Does nursing school teach you anything?

[snickerdoodle17_1]

I know the question sounds a little presumptious but I really think I chose the wrong nursing school. Its a vocational school so I guess that explains it but DAMN it sucks. None of the students really feel like were learning anything useful. Ok so Dorthea Dix was influential in nursing. So how does this help me aid a patient?!? My teachers mostly read of powerpoints and dont really TEACH. The purpose of this question is did you learn what you know from working on the job or did your college actually TEACH you. I dont know anything in pharmacology now and if I ask a question the teacher who is an ARNP. Doesnt like it and assumes that we should all know after what two weks of class?!?!

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Well, the world of resources for education are available to us all. I would highly rec that you all go your own way to learning. Get the best resources so you can learn. Take a flip through on what your college wants you to buy, if you don't prefer it don't buy it. Diabetes is Diabetes, folks, but if you want to really understand it, nursing text is too wordy/simplified - always go back and use your A&P material and a good medical resource not a nursing resource. That way you will know what the heck you are doing. Skills are easily available online. It's up to you to practice them. Set up your own little practice area at home. Sure the college has dummies, but alas, they are not real human beings, so it doesn't matter. Just practice at home. Show up because you have to to get the degree, etc. But you are your own best instructor. I'll tell you this, you will not be "shown how" if/when you get your first nursing job. Like I say, you will need to teach yourself and practice nursing by yourself. Sure someone will give you a quick rundown, but nobody is going to hold your hand. Best to go to school understanding this, and you will do so much better!

Again, NOT my experience. Attended a great program, learned a ton, and transitioned to a critical care internship after graduation where we WERE "shown how," and taught by the best preceptors on the units.

By the way, Anatomy and Physiology are not the be all of nursing education. There are a few other classes which kind of have a few things worth knowing in them, such as Pathophysiology of Disease, Pharmacology, and others. Every class I took emphasized not only the skills (let's face it, you could teach a monkey to draw blood or put in a foley), but the disease process behind it, the implications of and rationale for proper intervention, and the thought processes needed to not only react to disease processes, but to anticipate and head off problems associated with them.

Sorry you went to such a crummy nursing school, but you cannot speak for all.

[Biffbradford]

I remember an instructor in our lab telling us: "some of you may never do this, some of you may do it every day" then took us through suctioning someone with a trach. A year later, I was working in an ICU and actually DID that every day! I happened to stop back in the school's lab when some students were struggling with it, and I showed them step by step how it was done in the real world. You just never know!