Frustrated beyond words

Jrhemming · Oct 1, 2015

Mine hasn't been I'm in my last semester now. Now I'm in complex med surg and we are taught in lecture but most of our test goes beyond this and requires critical thinking from what we are supposed to read and some of the lecture. The lectures don't completely teach the test it's harder, but with the base we have got from our previous semesters we can critically think through the test. However trying to do this without the base we learned in previous tests would be difficult. Get in your syllabus read the chapters that are for each test (if that helps you. I can't read and retain) or get on YouTube and other resources out there and learn on your own. If I have a question in clinical I look it up first because that's what our instructors will tell us to do any way. I see what I can find if I can't totally figure it out, I tell the teacher what I read and now know and they guide me to the rest. You have to be self directed and ask for help when you can't figure out the rest. Hope that helps in some way

nursephillyphil, BSN, RN · Oct 1, 2015

nope, mine wasn't like that. given your small class sizes the teachers should be able to give you guys more focused attention.

brownbook · Oct 1, 2015

Is this a public, non profit, college? Or a private for profit school? It sounds horrible!

Nonyvole, BSN, RN · Oct 1, 2015

Have run into a few nursing students from private, for - profit schools with the same complaints, OP. The ones that ultimately did the best were the ones that took matters into their own hands, tried to get help from their teachers outside of class, and used their clinical time wisely.

The student forums here are a good place to start, as long as you show that you're trying on your own and not expecting others to do your work.

Downtime at clinicals, too. Ask one of the nurses there if s/he would be willing to talk with you about X or Y subject. It does help if you have specific questions, like "the nursing diagnosis says this, why wouldn't I do that?"

Same with technical skills. Be humble, ask to observe whatever you can.

Read the books. Get a NCLEX review book and use it.

Study groups with classmates.

Finally, keep your chin up and know that you'll get through it.

grneyes908 · Oct 1, 2015

Private university.. Great school but not nursing department. TO them everything is top secret and we are not in the circle to know anything.

grneyes908 · Oct 1, 2015

That is what we are all trying to do now is teach ourselves. We actually have 2 teachers per class on lecture and then a different one for Clinical. And if one tells you something and its on the test.. you just get it wrong since you are not going by what the examiner wanted. For an example, we had check offs recently.. 6 people had the same tester... 3 of got marked off for not checking gait, while the other 3 didn't , and none of the 6 checked gait. 2 got marked off for not asking about any chewing problems or bleeding when assessing digestive , while the others were just allowed to ask if there was any digestive problems and that was all that was said.... all by the same examiner, one right after another ...

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Oct 1, 2015

Any class you take, there is bound to be a professor who doesn't really teach. You just have to make the best of it and push through. Hope it gets better!

grneyes908 · Oct 1, 2015

Any class you take, there is bound to be a professor who doesn't really teach. You just have to make the best of it and push through. Hope it gets better!

oh I agree but 4 of them ( 2 per class) is crazy. I don't pay 4500 per tri mester to watch you tube and get nothing back :) ... We are just cranky at the moment with all this.

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Oct 1, 2015

oh I agree but 4 of them ( 2 per class) is crazy. I don't pay 4500 per tri mester to watch you tube and get nothing back :) ... We are just cranky at the moment with all this.

Think of it this way: because you have to dig for the information yourself, you will know the material that much better than if it was just given to you.

ixchel · Oct 1, 2015

Think of it this way: because you have to dig for the information yourself, you will know the material that much better than if it was just given to you.

That depends. In the very beginning? I disagree. A foundation needs to be there before you build on it. If they're not receiving understandable instruction on stuff like nursing diagnosis and ADPIE, those two basic concepts there are part of everything else they encounter.

I also feel if a student asks for guidance from a professor, the professor should help the student. That doesn't mean spoon feed them answers, but help the student understand how to find those answers, at least. Maybe talk the student through concepts, to help coach the student in thinking it through themselves.

If this were a senior level student, then yes, they should be able to be given an assignment, and expected to find the answers themselves. But in the first trimester, it just isn't reasonable.

Ayvah, RN · Oct 1, 2015

Yes, this sounds much like my school. 400 qualified people applied, 70 were given spots, and 23 ended up graduating. I did it by reading every page, going to every review session/open office sessions, working hard to figure out what was important to the individual teacher, never once letting my guard down(always be early, always do everything as perfectly as possible, and kept my head down and mouth shut), and basically feeling like I was on my own the entire time. I skipped my pinning because I was so angry that they required the teachers to pin you, as I felt they did not deserve to do that. It was a frustrating and stressful few years, that's for sure. Good luck.