Backing out of RN school

bernikitty · May 28, 2012

don't let a crappy program, keep you from pursuing nursing if that is what you really want.

this advice is for me as much as for you, LOL!!

i'm starting my final semster. it's a summer semester so at this point 9 more weeks, i have to complete 90hr preceptorship, as well as all my class work and the additional required clinicals. my professor has not given me my assignment, i'm one of the few who hasn't recieved my assignment, and my professor hasn't returned my e-mails. i'm not loving nursing school very much but right now, but i'm determined to finish what i started , i know i can do it, and you can too!

RNGriffin · May 28, 2012

Every time I hear some ditzy repeat of that prattle, AI just have to get out the crowbar and give somebody a few good whacks. Nursing ed is a marvel of drivel and inefficiency. This is especially true if you directly compare it to accounting, engineering, mathematics, etc. The difference in nursing ed is that it's NOT teaching or training students in what they should be learning; it's playing keep-away the entire time and making them do all the slaving work themselves. I actually got thrown out of RN school for telling them that it was a boatload of worthless time-wasting carp, compared to all of the other education and self-training, and personnel training that I have done. And I have done a lot of that, because I have degrees in biz and engineering and tech, and I worked 25 years for a major USA corporation before I tried RN. And don't bother dredging up that "you have people's LIVES in your hands argument." Pee on that, because: IF RN schools were actually teaching their students very efficiently and thoroughly the principles, policies, legalities, and appropriate actions, then the whole entire class would be getting As not Cs and fails on the tests! Do you women see my POINT? If not, then kick out the women educators and replace them with MEN, and you will see some streamlined teaching methods develop PDQ, because men simply WILL NOT waste time on trivia and "the romance of nursing" or anything that does convert students into capable nurses. Think about it: The rn ED NEEDS TO BE OVERHAULED! The ditzy women who can't convey a message to teach a class efficiently need to be tossed out and replaced with people who don't eternally putz around and yak and blather, and all the while leave students to teach it all to themselves. I don't feel bad about getting "kicked out." I had already slammed the door on my way out. Nursing really needs to spiff itself up, find a spine, and take charge. As it is, it's full of weak and subordinate women that we women who've come from "nontraditional" work environments simply can't respect or take daily 6-8 hour worthless and wandering lectures from. Too many of them might know it, but they sure aren't TEACHING it!

The difference in those careers are they follow a set formula. The medical field differs from patient to patient. If I taught you to handle on septic patient, you can't transfer that to another entirely. But, if I teach you how to manage revenue, you're only learning new systems in order to fair well. If thinking for yourself is not something you enjoy, as I said there are a ton of other career choices. Nursing is not a career where you will always be assisted by your directors..You must be able to think critically and knowledgeably. This is not high school, we don't read text information to you. Clearly read your text and be willing to argue your decisions if they differ from the answers given on the test. There aren't many nursing professors who will not listen to a student who has rationally thought out a clinical scenario, and has reasoning behind their choices that are valid.

LovinLife28 · May 28, 2012

I feel your pain OP, we had an instructor that was probably a good nurse but she was not a good teacher. Her questions on the tests were always challenged and most of the time the students won. She mispronounced words in lecture. We had to point out mistakes on her power points. Some of the info she gave us was just plain wrong and we always had the textbook to back it up. It had gotten to a point where when we asked questions in lecture, her whole demeanor would change and she would get defensive and and ask us, "didnt you read the chapter?" instead of answering the question that was asked. We went to the director so many time. By 2nd semester she was let go. We had so much proof of the mistakes she was making and they were unacceptable.

windowrn · May 28, 2012

Well first of, nobody is bashing nursing, but are critizing nursing education at our respective programs which we reserve the right to do.
Second off, yeah, PT is a doctorate or masters program, but honestly..... if im going to work this hard, it may as well be for a profession that pays better, gives me more autonomy and is a doctorate program..... unlike Nursing where I have neither, and I'm overworked, and physically beaten down over time and burned out..... My brother did a PT program recently, and ive seen his material he gets and its nothing like I get....
Yea its hard but its nice to be tested on stuff we actually learned, and by someone who actually knows what they are teaching....
And yea Applying information, yes ..... I get that but you're missing the point, you cant apply stuff you never learned, and this so called intuition one poster says...... if you dont know what a Total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral
salpingo-oophorectomy is, and YOU NEVER LEARNED about out or covered the topic in class so you can read on it more......then how can you use your're magical nursing intuition one poster so speaks of?..... thats called guessing
When you have bullcrap questions like these ones which are just one of many then this is how you get frustrated and lose respect not for nursing, but nusing education and your program:
What is the priority intervention for a patient with a blood glucose level of 55mg/dl
A. Administer 8oz of orange juice
B. Administer 8oz of diet soda
C. Administer 5 peices of Candy
D. Administer 8 oz of regular soda
The Answer is D..... the textbook says A and C would be right, but we cant challenge questions and we get no rationales toward questions.
----and there are plenty more where that came from.....about 10 for every exam and if you got that right you just did what? ......oh yeah guessing?
And lastly., as far as self teaching.....you're missing the point, ......Self Teaching is fine, when your're guided in lecture on what to study and not misled by unorganized, out of sync, lectures that are never clear on what you're gonna be tested on.......But all I am saying in regards to Nursing education is what is the point of coming to class, getting a lecture of an instructor just reading from a sheet so you have to teach yourself everything?

