Discouraged- Need Help!

Published

We've had a lot of changes in our nursing program in the last year I have been enrolled. We are losing an instructor who is an incredible source of knowledge and has tremendous heart and passion for this field. The instructor who I am assuming will be stepping up is one in which we have a great deal of trouble with. She uses what she calls "student centered learning" and acts as a "facilitator." She comes to class without the textbook we are using, grades clinical paperwork during our lecture period, and acts suprised when we tell her information that comes from our book. We are broken into groups and told to discuss a disease/disorder from start to finish, what it is, nsring dx, tx options, labs, diagnostics, s/s, manifestations, etc. Somebody please tell me how a group of nursing students, who are all on the same pager are supposed to elaborate on and expand each others knowledge of the material. We simply don't know much more then what our textbook is telling us, which sometimes is not always clear. When you ask her a question she simply beats around the bush and does everything she can but answer it. I don't know if what she fails to see is that one day we might be taking care of her or her family or what. I don't understand how you are a nursing instructor yet fail to really elaborate on any course material. She has a MSN, yet cannot even utilize proper english when speaking with us, "I says" "I be thinking". Then talks about leukoplasia when we are discussing leukoplakia. I'm not a rocket scientist nor a graduate from a nursing program, so am I wrong in thinking that these are not the same things? Also, we have addressed the fact that this is not helping us, and she gave us a crappy matter of fact speech that she is not changing anything. So why pay for an education we are not getting? Then this very same woman wants you to take your medications off of the hospital floor and into the break room so you can sit down and discuss them with her. Shouldn't she be doing this before the meds are even pulled? I REFUSE to walk off of the floor with any medications, even if it be just a multivitamin. She cannot access contorlled substances, which is probably a good thing, so the floor nurses must get them from the Pyxis. She watched the nurse pull the med for a student and them walks out of the med room, doesn't even bother to watch the student draw up the med, leaving it for the floor nurse to do. Then has the nerve to tell the student that she didn't know what medication it was and she wasn't going with her to give it. Well DUH dummy guess you should have stayed in the med room and watched. What in the world can we as students do about this situation before it gets out of hand and end up failing out of the program or flunking our boards due to lack of instruction. Are there any good resources to help us. We only have one semester left after this and it would be a shame to do poorly due to her lack of instruction. We have had no support from the higher ups at the school, just told changes will be made, of course we have yet to see any action by them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
we are broken into groups and told to discuss a disease/disorder from start to finish, what it is, nsring dx, tx options, labs, diagnostics, s/s, manifestations, etc. somebody please tell me how a group of nursing students, who are all on the same pager are supposed to elaborate on and expand each others knowledge of the material. we simply don't know much more then what our textbook is telling us, which sometimes is not always clear.

i have for a long time posted this form critical thinking flow sheet for nursing students at the bottom of all my posts and invited anyone to download and use it. to go along with it in finding the information to go on that page for any medical diagnosis you can come up with, use the weblinks on this thread:

despite her other faults, this instructor has really given you the greatest learning gift any instructor could. some free rein and autonomy. what you do with it is up to you. an instructor can't make your brain learn to analyze and think. only you can do that. you have to input the information first. part of getting the thinking process going is the finding and inputting of the information. giving you all the information is a disservice. we give computers information, but computers can only think within the parameters of their programming. we are better and much more flexible than that. this is reinforced to me all the time by the grammar checker on my word program that does some bizarre stuff with sentences that makes no sense whatsoever.

nurses are problem solvers. that is what i did every day of my working life as a nurse. that is what the nursing process and critical thinking is all about. i have just helped you solve one of your problems: how to expand your knowledge of the material--look outside your textbook.

best of luck to you and your classmates!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nurses are problem solvers. That is what I did every day of my working life as a nurse. That is what the nursing process and critical thinking is all about. I have just helped you solve one of your problems: how to expand your knowledge of the material--look outside your textbook.

Best of luck to you and your classmates!

I understand everything you are saying and agree with almost all of it. However, how do we justify any test answers that we may know are right but they are not in our textbook? Also, any justifications for correct answers on our tests are read from a piece of paper with rationales, and when asked to elaborate and explain she simply cannot or will not. This is just so frustrating.:banghead:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

it's hard to explain in a few words, but if it's any use to you, in the Uk university you get very little information, YOU go and find out. I had one lecture on analgesics as part of pharmacology and I'm writing the 3rd paper on pain control,from a lecture made of 10 slides I wrote about 6000 words.

Textbooks are good, the problem with them is that they take about 2 years to be written, about a year or so to be published, you study it for a year...it gets pretty out of date. There's a sea of information out there, use your study years to learn how to get that information, what makes a valid paper, build the foundation of your A&P, learn to critically analise any piece of info that's given to you...gosh, i sound like my mother when i was about 14, sorry..but it strikes me that you're just sitting back and expect the information to be fed into you...once you qualify, you're on your own, there won't be an instructor....learn from your instructor's mistakes and go find out for yourself!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
how do we justify any test answers that we may know are right but they are not in our textbook? Also, any justifications for correct answers on our tests are read from a piece of paper with rationales

I'm not familiar with the american system, but don't you guys reference everything you say? Published double-peer reviewed should do the trick, no?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
How do we justify any test answers that we may know are right but they are not in our textbook? Also, any justifications for correct answers on our tests are read from a piece of paper with rationales, and when asked to elaborate and explain she simply cannot or will not. This is just so frustrating.:banghead:

Document page and text of the references that prove your case. Make sure your references are good professional ones and not just magazine articles. Go up the chain of command. In other words, if she won't change an answer and you believe you are still right, go to her boss. She does have one. Probably the dean of the department. Let that person investigate further. Nothing can ever be done without written documentation.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion