Anyone unhappy with their nursing school program?

Cursed Irishman · Nov 24, 2008

Prepared for nclex, unequivocally yes...prepared to be a competent new grad? still up in the air

boomerfriend · Nov 24, 2008

Hate to break it to you...but when you graduate from NS, you will not feel prepared. Some stuff, yes. But most stuff, no. It truly becomes real when you are the one making the decisions and that safety net of school is no longer there.

School is great for the foundation. Learn what you can, remember as much as you can. However, don't think that your school is going to REALLY prepare you. You are being prepared to take and pass NCLEX. The real learning takes place once you graduate.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Nov 24, 2008

Is everyone happy with their nursing school program? Do you feel challenged and like you are being properly prepared for Nclex?? How do you know if the program you are in, is a good one.....

Are you studying an NCLEX practice book on your own, with practice questions? It seems many recommend the Saunders NCLEX book. If you don't feel you are being challenged enough, then maybe you could do NCLEX practice questions for your current study area in school but also with your NCLEX book. For example, if you are on peds in school, work on peds in your NCLEX book.

starz_girl_1 · Nov 26, 2008

Yes, I am studying. Just don't feel that my teacher is really preparing me. Maybe, I just had too high of expections and there ALOT to read.... yikes... I can't remember all of that!!!!! I am just doing the best I can....

RNGrad2006 · Dec 2, 2008

Yes, I am studying. Just don't feel that my teacher is really preparing me. Maybe, I just had too high of expections and there ALOT to read.... yikes... I can't remember all of that!!!!! I am just doing the best I can....

Saunders is good but I thought the best prep for NCLEX was Kaplan. I know the hospital where I work pays for the Kaplan review class for new grad hires. I have not heard anything but good about that program. I used a variety of sources and had no problems with NCLEX. But Kaplan and Saunders were two that I used.

Pookababy · Dec 3, 2008

i don't think anyone is ever really prepared to enter the nursing field right after school. it is just something that you have to do to be any good at. no one could possibly remember everything they learned in school. you have to have a generalized knowledge (or should i say frame of reference) for each disease process so that you know what is appropriate and not appropriate for your patients.

for example, you would never allow a patient to take fluids by mouth who is at risk for aspiration due to problems swallowing. once you know that stroke patients often suffer from dysphagia, you can make the connection that before allowing the patient to eat or drink, not only must you assess the patient's gag reflex but they should also be assessed for the ability to swallow properly (so that there is no silent aspiration).

using this as an example, if you understand the basic concepts and have a solid foundation for what occurs with each pathological state you are more likely to be prepared for your role as a nurse.

don't worry so much about the "hands-on" stuff. most of the clinical skills you will not get an opportunity to practice on a live person until you are out of nursing school anyway. and just like learning to ride a bike or drive a car, once someone teaches you the proper method (per agency protocol) to perform a specific task, you will be more than prepared to administer it correctly. you will never do something for the first (or sometimes several) times without assistance.

do yourself a favor and invest not only in nclex review books but also lots of other study aid books. it tends to get expensive, but i only have one more semester to go, i maintain an a average in my very difficult school while working full time, and i almost never read the textbooks on the syllabus for the classes. i find the textbooks do not cover the type of information my instructors test us on. also, a lot of these extraneous books come with great cd's full of nclex type questions that you can use to actually study for your lecture exams. i especially like the straight a's series and the prentice hall series.

other than that - my recommendation is to not try to memorize information (except for things you absolutely must know by heart, such as vital signs and lab values). instead, get a really firm understanding of the content. this will get you so much farther than memorization. if you understand the basics, you can answer just about any question they throw at you because you can critically think about the topic much faster and in a more global manner.

good luck in your endeavors.

by the way, i say all of this as a student in an nln center of excellence school. we are also the 6th largest nursing school nation-wide, and we have a 97% pass rate for the nclex on the 1st try for several years running. so, if i can maintain a's with a full time job and a challenging program, you can do well too. learn to manage your time and you will have to be willing to forego time out with your friends and family in order to study and do well.

ahsweeney · Dec 3, 2008

You need to remember that the nursing boards test for minimum competency. There were students in my class (way back in '94) who took ACLS thinking it would help them with the boards. NOPE!!! If you paid attention in class and can use some common sense, you should do fine.

