Another daft question...

Published

  1. Areas you feel were not adequately covered in your course

    • 5
      Pharmacology
    • 2
      Anat and Phys
    • 3
      Assessment
    • 6
      Specialty areas eg paediatrics, critical care, oncology
    • 4
      communication skills / counselling
    • 5
      general nursing skills
    • 5
      disase processes / surgical conditions and procedures and care
    • 4
      Psychiatric conditions; assessment and care
    • 3
      Nursing and computers
    • 0
      other

37 members have participated

Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.

Just interested. How many ppl felt that university didn't prepare them for the real world? OK we all wish we had more field experience, but what about the theory? I was really unhappy with my pharmacology course. I did a heap of reading and note taking after my course was finished to get me, in my own opinion, 'up to speed'. I often wonder if we had to do too many 'fluffy' units at the detriment of what we really needed to know...

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I found that pharmacology was very well covered by my uni as was anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology. I was not happy with the amount of coursework dedicated to airy fairy nursing subjects which i have found are irrelevant to nursing in the real world. We spent hours studying the NANDA nursing diagnoses which are not used at any hospital i have worked at, when we could have been focusing on how to give nursing care.

Our workshops were a complete joke. For example, we had an ECG machine and we were told to learn how to use it by reading the manual. This is just ridiculous considering how big the manuals was and we would not have had time to even finish reading it, let along practice using it. This is how we were 'taught' everything at uni. We would ask for a demonstration on something and be told that you need to learn to do it yourself. :idea:

The uni i went has a lot to answer for. They changed the program since i graduated, students don't get to have clinical placements in hospitals now until they are a third year. This is ridiculous and doesn't allow students to get a feel for what happens in the real world.

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The uni i went has a lot to answer for. They changed the program since i graduated, students don't get to have clinical placements in hospitals now until they are a third year. This is ridiculous and doesn't allow students to get a feel for what happens in the real world.

No clinical placements until third year? That's a scary thought. I'm only just about to start uni and the uni I'm attending has clinical placements starting from the second semester in the first year. I would be so scared about working if clinical placements were left that late.

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Specializes in Medical, Paeds, Ob gyn, NICU.

LOL at my Uni the equipment we had to learn with was VERY outdated!

Our lecturers kept telling us "we are going to show you how to use this...but they don't use them anymore in the clinical field!" grrrr got very frustrating!!

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Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.
LOL at my Uni the equipment we had to learn with was VERY outdated!

Our lecturers kept telling us "we are going to show you how to use this...but they don't use them anymore in the clinical field!" grrrr got very frustrating!!

Yep, I had the same experience...

Universities are supposed to be 'cutting edge' knowledge too...

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Specializes in Making the Pt laugh..

I have just finished my degree and am just waiting for my Registration to clear the Nursing Board and I have to say that I am a bit dubious about how I will handle the real world.

I feel that not enough time was spent on placement and the little time spent "on ward" was not utilised as well as it could have been. I spent countless hours, (OK maybe not hours...) during my placements waiting for a "real nurse' to give me permission to do what needed doing.

Getting sent off to make beds because as a student that is all I was capable of without supervision/support, one of my preceptors felt that having someone doing the "dirty work" gave her time to sit at the nurses desk. didn't learn too much on that placement.

Overall at the Uni I believe that too much emphasis was placed on the "fluffy" side of Nursing, ie: The Alma Ata conference, Health Sociology and the stating of the obvious and not enough focus on "skills" and what I call the "tips for young players".

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