Finally Made It, However.........

Nursing Students General Students

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This could get long, so please bare with me. I am in my first semester of a five semester ADN program in Houston TX. I have been lurking here at Allnurses for about three years. I have learned so much from all of you about nursing, Thank you! Going part time, often one class at a time, over the past three years, I have taken and completed all of my pre-reqs and academics worked into the program. To my astonishment, after completing Pharm over the summer, I was accepted into a nursing program! I was so excited. I thought back to all the times/posts that I had read when other people were accepted and here I was, I was one of you! It was a great feeling to know that I was one of the many people that are looked at for acceptance. I was in the clouds, just so very proud of myself for reaching this goal! And I still am...

Six weeks into my fundamentals and a week away from clinicals starting and I am so desperatly disgusted with how this program is ran. Everyday is a serious cluster ___deleted______We are constantly bombarded with idea that "Flexability" is the key to nursing but please...isn't there a line. It just seems like my school is so unorganized and I am not sure who knows which way is up. One of the hard parts is having to bear witness to all of it. Yesterday for instance, we had our lab on wound care, first we watch a video, then we are sent down to the lab. We get to the lab and the director of the clinicals is trying to do a demonstration on wound care. At the same time three other instructors are walking in and out of the lab talking and laughing. Keep in mind we have sixty students in our class and we are squeezed into a lab capable of accomodated maybe 25 students. Our uniforms had been delivered and instead of someone taking control and splitting the group up, one group for uniform pick-up and the other for practice skills, our clinical instructor is constantly interrupted by these inconsiderate instructors waltizing in and out of the room. One of these instructors will jump at calling out and kicking anyone out of her class if they walk in five minutes late. In these instances she is more of an interuption than any of the students who quietly walk in. She will literally stop talking and just stare down the student until she loses control and just says "Get Out, I can't handle this" but she is the one walking in and out of clinicals talking and laughing and carrying on. It pisses me off to watch, how disrespectful these instructors can be. After getting our uniforms we were suppose to practice our skills on wound care, the clinical instructor had set up two labs for us to use. She even commented on how hard she had worked for us to get everything together and you could see every bed side table had the proper equipment in place. A friend and I went to the second lab and no instructor was present, so we went out to the hall and what do you know there are three of them standing there and talking, so I went up to them and I said are one of you going to be in the second lab as skills instructors and they ask well who is in the other lab, so i tell her and she says no you all just go to one lab. When we get to the first lab room, you can see the steam rising off the clinical instructors face b/c she had worked so hard to set everything up for us. She just left the room, and she came back....clinical lab was over. This is just one instance of many over the last six weeks and to see how screwed up things are really disappoints me. I worked so hard to get here and I PAID for this education.

My questions to all of you all....... Is this how your nursing program was? Did my school just accept way to many people and they are in over their head? Did the mass evacuation b/c of Rita go to their? (even though I have witnessed this long b/f Rita threatened our coast) Do I have way to high expectations?

I feel completly unprepared for clinicals. We have never had an open lab to practice our skills. Is this normal? I feel like I am about to be thrown to the wolves! Hell, in our skills practice lab we can't even open up a betadine package, just pretend. God forbid we waste their money. I thought I paid a lab fee for some of these things.

Am I being a big baby? I don't have anything to compare this to. Maybe I just need to vent my disappointment. My expectations haven't been met and I am let down. Please don't take this wrong, I still want to be a nurse and I will make it through this program. I just need to adjust my self to the reality of it versus the dream.....

P.S.--sorry for all the spelling errors in advance

0 Votes
Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

No that's not how it should be. I can feel your frustration way over here. This situation seems rude and inappropriate.

We never had skills labs when I went to school. The dinosaurs just wouldn't cooperate. We had humans to learn on.

However, do your compatriots in the classes notice this as much as you do? You've not been in the same bunch 24/7/365. Is this normal for them? I feel an interview 1 on 1 or 50 on 1 with the head of the clinical program may be in order. The clinical instructor may want to be in on it. No griping or accusations, just an explanation that you haven't been able to learn anything in the chaos.

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This could get long, so please bare with me. I am in my first semester of a five semester ADN program in Houston TX. I have been lurking here at Allnurses for about three years. I have learned so much from all of you about nursing, Thank you! Going part time, often one class at a time, over the past three years, I have taken and completed all of my pre-reqs and academics worked into the program. To my astonishment, after completing Pharm over the summer, I was accepted into a nursing program! I was so excited. I thought back to all the times/posts that I had read when other people were accepted and here I was, I was one of you! It was a great feeling to know that I was one of the many people that are looked at for acceptance. I was in the clouds, just so very proud of myself for reaching this goal! And I still am...

