i am half way done with nursing school and i am to the point where i cannot stand half of my class. i am a pretty average student, not the best and not the worst. i’ve never worked in the healthcare field and the first time i stepped into a hospital was my first day of clinical. i just wanted to share my annoyances…as the student who didn’t have a heads up of what to expect. i wish i was forewarned about the social aspect of nursing school because in reality you would be spending about 2 years with the same people and you are going to have to learn to tolerate them.
i have categorized my “annoyances” from most annoying to least annoying, although some people fall in several categories. (i really do feel like the stressors of nursing school are taken a toll on me causing me to be annoyed about everyone and everything but hey, here it goes)
1. the very competitive nursing students.
you may have been the smartest student in your anatomy class but now there are about 50 of you sitting in that classroom. each and everyone striving to be at the top of their class. a few of them are going to shine brighter than you. it is a very annoying feeling. you will develop some negative feelings towards them and try to find a few aspects of life that you are better at than them. well don't. befriend them, if anything they are a great resource
2. the students who study less but get better test scores.
i sat down to take my very first test in nursing school and i was stressed. i studied every single day since the lecture, i felt like i knew everything. the girl who sat next to me was also stressing but only because she crammed the night before. i got a 70% and she got a 95%. how is this fair? several people have told me that not everyone is a good test taker, i’d rather have a nurse that studies a lot then crams, etc, etc. umm no. she clearly knows what she is doing and her test scores prove it till this day.
3. the complainers. your instructors are people too, with their own personal lives, kids, hobbies, friends and some are still completing some sort of upper division courses for higher education.
teachers don’t get paid well; they don’t do this for money. they obviously love nursing and teaching. they are the most compassionate bunch of nurses you will ever meet. and guess what? at some point they have all been nursing students. it has recently become a pet peeve of mine, when i noticed a trend of several students constantly complaining about how much they dislike their teacher. if you don’t like something, tell the teacher! it's as simple as that. 99% of the time there is a fair rationale as to why they put that question on the test or why they gave you projects back to back or why your clinical schedule is so crappy. and the other 1% of the time? well, human error, don’t hold a grudge. and please don’t complain about teachers to other teachers, so incredibly unprofessional. they are collegues.
4. know-it-all's.
there will be at least one. the know-it-alls are in a completely different category as the competitive people or the people that get better test scores than you. if you state that you are unclear about something they will pull you aside and explain it to you in their own individual way. i know it sounds like they are trying to be helpful...but it won’t feel like that. it will feel like they have officially taken on the role of a teacher without anyone asking them to do so. when coming to class you almost expect them to jump up there and start lecturing. they correct the teacher, they interrupt lectures but most of all they think they are better than everyone. there were a handful of them in my class and it got to the point that when they would start talking i would deliberately ignore every single word they were saying, important or not. and the whole entire time, the only thing i wanted to remind them is that we are in the same classroom, learning the same subject; at the same level of nursing school so please do not act like you are above all. so if i could go back and do it again knowing this what would i do differently? i would ignore their behavior because two semesters later, they have been put in place several times by instructors and one of them failed a semester. (disclaimer: i am by no means happy that they failed out i am just trying to stress the point that even if people act like they know it all, they clearly don’t know it all)
5. those who don’t have to work while in nursing school.
you may come across a few people who constantly talk about how they are so grateful that their significant other is able to support them while they go to school. they can’t bare the thought of having to work while completing their education. and they will verbalize this every single day, after every single test. and here you are working full time because that is the only way you can support yourself. some call them fortunate, i call them annoying.
6. the ones who already work in the health care field.
it’s a tough economy out there. in case you haven’t heard….not many places are hiring new grads. the only worry in my mind at this point is passing nursing school. sooooo with that said….why is it so important to tell everyone, everyday that you have a job lined up for you because the clinical manager loves you oh so very much. if you say it once, that’s great j if you say it again after you are asked, that is awesome. but if you announce this to the whole class during the discussion of what they will do after they graduate… then that’s just boastful. not a single person would say, “hey good for you, look at how fortunate you are” and if they do they are lying.
anyway…well this is my little rant. whether you are in nursing school or waiting to enroll in a nursing program…this is what you should expect. i promise…there will be at least one person in your class that falls in each category…can’t wait to graduate so that i never have to see these people again!
how about everyone else? what is your annoyance with the social aspect of nursing school? i’d love to hear that i am not the only “annoyed beyond belief” one out there.
