Frustrated with NS

[Chloexo]

I need some advice / feedback from my fellow students...

I'm in my first semester of nursing school. Although I am still glad that I am pursuing a BSN I'm incredibly disappointed with the curriculum and program. Class time has turned out to be a total joke, with professors simply reading off of powerpoint slides and then letting us out early- I learn absolutely nothing. The administration his implimented ATI testing every semester, and in studying for my ATI exams I've become more and more frustrated and angry about all of the stuff that I could be learning! I know that a lot of the material is self-taught- I'm fine with that, I was prepared to work my butt of this semester. But this is just ridiculous... It's hard enough as it is to manage work, self, and school without having to teach myself how to learn everything I should be!

Has anyone else felt this way? And how have your feelings changed as you've advancing through to later semesters? I'm hoping that this will all start to fall into place for me, but right now I just feel lost and like I'm not learning!

[kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN]

I have some teachers that read to me too. There seems to be one each semester.

[matilda123]

This first semester has so much info thrown at you so fast that it can be overwhelming. Reading and memorizing are hard to teach, but important, because everything builds off of this semester. I have no problem with power points, they give the info in an abbridged way to study from after I read the chapters. The ATI book is also a great notes place to study from. Yes it is frustrating and involves alot of self learning, but, it is worth it all to be a nurse.

[Music in My Heart]

I have had a similar experience regarding the need to teach myself. I don't have a problem with it because that's how I tend to approach all classes.

I've been fortunate to have a good clinical site... good instructor and fabulous staff nurses.

[intuition]

I have experienced this throughout most of my schooling, and I will be in my final semester in May. This is fine, due to me being a visual learner and I learn much better by myself. I do say that theory gets very boring listening to exactly what your reading. As long as you keep up on the readings and your ATI studies you should be okay.

[Skeletor]

Class time has turned out to be a total joke, with professors simply reading off of powerpoint slides and then letting us out early- I learn absolutely nothing.

Prepare to engage your instructors each lecture as your critical thinking ability increases as time moves forward.

As you progress in your coursework, you shall notice a change in how you feel, as this will reflect upon how you've adapted to the style of teaching/learning that is such in nursing school.

Good luck in your academic endeavors.

[motivated2nurse]

I too had this experience, however, I had to learn to do my readings before the lectures and ask questions accordingly. My learning was basically self taught. Stay focused on the goal and dont worry about how the instructors is presenting the material. You'll be fine. It's just in your hands to gain your knowledge.

[Chloexo]

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. I think this will help me to look at it differently. I'm fully prepared to come to class having read and studied all of the material for the day, I just got frustrated when my professors weren't bringing the same level of commitment. As the reality shock wears off, I'll develop my own study plan. (Also, the clinical days are where I learn the most!)

Thanks again! I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about the rest of my schooling.