Personal Feelings.......

[HPlayBoyU]

Hello 2 All.......I'm a student nurse, a junior.......yes, I year left........1st off, I love this Discussion Board.......it is so helpful........anyway.......Do any other SN feel that they aren't learning the way the are suppose to in order to become a successful nurse?...........I just feel like I'm not learning enough.........Aside from clinicals........the classroom lectures really are not helpful.........Does anyone have any suggestions of what I could be for myself to prepare for my career?......alot of my classmates feel the same way.........we've tal;ked of how we feel we're going to be "dumb" nurse.......knowledge-wise.......when we get to clinical it all seems to click.......but in the classroom......it isn't there.........I just wanted to express my feelings about my nursing school.........Thanx........"Future CRNA".........

[MollyJ]

I went to school over 20 years ago and completed a BSN and MSN after that and I cannot completely empathize with what you are saying.

You said that you don't feel like you are learning enough. I remember that part. But then you said that the lectures aren't helpful. While not all of the lectures and lecturers in my school were solid gold, what I remember is thinking, "How will I ever remember all this and be able to call it up when I need it?" So I would not have said that the lectures were not helpful. I would have said they were over whelming. Is this what you mean?

Or do you mean that your lectures are irrelevant?

If your situation is the former, here are my thoughts. Learn as well as you can. Notice the bridging of information from lecture to clinical. It helps you notice what facts are frequent, reoccuring and common and helps reinforce critical concepts. Do not expect to "know it all" instantly. Nursing is complex and the body of knowledge that you must master is larger and more complex than what I had to master 20 years ago. Build your knowledge and skills daily, even when you've been in it 20 years. Keep learning.

If your feelings are the latter, that lectures are irrelevant, this is more complex. It could be that they ARE irrelevant OR that you don't yet see their relevance. As a learner, I have had both experiences.

I am a diploma graduate who completed a BSN later and I have often thought that the entry level BSN student has quite a challenge to master both clinical nursing knowledge and information about nursing theory and research at the same time. ALL of those subject areas are BIG to get your mind around. I would never tell you to quite questioning (relevance, your teacher's knowledge, suppositions or anything) BUT I want you to open your mind to the possibility that what you are learning may have relevance for you in the future, even though you cannot now see it.

I would suggest to you that you entertain having faith in your instructors. Not blind faith, but faith. Some teachers didn't have credibility with me and I didn't trust them. But for the most part, trust your instructor. And when they seem to be off on some irrelevant tangent, try relaxing into your uncertainty and accepting that you may some time see the relevance of the information you are getting.

Often, I would have the flight response to knowledge when it was difficult OR challenging to my previously held beliefs. My reflex would be to denigrate the need for that knowledge. Push through it. You may be surprised where the effort takes you in the future.