Enough is enough: Get out of my wallet.

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

Nursing school is very expensive, so I feel your pain. I graduate in July so I'm hoping that they won't make us pay an arm and a leg.

I am kinda of mad now, because I don't have any uniforms for clinicals next semester, I can't fit my old uniform anymore. The director changed the place to order uniforms from last year. Last years company charged 19 dollars for pants and 22 for shirts.... This years company is charging 45 for pants and 52 for shirts. I think this is CRAZY ! I guess I'll be the only one with a normal scub uniform, cause there is no way I can afford what they require us to buy.

cursedandblessed · Jan 25, 2009

Once we finish we're required to wear a full white old fashioned "nursing dress", white hose, and a cap for graduation/pinning. I've been picking up some at thrift stores in various sizes for those I know can't afford them (the dresses). At least you're only buying scrubs, maybe try a thrift store?

As for the restaurant thing, I don't know why but we went to a restaurant I hate (if I want Italian, I want GOOD Italian) at the end of last semester. If you will be doing the restaurant thing again, you may want to get together with the group and get suggestions and take a vote ahead of time. As for the gifts, we're not allowed to give gifts to instructors, brownies yes, gifts, no!

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

I don't mind the cost of tuition, books, etc. It's the unnecessary frills that they force on us that bakes my bread.

A full set of white scrubs required for a 45 minute ceremony that has no redeeming value to you as a future nurse? Preposterous.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

Why doesn't your class as a group do fund raisers to pay for whites like save aluminum cans and newspapers and have bake sales? I'd hold them in the hospital cafeteria and specifically state on the posters the money was to pay for graduation dress.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

Because it's a waste of valuable time to have to mess with this unnecessary activity when we're in the middle of advanced med-surg and trying to prepare for HESI, graduation, preceptorship and NCLEX.

If we did something logical, like wear Sunday dress, we wouldn't have to worry about going around trying to raise money.

To spend all that time on something that is completely asinine and frivolous is ridiculous.

yelnikmcwawa · Jan 25, 2009

I agree that that request is unreasonable. It seems as if the school has their own interests at hand...have a quintessential looking ceremony without any regard to the student's financial hardships.

But the real reason I am responding to this post is because I wanted to laugh out loud at your use of "fartknocker"! Haha!

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

We were told yesterday that we're required to wear white scrubs for our 45 minute pinning ceremony.
As students, we are required to buy and wear ceil blue scrubs.
They want us to buy a set of white scrubs to wear for this short, silly ceremony.
I, being the way I am, questioned this idiocy and pointed out that a lot of the students in my class can barely afford to go to school and still feed their kids and pay their bills, and firmly averred my deep disdain for making us buy these "wear once" scrubs. On top of $1300 tuition + books this semester, $50 "pinning fee", $139 BON application fee, $50 HESI fee, $20ish fingerprint fee, $200+ NCLEX fee....I've had enough.
Am I just being a fartknocker about this, or do any of you see this as stupid, pointless, and lacking concern or awareness about the financial woes of nursing students? I'm in a better position to afford this than most of my classmates because I had savings from past employment and my wife has a good-paying nursing job.
Some of my classmates, I have had to buy their meals at the stupid "end of semester clinical group gathering at the most expensive restaurant we can find, where we give the employed instructor the gift we managed to scrounge up $10/ea to buy" because some kissass, or often, the instructor, picks PF Changs instead of Shoneys.
It wouldn't be so bad if any of the hospitals here allowed whites (most of them have color-enforced dress codes), but to add ONE MORE expense, to be used for one stupid ceremony...well, it aggravated me.
The instructor, more used to meek and mild students who don't question the status quo, blinked about 10 times and then informed me I should start a petition to be given to the director of our program.
Get out of my wallet, damn you. *shakes fist*

I agree with you entirely. I have all the same fees as you this semester (Texas, woohoo!), and on top of that my school is requiring a separate $150 graduation fee.

On top of that, our pinning ceremony is completely non-school supported and the committee in charge of running it has budgeted a need of $4000 for it. We are to pay for this by selling coupon books and/or paying up to $50 a piece.

And we haven't even discussed what we're supposed to wear for the ceremony yet. Right now, the pinning committee is trying to figure out how to get one of the Houston Rockets to speak at the ceremony. I kid you not.

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

Why doesn't your class as a group do fund raisers to pay for whites like save aluminum cans and newspapers and have bake sales? I'd hold them in the hospital cafeteria and specifically state on the posters the money was to pay for graduation dress.

Yes, let's arrange this on top most of the class working full time, applying and interviewing for jobs, working on our numerous problem-based learning group projects, studying for our biweekly tests over 200 pages of material, arranging our mandatory but unguided 6 hours of psych clinicals and 12 hours of community health clinicals, mandatory community health fair the class runs, studying for the HESI, and whatever else I'm forgetting to do off the top of my head.

Hey Bortaz, maybe your school and my school can hold a joint bake sale! I'll see you at 3AM!

/nursing school frustration detected.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

As I said, this affects me less than a lot of the others in my class. Some of them are literally living hand to mouth and don't have the benefit of having a nurse spouse to help foot the cost. I get 0 financial aid, but at least my wife makes decent money. Some of my classmates? Not so much.

And it's all for nothing. Totally unnecessary.

If it's not changed, I'll more than likely boycott the darned thing.

elisabeth · Jan 25, 2009

Even if we're required to go to the last day of clinical lunches (because they count as clinical hours), we are not required to order anything.

I've known since first semester what the options are for the pinning ceremony (cap and gown or whites and we wear whites for clinical) and our class gets to vote. Maybe some of your classmates could talk to people who have graduated in previous semesters to see if they can borrow whites for the ceremony?

Also, pinning is like graduation. You can elect not to go. It's a personal choice. Our ADN program covers the costs of the invitations, tickets and programs for our pinning ceremony. SNA is considering paying for some other fee if we give them the ugly blue vest we wear as part of our uniform. We pay for our pins, but as individuals we are able to choose the quality and therefore the price of our own pin.

You should talk to your program director if you feel so strongly about this. Maybe wearing clinical uniforms can be an option.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Jan 25, 2009

I do indeed plan to address the issue with the pinning committee and the director of the program.