Did/Does your nursing school operate like this??

[Blondie24]

I am currently enrolled in an ADN program at a private school in Los Angeles. I am at the half-way point in my

completion of nursing school. From all of my prior research, this school HAD a semi-prestigous reputation amongst

the medical community for producing excellent nurses; hence, the reason I chose to attend this school.

However, now that I am actually enrolled, I find that this school is very unprofessional, disorganized and unsupportive of their students. It is quite disheartening. They market this program to potential students as being a

nursing program for the working-adult, those with family, etc. Yet everything they do suggests quite the opposite.

Examples are as follows:

1. Last minute notification to students regarding clinical dates (ie. the night before)...how can the working adult (the ones that they are supposedly marketing this program to) make child care arrangements, notify their work, etc. on such short notice?

2. Teachers and administrators working in the Nursing Office do not return emails or phone calls (even after multiple attempts on part of the student), teachers have established office hours that they are never present for....how you arrange meeting during their office hours, if they never return a phone call or email?

3. We are required to take an ATI test at the end of every course. The end of course will approach and the students are told by the professor that they WILL NOT need to complete the ATI exam. Then several days after the completion of the course (and the start of our Easter break, summer break, etc, etc.), we receive email notice for the Office secertary the night before that we need to arrive on campus the next morning to take this ATI exam........its as if the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. There is ZERO communication between the teacher and the administration! COMPLETE DISORGANIZATION!!!!!!!

These are just a few examples of the things that we as students have to deal with. Some students, including myself, have tried to approach the administration with our concerns, only to be told the following ----- "if you're not able to make accomadations, they maybe you should consider taking a semester off or going elsewhere." They (the administration) seems to act like we are not committed to the program. We were told in the beginning they we wouldn't have a social life, which we all openly accept. It's not like we're trying to get out of clinicals, exams just to go out an party or something. We are simply asking for the common courtesy of giving people a little advanced notice to make arrangements for child care, work notification, etc. Am I crazy for wanting that?

I just wonder, after reading this - was/is this your experience in nursing school?

[LinzyRN]

I went to a community college with a program that had been around a LONG time. My program was disorganized, the instructors prided themselves as being "weed outs" and schedules were changed at the last minute. Sometimes entire clinical sites where unknown until the night before. They would tell you that you have to be flexible if you want to be a nurse. Just like another poster said I would hear "welcome to nursing". It's BS but all I can tell you is stick through it and warn anyone else looking to go through your program about what their getting into!

[Moogie]

Yep, my school does it, too. BUT the best part is when you complain about their complete lack of organization and communication, their response is, "WELCOME TO NURSING!" YES we all know that things don't often go according to plan and nurses have to be FLEXIBLE but seriously? Come on. Other important aspects of being a nurse are organization, planning ahead, teamwork, and open communication. They seem to forget this. I have had it up to here :angryfire with my school's administration...only 7 months to go!!!

Oh, and I remember back to my first day of orientation, when one of the professors/administrators said, "And at some point during the program you will all come running to us and saying you know how to run the program better than we do. We've been doing this a long time." Shouldn't that be a sign if every student complains about the administration at one point or another? Hmm...

Wow---that sounds like a control freak to me. I would be very afraid of a professor/instructor/administrator who would be so arrogant as to not welcome constructive student feedback---or who would turn a deaf ear to students who just need to vent.

Because nursing school IS stressful, it's not uncommon for students to feel frustrated and take out those frustrations on their instructors and/or administration. Sometimes students just need to b****. I think a school should be able to discern between student concerns that need immediate attention and change in educational approach (say, a problem with a clinical instructor) and the need to let off some steam. I believe in an open-door policy; when I have taught I have been available, either in the office or via email, and I will listen to students, regardless of the cause of their frustrations.

I think it's wrong to blow students off and to say that if they have complaints, it's their problem. It's all part of the cycle of nurses eating their young and, frankly, I don't want to be on anyone's menu as a student, nor do I wish to go zombie and feast on my students as an instructor.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

I went to a community college with a program that had been around a LONG time. My program was disorganized, the instructors prided themselves as being "weed outs" and schedules were changed at the last minute. Sometimes entire clinical sites where unknown until the night before. They would tell you that you have to be flexible if you want to be a nurse. Just like another poster said I would hear "welcome to nursing". It's BS but all I can tell you is stick through it and warn anyone else looking to go through your program about what their getting into!

I beg to differ; nursing does not have to be a thing where you don't know when you're supposed to be somewhere. Our schedules are preplanned 4 to 6 weeks in advance. So even if the schedule sucks, you have time to fiddle with it. There exist quite a few jobs where you can have a set schedule so that you can predict your days off months in advance, and so you can do things like schedule your doctor's appointments, etc. with some degree of safety. Now once you hit the floor working in a shift, of course anything can happen to screw up your plan for the shift, but that's a different ballgame.

We got our clinical schedules at the beginning of each quarter, and barring some really bad problems, they stayed that way. Our teachers responded to emails but could be hard to catch in their office at times. They gave you a schedule and then kept it. Yes, the schedule itself could be a funky, rough thing but it was doable.

[Moogie]

I went to a community college with a program that had been around a LONG time. My program was disorganized, the instructors prided themselves as being "weed outs" and schedules were changed at the last minute. Sometimes entire clinical sites where unknown until the night before. They would tell you that you have to be flexible if you want to be a nurse. Just like another poster said I would hear "welcome to nursing". It's BS but all I can tell you is stick through it and warn anyone else looking to go through your program about what their getting into!

Good grief, I cannot imagine that! I can understand a clinical assignment not being available until the night before and, in the case of floors with low census, I can understand students having to work a different floor from what they'd expected, but not knowing the clinical site? Was this in a med/surg clinical or a specialty? I guess I can see last minute changes in extreme cases but goodness, that sounds incredibly stressful and disorganized. Flexibility is an important part of being a nurse and yes, you do need to be able to react quickly, like when a patient's condition deteriorates or you get unexpected admissions. But this sounds downright bizarre.

I don't think I would want to teach in such a school. I'm sure it's stressful for the instructors as well as the students. I think I need a shot of Maalox just thinking about it!

BTW, to the "weed outs". Yes, there are some people who might be better off in career fields other than nursing. But taking pride on "weeding out" students is tantamount to hazing and I think it has no place in the education of adults.

[GilaRRT]

It's just as bad in my neck of the woods. I am in school with a couple of nursing students who decided to change their major into an allied field when after a year they had yet to leave their first clinical site a long term care facility, and they had yet to perform any interventions beyond CNA care. This was one year into a two year program mind you.

While anecdotal, these stories and concerns from around the country should be seen as a sign indicating a potential state of chaos in the field of initial nursing education.