Who believes instructors can be out to get you?

Nursing Students General Students

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I'm curious, what are your thoughts on this ? Do you think instructors can fail you from a class because of personality conflicts and nothing else?

Our schools funding is based on our Nclex passing rate not on the passing rate of the students while in the program. This creates an atmosphere where teachers really try to weed out the students who aren't great instead of helping or encouraging them. I feel bad for a lot of them and am just thankful every day that I'm a good test taker and have not come under the wrath of any of them so far. So as far as picking on a particular student --ya in my school it definitely happens when they sense a weakness initially.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Many, many years ago ... I was one of those students who got off on the wrong foot with my first nursing instructor. To make matters worse, we stayed with the same instructor for the entire 9-month school year! By the end of that year, I was a nervous wreck -- but I survived.

At the time, I really couldn't stand that woman ... and I still think that she was not a very good instructor. However, with age (and I am old, 49) and with lots of experience on both sides of the teacher/student relationship .... I can now better understand that she was just doing her best in a difficult situation. I was not the typical student and I am sure she felt her criticisms were in my best interest. Even though I graduated, eventually got my PhD, and have what most would consider to be a dream job in nursing -- there are a still a few emotional scars from that experience and she is not someone I have any desire to ever see again.

However, I do understand that she was only trying to help me. She truly believed that I might not be well-suited for the nursing profession and that it might be better for me if I switched my major to something else. For all I know, she could have been right. The fact that I have made nursing "work for me" doesn't change the fact that I might have been better suited for another profession.

I made the decision to tough it out, to stay in nursing, and I am a success story. But that doesn't mean that I might not have been more successful in another career. She may have been right -- and I may have done myself no favors by fighting so hard to stay in nursing.

So ... when I hear about students who refuse to believe that nursing might not be a good choice for them ... and those students who blame the instructors for "not like them" or "picking on them," etc. I can't help but wonder if maybe what's really happening is that some instructor is trying to save that student a lot of aggravation and pain down the road by encouraging you to seek another career. Rarely does an instructor have any motivation to "pick on" a student and try to get them quit other than to save them and profession trouble later on.

llg

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
So ... when I hear about students who refuse to believe that nursing might not be a good choice for them ... and those students who blame the instructors for "not like them" or "picking on them," etc. I can't help but wonder if maybe what's really happening is that some instructor is trying to save that student a lot of aggravation and pain down the road by encouraging you to seek another career. Rarely does an instructor have any motivation to "pick on" a student and try to get them quit other than to save them and profession trouble later on.

llg

Llg said this so much better than I did! :)

Specializes in L&D.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I haven't seen it.

Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

When I was in LPN school back when dinosaurs romaed the earth, we had an instructor who was of a different ethnic background than mine. She made a statement in front of the class that a man in the class who was of her same ethnicity, "WOULD pass, she would get him through no matter what."

In front of some other students in the lunchroom, she alluded to three female students who were Caucausian and from another state, on grants - some kind of assistance to women in bad situations sort of thing, not welfare, but one was young, married and had several little bitty kids, one was an abused woman fleeing her fiancee/business partner, and the other was a woman close to retirement age. It angered her to see these women and she mad no bones about saying she would make sure these women did NOT finish the course.

In the end, her male student flunked out, and she harrassed two of the three women until they quit. The third female student continued and passed and is an LPN to this day. Her name is KaroSnowQueen. The instructor quit our school after my class graduated.

congrats 2 u for sticking it out!

when i was in lpn school back when dinosaurs romaed the earth, we had an instructor who was of a different ethnic background than mine. she made a statement in front of the class that a man in the class who was of her same ethnicity, "would pass, she would get him through no matter what."

in front of some other students in the lunchroom, she alluded to three female students who were caucausian and from another state, on grants - some kind of assistance to women in bad situations sort of thing, not welfare, but one was young, married and had several little bitty kids, one was an abused woman fleeing her fiancee/business partner, and the other was a woman close to retirement age. it angered her to see these women and she mad no bones about saying she would make sure these women did not finish the course.

in the end, her male student flunked out, and she harrassed two of the three women until they quit. the third female student continued and passed and is an lpn to this day. her name is karosnowqueen. the instructor quit our school after my class graduated.

