I just had my nurse pinning and it was an amazing experience but I also left feeling a little bit upset. They gave out awards and some if the awards for clinical excellence. A good bit of the students did not demonstrate this in my opinion. They picked all the students who did the LPN program and then finished with the RN for one thing. Of course those students are going to have extra time with the instructors. Then the picked one girl who complained every chance she got and talked so much crap about every instructor. I had to intentionally distance myself from this person she had mouthed our program so much. One guy almost failed clinical which isn't even easy to do in my program because basically everyone gets As and Be in clinical. One girl who openly admitted she refuses to do CNA work to the instructors got picked. Another girl who said she hates bed side nursing and went through the same oncology immersion as me and said she wanted to cry everyday because it was so hard. It upsets me because I always tried to keep a positive attitude. I had multiple nurses go up to my instructors and speak about how well I did. I hadn't gotten any deficiency points in clinical since level one in clinical. I had an incident that I won't go into details about but that nurse personally write my instructors emails about me. And I was upset because I did so well in clinicals moreso than the students who were chosen and didn't get picked. It made me angry that every person who did the LPN got picked. Not to mention there were a few other students who were exceptional in clinical who ddint get picked. It actually has stuck with me and I am thinking about writing a letter to the new dean of nursing. They also picked some students who had failed and then came back. Of course the instructors are going to know them better they had an extra year to get to know them. My school also lets students who failed a semester who retake a course into the honor society. I just think the whole structure in u fair. Not to mention my school uses the same exam questions and the students with friends or siblings who went through the program previously all cheated their assed off. They only change a few questions every semester. And I watched them get awards I don't think they earned.
I had a health issue that I never complained about or tried to get attention for, my husband had a gambling addiction, I have three children... and got through it with no failing and exceptional clinical abilities. I'm just mad it was a popularity contest instead of a recognition of clinical ability. I didn't have time to linger around the instructors offices all the time I had to get home to my son.
I can't help but feel negative emotions even though it doesn't matter anymore because we graduated anymore. Should I write the dean an annamous letter?
If you'd gotten an award, I guarantee there would be some disgruntled peers who would be complaining that you didn't deserve it.
Your jealousy is unbecoming, and if you are like this in other areas of your life, you are going to be one miserable human being. For heaven's sake, move on from this pettiness. I can't imagine putting this much stock into an awards ceremony. You've got bigger fish to fry.
You only know what you saw of your peers. It doesn't necessarily mean favoritism -- people can excel at things that you are absolutely unaware of. If nurses "wrote your instructors emails about you," how do you know they didn't for other students? Hating bedside nursing doesn't automatically mean she was terrible at it, just as hating CNA work doesn't mean someone wasn't awesome at something else.
Just because you THINK someone doesn't deserve an award doesn't make it true.
I'm not a nurse yet or a final year student either but you shouldn't worry about other people who got awards and didn't deserve it. You should just focus on the fact that you finally did it and graduated after all that hard work. End on a high note and not a low note.
Focus on the positives and be excited about the future like now that you have graduated, where are you gonna work and which department and the fact you'll meet new people and maybe have new friends, etc.
It sucks that you didn't get an award but you graduated though and not many people can say they graduated nursing school. Besides, life is too short to worry about what you can't control.
Does it really though? The OP has NCLEX to think of, and the beginning of a new career. It amazes me that she would even spend more than a few minutes thinking about something like this. I can't even remember if my nursing school gave out awards. That's how unimportant it all really is.
Eat a Snickers, you get salty and whiny when you are hungry! God forbid LPNs who have literally done two nursing programs get an award and not you. I can tell by this post that you toot your own horn and probably do not have the skills to back it up. Write that letter and see how fast you will be blacklisted in the nursing community. Those instructors might have seen something in those students that you don't and it has nothing to do with playing favorites. Keep up with this woe is me attitude at work, because you sound like you would be a peach to work with. But please stop your whining and thinking you are better than LPN nurses who worked hard to get their RN. This look on you isn't becoming at all.
Welcome to the real world of nursing,while you may feel the sting of unfairness now,try to look forward to doing the best you can.You will stand out on your own because no one spoon fed you this makes you strong.The other flunkies will fail out their miserable selves,cause it is a tough world out there.The golden carrot will be dangled in front of many times,concentrate on what is important to you,ignore the rest .You will hear cruel remarks like "nobody is indispensable" from some managers or nastiness from patients....and so on.Ignore them,do your thing,do it well, this will give you much satisfaction.
Yep, I agree it's annoying. I don't believe in telling people how to feel or minimizing pain. What you need to do is rant, as you've done, process it, move on, and let your success be your letter to the band of merry idiots. Living well is the best revenge!
Horseshoe, BSN, RN
5,879 Posts
If you'd gotten an award, I guarantee there would be some disgruntled peers who would be complaining that you didn't deserve it.
Your jealousy is unbecoming, and if you are like this in other areas of your life, you are going to be one miserable human being. For heaven's sake, move on from this pettiness. I can't imagine putting this much stock into an awards ceremony. You've got bigger fish to fry.