Are you really sure that your textbook tells you to give someone FIVE pieces of candy or EIGHT ounces of OJ? Sure candy and OJ can be used, but the amount is the problem. This isn't a question that requires guessing, it requires knowledge.

Just because a topic isn't covered in lecture does not mean that it is isn't something you are responsible for. There is far too much information to cover in a nursing program and our instructors provided highlights of important topics, but we were always responsible for all of the information in the chapters.

If you don't want to be a nurse, then definitely move on to another career. However, don't let a couple of bad instructors stop you if it's your goal.

rgodfrey · May 28, 2012

Well yes,....obviously you cant go into detail and I dont know many RN programs that give you 100% of information. Lecture outlines the content, we all know that....at least its supposed to, but if there is little clarity between the students and teachers on what we are supposed to be covering? If we never once even talked about Dissociative Fugue and Allergic Rhinitis in class, how am I supposed to know I am supposed to read about it when its not in the syllabus or assigned readings

that was actually the exact question, and its in our textbook, and also our lecture notes........and actually the funny part is that, its these type of questions that cause many people in our program to struggle, not the application questions that make you prioritize what you should do first.........this is what im talking about..... but somehow it was soda that was the answer.

Here's another

At What Age does a Human Fetus begin to resemble a person?

A. 8 wks

B. 12 wks

C. 16 wks

D. 28 wks

---book says 12 weeks, they say 16 weeks...

rgodfrey · May 28, 2012

I must say I really love what both of you guys (TC3200 and griffinchet) had to say......however

"There aren't many nursing professors who will not listen to a student who has rationally thought out a clinical scenario, and has reasoning behind their choices that are valid"

---You soundlike you went to the ideal Nursing School..... hell I would settle for rationales behind questions ...

-----So here's a question for all

Does Nursing Education need to Change?

caliotter3 · May 28, 2012

While in nursing school, my concern was getting through it so that I could take the licensing exam. I saw all the faults of my program, but I also realized that nobody was paying me to, or expecting me to turn the program into the perfect nursing program. And the nursing school administration and instructors insured that I didn't forget that fact whenever they got the chance.

truthspeak · May 28, 2012

@ imthatguy - sounds like you and i could be attending the same school. i have never seen a program that was so disorganized as the one i'm in. we have endured being told that we were required to purchase the newest editions of book while our instructors (i hate to even call them that) lectured from the old versions so the chapters were different or split out into several or combined - needless to say they didn't match our required books. we have received notes that had a font so small that it couldn't be read with magnifying glass (i know, i tried). we've been given the wrong addresses of places where community clinicals were held leading us to drive around for hour trying to find the place. we have been told that certain forms for projects have to be turned in on that very day with no advance warning and they forms aren't available on our school site. we have been erroneously lectured on things that do not go along with the powerpoints. i could go on and on....it's so rediculous how horribly managed some of these nursing schools are. i have to wonder if it's not an intentional method of sabotage.

ItalianBellaGirl · May 28, 2012

Hi there!

I am a second semester nursing student and I just wanted to comment.

First , I want to say I am so sorry for you and your classmates because I think a part of it, a big part, is your school. I know my program isn't easy and a lot of the things you mentioned happen at my school. It also depends on the professor. In my experience, my first semester professor was completely terrible, she was all over the place. Her test questions would be wrong and she wouldn't care. Things from the tests would be one way and the book would say another. I ended up failing one of the two classes and had to retake the second class the Spring term. I actually had a much better experience with that professor. Test questions were still worded weirdly and yes, you did have to think and guess on a lot.

