How many think that you need to be "PC" in order to get your BSN successfully...

Nurses General Nursing

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I was listening to the O'Reilly Factor radio program last night (or was it the night before last sometimes the days run together) and O'Reilly was complaining about a minority guy in one of his undergrad classes who received an "A" despite only attending two lectures (he said that he attended EVERY lecture and participated but sometimes took issue with the teacher and only got a B- for his efforts). In any case a lady called in who said she was in nursing school in Texas and that people were failed all the time for not having a "PC" (whatever THAT means) perspective. She said this generally occurs during the pass/fail part of clinicals (as opposed to the lecture exams).

Now I don't doubt that this does occur every ONCE in a while. Just as I don't doubt that their are minorities who are STILL blatently discriminated against in corporate America. However, do you really think it is a WIDESPREAD phenominum? In other words if a guy went into a hundred randomly selected nursing programs with the open philosophy of say a Shawn Hannity (but was an average or better student in all respects) in what percentage of BSN programs do you think he might find himself in trouble?

I would say less than five percent.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Well, in my program it isn't called being politically correct, but we do have a couple of check-offs for clinicals each semester that really ARE about being politically correct. You could miss both of those and still pass, but you wouldn't be able to miss anything else--only 2 things can be unsatisfactory. Anyway, I forget exactly what they are called...something about being non-judgemental and...something I can't even remember at all.

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

"she was in nursing school in Texas and that people were failed all the time for not having a "PC" (whatever THAT means) perspective. She said this generally occurs during the pass/fail part of clinicals (as opposed to the lecture exams).

Now I don't doubt that this does occur every ONCE in a while. Just as I don't doubt that their are minorities who are STILL blatently discriminated against in corporate America. "

Either I don't understand what you are saying, or you don't understand what PC means.

It has nothing to do with being a minority or being in corporate America. It has to do with conforming in public word and deed with what is just now a liberal fad to use euphemisms to refer to "sensitive" social issues and categories.

Thus "people of color" instead of saying "Orientals" or "Blacks." "Sexual minorities" instead of "gay" or "lesbian." And a LOT of stuff like that. A bit too precious for my tastes.

Applied to nursing schools, which tend to take any trends to absurd extremes, it amounts to never saying or doing (or, presumably, thinking) anything that might possibly offend the most defensive, paranoid, and/or neurotic person on the planet. It is a good prescription for having and showing no personal character or judgment. WAY too precious and limp for my tastes.

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I'm not sure if I would say you have to be "PC" to obtain your BSN successfully, but as I've told other posters, as with any process, undergrad, grad school and jobs, there is always a "game" to play, and unfortunately, alot of undergrad work is knowing how to "play the game."

My universiy was very PC.....we were the Miami University Redskins....a very proud and distinguished Native American graced our logo........Now thanks to PC, it is Miami University Redhawks......sickening. and we had a student of asian ethnicity recv a prestegious award because of the challanged of mastering the English language and nursing school., she was a B-C student. My friend, non ethnic held a 4.0 through out all of the nursing program and didn't recv any recognition from the nursing program....yeah, l would call that PC...and NOT uncommon......LR

on MANY issues BUT if I were teaching Nancy Polosi, I wouldn't hold it against her grade. If anything, I would show her "academic" favoritism just to counter any perceived negative bias she might be inclined to feel from me, (maybe in the same way that some step parents treat their step children with kid gloves to minimize conflict). I find it hard to believe that educated professionals could be so petty on any kind of wide scale basis.

Heck, I had people who should know tell me that I would be foolish to let instructors in my nursing school know that I had the long term ambition of becoming a CRNA, let alone that I'm a fire breathing conservative. Being somewhat stubborn I made a point of telling the PROGRAM DIRECTOR about the advice I had been receiving. In addition, I told her of the stories presented on this board about discrimination because of sex or belief. She told me that if I had ANY problems what so ever to let her know immediately. Thus far everyone has been wonderful. Of course I have a long way to go so my tune could change.

Interesting post....my class started with thirty.....there were six African Americans to start, two males, one girl on the heavy side and no one else but white, thin, attractive girls. We graduated 17......one boy whose parents were known for donating tons of money to the school, and 16 22-25 year old white, thin, attractive girls. When we went to clinicals all the nurses on the units would say we all look the same.

Its PELOSIl and dont you forget it!!!!!

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Roland, I hear ya. I'm a fire-breathing, gun-totin' conversative - on most issues. I think that sometimes nursing has a way of sounding "liberal" in their caring theories, etc. but they may not truly be so in the sense that we identify "liberal" as.

I went and did my pre-nursing at what I would classify as an extremely liberal-minded school, as did my husband, and we made it through. I really do think it has more to do with playing the game to survive - in effect, learning your instructors and what they want to hear, learning the system, etc. It's sad, but true.

Specializes in Clinical Risk Management.

Susy is right.

I earned a BA from a conservative, mostly white, private "Christian" college in Nashville. Only two folks in the college's adminstration were pains in the tush...though most didn't know how to deal with a student who didn't have the parental units paying for tuition.

My BSN was earned from a predominately-minority, liberal, state university in Nashville. Most of the administration were royal pains in the tush, with a few of the faculty being less than pleasant to work with.

In either place, there was a game to be played. If you wanted your degree, you played the game. It was that simple. There was one difference, though. At my school of nursing, differing points of view were more readily accepted than at the "Christian" college. Interesting, eh? Or could it have been a difference between the 80's & the 90's?

exists both on the left and the right. It's just that in Universities maybe 80% plus of the staff is on the left. Several people have now referred to "playing the game". What does this mean exactly in YOUR mind? Again, if I were an instructor it would be about learning the skills and material. As a teacher I would do my very best to see that EVERYONE passes however, if you didn't learn the material you wouldn't pass. It's that simple and I don't understand what sort of "games" modify that situation. I wouldn't show my own son or daughter favoritism again if anything I would be TOUGHER on them for the same reasons that I would perhaps be nicer to students that I might be inclined not to like. Isn't this the way in which MOST people act?

Personally, I hate being so wary of upsetting people. So much for being PC. Heck sakes, my personal theory of hospital management is so non-PC, it would have been offensive in 1930. But that's another subject.

Liberal or conservative, in any academic pursuit, you have to "play to your audience." It took me a long time to learn that. My first undergraduate experience was at a school that encouraged, promoted, taught radical creativity and originality. When I hit grad school and found "they" weren't interested in how creative and original a thinker I was, I was stunned and angry. I called it intellectual prostitution then, and still do. But that's not a PC term, so let's just call it giving your audience what they want and expect.

I was innocent enough going back for a BSN to think that every time I was given an assignment that started with "apply this to an experience you've had . . ." that was what everyone else was doing. My more savvy classmates did better than I until I figured out they were approaching it as a creative writing exercise, not a non-fiction one.

Is it a game? Sure is. Does it really matter how you learn the material and concepts? Or, is the real issue that you learn the material and concepts? Does it ever stop? Sure wish it would, but it hasn't yet, for me.

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