Coming on here just to vent and see if anyone has noticed a similar culture:
I just finished my first semester of BSN nursing school (fundamentals w/ clinical, health assessment, & pharm I) at a private 4-year university. I absolutely love what I am learning and have never been more sure that nursing is my calling.
However, I notice there is a huge culture of fear-mongering among nursing students and professors. Before I actually started the program, students were telling me to be prepared for how hard the classes would be. Even advisors and professors would try to emphasize that nursing school is the hardest thing you would ever do, how it would push you to your limit, how you would have no social life and study all the time, etc. As a pre-nursing student, I was terrified to enter nursing school and what it would hold.
But after a semester...I find that their comments are almost unfounded. The sheer volume of work is a lot but the actual content of what we are learning is--dare I say--easier than my prerequisites. I feel as if nursing students and professors go around saying how hard it is, wearing it as a badge of honor. My friend group feels the same way I do, but among my classmates, all you hear are nursing students complaining about how hard their life is, how nursing school is impossible, how they're being pushed to their limit. I wouldn't say nursing school is "easy" because there is so much time just completing busywork (I.e.- care plans, concept maps) that goes into it...but it certainly isn't rocket science, like there's a reason so many people make it through nursing school vs. how many people make it through medical school. Pharm is the most conceptually heavy and even that just builds off A&P course (my university has very challenging prerequisites so maybe we were just well prepared).
So all of that to say--have any of you experienced a culture of fear-mongering in your nursing school and found it to be completely asinine? I feel as if it's a negative environment that is toxic to morale, and I just don't understand why PROFESSORS continue to propagate it. How do you separate yourself from the negativity? It is hard for someone who is already anxious to hear all this hype that I will be so pushed and so challenged, and having to deal with the constant influx of "LOL yeah good luck" is emotionally draining.
It all depends what school you go to. I've encountered some intense and complex nursing exam questions, and I've done a lot of different practice questions (Pearson, Kaplan, NCLEX review, Maria Youtman), and I'm in an ADN RN program.
On 5/7/2020 at 9:19 PM, TheDudeWithTheBigDog said:
So, I'm going to be honest, after the last thread... You might have a little shock coming in your next classes. For me nursing school was easy, but my way of learning made it easy. I made connections that made everything make a ton of sense almost effortlessly.
After fundamentals, you're going to be going very heavily on application. When you learn about a disease, you have to know about the disease to have a background, but you're in school to be nurse, you're expected to know what a nurse needs to know. How easy or hard this part is depends on your assessment skills. That's the primary role of a nurse. Without that, you're useless in the RN role. To understand why I'm pointing this out, you were arguing with someone that has a BSN about whether or not they have any qualification or knowledge over someone with an ADN. Your classes, from now on, aren't telling you what to do for someone with x disease. You're learning the disease and key symptoms, and you have to be able to figure out on your own what to do. Like, whenever TB comes up, you're going to learn the symptoms specific to TB... But you can't forget that it's still a respiratory infection and all those symptoms come with it too and you have to know how to handle that patient.
School is going to get tougher. It's not as hard as the hype, you're right about that, but it's not something you can do in your sleep. Best advice for this Summer find logic puzzles and do them like crazy. Learn to get used to making connections and applying what you already knew to what you're learning new. Fundamentals was easy, but it's very objective. Nursing is more abstract, make sure you're ready.
do you have any suggestions/websites on logic puzzles?
Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
On 5/12/2020 at 9:06 AM, Kitiger said:
Those care plans are a teaching tool. While appropriate for students, they are not necessary for an experienced nurse.
I never really found any use in them and neither did my classmates. They should have spent the time teaching nurses when to page and when not to page the provider, what actually constitutes freaking out and calling a rapid, and troubleshooting things. I think that is underestimated in nursing school as most pages I would receive were not worthy of the call. Just a waste of time. Having been on both ends care plans do nothing except provide busy work and lack of sleep.
