i'm in my 4th yr of bs nursing & i will be graduating this may 2006 (woohoo!) now my thread is: i have this classmate who has been passing our nursing subjects not with high grades but not so low grades either. and several instances during our clinicals, she would be asking me or some other groupmate some questions such as: (remember she is a graduating nursing student)
a. what is a diuretic?
b. what does dyspneic/tachypneic mean?
and many instances, she has been really incompetent and uncomprehensible when giving rationales or explanations on different diseases/cases. she doesn't even know what the normal range for fasting blood sugar is!:uhoh21:
i know she shouldn't be allowed to graduate and i, for a fact, would not want to be hospitalized and be under her care (i think i will die!)...
should she be allowed to graduate? should we (me and my other groupmates) bring this up with our level head or dean or someone concerned? i mean, poor girl she's worked so hard. but goodness, poor patients if she will pass the boards eventually (she loves memorizing, w/o understanding anything!). :uhoh21:
The NCLEX is there to test someone's competency, not us. Maybe she doesnt have that much time to study so she is doing what she needs to to pass right now. Maybe she will learn best buy hands on. Its not our place to judge anyone. As a nursing student, i know things are very difficult. Some nurses that passed with C's are the best nurses. With nursing you can never stop learning. Let her choose her own destiny.
i'm in my 4th yr of bs nursing & i will be graduating this may 2006 (woohoo!) now my thread is: i have this classmate who has been passing our nursing subjects not with high grades but not so low grades either. and several instances during our clinicals, she would be asking me or some other groupmate some questions such as: (remember she is a graduating nursing student)
a. what is a diuretic?
b. what does dyspneic/tachypneic mean?
and many instances, she has been really incompetent and uncomprehensible when giving rationales or explanations on different diseases/cases. she doesn't even know what the normal range for fasting blood sugar is!:uhoh21:
i know she shouldn't be allowed to graduate and i, for a fact, would not want to be hospitalized and be under her care (i think i will die!)...
should she be allowed to graduate? should we (me and my other groupmates) bring this up with our level head or dean or someone concerned? i mean, poor girl she's worked so hard. but goodness, poor patients if she will pass the boards eventually (she loves memorizing, w/o understanding anything!). :uhoh21:
It could be that she is just nursing. Although a BSN is a 4 year degree, you dont start nursing until your jr yr. So this would make it her 2nd year. Nursing is a lot to absorb and if it takes her a little longer to abosrb thats fine. Its good that she isnt afraid to ask questions when she doesnt know something. If she is making it through the class then she must be doing what the school requires.
well, we do have validating/qualifying exams at the end of each schoolyear, but somehow, she passes the exams and the required grade. i have not idea how she does it though... the thing is with her, she doesn't seem to realize that she's not cut out for nursing... you should hear her give patient education, it's like she's reading out of a book or a bible!
I have heard that about Bachelor's degree graduates also. I think its because they do alot non-nursing classes. I am in a two yr program and when i talk to some people with 4yr degree, they havent some of the stuff that i am doing.
Who are we to decide who is cut out for nursing, and who is not? That's why we have licensing examination - to make sure all candidates are safe and educated practitioners. By the way, I've heard a lot of times - to not offend anyone - that Bachelor's degree graduates are book smart, but not able to put all their knowledge together and apply it in real world.
To ever effect another students perfomance, success or failure.
I am a straight "A" student and sometimes, due to sensory overload, I have a hard time remembering things that I should know. My wife is a nurses for 25 years and she will be the first to tell you that since everything and everybody is so specialized today, you can not take a nurse with many years of experience and move them from Peds to Oncology. Why not??? Because they just don;t remember the critical information.
Now with all that said, while in school this should all be right there for us to grasp...there are at times so much information is being absorbed that the old stuff is difficlut to get out. Trust me, or ask your profesors...I beleive this is normal to a centain extent.
Just another opinion. Perhaps she isn't quite as bad as you think. And maybe she is...let someone else more qualified decide.
Now...does anyone know what an Obligant Nasal Breather is???
dave :)
I think a young infant does this....something about gas exchange when they suck a bottle.... Later could be an obstruction???
To ever effect another students perfomance, success or failure.
I am a straight "A" student and sometimes, due to sensory overload, I have a hard time remembering things that I should know. My wife is a nurses for 25 years and she will be the first to tell you that since everything and everybody is so specialized today, you can not take a nurse with many years of experience and move them from Peds to Oncology. Why not??? Because they just don;t remember the critical information.
Now with all that said, while in school this should all be right there for us to grasp...there are at times so much information is being absorbed that the old stuff is difficlut to get out. Trust me, or ask your profesors...I beleive this is normal to a centain extent.
Just another opinion. Perhaps she isn't quite as bad as you think. And maybe she is...let someone else more qualified decide.
