Unprofessional Students

Nursing Students General Students

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I am currently taking pathophysiology and in an associates nursing program, I have a year left.

Last week, in class (which is a computer classroom so there's a computer in front of everyone) during lecture, I was scrolling through the powerpoints and looking up things pertaining to lecture. I also sent an email to a professor. While the class took a 5 minute break, a girl that sits a seat away from me (with no one in between us) rudely snapped at me "Can you NOT click and type through the whole class??!" I replied "I didn't know it wasn't allowed." I was taken aback because I thought I was typing quietly and also, I was doing school stuff, not chatting on FB.

Anyways...flash forward to this week and I am carefully, quietly scrolling thru the powerpoint/clicking. There is a girl next to the girl that doesn't like the clicking and she is also typing/clicking on stuff. I can tell the annoyed girl is getting really irritated by us because she keeps sighing loudly.

She then starts flipping through pages SUPER loudly and then starts slamming her books and notebooks closed and tossing them on her desk loudly. Every time she takes a sip of her energy drink she slams the can down. I texted my friend that sits on the other side of the class if she could hear it and she said she could.

The entire situation was so uncomfortable and it's not okay that she does things like this, regardless of if she's annoyed. I really hope she doesn't do this in other classes. I wanted to get opinions on whether or not I should email the director of the nursing program about this?

I agree with what everyone said - Definitely DO NOT contact the director!! - follow the chain of command.

Talk to the student first. Maybe you guys can work it out. Typing and clicking in class can be annoying and distracting. You might think you're being quiet but put together with everyone else typing and clicking, it might seem pretty loud for someone who gets distracted by that. Maybe you can work it out where you print out the pages you need and only type when you are going to type notes - that way it decreases the amount of typing and clicking but still allows you to do your notes the way you like. Just one option - You are both adults. You can sit together and talk about the issue like adults and come to a compromise that will work for the both of you. That or just ignore her.

I had plenty of people that were rude during nursing school. I just ignored them.

Absolutely do NOT email the director. One thing you are going to need to learn is chain of command. The first chain is to discuss an issue with the person (if it is possible). If that fails, you go to the next person in the chain, in your case, your instructor (and quite frankly, for something like this, I wouldn't even go that far). In this situation, you discuss it with the student in question or you just ignore it and move to a different location.

When you are working as a nurse, you might run into an issue that you have to follow the chain of command. Going directly to the director of nursing is a good way to find a target on your back. This is a lesson best learned in nursing school. And, going directly to the director is also a good way to get a target on your back. Always try to start with the source of the issue, then start up the chain.

The instructor of the course is the director of the program

Also: You're texting a friend on the other side of the room during this? Who exactly is being annoying and should be reported to the director of the program?

The girl next to me was texting occasionally too. In fact, everyone texts occasionally during class. Since you are older I'm sure you didn't experience this back then, but that's how it is a lot of the time nowadays. And I have taken classes various places throughout the country and experienced this a lot.

Uh, no. 50 Shades of Gray no!

Talk to the classmate before or after class. If that doesn't work then talk to the instructor with said irritated classmate. Heard of the chain of command? Start using it.

The instructor of the class is the director of nursing, sorry I failed to mention that in my original post

keep typing your notes and ignore her. don't change your seat. If she's irritated with someone typing in class its her problem. You are allowed to take notes as you see fit. She sounds childish and don't pay it any attention. If she says anything else to you about it tell her to grow up. There is no reason to contact the authorities because you all are adults. she has no choice but to get over it.

Thank you for your useful response! I have chosen not to pay attention to her and pretend like I don't hear anything when she's slamming stuff down. I'm sure she loves it haha!

Chain of command. Speak to the student first, then ignore her passive aggressive actions. If you are allowed to use laptops, then she needs to get over it and move seats. Simple.

And on another note, do you like wasting your tuition money? Put your phone away and pay attention. No phones in class, remember?

We have assigned seats. I can multi-task ;) And it's hard to pay attention to class when feeling uncomfortable. I try not to use my phone much. Everyone I know occasionally texts during class, not saying it's ok but that's how it is in 2017 I suppose!

I agree with what everyone said - Definitely DO NOT contact the director!! - follow the chain of command.

Talk to the student first. Maybe you guys can work it out. Typing and clicking in class can be annoying and distracting. You might think you're being quiet but put together with everyone else typing and clicking, it might seem pretty loud for someone who gets distracted by that. Maybe you can work it out where you print out the pages you need and only type when you are going to type notes - that way it decreases the amount of typing and clicking but still allows you to do your notes the way you like. Just one option - You are both adults. You can sit together and talk about the issue like adults and come to a compromise that will work for the both of you. That or just ignore her.

I had plenty of people that were rude during nursing school. I just ignored them.

Thank you for the constructive and kind post! I agree. I have chosen to ignore her. It's sad that there are so many rude people in nursing when it's a profession that involves a great deal of kindness and compassion.

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
The girl next to me was texting occasionally too. In fact, everyone texts occasionally during class. Since you are older I'm sure you didn't experience this back then, but that's how it is a lot of the time nowadays. And I have taken classes various places throughout the country and experienced this a lot.

Your subtle dig at my age notwithstanding- I am well aware of 'how it is a lot of the time nowadays'. That does not excuse that it is rude, disrespectful to the instructor and demonstrates how YOU are being unprofessional as well. Just because it is common does not make it right.

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
The instructor of the class is the director of nursing, sorry I failed to mention that in my original post

Why wouldn't you say you want to email the instructor of your class instead of the director of your nursing program?

Why won't you follow the chain of command & try to talk to your classmate? So are you just going to ignore a coworker when you have issues with them? Way to be passive aggressive.

You have no justifications to text during class. Heck, I'm amazed your instructor lets you have computers during class! MMJ, explained how texting is rude & distrespectful to the instructor. It is also distracting to other classmates.

NO - do not email the director or anyone for that matter. Deal with this yourself. This is about as basic an issue as possible!

I would either ignore this student or speak directly to her. Personally I would say something, but that's me. Way too much passive aggression in the world, I go the other way and am really direct.

"I see my typing is bothering you, but since we have to type to take notes, there's not much I can do about it. I will try and be as quiet as possible, but if it continues to upset you I suggest you speak with the teacher and have your seat moved. Cheers!"

As for texting - lord have mercy if I am ever a lecturer. Cell phones will be banned. Day one of my daughter's University class, the lecturer grabbed a cell phone off a student (400+ class size, so a big audience!) and smashed it on the ground. I personally think it was a pre-planned set-up with an old phone, but still....no-one was willing to take the risk and as you might imagine....no more sneaky texts mid-lecture.

The girl next to me was texting occasionally too. In fact, everyone texts occasionally during class. Since you are older I'm sure you didn't experience this back then, but that's how it is a lot of the time nowadays. And I have taken classes various places throughout the country and experienced this a lot.

That doesn't make it any less rude. Not to mention disrespectful to the instructor.

Specializes in ED, psych.
The girl next to me was texting occasionally too. In fact, everyone texts occasionally during class. Since you are older I'm sure you didn't experience this back then, but that's how it is a lot of the time nowadays. And I have taken classes various places throughout the country and experienced this a lot.

I was a second degree student. College in 1994: Smoke signals then were rude and unprofessional. College in 2016: Texting during class were rude and unprofessional.

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