Do you think some schools are turning out nurses too fast?

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2007

I agree completely, lindarn!

BebobthefrogFNP · Dec 16, 2007

I'm a senior nursing student of a BSN 5 semester program and I'll be graduating in May. I feel very incompetent when I go to clinical. This semester I spent four 12 hour shifts in a hospital with one day in L&D, NICU, Post partum and outpatient clinic; 5 days in school clinic over 2 weeks. I also was in the ICU 3 times and ER once. That was all the clinical time that I received this semester. I don't think that we spend enough time preparing to practice on the floor. It is really embarassing when a nurse asks me to hang an IV medication and I can't do it alone because I don't know how to. The nurses are shocked that I'm a senior nursing student and can't do a lot of basic nursing skills. I just hope that I get a really good orientation and stay in the nursing field for a long time. I love working in the hospital and interacting with patient's and their families. I also love teaching patients about their diseases and answering health questions. I know the critical thinking nursing stuff really well but I lack clinical skills. Also I have only attempted 2 IV starts throughout all of nursing school.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2007

I am currently in my 9th month of a 15 month LPN program. We have 5 3-month long terms. So its comparable to a semester somewhat. We go full time straight through for those 15 months. If we took all the breaks that the community colleges did we'd also be looking at 2 yrs or better. But we don't get all those breaks that they do. We only get Federal/State Holidays off. Occasional day off in the week here and there (staff development days etc). And the only TRUE break we get is the week between Christmas and New Years.

Here in CT all the LPN programs are about 15 months long. Most have the same schedule we do. I can't see how you can get all the info you need in 6 months. I personally would never attend a school with a 6 month program, I'd be terrified of not learning what I needed to to function as a competent new nurse.

I know that the majority of "learning" for any of the new nurses happens on the job. But I'd like a grasp on a lot of the skills/info before hitting the floor. I don't think that can be done in 6 months. I can't even fathom how a 9 month program can slam all the info at you in that amount of time.

Oh and our pass rate for 1st time takers of the NCLEX is 100%. (of course they weed those questionable people out with a killer exit exam, thats how they keep that 100% pass rate.)

jmking · Dec 16, 2007

Maybe some schools are turning out nurses too fast. Yes, I feel like I didn't absorb that much when I was at clincal. I wish we would have spent more time with clinicals and when I asked my professor this she replied, "that there just are not enough spots to go around." Too many school competing for the same clincal spot.

Ms Kylee · Dec 16, 2007

I hear the lack of clinical time on the floor all the time. The diploma nurses complain that the BSN's and the ADN's don't have the clinical experience they do, but the BSN's get paid more. I chose my LPN school because the program is 60% clinical. However, that doesn't mean I get more clinical experience. At the first hospital rotation all we did was stand around bored because there was nothing to do.

I still have no clue which way to go for the RN....

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2007

I spend 3 out of 5 days in Clinicals. 8 hrs a day. We get a load of clinical experience. And we've been doing "nursing" things since the first set of clinicals. Most complain in my class about the amount of time spent in clinicals (because they see it not as experience but as having to work for free), I, for one, am thrilled with all the time.

caliotter3 · Dec 16, 2007

And yes, as long as "ABC Community College" churns our new grads every six months, there will be no incentive for hospitals or nursing homes to put any effort into retaining the nurses they already have.
And yes, as long as hospitals and nursing homes are provided incentives to replace American nurses and recruit foreign nurses in their place, there will be even less of an incentive to improve working conditions, pay and benefits to encourage new
nurses to stay.
Lindarn, RN ,BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington

Truer words were never spoken. The profession of nursing is its own worst enemy and the business of health care in the US shoots us all in the foot on a daily basis. I, for one, do not like realizing that much of what I put up with is mandated by the almighty dollar. I would not work for low wages other than the fact that I must work, whether I enjoy what I do or not. You can't expect US nurses to achieve high educational and professional levels and then insist on bringing them down to the level at which you treat your labor imports.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Dec 16, 2007

6 months??? I don't know of any LPN course being THAT short. But, I do hear of 9 and 12 month practical nursing courses. Are they cranking out students too quickly? Hard to say, because there is no way to cover each and everything that may come up on NCLEX or in real life. As mentioned, many do assume that the places of employment will sort of pick up where the school left off, but, it will be very brief, because Staff Ed will assume that you learned all you needed to know in school. They are just teaching you THEIR equipment, but they are assuming that you know the basics or at least know what resources to obtain to learn what you need to know when it is necessary such as a drug or skills book, etc... Bottom line is application of what you have learned in a clinical setting. And, there is no way to know how that will be until you actually enter the school.

My clinical experience and pharmacology class SUCKED like lemons. But, it was too late to back out after having invested all of the time and energy to even enter into the nursing program. I just took a pharmacology review course when I graduated, purchased their CDs, obtained a tutor, and thank goodness I passed NCLEX the first time with minimum questions.

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2007

i spend 3 out of 5 days in clinicals. 8 hrs a day. we get a load of clinical experience. and we've been doing "nursing" things since the first set of clinicals. most complain in my class about the amount of time spent in clinicals (because they see it not as experience but as having to work for free), i, for one, am thrilled with all the time.

i for one agree with your friends. i felt we were taken advantage of by the system. we're students yes, however even a lowly student could be paid something for the time put in during clinicals. grumble grumble

calliesue · Dec 17, 2007

My Rn weekend supervisor is from England and according to him in their nursing programs you actually work doing pt care while you are learning "book work" . Seems like you would come out of a program like that knowing which way is up. He said they got invaluable clinical experience. Kind of different from here where you can be almost at the end of a bsn program and still have put in a f/c once and never done some skills at all.

CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2007

And yes, as long as hospitals and nursing homes are provided incentives to replace American nurses and recruit foreign nurses in their place, there will be even less of an incentive to improve working conditions, pay and benefits to encourage new
nurses to stay.
Lindarn, RN ,BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington

I just don't think that it is all that easy to get over here and pass the boards! It is superhuman! And I feel that those who do come over here have skill sets that American nurses lack...just what I see on the floor! I have gained a lot by working with and around foriegn nurses. The good ones stay and earn good livings; I just don't see the connection between the hiring of well qualified foriegn nurses and the denying of benefits to encourage new nurses to stay.

davb · Dec 17, 2007

The reason why they are importing nurses, is to keep wages low. They can't outsource and move the jobs to another country, so they bring the country here. They have been doing the same thing in construction for years. I never worked with anyone who spoke spanish (at my construction job) until after bu** was elected (I voted for him too) :trout:

Import workers, keeps wages down in a business with demand for labor intensive workers = major company profits. Major company profits = more money to buy politicians = even more profits. It doesn't matter what business it is, this formula works, and is still working. Maybe we should elect someone who isn't rich and doesn't benefit from this system, oh yeah, everyone who is a candidate is a rich "good old boy(or girl)"