Why there is a shortage of nurses.

[Nikita007]

[sAs luck would have it I missed my name and ended up at the end of the list. As I sat on the cold floor I tried to stay clam. As girls rushed by in racking sobs and the men tried to show no emotion it finally got to me. My hands had started to shake. The girl next to me was white as death and I tried to calm her but we were to close and could still hear all the sobbing and sickness of the ones that went before us. For some reason a movie popped into my head about the Jews being chosen for the train to the concentration camps and families were being separated. I can't recall the name of the movie but the sobbing is what reminded me of it in the first place. I tried to shake that thought after all we are in America and atrocities like that don't occur here. We have learned from history never to give one person the power to destroy others lives.

It was my turn and I started to run the other way but this had to be done. How bad could it be I had passed every test? Loved my time at the nursing home and had done a good job. There was no way I could be kicked to the ground now. I opened the door and sat down. A sheet of paper was handed to me. As I scanned the numbers everything looked okay and then I saw the 73. What is this? It is your pharmacology grade. I remember saying no, and the rest is a blank. Out of instinct I made it home and the realization of what had happened did not hit me until hours later. I was not to be consoled. I wept as though I had just lost a loved one. For three days I could not sleep. There had to be a mistake. As I wept and begged for mercy I was told I had missed a math problem and that was why I would not be allowed to continue on. This is not your average nursing school but one where the decision of one person decides your future. One person that lacks the ability to choose the best person but chooses instead the person she personally is impressed with. Nursing actually has nothing to do with it. I had to learn that the hard way.

I had seen others bring gifts and food to the school. That I would not do. I felt that doing something so obvious to get the teacher to like you was below the standards of what a professional should do. I had taken several of the younger students under my wing and advised them not to purchase expensive gifts for the instructor. Did I tell them wrong? Did I rob them of a career? I am still filled with doubt and guilt. One of "my girls" had a 95 average and failed the same course as I. What is going on? This is 2002; prejudice is not a factor when it comes to nursing. Surely an institution that taught nursing would not be prejudice and seeking favors from an instructor was out of the question.

How this institution came to be run by only one individual is something that I still do not understand. She single handedly got rid of over 50% of my class. Of course there were some that were not serious and would never make good nurses. Overall though we were a dedicated bunch and after the time we spent at the nursing home we knew nursing was what we were meant to do.

I gave all I had and because of math error I am no longer able to continue with my dream. Why is there a shortage of nurses? From where I am I can honestly say that one woman singly handedly got rid of some very caring and compassionate women and men who were striving to attain our goal of helping others. Would they have made caring professionals? Yes they would have. I was there and I witnessed students that never acted unprofessional, never missed a class and made excellent grades. As I said before we were a determined and dedicated bunch! How can one woman decide the fate of other? I have no answer to that question neither do I have the answer how a girl with the highest average got kicked out of the program.

Many have decided not to pursue a career in nursing, I am still uncertain myself. Being a single mom I can't afford to buy expensive gifts and it is below my standards to forgo knowledge and be passed on what favors I have done. Yes I am bitter and yes I feel cheated not only for myself but all the others as well. We are still not able to condole each other our emotions are too raw our souls to bruised.

It breaks my heart to hear of nurses having more patients than they should have on a shift, I gave all I had to be with you and help relieve your burden. Because I made a mistake on a math problem my future is on hold. I don't want pity, yes math is important in nursing I understand that. I also understand why we have a shortage of nurses and why patients are the ones suffering. We should never allow one person to have the power to decide the fate of others. Is that person knowledgeable, prejudice, easily swayed by a gift? The problem is not that we do not want to be good nurses the problem is in our schools where grades, dedication, and knowledge have nothing to do with who gets to pursue their dreams.

Nikita

-In no way did my experience compare to the suffering and heartache of the Holocaust. The halls echoed with the sobbing and it reminded me of a heartbreaking movie I had seen.

-After I asked for mercy and a review of my scores by three others my grade suddenly went from a 73 to a posted term grade of D.

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[Cafe]

The point is, why are nursing programs full of instructors that feel there job is to weed out and intimidate? We go to school to LEARN and we PAY for that education. There job is to teach, to mentor, to enlighten. They were nurses at one time and know it can be a stressful profession. There goal should be to teach and realize the different methods needed to teach. Grant you, it is then our responsibility to study but I know some nurses and many of you could say the same, that you wonder how they got through tests. In this time with such a shortage, schools should be pressured into increasing the amount of instructors and mentoring where needed. There are still waiting lists out there for programs, but they don't have enough instructors to handle it. There are many things wrong with how our profession is treated and respected, but first we need to teach those so they can be professional nurses.

[azgirl]

People in my program stated that they got their nursing degree in spite of our instructors.

[Teshiee]

This is a damn shame. You know if you were in med school you wouldn't be going through all this drama. I really can relate if you want to hear my story please pm me and I will tell you about an instructor that was biased and we literally had to stand up and be heard. :-( Unrealistic expectations they put on nursing students and then when they are in the real world they realize what was all the damn fuss about. I say shame on this profession sometimes. For some of you that are on your high horse unless you have been there you really can't go there. Nikita don't let this mishap deterr pls pm me!

[sjoe]

"Lawmakers to consider center that would study nursing shortage"

There is a link to this article on the allnurses home page at the moment. Just what we needeed--more study of the "problem." LOL.

