Don't nursing school rumors drive you crazy...

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I have to vent about this. It's a big pet peeve of mine. When other student start gossiping about how an instructor tests or how many failed the rotation before?

Personally, when they start to this, I want to cover my ears and scream because all my confidence I built up during my studying does out the window and the test anxiety comes on strong. :angryfire

I can only think of two ways to resolve this a) Stay AWAY from the other students closer to test time or b) bring headphones or earplugs with me until the teacher walks in.

Any insight? Suggestions? Words of experience?

I would be thankful, I think I get more anxious about the gossip and trying to guessimate how I will do by how the previous group did than about the test material itself!

Thanks

Pendragon

Opps, I didn't mean to post twice, feel free to delete.

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

I especially :angryfire when students talk bad about CIs....never fail, the very ones they all "hated" I love :p

You're smart to stay out of it, Pendragon..

Actually, at my school these rumors or (I prefer) warnings have actually saved some people's rear end. We had 14 different clinical instructors at my school and 1 of them can't help but fail at least one person EVERY semester; people who really didn't deserve to fail. No one at my school fails more people per year than her. Some clinical instructors have NEVER failed anyone because they are good instructors who motivate and empower their students.

Concerning tests: The students a year ahead of us were good not to tell us what was on the tests (they use the same ones every year) but they would say "Prof. X loves to test over book material whereas Prof. Y loves to test students over lecture material" or "Prof. Z really wants to weed out students with her tests and ask the stupidest trivial questions" A nurse who had a sister in the program overheard this instructor talking about how she's the one who has to "bring down the hammer and do some weeding because some of these girls aren't cut out for nursing". So it might be good to keep an open ear and steer clear of some trouble. I must say that many many of the "rumors" that went around at my school were very true.

I don't consider them to be rumors, but all of the frantic blathering, last second cramming and worrying that goes on in the classroom before an exam drives me nuts - so on test day I wear head phones in the hall and do not come into the classroom until after the instructor starts to quiet everyone down. Nothing messes up your test mojo more than a bunch of nervous energy.

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Hi, Pendragon!

As a nursing supervisor and manager I've had to deal with the subject of gossip many, many times. It is insidious and ultimately causes a lot of problems. Best to just not repeat the things you have heard. Either don't comment on what is being gossiped on or walk away from the people doing the gossiping, if you can. The fact is that students are never going to know the complete story as to why someone got flunked for clinicals or booted out of a nursing program. You are only going to hear one side of the story--the student side because they blabbed it to anyone who would listen. Also, when students are talking about what an instructor did to them they are always going to try to show themselves in the best possible light--that is human nature. What you don't, and are never going to know, is the instructor's side of the story because they are going to be maintaining the students confidentiality. Yes, there are exceptions to this as I'm sure many posters will like to point out. But, that is not the overall norm. And, gossip, like the old telephone game we all played in grade school, tends to get altered and mutated into something way different than the original story as it gets repeated over and over.

This business of gossip and who to believe and not to believe can be equated to what you are learning in nursing about patient assessment. When you do an assessment of a patient, particularly the Review of Systems, you are getting the patient's "subjective" information. While much of it is probably good information, doctors and nurses also depend a great deal on their own "objective" observations and that is something you shouldn't forget. Remember that in the sciences you want to rely on good empirical knowledge, not on suppositions.

So, the same thing goes for gossip and chit chat. Note it, but confirm it with your own objective observations as well before making a judgment. Remember that we all tend to taint our subjective comments with our own particular prejudices and beliefs. My prejudices and beliefs are probably not going to be the same as yours. You cannot change someone else's behavior with regard to gossiping, but you can control your own actions in regard to it. A word to the wise. . .don't get involved in these gossip mills.

Specializes in OB, ortho/neuro, home care, office.

I am a recent graduate. Here's my thing. I was one of the people that gave 'warnings' to other students. But, the key to each and every warning I got was the fact that I would follow each warning up with 'remember though, you are a different person, and this is a different time. Don't be afraid of the instructor, don't be afraid of the class, no matter what you hear, and believe in yourself and your abilities and you will do fine."

I have over my years warned student about certain teachers 'quirks' such as one instructor who couldn't make it through a class without picking one student to fail'

Another instructor who was very very VERY hard on the students (this was well known, but I usually re-itterate it because it is very true). But the thing about this instructor, if you can get past her harsh exterior, then you will learn more from her than from any instructor in nursing school.