Six weeks into my fundamentals and a week away from clinicals starting and I am so desperatly disgusted with how this program is ran. Everyday is a serious cluster ___deleted______We are constantly bombarded with idea that "Flexability" is the key to nursing but please...isn't there a line. It just seems like my school is so unorganized and I am not sure who knows which way is up. One of the hard parts is having to bear witness to all of it. Yesterday for instance, we had our lab on wound care, first we watch a video, then we are sent down to the lab. We get to the lab and the director of the clinicals is trying to do a demonstration on wound care. At the same time three other instructors are walking in and out of the lab talking and laughing. Keep in mind we have sixty students in our class and we are squeezed into a lab capable of accomodated maybe 25 students. Our uniforms had been delivered and instead of someone taking control and splitting the group up, one group for uniform pick-up and the other for practice skills, our clinical instructor is constantly interrupted by these inconsiderate instructors waltizing in and out of the room. One of these instructors will jump at calling out and kicking anyone out of her class if they walk in five minutes late. In these instances she is more of an interuption than any of the students who quietly walk in. She will literally stop talking and just stare down the student until she loses control and just says "Get Out, I can't handle this" but she is the one walking in and out of clinicals talking and laughing and carrying on. It pisses me off to watch, how disrespectful these instructors can be. After getting our uniforms we were suppose to practice our skills on wound care, the clinical instructor had set up two labs for us to use. She even commented on how hard she had worked for us to get everything together and you could see every bed side table had the proper equipment in place. A friend and I went to the second lab and no instructor was present, so we went out to the hall and what do you know there are three of them standing there and talking, so I went up to them and I said are one of you going to be in the second lab as skills instructors and they ask well who is in the other lab, so i tell her and she says no you all just go to one lab. When we get to the first lab room, you can see the steam rising off the clinical instructors face b/c she had worked so hard to set everything up for us. She just left the room, and she came back....clinical lab was over. This is just one instance of many over the last six weeks and to see how screwed up things are really disappoints me. I worked so hard to get here and I PAID for this education.

My questions to all of you all....... Is this how your nursing program was? Did my school just accept way to many people and they are in over their head? Did the mass evacuation b/c of Rita go to their? (even though I have witnessed this long b/f Rita threatened our coast) Do I have way to high expectations?

I feel completly unprepared for clinicals. We have never had an open lab to practice our skills. Is this normal? I feel like I am about to be thrown to the wolves! Hell, in our skills practice lab we can't even open up a betadine package, just pretend. God forbid we waste their money. I thought I paid a lab fee for some of these things.

Am I being a big baby? I don't have anything to compare this to. Maybe I just need to vent my disappointment. My expectations haven't been met and I am let down. Please don't take this wrong, I still want to be a nurse and I will make it through this program. I just need to adjust my self to the reality of it versus the dream.....

P.S.--sorry for all the spelling errors in advance

I totally understand where you are coming from. I am also in Hou,Tx in my first semester in nursing program, and I honestly dont feel I have learned much except "a nurse needs to be flexible"line. I am a CNA and have worked in a hospital for 3 yrs, I know how to preform those skills competently, but as for as the skills only nurses can preform I am extremely nervous. So you are not alone.

0 Votes
Specializes in Rural Health.

As frustrating as it seems and as disorganized as it seems....it's probably not going to change. Nursing is a flexible and changing world. Part of NS is learning to adapting to those changes and being flexible. I don't necessarly agree with how your school incoperates that thinking into the program though, so don't get me wrong....I don't think your school is right for doing what they are doing - there is a line between flexibilty and total disorganization. However, complaining about how a program is being ran and complaining to the powers that be, at least where I go to school, does nothing for your future in NS and in fact, makes your time spent in NS miserable. The powers that be in most NS programs stick together and you really don't want to burn bridges, especially early on in a program. At least that is the case where I go to school. I've seen those poor souls who actually thought they could do good by trying to get something changed in our program....it isn't pretty.

I know this may sound like a very frustrating piece of advice, but adapt and overcome. Also, don't be so quick to assume that the "all mighty powers of the school" aren't aware of the problems in your department. Time will tell.

In the mean time, don't worry about clinicals and being thrown into the wolves. We had no lab time and we all did just fine in clinicals and I'm sure you'll be just fine.

Good luck to you!!!!

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Flexability DOES NOT equal disorganization. The more organized you are the better you are able to adapt when you are caught in a crisis. You may not know what is coming, but at least you are organized enough to find what you need to get through. Learning to think on the fly requires critical thinking skills along with grace and finesse.

Sounds like these instructors need a lesson in manners.

MANY nursing students all over the country are faced with the same problem. Thank heaven for the good nursing instructors who make it all bearable... And thank GOD you only have to put up with this unorganized mess for a few semesters.

When we do get out of nursing school, we should never forget our experiences. Maybe that will encourage more of us to go into education and assure the quality of and organized program.

0 Votes
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Yep, I can echo your frustrations. We complained and complained among each other and formally to the staff (through our class representative) throughout our first semester. I have to say they did listen to us, made a serious effort to improve and did a decent job of turning things around. Things ran much better after that. I understand your frustration and complaints. Has the school instigated a forum that allows for student feedback and the airing of concerns? If so, this is the way your class should handle the situation. AND you should practice their flexibility mantra until you can literally be blown over in the wind because you're still gonna need it. In the end all you can really do is cooperate and graduate.

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Thank you for everyones input!!!!! Remarkably I felt better just getting it off my chest. The last couple of days have been better. Today in lab we actually had adequate space and time to practice medication administration. We do have one really great instructor that loves to teach and that is great. I think some of the instructors have lost their way and forgot why they began teaching in the first place. Sometimes it seems as though the only thing they have in their head is "Ok, we have to teach this skill so do something", and then they can say,"yes, they have been taught that skill." It takes a little more effort than that. We are Fundamental students all of this is new to us and we need clear, consice instruction on how things are done and what is expected of us. A lot of us have the feelings of, "You expect us to do this to a real person?" I know that a lot of first semester students must feel this way. But I have to say how wonderful it is to have this forum to interact with my peers. Thank You!!!!!! :)

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