Nursing School Needs Repair (And Why I Quit)

Julius Seizure · Nov 25, 2017

I can't lie, there are things that I wished were different about my nursing school - both undergrad and graduate. It can be really frustrating and even today I would say that I don't agree with everything that they did. It is survivable though, even if it is unpleasant.

However, if you want to be a nurse, then you have to play by their rules...at least until you get your degree and then get licensed. Then, if you still have a passion for improving nursing education, I say go for it.

Ddestiny, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

Nursing school is stressful by design, and honestly if you cannot handle it then I don't see how you can handle your first year as a nurse. The expectations put on us with staffing and handling patients that are sicker than in generations past, are not getting easier. Maintaining the ability to work with a level head and critical thinking while feeling incredibly stressed out, "hangry", frustrated, anxious....honestly, it's part of the job. And I don't say that as some holier-than-thou martyr, I say that because I've been in 3 different RN positions -- primary care for 3 years, med/surg for 2, and now in the ICU for the past 6 months and there is nowhere where you are not going to feel stressed out. You have to be able to tolerate discomfort, and to go with the flow when changes with patients require a rapid shift in priorities even when you're already behind, etc etc, the stories can go on and on.

It does get better with experience and confidence in your own abilities and knowledge base, but it takes a long time to really begin to feel the effects of that.

I've bridged from LPN to ADN and BSN so I've been in 3 different programs and none was perfect. But the people that got caught up in the anxiety of that were the ones that didn't do well. From my flawed, outside-looking-in perspective, the people I know that failed were all smart, but they either had crappy prioritization skills, or couldn't tolerate the discomfort of the programs so they got behind and could never catch up. Programs should not have the goal of lowering their standards in order to let more people through, that's dangerous for our communities to have subpar nurses that don't have the knowledge base or the backbone to know how to advocate for their patients. Students need to be able to rise to the challenge. Not everyone can, and that's okay. Not everyone can be a nurse, just like not everyone can be an engineer. Sometimes the failure in nursing is not in the technical knowledge but in the ability to apply it in a real-life environment.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

It sounds to me that you are at a stressful life transition. I don't know if you've just lost your mom, but my sense is that you are grasping toward nursing to fill an emotional void.
You might want to take stock and reevaluate the direction you want to take. There are many other paths that involve assisting people. It sounds like nursing school is not for you.

Excellent point. Have you considered psych nursing?

dishes, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

I'm a 56 year old former Industrial Engineer and Project Manager who was previously accepted into several accelerated 2nd bachelor degree nursing programs in Florida. Having been a full-time caregiver to my mom for 7 years, I wanted to help people with dementia on a professional level. The problem is I've been accepted into (and dropped) 3 programs. All 3 were disorganized messes with confusion about books, remedial dosage calculation problems where the answer keys were wrong, surprise projects not on the syllabus, and confusion about whether or not we would be injecting each other with solutions that may or may not be sterile??? There has GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY TO EDUCATE NURSES. And there needs to be greater focus on nursing students taking care of themselves rather than being stretched like a banjo wire and expected to take care of very ill patients. OMG. This system is in chaos.

These problems all had solutions, they just required communication skills and a little patience. As for students giving each other saline injections, just decline to participate. If an instructor insists that practicing injections on classmates is mandatory, ask them if the school's Liability Insurance provider is aware that the school is requiring students to do this.

tara07733 · Nov 25, 2017

I think this post reflects the OP's engineering background more than anything else. He expected ducks in a row, being able to predict how your day will go to the minute, and when that didn't happen, well- it becomes intolerable. He has spent decades in this environment, and cannot adjust. Because honestly "Being expected to take care of very ill patients" is what we DO.
And there is no shame in not being able to handle that.

This right here. Every word of it. My husband is also an engineer and I could see him having the same concerns as the OP. It seems to me that certain types of people require more 'rigidity', so to speak. Nothing against them at all, It could be certain personalities being drawn to certain professional paths. However, I think nursing requires such flexibility-- being okay with certain things, being pulled here and there, and not knowing what's going to happen next but being able to handle it.

Sour Lemon · Nov 25, 2017

As a 40 something year old, I've noticed that a lot of people become more particular and less flexible as they grow older. For people on the more extreme end of the spectrum, nursing is definitely NOT a good fit.

pixierose, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

Excellent point. Have you considered psych nursing?

With such ... rigidity (for lack of a better word), I especially wouldn't suggest psych nursing.

CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

In nursing, we tend to look for a common thread when we problem solve. The one thing the three nursing programs have in common is the OP. Other have come to the same conclusion that perhaps the OP should reconsider his career path.

HeySis, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

I have never heard someone talk about their nursing program being extremely organized, my LPN program was more organized then my RN program. in the RN and BSN program a lot of the instructors are nurses still working in their field. They don't have time to babysit and coddle. Nursing school is a great time to learn to be organized, advocate for yourself, prioritize, pull long hours, learn that not everything is black and white, find that all answers are correct but one is the most correct, communicate problems (and possible solutions), and a whole host of other real world nursing skills.

Did I ever get frustrated with a the programs office/secretary? Where there instructors that, while maybe great nurses, weren't excellent teachers? Was there a question about whether we could practice IV starts on each other? Did I end up buying a book or two (or more) that we never cracked open? Did the difficulty of labs and clinical vary depending on who your instructor was? Yes, to all the above. Yet still my entire RN class was there at graduation, and all eventually passed their boards (and like 90% the first time round). Only you can decide what is worth it to you.

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

Anyone who has been to engineering school and then nursing school will experience a lot of eye rolling about disorganization and remedial math.

But you play along or you move along.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Nov 25, 2017

I'm a 56 year old former Industrial Engineer and Project Manager who was previously accepted into several accelerated 2nd bachelor degree nursing programs in Florida. Having been a full-time caregiver to my mom for 7 years, I wanted to help people with dementia on a professional level. The problem is I've been accepted into (and dropped) 3 programs. All 3 were disorganized messes with confusion about books, remedial dosage calculation problems where the answer keys were wrong, surprise projects not on the syllabus, and confusion about whether or not we would be injecting each other with solutions that may or may not be sterile??? There has GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY TO EDUCATE NURSES. And there needs to be greater focus on nursing students taking care of themselves rather than being stretched like a banjo wire and expected to take care of very ill patients. OMG. This system is in chaos.

"remedial dosage calculation problems " One must wonder why an engineer .. would require remedial dosage calculation. I was pretty good at math. I knew I had a problem with the (quite basic) algebra required to calculate ratio and proportion.

I spent one hour with a group tutoring session.. and was able to grasp the math.

It's not them, it's you.

Best wishes in your endeavors. Please.. open up and accept advice.

blackmamba123 · Nov 25, 2017

Ok, I've gone to LPN school and RN school, and supported my daughter as she went through LPN school and RN school, and have friends who have done variations. You've just described every nursing school program I've been a part of or heard of. It is crazy, hectic, disorganized, sporadic, and then some! Honestly, I think it prepares you for the fact that practicing nursing can be and is usually all of that too. If you decide to go back, be prepared for that. But, if you dropped out of three programs because of those issues, nursing may not be for you. Heck, many days I wonder if its for me because of how crazy it can get! :roflmao: