Advice wanted, as an older RN student, what thing should I NOT do?

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Dec 14, 2015

My advice is don't correct anyone unless patient safety is at risk. Also don't offer up that you're an LPN unless asked, people don't like a know it all. Good luck [emoji1]

hamsterwheel · Dec 14, 2015

I've thought about not telling anyone I'm an LVN but over two years I'm pretty sure someone will figure it out and wouldn't that be worse? Im really not a know it all, it's just that I didn't go back to school till my late 30s and all I did before that was be a mom. It's hard to turn off.

Edit: I just realized I think you meant not let the RNS know I'm an lvn, I could do that.

vanilla bean · Dec 14, 2015

It turns out teachers don't like you correcting them either, (except one aspie microbiology professor who appreciated my pointing out a math error in the lab manual she'd wrote)

She'd written or she wrote is what you meant to say there. See - it makes you bristle a bit to be corrected. That's how other people feel when you do it.

As a respiratory therapist, I kept my trap shut during my nursing program even though sometimes I wanted to scream - like when one instructor said room air is "about 22, 23 percent oxygen."

You don't always have to *be* the mom or lvn - it is possible sometimes to just ****.

And, for the record, I was also in my early 40s when I decided to go back to school for my BSN to transition from RT to RN. Many of my classmates were in their early 20s. Instead of trying to "mom" them, I usually just chuckled to myself or shook my head as they overslept, or forgot to pack a lunch, or forgot we had an exam, or didn't think they'd need their stethescope for L&D, etc, etc. They'll figure it out and get their s**t together. I didn't impart my "RT wisdom" on them unless they *asked* me.

You're in your program for *you* - let other people be in the program for *themselves*, whether students or teachers. Anyway, that's just my opinion, since you asked, lol. Best wishes.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 14, 2015

Been there, done that:)

1). Keep silent as much as you can, then some more.

2). Try to find and befriend any other student (s) who is either approximately your age, or have something in common. Another married with kids, another LPN, whatever. If there is none, just remain polite, neutrally friendly and helpful WHEN ASKED. Do not volunteer help as well as information about yourself.

3) . You are there for yourself, not for others.

4). Never correct professors and instructors. NEVER. Even if they say that the Earth is the center of the Universe. During clinicals, keep your profile low, fly under radar, cover your skills a little. DO NOT CORRECT ANYONE.

5). Be prepared to do some group projects alone if you would like it more than endure so-called learning styles of someone fresh from high school. Professors usually ok with minor modifications like this if asked early enough.

End point, you are there to become an RN, not to find new friends, have fun, polish your study group forming skills and master Facebook. So just do it. Being all-class free to use resource has nothing to do with it.

roser13, ASN, RN · Dec 14, 2015

You seem to have an excellent understanding of yourself and potential issues. I'd say look at everything you told us that you tend to do that irritate folks and simply...............don't do those things. I could have easily been the mother to most of my nursing class. I gladly mothered no one and simply made new, younger friends.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 14, 2015

1. Don't tell anyone you are an LVN, not even your classmates or instructors. You will be held to a harsher standard if you divulge this info, so just don't do it.

2. Nod and agree, even if you hear incorrect information. Do not offer your corrective input unless safety is at risk.

3. Defer to your instructors.

4. Conform to the standards of the class.

5. Avoid standing out.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 14, 2015

I've thought about not telling anyone I'm an LVN but over two years I'm pretty sure someone will figure it out and wouldn't that be worse?

No, they wouldn't necessarily figure it out. Especially if you aren't acting like a pedantic boor.

I don't know what to tell you other than to say DO NOT NAG students. You are not their mother, you are not there to keep them on the straight and narrow. And for goodness sakes, do not correct a professor unless you want to spend 2 years with a bull's-eye on your back.

Finally, do not let your LVN experience overly color your view. The LVNs I went to school with did not do as well as I did in class or on tests because they let their experiences direct their answers. Nursing school is not necessarily real world. You have to answer questions the way the instructors want you to answer them, not according to how you have done it or seen it done in the real world. I had no prior experience, so it was easy for me to figure out what they wanted. It was really difficult for those with health care experience to leave that behind when doing homework and tests. You have to think like a test maker, not necessarily like a nurse working in an imperfect world.

I really encourage you to be polite, kind, but distant. Don't get involved in personal stuff, and don't be looking for life long friends. You are there to get an education, period. Keep your head down, your mouth shut, and your eye on the prize.

Good luck to you.

Susie2310 · Dec 14, 2015

I recommend being cautious about the manner in which you ask questions of the instructors, in class, and at clinicals (including all the staff you will interact with at clinicals). Contrary to how the college learning environment is often portrayed, with instructors eager and willing to answer questions and engage in discussion, some nursing instructors do not welcome questions that appear to challenge them, the nursing profession, other health team members, or really anything, perceiving questions as unwelcome challenges, nuisances, or devices intended to show them/the profession in a bad light. It is wise to have a solid basis for your question, or for your question to somehow relate to issues that affect the group of students.

Sifty · Dec 15, 2015

Don't drink with younger students when you have to be functional the next day. I could keep up with them but the hangover I suffered the next day was a lot worse than theirs :)

lavenderskies, BSN · Dec 15, 2015

When I was a 20 year old in nursing school, my closest classmate friend was a 40-something mom returning to the workforce. I'm sure it was hard for her to see the immaturity of us all but she just smiled and went about studying. Keep it in your mind that everyone deserves the right to learn hard lessons on their own. By mothering them you deprive them of that life lesson and make yourself the obnoxious know it all classmate on the process. Just swallow it and go about your own business. :)

caliotter3 · Dec 15, 2015

I recommend being cautious about the manner in which you ask questions of the instructors, in class, and at clinicals (including all the staff you will interact with at clinicals). Contrary to how the college learning environment is often portrayed, with instructors eager and willing to answer questions and engage in discussion, some nursing instructors do not welcome questions that appear to challenge them, the nursing profession, other health team members, or really anything, perceiving questions as unwelcome challenges, nuisances, or devices intended to show them/the profession in a bad light. It is wise to have a solid basis for your question, or for your question to somehow relate to issues that affect the group of students.

In addition to this excellent advice, at the beginning of the term, when the clinical instructor may ask your group to introduce themselves, etc., say as little as possible, actually nothing if you can get away with it. Your age will be obvious and you can't know what bit of personal information might put you in the instructor's "don't like", "give this one a hard time", "failure material" mental grouping.