Secondly I want to say, yes, nursing is a lot of guessing and figuring out how to "think" critically without memorizing the "right" answer. This is something I learned recently because I started using the information I learned ( information I taught myself by reading and looking things up) when given a scenario based question. Nursing isn't able a right or wrong answer so that is why they teach us to not memorize and guess and choose the best answer. It is a crappy way, but I have started to get better and better at it. I hope you don't give up hope!! Hope I was able to help!

truthspeak · May 28, 2012

Believe me, I understand the importance of thinking critically. I get it. I understand that but I didn't go to nursing school to have to teach myself. I pay a lot of money and expect better than what my class gets. When I say sabotage about things, I really mean sabotage. Our instructors have waited until the last day to tell students about important information regarding licensing which required several hours out of study time (this was at the end of the semester right before finals and ATI testing) to run around and get the right forms (some of which required notarizing) to the right place. The students had a major test the next day and, for some, it knocked 3 - 4 hours our of study time. This delay could cost people a delay in being able to sit for the boards which will delay getting jobs. The instructors aren't worried though. They have an income coming in. Their bills are being paid. They have no concern for students that have put their lives on hold for two years only to have to wait a little longer for licensure and a job. ....and don't get me started on test questions. We've received "deer in the headlight" looks when we've questioned the content and answers on exams. It's as if the instructors themselves do not even know the material and they can't give you a rational answer as to why an answer is correct and the others are wrong...even when we point it out in the book. Oh, and checkoffs. I know of one instructor that was "teaching" the lab on IV's and venipuncture. When the students asked questions, her response was that "she never really did that many so she wasn't the best person to ask". The level of incompentence is plain rediculous. ...and these are the instructors teaching future nurses.

TC3200 · Mar 5, 2014

The difference in those careers are they follow a set formula. The medical field differs from patient to patient. If I taught you to handle on septic patient, you can't transfer that to another entirely. But, if I teach you how to manage revenue, you're only learning new systems in order to fair well. If thinking for yourself is not something you enjoy, as I said there are a ton of other career choices. Nursing is not a career where you will always be assisted by your directors..You must be able to think critically and knowledgeably. This is not high school, we don't read text information to you. Clearly read your text and be willing to argue your decisions if they differ from the answers given on the test. There aren't many nursing professors who will not listen to a student who has rationally thought out a clinical scenario, and has reasoning behind their choices that are valid.

I had this thread bookmarked, was cleaning out old bookmarks, and thought I'd give an update. The OP posted a followup, in which he states that he went to a different program, it was very well designed and organized, and rationales were given for questions, etc. , and he found it easier.

I followed up with some of my former cohort. We started with 65 students. The school graduated only 35 in the class of 2012. Of that 35, only 30 were part of the original cohort. 5 were either transfers-in from other area schools, or students who failed out the previous year and were returning to repeat and resume. Not very good numbers, are they? Then the class of 2013 started with all seats full (>65), but graduated even fewer, perhaps 27-28 grads (I counted heads from photos), and possibly 5-6 of those were students who had failed out of class of 2012 but returned in 2013.

The major difference in the education is that many RN instructors are very poor instructors who are not properly trained to teach, and they are very disorganized. It's not that I didn't want to think for myself. Quite the contrary. I was very enthused and very determined, and very hard-working. But I was definitely cheated on quality of education at that school.

True, nursing per se "does not follow a set formula." But, the principles upon which nursing care decisions are made probably do have rather clearly defined and well-established thought processes, and "rules of the road". What I always found infuriating about my RN school experience was that RN instructors never opened with the executive summary, the 10,000 foot overview, a quick listing of what we will be covering today and where it fits into the big picture. THEN launch into the outline and flesh it out, perhaps giving real-life examples of how you'd use this in the workplace, so it's not so abstract. School's response: "We teach you the normals first and then the abnormals, and then we tie it all together in Nursing 6." Does that give you a clue what carp we were running up against? This was not a normal block curriculum of typical nursing units.

I could, quite literally, have taught myself better from the textbooks. I have never, ever, seen earnest and striving students treated with such insolence by instructors, or put through such mental trauma, and yep, that's exactly what it was because the exams never matched the content and each exam felt kile taking a beating. Did I mention that on at least 2 major exams in Nursing 3, at least 75%-85% of the class failed, defined as scored less that 77%. We know that b/c a departing instructor gave the class officers the scores.

No, I don't think I like the culture of nursing at all, at least based on my experience. They were complete a__holes and jerks to students from Day 1 orientation, when they said "We don't teach you how to be nurses. We teach you how to pass the NCLEX-RN." I should have just spit in that person's eye, walked out, and saved myself a year of heartache. It felt great to get away from all the abuse.

There was a quote in Mad Men: "It's a business of sadists and masochists, you know which one you are," was Miss Blankenship's dying curse. Sorry, but I can't help laughing.