I was on honor counsil so telling what's on tests was of course out of the question, but what I did do was give incoming students, that were interested, my notes from class, I still have them on CD. I gave them these notes to help them study. I have revised the notes to an extreme so that they were consise and ordered to better understand. I had been given permission by the 'honor counsil' queen that it was fine to share these because students share 'notes' all the time.

Anyway - what it boils down to is, let the rumors roll off of you. I had an instructor whom, because of the rumors, I dreaded. This is the woman who pinned me at my graduation. You have to make your own mind up. Take the rumors with a grain of salt and go in with an open mind.

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

Yes, those rumors drive me crazy, also. By the time you have finished pre-reqs at my school you are absolutely convinced that the professors are going to eat you, the Clinical Instructors never pass anybody, the other students are terribly rude, and the schedule is so crazy that nobody ever has time to sleep.

I have found it to be exactly the opposite. The schedule isn't nearly as demanding as the rumors had it, the other students are all really helpful, the Clinical Instructors are great, and the professors are really helpful. Yes, it is hard to pass nursing school, but complaining about it never made it any easier! Also, at our school most of the complainers were the ones who either dropped out or failed out of nursing and went on to other degrees.

Even now that I'm actually taking nursing classes, it's still the same. One of my first days in class another student came who had flunked out the semester before and told our study group a horror story about one of the instructors who teaches both theory and clinical. Now, in my personal opinion she has a personality issue with that instructor, but she is convinced that the instructor is the problem. After it became obvious that she wasn't going to talk about anything else despite our best efforts to change the subject, I left. Mind you, I had sat there listening to her for almost an hour, which time I could have put to much more profitable use. Some of the others from that study group still have a grudge against that instructor!! Which is wrong, because the instructor in question is a great instructor and does everything in his power to help you pass the class. Sorry for the rant, back to the subject at hand!

I just try to ignore all the gossip that goes around. Most of the time the truth is the exact opposite from what the rumor is, or at the very least the rumor is a very one-sided contorted view of the truth. I don't think anybody should ever need to know about my personal problems with some instructor/test/class. Now, if some professor really hates it when you do such and such, or really likes it when you answer essay questions a certain way, I don't mind having that knowledge. But, if in the process of telling me that you feed me a contorted view of the instructor, I don't want to hear about it! Before I actually got done with my pre-reqs and started NS, I just tried to let the stories roll off my back, and take an objective look at the facts for myself. Needless to say, I was very pleasantly surprised to find out the real NS situation!

As far as at exam time, could you try coming in with or after the instructor? My professors are usually at least 15 mins early, especially on exam days, which really cuts down on gossip and chatter the morning of the exam.

You certainly have my full sympathy in this matter! Maybe we should start the Nursing students against gossip club...

Edited to fix spelling errors!

I...what I did do was give incoming students, that were interested, my notes from class, I still have them on CD. I gave them these notes to help them study. I have revised the notes to an extreme so that they were consise and ordered to better understand.

Just wondering... do you mention your CDs (which most of us know you're willing to sell to us) in every post you make?? :)

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, makes me more uncomfortable than the instructors who gossip. I do NOT want to hear how they feel about this student or that student. I really lose respect for those that do this.

And the worst person I ever came across when it came down to passing out bad information about the program was an instructor. This instructor had us all scared to death, told us that a certain HUGE skills test usually left half the class crying and many so upset they wouldn't attend lecture etc... etc... Not true. On the first day this person told us to look around because half of us wouldn't be there at the end. Also not true. The badgering continued in clinical where we were told of all the minor offenses that would have us sent home. We were so stressed and frightened it was unreal. IMO it was a really cruel, unprofessional, and irresponsible thing to do. It took me over half a year before I had this person's tactics figured out.

Even with that said I don't always walk away from gossip because it can impart information. If nothing else you gain great insight into the person who's doing it.

Specializes in Operating Room.

Rumors of this kind can only help you, if you make it that way.

If someone says, "I heard this instructor hates everyone", make it your goal to be the only person the instructor likes.

If someone says, "Half of the class failed this test last semester", make it your goal to be one of the ones that will pass it this semester.

Turn negatives into positives for you. :) Good luck.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

This is why i pretty much stood alone in school. Things were challenging enough, i didn't need the wheels of the rumor mill to aggravate it.

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