I am considering becoming a CNA. I am currently in Nursing school. My first semester. I have the entire summer available and I really want to make use of it. Plus, I want to make a job transition from the restaurant service industry to a healthcare setting. I am still considering volunteering since it is too late for me to apply for intern/externships but, I am on the fence about becoming a CNA. I have been told to not waste my time since I will be learning all of these skills in school. I am looking to gain as much experience as I can. Just curious if becoming a CNA and balancing school was really difficult?
I think that you will see the same type of people in the work place, just different faces. What about the co-worker who says " I really don't have to work because my husband makes enough money", that this is just something for me to do, and other co-workers really need their jobs! (and apprieciate the fact that they have a job).
I also was in the category of not working during nursing school. I did not brag about it -it was just a fact. Even though I was fortunate to have a supportive spouse we also had our finances somewhat under control-no new cars, new electronic gadgets,vacations, just basic cable,etc. we were frugal and got by just fine. I still see it now as an RN. Those certain nurses always working overtime 5-6 nights/week...and most,though not all, do it because they need the extra money...and the cruises, expensive cars,i phones for the whole family,etc. They are the ones who do not understand how some of us only work our 3 12´s? Do not fault someone for not having to work. Maybe they have their finances in order and put family before work...just a thought.
The students that really upset me were the so called ¨single¨ mothers who lived with their working boyfriends had more babies while still in school and got a free ride from the government because they were not married. Free groceries,free college,free NCLEX, free books,free health care,etc. and then they told me how lucky I was to not have to work....yeah right.
I too will be going into the Nursing Program in the fall and yes my husband work because I was not able to with taking care of a handdicapped child. My daughter is 31 and I took care of her from the day she was born and she was at home with me. Now she is in a place where she can be taken care ( it was so hard to get her medical care because these doctors did not know much about how to treat her) But God sent an angel my way and she worked on getting me help. Now I am able to do something for myself and give back, the nurses where she is at are wonderful with her! I don't brag about me not working, I am thankful for a husband who understood, and I look at this opportunity as a blessing from God, giving me a chance to go back to school.
I finished nursing school back in December but I couldn't help posting after I read the beginning of this thread. I have definitely come across all of these types of students during school. I can also say that you will come across these types of people in any office, hospital or educational program that requires you to spend a lot of time with the same people.
Nursing school can be very stressful and very humbling. I did not have a health background and at 37 years old I was leaving my comfort zone in a major way. I was not an expert, not the top of the class, and scared out of my wits most days that I was not going to succeed.
There were times that I focused my frustration on other people and wondered why no one else seemed as stressed or scared as I did. There are students who just don't need to study as much and are naturally able to pick up the material and even spot the patterns in the exams. I envied these folks. I also asked them how they did it and tried to emulate what I thought would work for me. I made friends with the smart students and formed study groups with them. It kept me afloat academically and I learned a lot about how to approach exams and material.
Most people were just as scared and stressed as I was, some showed it more than others. It is helpful to realize that the time spent being aggravated by fellow students is just a way of coping. They are everywhere in every work and social situation you will encounter in the future. The ones that especially bug us are the ones that will come back in the form of different people for the rest of our lives. Trust me on that. Learn how to deal with it now and you will have a valuable skill set for life!
BeeFree, I just had to laugh when I read your post because I really think it is so true. I mean, I'm sure you can find people like these in a lot of academic programs, but I think it gets amplified in nursing school because it is so intense. Personally, I was a "non-worker" and a "study less, do better" student. I also tried to be humble about it, because I knew that circumstances could very easily have been different for me. I joked that I didn't have to work because I had a "sugar-daddy" (aka my husband who is in the Navy). And I always made a point to spend some of my free time in study groups with my classmates, being available to answer questions for my classmates who were struggling (always because they asked me too!), and (of course) tutoring for other students who were in the program.
Anyway, I could definitely see a lot of my former classmates in your descriptions. :)
While there ARE people who feel the need to make up stories about this stuff, there are also people who really don't need to study much. I don't go around bragging about it, but I'm one of those people who doesn't have to study much. All through school (K-12) I always got straight A grades, and now that I'm 40yo (starting NS in the fall) I've still been getting straight A grades in my pre-req and gen-ed classes. (I don't anticipate that my grades will suffer in lab/clinical just because I don't study much -- if I've been an A student my entire life without studying, why would I suddenly stop being an A student?)