Now...does anyone know what an Obligant Nasal Breather is???
dave :)
I totally agree! She could have been nervous and out of nervousness drew a blank and couldn't remember something. You never know. If she passes the NCLEX then she's capable. Let her have the opportunity to prove herself like everyone else. Don't try to make waves for her when you don't know what's all in her head. You just have a perception of her capability or lack there of. You don't know it for a fact. IMHO, if she hasn't done any harm to anyone and you are just going off of what you "think you know" then you should let it be. Remember there are two sides to every story....
As nursing student we are required to remember tons of material and values. I am a very good student and excell in clinical, but there are times I get confused on my lab values or other material we may have covered on lecture. That does not mean I should not be a nurse. I recognize my weaknesses and work on them. Does this student recognize her weaknesses? As nurses we should be working together. If you see a fellow student who needs help, why not try helping instead of criticizing? You are not yet a nurse and already you are behaving like some of the unsupportive nurses we talk about who don't help. We as nurses need to stick together to ensure the client get the best nusing care as possible.
I think she will cut her feet at the knee around NCLEX time. Just concentrate on your studies and try not to worry about her although it is distracting.
"Obligated nasal breather" is about infants. They not able to breathe through their mouth. So if their nose stuffed, it's very hard for them to suck and they begin to lose weight. Also there are safety concerns - if their nose covered during sleep ro feedings etc.
To ever effect another students perfomance, success or failure.
I am a straight "A" student and sometimes, due to sensory overload, I have a hard time remembering things that I should know. My wife is a nurses for 25 years and she will be the first to tell you that since everything and everybody is so specialized today, you can not take a nurse with many years of experience and move them from Peds to Oncology. Why not??? Because they just don;t remember the critical information.
Now with all that said, while in school this should all be right there for us to grasp...there are at times so much information is being absorbed that the old stuff is difficlut to get out. Trust me, or ask your profesors...I beleive this is normal to a centain extent.
Just another opinion. Perhaps she isn't quite as bad as you think. And maybe she is...let someone else more qualified decide.
Now...does anyone know what an Obligant Nasal Breather is???
thanks for all your replies... and you are right, it's not really my business, although at the same time, i feel it is bec i have been with her for almost two years and she still doesn't get most points. it's not bec she blanks out--it's bec she has poor comprehension i think. there'd be times when i have to explain something to her 3x when she asks me something.
i just feel sorry for her bec she really works hard. as for our instructors, there have been some who have noticed her lack of aptitude. i just hope that they can do something about her very soon...
one time she asked how to apply a hot compress--"do i do it for 12 hours?" so i said what was the compress for; usually for a sprain, cold compress is applied inthe 1st 24hrs then hot compress thereafter. and she said, "for 12 hrs?" no, no, no, i repeated the whole spiel again, and she kept on saying "for 12 hrs?" aaaahhh!!!
This is totally off topic: i know of someone who passed the english exams and he totally cannot speak english: do you even understand this:
"don't small me, i'm not small"
"keep your work" (told to a student who scored well in her exam)
Maybe she just needs to write things down on a little spiral. She may end up being a great nurse, but she may have to have a PDA to check normal values, etc.
I think if she has made it thus far bookwise, and her instructors haven't reprimanded her clinical actions, then she probably isn't as bad as you think. If she is, maybe the instructors will counselor her 1 on 1.
Some people are just afraid to jump out there on their own. I know for myself, I'll be keeping a little notepad with me at all times to have normal values, tips and tricks written down.
Yes she should know these things already, but at least she isn't afraid to ask questions. I'd be more afraid of someone who thinks they know everything & doesn't ask questions, than someone that asks too many questions.
Good luck to you having to put up with her until you graduate. lol
Congrats, and good luck with your future career as well! :)
It might be a good Idea for you to pull her aside and calmly tell her why you feel she must start pulling her own weight. Techincally, since you say in your posts that you hsve been explaining things to her over and over, you have become her enabler. Others in the class may be doing the same thing.
Explain to her how important it is to you that you pass and that she get it. Tell her you can no longer spend so much time explaining things to her. Be kind, but you and your classmates must stop "feeding the monster".
That may inprove the situation. She will be forced to stand on her own.
.thumb.gif.55aeaafdb61768ab641b1fab52f42961.gif){kind=avatar}
SerenityR.N., BSN, RN
140 Posts
The NCLEX is there to test someone's competency, not us. Maybe she doesnt have that much time to study so she is doing what she needs to to pass right now. Maybe she will learn best buy hands on. Its not our place to judge anyone. As a nursing student, i know things are very difficult. Some nurses that passed with C's are the best nurses. With nursing you can never stop learning. Let her choose her own destiny.