in first bsn class

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2012

pay attention and don't talk:d. think about decaf rather than high-test. you're in college for a reason-- keep your eyes on the prize, and don't think so much about yourself. :nurse:

wait...you're not actually sending this message from lecture, are you? :eek:

get off the computer!! pay attention to the class you (or your parents) are paying so much for you to take!

CorinneRN · Jan 17, 2012

After the first couple hours, you'll calm down. I don't know about everyone else, but our classes were 4 hours long! :eek:

kht124 · Jan 17, 2012

that class was 3 hours long. Phhwww. I have another 3 hours long class in about 30 minutes... I love lectures and learning, I just hate sitting in a chair to do it, especially for 3 hours with one 10 min break in between. I hate sitting still and sitting quietly. I feel bad that your classes are 4 hours long. Hang in there.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

you were online during lecture. :icon_roll

well, dear, if you make a habit of that i don't think you'll need to worry about having to endure it too long.

NCRNMDM, ASN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

At the risk of sounding really rude, here I go.

Log off Allnurses, log off Facebook, don't talk during class, stop searching the net, stop shopping online, stop checking movie times for the weekend, stop looking at your personal email, stop looking up where you and your friends are going to party this Friday, and stop doing anything else that is going to distract you during class. I get so irritated when I look up from furiously typing notes on my Mac only to see Facebook, personal email, online shopping, Allnurses, and other unrelated websites on laptop screens all around me. It's disrespectful to the instructor, it's distracting to yourself and other students, and it keeps you from learning anything. You cannot honestly tell me that you're hearing and processing any of the information presented to you while checking Allnurses, harvesting your Farmville crops, or shopping for that great new pair of shoes.

Nursing is an important job, and it isn't something you should take lightly. You are learning to care for living, breathing humans in these classes, and you should pay attention. I realize that three hours is a long time, but I sat through a four hour nursing class for an entire semester, and I never allowed myself to get distracted or side-tracked. You aren't an English major, or a French major, or an art major (not to cast dispersions on these majors). You are a nursing major, and you will soon be in the hospital caring for live patients. Every word the instructors say to you matters; every topic they cover, every drug they mention, every page they read is important. They aren't up there for fun, and you aren't in that class to spend time on unrelated websites.

You, or your parents, are paying a good deal of money for these classes, the books, and all the other required supplies. Don't let all that money go to waste by sitting in a class and not paying attention. I understand that the first day of nursing school can be nerve wracking, and I have been in those shoes before. However, you have to get over these feelings, calm yourself down, focus, and pay attention. Don't say, "Oh well, I'm too nervous to take notes, so I will just get on Facebook for ten minutes." That ten minutes on Facebook will turn to thirty, those thirty minutes will turn to an hour, and, before you know it, you will have wasted half the class browsing Facebook and playing games. Then when it's time to study for that first test, you will find that your notes are less than desirable.

My concern with this situation is that you take this very lightly. My first day I was totally freaking out. I was so nervous, and so panicked, that I wrote every word that came out of the instructor's mouth. Now I know better, and I can pick and choose what to write. Now I realize what's really really important, what's semi-important, and what's extraneous fluff that the instructor included just as an aside. I still write down a ton of notes, don't get me wrong, but I'm not the ball of nerves and panic that I was when I began the program. I am making As in every nursing class, so I know I'm doing something right.

You've got to relax, find a way to take notes that works for you, and discipline yourself. If you keep getting distracted, and don't start paying attention, you may not be in the program very long.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Jan 18, 2012

mattrnstudent23, i wish i could give you two or three "likes" for the above comment!

x_factor · Jan 21, 2012

Surfing the internet while in class? Yeah, that'll take you far. And not to be rude, but it's students like you that ruin it for the rest of us when it comes to bringing our laptop's to class. Most of my teacher's don't allow it anymore, because of a few rotten apples surfing the internet during lecture, that ruined it for the rest of us just trying to type notes and actually pay attention in class.

And 3 hours is not bad, it's pretty standard. One of my class is 4 hours long with only two 10 minute breaks. They're long for a reason. And the reason being because there's so much material you need to LEARN, more than what can be presented in only an hour or two.

So, once again, stay off the internet while in class, and pay attention.

JROregon, ASN, BSN, RN · Jan 22, 2012

You're kidding about looking at different websites during class, right? I am in an ADN program and people use their time in lecture to listen and take notes. That is a much better use of your time than diddling around on the internet. If you aren't going to pay attention in class, why bother showing up? Let us know how you do on your first test so we can see if there is a correlation between test scores and paying attention in class.

kht124 · Feb 11, 2012

I got a 91 on my first test thank you...although that's still a b at my school though. Ha haters