My 10yo is the same way -- he complains that he only ever learns anything in class on Mondays (when new material is presented) and then they just repeat the same stuff every day until they test on Fridays. He gets straight A grades (and I can assure you he spends ZERO time studying -- too busy playing with friends when he's not in school!) while other kids in the same class get Bs or Cs. He's not "guessing well" on the tests -- he just understands the concepts that were taught and is able to recall them on test day.
Some people just do better academically than others, just like how some people are better athletes, or some people are better drivers (my husband can back up a 4-wheeled trailer practically with his eyes closed, while most people struggle with even a 2-wheeled trailer!), or some people are better cooks/bakers, or gardeners, or painters, or WHATEVER. I happen to understand things the first time they are presented, and I have excellent memory recall -- but I can't hit a wastebasket with a wadded up paper from five feet away (and don't even try to get me to shoot an actual basketball!). Honestly, who really gives a crap (and WHY would they give a crap?)?
How many hours you spent studying does not make you (or anyone else) a better or worse person, nor does it mean you'll make a better or worse nurse in the end than someone who studied more/less. If someone asks me how many hours I studied for a particular exam (noticed this mostly in A&P classes), I'll tell them the truth, but I don't say anything if nobody asks. I've always wondered *why* people would ask that type of question in the first place.... is there some kind of award or prestige for having studied the most hours?
Aah, thank you. You worded this so much better than I could have. Throughout high school, my undergrad program and then nursing school, I was the same way. And I got so much crap for it!
OMG this is so on target! You described some of my classmates to a T! The know it all... LOL thankfully she left our class and went to another campus after the first year! Your description brought back some scary memories! I will graduate in May and I must say along with the annoyances I have made some of the BEST friends I have ever had! I hope we will forever stay friends! You have to take the bad with the good and learn how to navigate your way through it.
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
Aah, thank you. You worded this so much better than I could have. Throughout high school, my undergrad program and then nursing school, I was the same way. And I got so much crap for it!
That's the thing I've never understood... people who say nasty stuff like, "I bet YOU got an A *again*!!!!" -- why give me crap because I got a good grade?
Do I give them crap because God gave them nice hair (and I got my rusty-brillo-pad version of hair)?
Do I give them crap because God gave them height (and I'm 5'2" and have to climb on the shelves in the grocery store to reach things on the top shelves)?
Do I give them crap because God didn't cover their skin with freckles (and I look like a dot-to-dot puzzle gone haywire)?
I know it's just a coping mechanism for them, trying to demean my A so that they feel better about their B-C-D-whatever, but if it's not socially acceptable for me to rag on them for being pretty ("I bet YOU woke up beautiful AGAIN!!!"), why is it socially acceptable for them to rag on me for being smart?
This post is hilarious!! I am about to graduate from an ADN program and there are all of "those" people in my class... I'm an underachiever and I don't study and end up with B's which I am allright with and yes, I had a 4.0 when I entered the program. As a second career, never have worked in the medical field, I'm kinda glad that i am not that jaded CNA who THINKS she knows everything!
I caught a lot of slack from my classmates and from some instuctors, especially 1st semester, because I am not a traditional-looking nursing student, but i worked hard and my charming personality won most peeps over :)
And.... I am in a class of 20 out of 60 about to graduate!!
ps-- AMEN about the student in class who thinks he/she should be giving the lecture.. I don't pay to listen you!
Im still doing pre-reqs and havent met anyone I didnt like yet. The students are really supportive of each other at this level. I hope it stays that way.
Give it time... those are the people you will want to cat-claw @ the end of your 1st semester of nursing school...
Your description brought back some scary memories! I will graduate in May and I must say along with the annoyances I have made some of the BEST friends I have ever had! I hope we will forever stay friends! You have to take the bad with the good and learn how to navigate your way through it.
pinkfawn
16 Posts
I am considering becoming a CNA. I am currently in Nursing school. My first semester. I have the entire summer available and I really want to make use of it. Plus, I want to make a job transition from the restaurant service industry to a healthcare setting. I am still considering volunteering since it is too late for me to apply for intern/externships but, I am on the fence about becoming a CNA. I have been told to not waste my time since I will be learning all of these skills in school. I am looking to gain as much experience as I can. Just curious if becoming a CNA and balancing school was really difficult?