I never really found any use in them and neither did my classmates. They should have spent the time teaching nurses when to page and when not to page the provider, what actually constitutes freaking out and calling a rapid, and troubleshooting things. I think that is underestimated in nursing school as most pages I would receive were not worthy of the call. Just a waste of time. Having been on both ends care plans do nothing except provide busy work and lack of sleep.
I thank ACEN and CCNE for that. We created a monster. Jobs will overlook people who didn't graduate with those accreditations, and schools won't take transfers, meanwhile the school, who only uses it as a marketing tool since they'd still have a full program without the national accreditation, is more focused on keeping the logo on their website than they are teaching students to be nurses. Yeah, they have better pass rates and long-term outcomes, but they've also led to schools using exit exams to determine if the student is even allowed to attempt to get licensed.
Shut those agencies down, bring it back to programs only being regulated by the state so that the education goes back to being a nurse instead of making sure enough people pass the NCLEX on their first attempt, which is thanks to programs like UWorld and Kaplan contracting with the schools to give massive cram-sessions on how to pick the right answer out of a multiple choice question since you don't actually know the right answer, and you'll see care plans get replaced with a more modern "this is how a nurse has to look at this disease."
Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
1 hour ago, TheDudeWithTheBigDog said:
I thank ACEN and CCNE for that. We created a monster. Jobs will overlook people who didn't graduate with those accreditations, and schools won't take transfers, meanwhile the school, who only uses it as a marketing tool since they'd still have a full program without the national accreditation, is more focused on keeping the logo on their website than they are teaching students to be nurses. Yeah, they have better pass rates and long-term outcomes, but they've also led to schools using exit exams to determine if the student is even allowed to attempt to get licensed.
Shut those agencies down, bring it back to programs only being regulated by the state so that the education goes back to being a nurse instead of making sure enough people pass the NCLEX on their first attempt, which is thanks to programs like UWorld and Kaplan contracting with the schools to give massive cram-sessions on how to pick the right answer out of a multiple choice question since you don't actually know the right answer, and you'll see care plans get replaced with a more modern "this is how a nurse has to look at this disease."
I’m not sure who being in the lead would be better I would have been happier just learning more science and practical hands on skills in nursing school and excluding nursing theory and care plans. We didn’t have “medical theory” in medical school. Nursing theory is all hog wash
This is your first semester, there is more to come and it is quite challenging — for many reasons. I think a healthy amount of fear and humility is appropriate in order to appreciate the enormous amount of responsibility new nurses will have once they hit the floor.
I'm sure there is a better way to teach in the 21st century. Having students turn in 30-40+ page care plans is absolutely ridiculous.
Forming care plans can be tedious and mind numbing, but they are necessary for the student. Care plan formulation forces the student to consider everything that is going on with the patient, how systems are connected, and what can go wrong. This becomes especially important as you learn critical care. Care plans are also indispensable to experienced clinicians in ensuring that the patient’s needs are properly identified and the appropriate interventions are prescribed. We use the care plan as the framework on which we base all of our treatments. What other system do you suggest for keeping track of patient illness/decline/healing/new maladies/their interrelatedness?
I’m happy to hear that you are doing so well in nursing school and I don’t doubt that you will continue to strive. Welcome to the world of nursing, where we are brilliant, caring, thoughtful, and kind?.
Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
9 hours ago, Queen Tiye said:
Forming care plans can be tedious and mind numbing, but they are necessary for the student. Care plan formulation forces the student to consider everything that is going on with the patient, how systems are connected, and what can go wrong. This becomes especially important as you learn critical care. Care plans are also indispensable to experienced clinicians in ensuring that the patient’s needs are properly identified and the appropriate interventions are prescribed. We use the care plan as the framework on which we base all of our treatments. What other system do you suggest for keeping track of patient illness/decline/healing/new maladies/their interrelatedness?
I’m happy to hear that you are doing so well in nursing school and I don’t doubt that you will continue to strive. Welcome to the world of nursing, where we are brilliant, caring, thoughtful, and kind?.
I suggest a simple problem list like doctors use. No need for unnecessary complexity for the sake of trying to make nursing appear more complex than it is. Nursing diagnoses are garbage.
The amount of fear based On what I might lose my housing and life based on this situation is staggering it is uNwarrented but worth it IDK how else to tell you I am hoping My situation below works out so if this helps I hope it offers u perspective that was my best ally in school as I finish hopefully...
I'm a fourth semester nursing student. I attended 2017-2019 and am reapplying it to renter 2021 Spring. I have Addisons Disease and bipolar both unreported to my nursing school because I haven’t been sick in quite awhile from either I’llness though I take lithium and risperdal with hydrocortisone. Fourth semester my advisor coached me into a medical withdrawal five weeks before graduation. My GPA is 3.7 and I was a nursing tutor sometimes without pay. I was hospitalized this year in March unrelated but as I am now writing a read admissions letter I may need to be aware is my psychiatric inpatient stay as they will be asking my doctors my meds and pertinent information. I have recovered successfully and do not need to attend school until next Spring 2021 to complete the RB program I have reviewed consistently and let them know and my Addisons Disease the reason I took the withdrawal is a combo of bipolar and Addisons symptoms related to stress and not sleeping have been resolved. I was supposed to reapply in January but my roommate is a rêcent kidney Transplant patient and was very sick and is immunosuppressed so I had to let the nursing office know I couldn’t return until after he recouperatef but then covid 19 came so they are considering my proposal now at least I think so. What are my chances of readmission given I was sick last Spring 2019 and now Again this year Given I am outstanding student academically I live in upstate new york
Fourth semester my advisor coached me into a medical withdrawal five weeks before graduation. My GPA is 3.7 and I was a nursing tutor sometimes without pay. I was hospitalized this year in March unrelated but as I am now writing a read admissions letter I may need to be aware is my psychiatric inpatient stay as they will be asking my doctors my meds and pertinent information. I have recovered successfully and do not need to attend school until next Spring 2021 to complete the RB program I have reviewed consistently and let them know and my Addisons Disease the reason I took the withdrawal is a combo of bipolar and Addisons symptoms related to stress and not sleeping have been resolved.
If the fourth semester was the only time you had withdrawn, you should be in good shape (all though I must add - depending on your school's policy). First thing is look up the policy and if there is a policy on any kind of withdrawal due to illness. I can't remember the "Title (whatever Roman Numeral)" the government put in place but I will try to recall. I don't see that you would need to provide a list of your medications whether for mental health or blood pressure regulation. Do remember that Discrimination is defined as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things.” Yes, indeed that word may need to be used. Campaign for yourself!
I suggest a simple problem list like doctors use. No need for unnecessary complexity for the sake of trying to make nursing appear more complex than it is.
Obviously the nursing profession was not what you wanted. I applaud you for your insight into the health care profession you yearned for. However you failed to glean from your brief time as an RN that nursing care is holistic, something which medicine has never been accused of. Disparaging nursing theory as "hogwash" seems immature and if that description doesn't fit you, childish may be more apt.
Look, I respect your future plans and your position in your first year residency but you are toxic when commenting on nursing.
Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
1 hour ago, londonflo said:
Obviously the nursing profession was not what you wanted. I applaud you for your insight into the health care profession you yearned for. However you failed to glean from your brief time as an RN that nursing care is holistic, something which medicine has never been accused of. Disparaging nursing theory as "hogwash" seems immature and if that description doesn't fit you, childish may be more apt.
Look, I respect your future plans and your position in your first year residency but you are toxic when commenting on nursing.
Nursing is no more holistic than medicine. Everyone is taught to be holistic now. Nursing absolutely does not have a patent on holistic care. Also, nursing theory and nursing diagnoses are mostly hogwash. It adds unneeded complexity to a more hands on career and most of it just does not make any practical sense. It’s OK to disagree but just because one holds a different opinion doesn’t make that person immature.
Medicinewomen3
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It all depends what school you go to. I've encountered some intense and complex nursing exam questions, and I've done a lot of different practice questions (Pearson, Kaplan, NCLEX review, Maria Youtman), and I'm in an ADN RN program.