I'll say this....instructors are, (gasp!) human. Just like the rest of us, they can feel threatened by a student based on nothing more than personality. I have no doubt that this has happened. although I believe it usually results in a lower grade, not all out failing. That can be pretty hard to prove. However, I think all of us can testify to an instructor playing favorites, and giving someone a far better grade than they deserve. I know there are a few in my class you are still there by the grace of teachers and classmates.

Lastly, not all instructors are good ones! In fact, I have only seen a few in my program that are worth anything. I'm sure they are fine nurses, but their teaching leaves something to be desired. Just as there is a shortage for nurses, there is one for nursing instructors. Unfortunately, students pay the price. So, embrace those good ones!

Specializes in peds, office nurse and long term care fa.

Many years ago, when I was in school, I had a nutrition teacher that I could not get along with. She taught class saying .....and of......you know.... all the time. It seemed like all I could hear was that. In clinicals she seemed to pick on me, wonder why, I probably deserved it.

One day we were observing a tube feeding, and she was talking about having a pond near their house. Which of course - had nothing to do with the procedure. I told her she needed some ducks for it. She thought that was a good idea. But where could she get them? My Mother was selling baby ducks at that time. Needless to say, from then on I had NO trouble at all with her.

Where were those baby ducks sooner! :rolleyes:

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Do instructors (and managers) have "favorites?" Of course we do! Those students who do the work, know the material, perform well, meet the objectives, etc. are the ones who will get the best grades and whatever other rewards the instructor can give. Those students who don't meet the objectives as well, don't "fit" the expectations will either have to conform to and meet the teacher's standards (It's called "learning.") or be prepared to receive lower grades, fewer rewards, etc.

The same is true in the work setting. Those employees who best meet the needs of the employer will get whatever rewards that can be given. Those employees who expect their bosses, the hospital, the rest of the staff, etc. to conform to their personal agendas will be less favored.

That's the way life is. We all have the ability to choose whether or not we want to conform to the standards of the "authority figure" (teacher, employer, etc.) or not. If we are mature, we accept the consequences of our choices. If not, we blame everyone else for not rewarding us for doing what pleases us most (instead of what pleases other people most.)

Sometimes, there are bad teachers. Sometimes, there are bad bosses. etc. etc. etc. But it's very rare that someone actually flunks out of school or gets fired from a job who did nothing wrong. There are usually enough safeguards within the system to prevent it from going that far unless the student has performed poorly on numerous ocassions and for more than 1 teacher.

llg

In our clinical group, we had one student who was barely getting by, one with a lot of personal problems and another who was downright scary. The instructor was much harder on those three students than the rest of us. She felt they were not going to make good nurses and encouraged them to drop out of the program.

Was that fair? No. Was she right? Maybe, maybe not. The scary student ended the semester by almost pouring liquid meds down a patient's trach. Since the instructor never allowed the student to do anything without her direct supervision, she was able to stop the student before she killed the patient.

The other two might have improved if offered extra support and assitance with organization, time management and prioritizing. Unfortunately, it is more of a sink or swim environment. I hope they will be back in the fall and will do better with a different instructor. Or perhaps our clinical instructor was right and they won't make it. I hope they prove her wrong!

Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

We had a couple of intructors who all but harassed a couple of the students in clinicals. In both cases they were hardest on a couple of the older (40's) students; also on students who acted hesitant and lacked self-confidence in performing clinical skills. These students were all doing well academically but were continually singled out in clinicals. In hindsight, I don't think this was my imagination and I do NOT think it benefitted any of them in any way when they hit the "real" world. It was just an unpleasant reality for them to get through to get to their goal. I know I had less respect for both instructors for the way they dealt with these students.

and those students who blame the instructors for "not like them" or "picking on them," etc. I can't help but wonder if maybe what's really happening is that some instructor is trying to save that student a lot of aggravation and pain down the road by encouraging you to seek another career. llg

I'm not in nursing school yet, but it seems to me that an instructor is there to instruct, not to weed anyone out or pass judgement... I assume the dynamics are different for nursing school than other college programs, but it still doesn't make sense to me. It should be more objective than that.

Do nursing instructors really get close enough to their students to understand that student's personality? or close enough to know personal information about that student? (I'm not being sarcastic LOL)

I've had professors who I thought were jerks- but they were jerks to everyone, not just me, LOL. They didn't know me from adam.

Bethany

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