[brianpribis]

[ Why there is a shortge of nurses. ]

Man, it has been a few years since school but I remember the terror. In fact I think I also remember having to get a 100 on the med calc test. I think (hope) what you went through is an uncommon occurance. Our school was very hard and 30% or more of the class was gone by midterm. Sometimes the teachers would ask students to reconsider their career field, other times it wasn't a suggestion. But when the teachers knew you had the right stuff, and you were doing all you could to make the grade, the teachers would go the extra mile (or hundred) to get you there. I mean, these ladies would stay after, meet with you around your schedule, even hold special classes for interested students. I know that if it wasn't for the commitment of these people I would have never made it. I was so burned out by the end that they practically carried me across the finish line! There are good schools out there, really.

b--

[NMAguiar]

As a current nursing student, I just requested and received another clinical instructor for the reasons -jt stated. I got so sick of hearing this instructor tell myself and other students during clinicals, "We expect you to do this perfectly -- you practiced it in the lab!"

What student doesn't sense a difference between a dummy and living tissue when they first perform a proceedure? I felt so bad for one young lady giving an injection for the first time as this instructor hovered over her, and the patient, telling her she wasn't "going to pass (the semester) if she didn't get that right."

The day she yelled at me -- and I'm a 41-year-old male student -- I decided I needed to find someone more professional. But any student out of high school is an adult, and deserves to be treated as such.

:o

[researchrabbit]

With one exception, I had a WONDERFUL group of nursing professors who went the extra mile for every student that asked for help (the exception was a one-semester substitute; she was not asked back). Thank you, Johnson County Community College. :)

We did lose a few students, some who weren't prepared for college level work, some whose personal lives prevented them from being able to do their best, and some who just decided it was too much work.

Our professors were gentle when they needed to be, professionally stern or tough when required, and I can't tell you how much I appreciated them.

Schools of nursing are having a hard time getting nurses too -- it doesn't help that nursing professors get paid less than if they worked in a hospital. A good nurse SHOULD be a good teacher -- but that is not the same as a good professor.

[NMAguiar]

Good points all researchrabbit.

There is difficulty in attracting community college instructors. They can earn much more with their Master's degree in managment or simply as a staff nurse. There is really only one good reason to embark upon a teaching career: passion for the field.

In California, there more than 100 community colleges -- far more than all campuses in the state, university and private colleges combined. Their nursing programs enroll about 3,800 students each semester, from which about 73 percent graduate -- down from about 85 percent in the early 1990s. (numbers provided by the California Community College Chancellor's Office)

Community colleges are both the future of nursing education and the best weapon against the looming nursing shortage crisis. They -- and the students -- deserve quality and compassionate instructors.

O.K., I'll jump off the soap box now.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally posted by sjoe

"Lawmakers to consider center that would study nursing shortage"

There is a link to this article on the allnurses home page at the moment. Just what we needeed--more study of the "problem." LOL.

Exactly. when do we stop "studying" and start "doing"? Ludicrous.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Originally posted by NMAguiar

)

Community colleges are both the future of nursing education and the best weapon against the looming nursing shortage crisis. They -- and the students -- deserve quality and compassionate instructors.

O.K., I'll jump off the soap box now. [/b]

**sigh** No compassion to be found in the community college from which I graduated....but a 50% attrition rate and 100% pass rate on the boards, so I guess they felt justified? HMMPH. Something's gotta change w/o compromising standards. The whole "eating our young " thing begins in nursing school, as we see.

[MrsK1223]

I have often wondered what is the deal with nursing instructors. For this to be a caring profession, I've have met more uncaring spiteful nursing instructors. Nursing is a serious profession with little room for mistakes in the real world but school is our training ground. I was lucky a time or two to actually get instructors that made our clinical and classroom experience one where we were expected not to already know everything and that it was ok to make mistakes and that any hands on patient care was supervised so as to not harm the patient. I made it to the last semester next to last clinical with the instructor cut directly out of satan's ass. In a busy crowded medication room with students and other nurses and staff, my instructor was asking me about medications i was preparing for my patient and wanted to know all the physiological effects of each medication off the top of my head and there was about 15 medications. I did the best i could but obviously could not tell her what she wanted. She wouldnt let me look it up and caused me to hold up the electronic med cart. I literally started having a panic attack, i developed painful cramping, i was sweating, I thought i was going to pass out and felt like running out and just leaving but i didn't. I just kept saying I dont know, what do you want me to do. She wouldn't let me look them up. She picked on me and two others the rest of time in that clinical I was sick the rest of the day. I felt like shit the rest of the semester. She said some awful things to me that day that I will never forget and sadly really did a number on my confidence. Later we took the matter up with the dean and found out that there were law suits against this woman and we weren't the first to complain. I was in tears. But nothing has been done about her. If she wanted to make me feel like all the time i spent learning and studying and practicing nursing skills and critical thinking were a waste of time and that i was the most incompetent nursing student in the world she accomplished that. It's taken me two years to and i'm still working on my confidence. It was a lot worse than i stated...my whole clinical group was scared they would be next. It was a very traumatic ordeal. It's instances such as this that makes me wonder about the nursing care we're taught. God help all nursing students.

[Flora]

I totally agree with _JT,

Why do we as nurses perpetuate this dog-eat-dog mentality?

Is it because we are so "catty" and competitive?

As a female dominated profession, I still cringe when I hear women say, "I would rather work with men".

After 24 years in nursing I as still astonished at how we treat one another on the job, and in school.

Where is the support we give mouth service to?

Who can succeed when there is so little compassion? ...the same compassion we are expected to give to our patients, as we should.

How can we unite and fight for our rightful place in the heirarchy of the medical model if we continued to wish our sisters and brothers ill, and back stab and criticize one another with so little decency?