Are Student Nurses Prepared for "Real Life?'

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Many of the student nurses I have encountered lately appear to be ill-prepared for the real world.What is going on? What are these students being taught and prepared for? Ex: Student drawing up 5 cc of insulin thinking it's 5 units. What are they doing????

Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.

I don't feel prepared at all. I'm taking 4 pts now and it's literally driving me crazy. Thank God my preceptor is there to help me. It's much more different than nursing school. I encountered nurses in clinicals that felt better off doing things for themselves....it was very seldom that a nurse wanted me to tag along. I would always be directed to do something a tech would.

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Specializes in Triage, MedSurg, MomBaby, Peds, HH.

This is especially scary because I don't start NS until September 2...and even I know that Units are NOT cc's and no conversions exist to make a Unit a CC.

Granted I know that because I am pre-studying medical calculations but STILL...

:no:

That said, I am completely prepared to graduate NS completely unprepared for the real world, as I gather that the real world itself is the best schooling that exists.

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Specializes in ER, PACU, Med-Surg, Hospice, LTC.
There is no way in heck nursing school prepares you for the real world of hospital nursing. Just the shock of taking care of more than 1 pt at a time and all the paperwork is enough to give anyone a heart attack.

You're right!

From an article I just read:

"Even if nursing schools turn out more graduates in coming years, it won't be enough, because a lot of nurses quit after their first year or two in nursing, burned out or startled by the number of patients they are assigned"

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

well you go from 1-2 patients that you should know/do EVERYTHING on....and then you get to the floor, and the nurses are shocked you don't know how to do x, y, OR z......Really, NS prepares you for the theories of nursing...and the job prepares you for the rest of your professional life.

One thing my school did was 8 weeks of the semester....your clinicals were at a LTC where you were doing all the care for 5-6 patients...PLUS you had weeks where you were "charge". Taking 2-3 patients plus overseeing 2 other students...meaning you really had about 13 patients total....I felt those last weeks were VITAL to get the feel of being responsible for a lot of patients...to a certain extent.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.

Thankfully I have worked as a nurse apprentice for nearly a year and the nurses I work with usually allow me to take care of 3 or 4 patients -- thus I think I will probably do fine when I graduate. I will obviously still need orientation and a preceptor to work with, but I am not incredibly worried.

However, as a nursing student, I am not surprised that many are not ready. Many nurses refuse to work with students and treat us like garbage -- it is hard to learn that way. Furthermore, nursing school makes students scared to do anything because everyone walks on egg shells and are afraid of being dismissed from the program because a clinical instructor feels a student is not "safe". It is hard for a student to learn in this type of environment.

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I highly doubt anyone came out of NS fully prepared to work. Although it sounds like some of the more experienced nurses here went through some magic nursing school that turned out perfect super nurses who knew everything and never struggled during their first year or two. I guess that school went out of business.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Norrington: "One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness."

Jack: "But it seems enough to condemn him."

cheers,

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Specializes in ICU.

No educational program alone can prepare someone for the "real world", no matter what they are studying. Only the real world can prepare you for the real world. What we need to do is to stand up for new grads/new hires on our units and insist that they be given personalized orientations with supportive supervision and feedback.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
I highly doubt anyone came out of NS fully prepared to work. Although it sounds like some of the more experienced nurses here went through some magic nursing school that turned out perfect super nurses who knew everything and never struggled during their first year or two. I guess that school went out of business.

I agree. I think many experienced nurses forget what it was like to be new. I have had nurses roll their eyes at me when I ask a question -- sorry, but I would rather be safe and ask questions.

I am doing my practicum in the PICU and I must say that the nurses there are amazing and are willing to help me and answer any questions I have.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I wanted as much clinical experience as possible, that's why I chose the ADN route. I'm going back for my BSN and don't regret getting my ADN first.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
I wanted as much clinical experience as possible, that's why I chose the ADN route. I'm going back for my BSN and don't regret getting my ADN first.

There are a lot of downfalls of some ADN programs focusing so much on clinicals and very little on the theory.

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I highly doubt anyone came out of NS fully prepared to work. Although it sounds like some of the more experienced nurses here went through some magic nursing school that turned out perfect super nurses who knew everything and never struggled during their first year or two. I guess that school went out of business.

who/what the heck are you talking about???

leslie

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