is class or clinical more important?

i'm in nursing school and working part time in a deli. I was previously a CNA. But anyhow, my classmate sais to me that class grades aren't as important a being able to perform skills in the clinical site. and he also works full time, why can't everybody else right.... but i know that you have to do well in class and on clinical to pass your courses in order to pass the program and advance to the nclex to become a nurse. While the skills are very important and must be done correctly we are also taught the theory behind it, why we do it this way. i have received A's on all of my exams thus far he has gotten B's and C's mostly. Granted I am a CNA, have a college degree previously, and have taken nursing related courses, he has been a medical assistant for four years so you would think he would know more and value both the classroom and clinical experiences as being equally important. we also talked about me being too relaxed that other students and patients won't take me seriously. I explained that while you give care you do it professionally and efficiently as you were taught. But the rest of the time can be spent talking, laughing if the patient needs it, comfort and consoling, it's not all prim and proper. and of course you will have other duties too. but i know my skills and do them correctly. so who is right?

[MIA-RN1, RN]

i'm in nursing school and working part time in a deli. I was previously a CNA. But anyhow, my classmate sais to me that class grades aren't as important a being able to perform skills in the clinical site. and he also works full time, why can't everybody else right.... but i know that you have to do well in class and on clinical to pass your courses in order to pass the program and advance to the nclex to become a nurse. While the skills are very important and must be done correctly we are also taught the theory behind it, why we do it this way. i have received A's on all of my exams thus far he has gotten B's and C's mostly. Granted I am a CNA, have a college degree previously, and have taken nursing related courses, he has been a medical assistant for four years so you would think he would know more and value both the classroom and clinical experiences as being equally important. we also talked about me being too relaxed that other students and patients won't take me seriously. I explained that while you give care you do it professionally and efficiently as you were taught. But the rest of the time can be spent talking, laughing if the patient needs it, comfort and consoling, it's not all prim and proper. and of course you will have other duties too. but i know my skills and do them correctly. so who is right?

I think it's both. Theory is just as important as clinical skills. Granted, at the school I go to, our actual grade is based solely on exam scores, but yet in clinical we are on a pass/fail basis and a failure in clinical is a complete failure no matter the grade. But its the theory behind the skills that leads to the critical thinking when things don't go in a textbook manner (do they ever? lol)

I have found that nursing students in genereal, and our instructors, are always willing to share a laugh in class, and even in clinical to a point. We don't have to be 'prim and proper' but we DO have to be professional. Comforting and consoling a pt is professional, and laughter/humor is a therapeutic way of dealing with stress. So there is flexibility there within professional boundaries. I know that greeting my patients with a smile and a bit of light banter reduces both my tension and my patient's tension before I have to do something.

[HyperRNRachel]

i'm in nursing school and working part time in a deli. I was previously a CNA. But anyhow, my classmate sais to me that class grades aren't as important a being able to perform skills in the clinical site. and he also works full time, why can't everybody else right.... but i know that you have to do well in class and on clinical to pass your courses in order to pass the program and advance to the nclex to become a nurse. While the skills are very important and must be done correctly we are also taught the theory behind it, why we do it this way. i have received A's on all of my exams thus far he has gotten B's and C's mostly. Granted I am a CNA, have a college degree previously, and have taken nursing related courses, he has been a medical assistant for four years so you would think he would know more and value both the classroom and clinical experiences as being equally important. we also talked about me being too relaxed that other students and patients won't take me seriously. I explained that while you give care you do it professionally and efficiently as you were taught. But the rest of the time can be spent talking, laughing if the patient needs it, comfort and consoling, it's not all prim and proper. and of course you will have other duties too. but i know my skills and do them correctly. so who is right?

That is like asking, which organ is more important the brain or the heart. You need both.

[NewEnglandRN, RN]

Absolutely agree that both are EQUALLY important. You need to learn the material and then be able to apply it in a clinical setting.

[NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN]

As one of my instructors said, "You can train a monkey to complete a skill, but nurses need to be able to think." Bluntly spoken, but true. Skills and theory aren't mutually exclusive.

[DZcarrie]

Nursing is both an art and a science :)

[mysticalwaters1]

Exactly what everyone just said! Definitely both are just as important as the other!

[SarasotaRN2b]

Unfortunately, a friend of mine failed her second semester and will have to repeat it in the fall. It wasn't clinical (which she did quite well), but the classroom.

In the case of your being relaxed when you see your patients, great. I'm sure as a patient I would rather have someone feel comfortable that all uptight.

Kris