Don't think I can keep writing these papers!

Buyer beware, BSN · Nov 21, 2016

Simvee,

You will get very little honest discourse here that speakes to the issues you raise.

For some reason there is a "stay on the sunny side" conspiracy of silence going on. I believe it has much to do with many being sold a bill of goods along with a belief that nursing educators and graduate schools in paticular would never be so deceptive as to charge trusting students through the nose for such garbage.

This fact coupled with the embarrassment of discovering you've been hoodwinked goes a long way toward keeping people quiescent.

All I can say and I really am reluctant to say this is that there are some pretty creepy characters out there serving up hamburger at steak prices.

We seem to always hear from the apologists defending the status quo but so many others who could be change agents for the better remain cowering.

But again, inexplicably, (except for greed) nobody seems to give a fart in an airlock.

elkpark · Nov 21, 2016

Simvee,
You will get very little honest discourse here that speakes to the issues you raise.
For some reason there is a "stay on the sunny side" conspiracy of silence going on. I believe it has much to do with many being sold a bill of goods along with a belief that nursing educators and graduate schools in paticular would never be so deceptive as to charge trusting students through the nose for such garbage.
This fact coupled with the embarrassment of discovering you've been hoodwinked goes a long way toward keeping people quiescent.
All I can say and I really am reluctant to say this is that there are some pretty creepy characters out there serving up hamburger at steak prices.
We seem to always hear from the apologists defending the status quo but so many others who could be change agents for the better remain cowering.
But again, inexplicably, (except for greed) nobody seems to give a fart in an airlock.

I would say that I have observed the exact opposite on this site; there is no end of people willing to post at length about how ridiculous they found their nursing graduate programs to be because of any content and education apart from technical clinical skills and knowledge. Those of us who do find value and worth in nursing as an academic discipline and in nursing theory and knowledge have gotten shouted down so often that I'm sure many feel as I do, and just don't bother to participate in the discussions any more.

IMO, the OP should feel entirely free to leave her/his program and get into a PA program. I wish that many more people who post here regularly, who are obviously unhappy about everything about being a nurse other than the handsome paycheck they are getting, would just get out of nursing and find something that would better suit their values and expectations.

simvee · Nov 21, 2016

IMO, the OP should feel entirely free to leave her/his program and get into a PA program. I wish that many more people who post here regularly, who are obviously unhappy about everything about being a nurse other than the handsome paycheck they are getting, would just get out of nursing and find something that would better suit their values and expectations.

That's hardly fair. Whatever earlier disputes you guys have had here, I wasn't part of that.

I just did a ten page concept analysis of the concept (apparently it's just a nursing concept) of independence. I had to define it, then identify antecedents (which I guess are requirements to have independence) and consequents (of having independence) - these are kind of covered in the definition, but I had to find several citations - any citations I could find were fine - in the nursing literature to back up this simple concept. Also, the citations can't be from anything older than 5 years, because independence apparently changed since then.

We had to write a paper on the metaparadigms, which are, if I recall, the human being, the environment, the nurse, and....heck, what was number four? We're just making up and misusing terms.

Like here's one of my favorite quotes:

As Orem used terminology at various levels of abstraction within constituent theories, the reader is advised to thoroughly study SCDNT concepts, including the synonyms. For example, agency is also called capability, ability and/or power.

I.....yeah. This isn't science. This isn't even good theorizing.

Sorry, I know I'm just ********. I do very much like being a nurse, which is why I chose this track. But this is just nonsense to fluff up and justify academic doctoral positions, as far as I can figure, and the rest of us have to suffer through it or else the whole house of cards falls down.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2016

One of the NPs had a PA student the other day and he had to write a capstone paper too. He was complaining about how he wanted to do it related to antibiotic therapy for treating appendicitis but three or four students were already doing that in their group. I told him my topic for my capstone and he was very interested in it. So switching isn't going to absolve you from writing some of the papers.

The NP he was with commented about how for his capstone project, all he had to do was give a presentation at a conference. One of the NP programs offers a mission trip but you have to write a paper on it. We think the reason why my NP program and his PA program required the papers has to do with the accreditation requiring it.

db2xs · Nov 24, 2016

I'm really not sure why we have to write so many papers either. A part of me doesn't mind because I was a writer/editor in my previous career, so it's not difficult for me to write. The NP curriculum is just different from an MD's and I've grown to accept it. I can't speak to a PA's curriculum, but it sounds like applesxoranges has some good information. Maybe a PA curriculum isn't that rosy either in the paper-writing department either.

compassionresearcher · Nov 25, 2016

Is it a MSN or DNP?

ACNPmomof2, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Dec 5, 2016

Giving serious thought to switching to a PA program. They seriously cannot be as bad as this, can they? I feel being part of a medical program they just can't be as bad as a graduate level nursing program.
I'm in the throes of Nursing Theory and it's killing me. This is such bogus, nonsensical, endless garbage. The textbooks are the most disorganized and poorly written I've ever seen. The teachers' writing is a little bit better. But I'm churning out papers that don't make any sense, yet getting A's.
Everything has to have extensive citations back to the nursing literature, so I'm finding the most BS articles I can possibly stretch to cram into a citation in my papers. This isn't learning. This isn't science.
Talk me out of it!

Nursing theory is the WORST. I can't tell you how many glasses of wine I had to drink to get through that class. But you will get through it. And wine is your friend. You can pontify so much with a great bottle of wine.

I just got through business and legal aspects of nursing. That was a bunch of garbage too. At least it was somewhat relevant, but as someone who has absolutely NO DESIRE to go into admin or politics it was a waste of time. Just suck it up, take it one quarter (or semester) at a time, get through it and be done. If you switch programs it will take even more time and you'll have to go through the headache of transcripts being sent, etc. Good luck to you. I am happy to say I am done and never have to write another paper. It's a great feeling.