I took the Kaplan review class, and would come home in tears thinking I was the biggest dope in the world. I pass my first time.

Take it slow and don't read into the questions what isn't there!!!

suger56 · Dec 4, 2008

I think this says something about hospital based nursing programs (are there any left?). I graduated from a hospital program on a Sunday and got hired at the hospital that ran the program the next day. It was very easy to step in because I spent 2 years in the system, knew the paperwork and policies so just had to start learning to be a nurse. I think they should come back.

Now I am in grad school working on my NP and facing the same problems. I chose the school I am at for convenience more than quality. I would have loved to go to the big university program but it was not realistic given the fact I work, have a family and a life. I had to go to where the instructors may be less than qualified or I would not have been able to go. What I am able to do now that I couldn't in RN school was teach myself.

luquacious · Dec 4, 2008

No I am not so happy with it. I will not pursue my BSN through my current school. Do I think that it has challenged us yes, however, our first year was taught by some wonderful ladies (very knowledgable) who just didn't know how to teach. Most of us do not feel prepared to enter our last semester and are scared to death that we might not make it. About 10 of us are getting together over the holiday break and studying. No rest for the weary, but this is a must for us, we have worked too hard and come too far to not pass our last semester. In the end we are the ones truly responsible for what we learn, it just would have been nice to have it delivered in a more "user friendly manner" (not spoon fed).

sunshines66, BSN · Dec 4, 2008

I think almost everyone is somewhat dis-satisfied with their nursing school program. The questions to ask are what is their rate of passage on boards. If your school is not in the high 90's then you need to do other work for yourself. I think you can not spend enough time with the practice tests. They are out there to let you know what kinds of questions will be asked and in what way. Spend time with the detailed answers to both the questions you got right and wrong. It will help you understand how the questions are formed.

If your worry isn't about boards but the bigger picture. Nursing is not something you can learn from a book alone. Keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on around you. Subscribe to nursing journals. They give loads of information in a way that is easy to understand. My biggest help was reading about others errors. I read the medication safety reports that talk about med errors. Some times the errors seem to be whoopers, I am glad I can learn from others mistakes.

When you are looking for your first job look for the place that seems to give the best orientation possible for new grads. Don't pick where all your friends are going for that reason alone. The more new grads on any unit at the same time can increase the feeling of chaos.

Find someone in your job that can be a mentor, nursing is a difficult profession. Every day you make the best decisions you can, but they are not always right. Always remember to be true to yourself, your patients and their family. Never lie to them and try to use a little humor whenever you can. You have to be able to live with your decisions. If there is a difficult situation ask to help that nurse so you can watch how she/he hands it.

Don't worry if you are a good nurse you will make mistakes, feel like you are incompetent, laugh and cry with your patients and families. Remember everything that goes on in someones life is magnified when they are sick or ill.

Good luck!

sarmedic70 · Dec 7, 2008

It's hard to determine if a school has really challenged you or if it is a good school. The reality check of it all is what the student puts into it and gets out of. The posts are very true in that NCLEX-RN is based on ensuring that you are going to be a safe RN at the new RN level. The rest is continually and a constant learning process throughout your entire career. That is why there are preceptors/mentors after one graduates from school and starts his/her first job as an RN. Additionally, each hospital one works in will ensure that each RN new to that hospital, regardless of years of experience (or lack thereof) attends an in-service on equipment, policy/procedures, and so forth........and annually, at an absolute minimum, retraining/refresher inservices. Nursing is such a vast area of practice that NOBODY is a subject matter expert in everything from medications to diseases and disease processes. Your REAL education comes when you graduate, pass the NCLEX-RN and start your first RN job. It is all about you and how YOU perceive things to be and what you want it to be. Nothing, to include nursing schools, is perfect. There's good and bad in ALL nursing schools, even the best of them. It is what the student brings to the "table" and takes away from it.

I hope this makes sense.

Best of luck to you.

A seasoned RN and Medic STILL learning

:-)