I've been really put off my nursing school lately. I'm in an Accelerated BSN program. The classes and lecture instructors are disorganized which puts in a bad position when studying for exams and more importantly the NCLX. The assignments are badly written. So bad that when our clinical instructors are required to grade them, they don't know what to do. No one seems to know what is expected and we have such a short time in school!
I know I'm gripping but is there anyone who hates their school. I love nursing and the patients I get to take care of, but this nursing school seems to torture it's students by requiring half of them to commute over 80 miles one way without rotating for the whole year, giving inadequate lectures, and providing info the night before a test. I don't feel like this school is preparing me to be a nurse. In fact, I asked a clinical instructor about this situation and she said that not all nursing schools are like this. She views this program as a way to buy a degree because they aren't teaching us effectively. Her advice: to basically do what they tell me to do and get out of here...I think that's the awful truth.
If anyone has any words of encouragement, please post. I'm about to pull my hair out in frustration.
i'm in aa cc program in houston. we have the same issues. we are a new program at this school. our class is new for fall start classes. after a few years, they listened to students complain and decided to change it up for those of us that just started in the fall. they are still working out the kinks. i do feel for them, they are trying to get it right.
but we still have the same issues all of you are writing about. some test questions being wrong, having to throw out the question, give mulitple answers and giving out points.
we see a lot of favortism towards some students. we see a lot "psych" issues in some instructors.
i for one, was very upset to learn that one instructor was in nursing admin before teaching and had not been in touch with a lot of nursing skills for a very long time, and trying to teach them. (ex. starting IV's and then admitting "oh let me see if i can remember, it's been 12 yrs since i've done this) that's frustrating!
we've all agreed we hate the pharm book they've chosen for us, it's badly written and organized.
changes in scheduling at the last minute. (ex. my hesi test was today at 1030am, we received an email less than 18 before that said it was backed up to 3pm but you have to get it done before thursday, but we have class thursday. ugg!)
anyways, we all have the same gripes. my advice, grit your teeth, stay determined, learn by yourself and don't rely on instructors, but get a good study group. stay in touch frequently with schedules, continue to ask questions, don't let them discourage you. you can never get in trouble for asking questions, sometimes you just might get an answer you were looking for. bite your tongue, keep it in, and leave it for the end of semester evaluations that you fill out. you want to get through nursing school, not make enemies that could prevent it, and then let your hiring employer teach you the way they want things done.
Yes-Unfortunately it seems to be that way across the board. For some reason or another there are more "veteran GOD complex nursing instructors" than the world has nurses. I don't get the politics either-however-I think its a battle of wits. I m a 3rd semester study-fien and I can tell you I have *ss caluses from sitting and reading,prepping,reading more, practicing NCLEX style questions and THEN reading even MORE! Still I come out of with barely a B. So--it boils down to what the instructor THINKS the right answer is--and it doesn't matter if GOD himself came down and said"Hey idiot--YOUR WRONG!" they will still say its thier way OR no way--its just how it rolls. For whatever reason-READ, PRACTICE, and get into to gross clinical stuff and it you will prevail! (what you learn on your own is usually proven when your faced with it.) Most of the crap these instructors are teaching is from "their" experiences and how they handled it or didn't--and what they are trying to get across to us without us knowing it--is not to do the same things they did-cause when it happend to them---THEY screwed up! So sometimes-you have to breathe, and look at it from an outside view....they dont dare ADMIT they are wrong-but in the heart of it all--they were wrong once, and don't want us to make the same mistakes...so they shove what they believe is right down our throats..eventually we make the right decision and finally get out of there!! **just a point of view that helps me get up every day and go back....God speed.
I started at a BSN program this past August, and left around the first of October...it was the most disorganized mess I had ever seen, and even the Director of the entire program was giving students different answers to different things. They had 3 pre-reqs for the nursing program that had nothing to do with nursing, in addition to 2 semesters of foreign language, and I already had a BS in another field. The Chemistry, they not only required 2 semesters of it, but it was designed for pre-med students and had a 84% fail rate, and the final for the SECOND semester covered BOTH semesters, and if you failed the final they RETROACTIVELY took away credit for BOTH semesters.
But hey, that is what I get for signing up for a brand-new nursing program. They accepted 20 students each fall and the previous 2 years had NOT filled all of the slots because NOBODY could pass the pre-reqs...that again, had nothing to do with nursing.
I just woke up this morning and decided, "Why am I doing this? So I won't have to get my ADN first?" I decided it wasn't worth it and PROUDLY went and signed up at the local CC for their ADN program and hoping for Fall 2007 admission and feel MUCH better about their program.
To the OP: I am also in an Accelerated BSN, and boy do I feel your pain. I was right there with you a couple of months ago, ready to chuck it all and transfer to a CC (I started a thread asking for advice on this). Our class as a whole was on the verge of a mass revolt and organizing a gripe session. What we realized was that we were feeding on each other's negativity and our attitudes were just getting worse and worse. We were all tired and had "hit the wall" so to speak, and could no longer see the good in what we were doing. Thankfully, we pulled ourselves out of it and realized that yes, there are problems, but we are also lucky to be in this program. Once you get into that cycle of negativity with friends and classmates, it is hard to pull out of, but you can do it.
That said, I think that acclerated programs are still very new and will have to workout out the bugs. Unfortunately, we are the guinea pigs. Add to that the problems that ALL nursing programs face with teacher shortages, etc., and you can see that there will be struggles. Try and remember that there is an end in sight - especially with the accelerated programs. Soon it will be over, and then your real learning can begin on the job!!!!
I was also in a very disorganized program a few years back. It was an absolute nightmare. I would say that I wish that I had researched the program and the school a bit more, not just jumping into the university that was the closest to where I lived.
I eventually left the program after two years, packed up and moved halfway across the country to a much better university (this time I did my research), and I haven't regretted it. Unfortunately I am far away from my friends and family, broke and lonely, but I'm getting a top-notch education. I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too . . . .
funsizedliv
39 Posts
My school is exactly the same. Glad to know its not just us.