised that confidential meetings will take place with a dean and that the president of the college is very interested in what is going on.

Sigh, I am so tired. She is making everyone re-do their paper but there is no guarantee she is going to like the second version any better than the first.

To date: She has said that no one has passed any of her quizzes (never had a single graded quiz returned to us), no one gives good presentations (never seen the grades for those either) , and now everyone has managed to f*ck up this paper.

I know that nursing school is hard but I am royally sick of this woman's sh*t. Just about everyone (with the exception of a few true slackers) is passing every other class just fine but for some reason no one can pass her class.

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Look on the bright side, at least she's not picking on just one or two victims; You all are in the same boat! It's will help with class unity to have a common enemy.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

I am so sorry for you. It sounds like you may get some where if they are making a private meeting over it with the dean and everything. I hear our psych teacher next year is a lot like your teacher, but it depends on if she likes you or not!

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Oh man, and I was feeling bad because 19 of 38 students failed our latest exam!!! You do sound as though the school is having a problem with this instructor, good for you and your class. Me, I love the group of students I am with, and don't want to see a single person leave the program, or have to take an extra year to finish after an appeal. Good luck with this, and keep us posted. I don't know how any of you can keep going, not receiving any grades, just "reports" from the instructor on how bad the class did. At least we get the bad news quickly, took the last test on Tuesday, results were posted on Wednesday. Keep us posted...

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

She must be a really bad teacher if she can't relay the information to her students in an understandable way. If you're all failing, she is failing. I have a feeling things will change after your meetings with the dean, et. al.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.

So you all have to assume you are failing because she won't actually give you the grades from quizzes? That's just wrong right there.

Something is seriously wrong with this woman...probably on many levels.

I think it's important that everyone writes a letter. I think everyone should push for a meeting.

I would make sure your paper remains in your possession to share with the president of the school and a copy of any directions she gave. This is something they may be interested in seeing. If they see it then it might be easier for them to side with the students when there is some written proof that you aren't all failures.

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If all she had done was told the class that they didn't understand the assignment and would all have to rewrite their papers, it wouldn't sound so bad - maybe even like she was trying to help you guys - but not with random public comments about grades you have never seen. If the whole class failed one assignment and she clearly pointed out to wach one of you why you lost 50-98 points, that's one thing. Telling "everyone" that they failed quizzes and assignments yet not passing them back or going over them is a serious problem. Any teacher at any level that fails their whole class is quite obviously doing something wrong, and administration doesn't even want that to happen. They want you all to come back and pay tuition again nexdt semester, don't they? Any teacher that gives all As is just as bad, but at least not as hurtful to his/her students. Grades need to be documented, and you can't improve if you don't know what you are doing wrong. Good luck with the dean, hope you can get someone to step in and make this fair for everyone.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

falon. . .we had a professor who did this to us with our very first nursing class in our bsn program and she was the dean of the program too. we learned later that she did this routinely to "wake" people up to the realities of what it means to be a university student. she was educated at an ivy league college and was an honor student herself. unfortunately, we were only the second class she had so we really didn't have a clue of what was going on. everyone, however, ended up passing the class. pay close attention to what she says you are doing wrong so you can make the right corrections. take notes as she is having her rants and hissy fits so you won't forget anything. she can't possibly flunk everyone out because she would be out of a job and have a lot of explaining to do to her bosses. nursing departments cost a lot of money for colleges to run--more than any other curriculums. she has got to know this or else she's a certified nut job. my guess is that she is trying to shake you guys up to the realities of college study. a poor way of doing it to my way of thinking. that's like the old way of parenting by instilling fear of getting a beating every time you do something wrong. pretty soon you're afraid to even think for yourself for fear it will result in a beating. it works, but it damages and scars the psyche.

aren't there any students who are in more advanced stages of the nursing program that you can inquire of about this instructor and her tests? their input and suggestions on how to get through her class would be helpful.

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My program was very similar ... instructor would tell everyone they failed a test but would not let us review results, get the right answers etc. Rationale was they used the same tests from semester to semester and there was cheating. We (several classes) complained to the president of the college and some relief was obtained. The testing method was changed though it did not benefit me. Good luck ... the colleges usually don't reprimand instructors for their deficencies due to contract/tenure/union issues. But the chances of her failing everyone in the whole class are unlikely. She's just giving you a wake-up call on the sh*t you will be experiencing as a nurse. Not too late to change careers. I may.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
falon. . .we had a professor who did this to us with our very first nursing class in our bsn program and she was the dean of the program too. we learned later that she did this routinely to "wake" people up to the realities of what it means to be a university student. she was educated at an ivy league college and was an honor student herself. unfortunately, we were only the second class she had so we really didn't have a clue of what was going on. everyone, however, ended up passing the class. pay close attention to what she says you are doing wrong so you can make the right corrections. take notes as she is having her rants and hissy fits so you won't forget anything. she can't possibly flunk everyone out because she would be out of a job and have a lot of explaining to do to her bosses. nursing departments cost a lot of money for colleges to run--more than any other curriculums. she has got to know this or else she's a certified nut job. my guess is that she is trying to shake you guys up to the realities of college study. a poor way of doing it to my way of thinking. that's like the old way of parenting by instilling fear of getting a beating every time you do something wrong. pretty soon you're afraid to even think for yourself for fear it will result in a beating. it works, but it damages and scars the psyche.

aren't there any students who are in more advanced stages of the nursing program that you can inquire of about this instructor and her tests? their input and suggestions on how to get through her class would be helpful.

sorry, i disagree.

students should not have to psychoanalyze teachers' motives.

the instructor's job is to teach the material well enough so that any average college-age student who studies can learn it. we're talking nursing fundamentals here, not grad studies in quantum physics, for pete's sake.

there is no excuse for this teacher withholding information. there is no excuse for the entire class failing the paper or the quizzes and tests. there is no excuse for the teacher blaming the class for failing to learn what she is failing to teach.

you're paying good money to learn an entry level nursing class. you are not paying to be psychologically abused and degraded.

if this class is supposed to educate you to the "real world" of nursing, then i suggest you do what "real nurses" do when confronted with this type of behavior: take it up the chain of command. see the dean. if no immediate corrective action is taken, i suggest that you do what nurses have been doing for decades when treated unfairly: vote with your feet and get out of there.

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Anytime there is a class where the instructor fails 100% of the students.

100% of the time, the problem is the instructor.

I just refuse to believe that an ENTIRE group of people, especially nursing students, are that dumb or didn't understand the assignment sufficiently.

I am so sorry that this has happened to you.

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if she is trying to teach you reality, then going up the chain of command is exactly what she wants....and it will continue this rx next semester....after you win with the dean, i think letters to the editor, or any other anonymous way you can think of, you should expose this behavior to the community, and future students

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