Hey Professors, tell us how it REALLY is!

RNfromMN, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2007

What a cool idea...I would love to read the responses. Maybe this should be posted in the Nurse Educator's Forum?

Cattitude · Apr 18, 2007

What a cool idea...I would love to read the responses. Maybe this should be posted in the Nurse Educator's Forum?

Oh sure, if you want to kill the thread.

I posted it here because a lot more people will see it. If it's posted there, the probability is that mainly educators will see it. I want everyone to benefit INCLUDING students and prospective students. The student stories are allowed to stay here, right? I think it's important to show both sides of an issue.

Heck it may even give insight into how we view each other in general.

jojotoo, RN · Apr 18, 2007

Great idea!

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 18, 2007

As a clinical instructor I think my biggest pet peeve is people who no show for clinical "because I have a family". I suppose that means only widows and orphans should enroll in nursing school. Another irritant is lazy students (can't find them on the floor, talk a lot but never have time to get things done, "forget" to bring assignments, do their task half-way ----). These are generally the students who whine about having too much to do and can the deadlines be moved and why did I get a bad grade if I was there every day. All told, the lack of responsibility and accountability is the basis for what irritates me. I try to make the experience meaningful but have noticed that these same students, if they manage to graduate, return to my facility complaining about how hard nursing is------. Yikes.

justme1972 · Apr 18, 2007

I Loooooooooooooooove The Idea Of This Thread!

labcat01, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2007

Me too! I can't wait to hear more :)

RJ---RN · Apr 19, 2007

Okay, you asked for it. This did not happen in my class, but a fellow professor gave a writing assignment, and about 10 of the students actually xeroxed the same document and had the nerve to turn it in. Boy, did not even take the time to at least put in in their own words!XEROXED!!!! Can you believe it???:angryfire

I had informed my class that finals were mandatory, no make-up exams would be given except for a compelling reason - like hospitalization. I had a student ask me if being in jail would count as a compelling reason. Guess what......he did not show up for class on finals day. I got a call from the policeman at the jail asking me on his behalf if he could make up the final. YIKES.:trout:

I think the most complex/compelling situation I had was a student with multiple personality. I would love to tell you this story, but the professional in me says I really can't tell you .because of breech of confidentiality. Bottom line....with much couseling she graduated with honors, is now totally integrated and working as a healthy nurse.!!!!!!!!!

I love all my students. I love to see them grow academically and professionally. Sure, it's challenging, and "different" being on this side of the desk.

Students really want to be good nurses, they work hard, sure, they grumble.....we all do!

I tell my students.....hey, I passed my boards....YOU have to do that now. I can give you the information, but it is up to YOU to learn it.

If I think of more, I will write again!

zenman · Apr 19, 2007

When I was teaching, I had this girl show up for pre-counseling or whatever...can't remember the official name... and she sits right there in my office and goes, "now what do nurses do?" I almost said, "why don't you go back to your job at the hair salon till you figure out what you want to do?"

And one girl shows up with an ACT of 9. At that time, I thought, "well, I guess the university really did need to have remedial courses after all!"

When the local GM plant had a layoff, they provided training $$$ for the ones laid off. Many jumped right into the ADN program after reading the want-Ads for nurses. I'm sure many did ok; it just kind of rankled me that it was just a job for some.

And when a stunningly beautiful redhead told me she couldn't decide between nursing and public relations...I put her on the right path, lol!

And yes, many students didn't think I was smart enough to catch the plagerism!

luvmy3kids · Apr 19, 2007

When I was teaching, I had this girl show up for pre-counseling or whatever...can't remember the official name... and she sits right there in my office and goes, "now what do nurses do?" I almost said, "why don't you go back to your job at the hair salon till you figure out what you want to do?"
And one girl shows up with an ACT of 9. At that time, I thought, "well, I guess the university really did need to have remedial courses after all!"
When the local GM plant had a layoff, they provided training $$$ for the ones laid off. Many jumped right into the ADN program after reading the want-Ads for nurses. I'm sure many did ok; it just kind of rankled me that it was just a job for some.
And when a stunningly beautiful redhead told me she couldn't decide between nursing and public relations...I put her on the right path, lol!
And yes, many students didn't think I was smart enough to catch the plagerism!

I don't see how this post is helpful at all.

llg, PhD, RN · Apr 19, 2007

I don't see how this post is helpful at all.

I didn't know every post had to be helpful to you, personally. I thought the question was for faculty to tell "how it really is." If that's the way it really is for zenman, then that's good enough.

I had a student (junior year in a BSN program) tell me she had no idea of how to use a library because she had never used one before. The nursing library was in the same building as the School of Nursing and had a big sign outside stating when they offered their regular tours and library orientation sessions. I told her to take one of the tours and ask the library staff show her how to use the facility.

I've had several RN-BSN students who seemed not to notice that they received failing grades on most of their assignments. They never responded to my e-mails offering to help them or to the announcements made in lecture that help was available. Then at the end of the semester, when they received a failing grade for the course (surprise!), they said, "I deserve to pass because I am a good nurse." They failed.

One student (in the same class as the one mentioned in the preceding paragraph) openly told me that he planned on making no attempt to meet the course requirements because he was taking this course and the whole BSN completion program just to "get his ticket punched" for promotion. He didn't plan on actually doing any work or learning anything. I told him I wouldn't punch his ticket unless he did the work and showed me that he had learned something. This story has a happy ending in that he heeded my advice/warning, got an A in the course, and admitted that I actually did teach a few things of value. He was one of my favorite students in the class because of his off-beat way of looking at things. I enjoyed teaching him -- and he enjoyed trying to push my buttons. We both had a little fun with it.

I had a classmate once in graduate school (PhD program) who told me that she never wrote her own papers in her previous programs. She always paid someone to do it for her. She had come to me for help in learning how to write a paper and prepare for her preliminary exams. She got mad at me (and called me a racist) when I made her do most of the work herself: she actually expected me to simply tell her what to write!

When I was working as a CNS in a hospital, I had a student call me and ask for copies of articles for a paper she was writing, saying that she "couldn't find anything on her topic." Her topic was a major disease about which there have been many things written. So, I asked her where she had looked. She tried online. I went to her school's library online site and quickly pulled up 35 articles in common nursing journals that should be readily available. When she arrived in my office, I asked her exactly where online she had looked. She said she never used the school's library and had just looked in the consumer literature. I quickly demonstrated how easy it was to use her school's website and pulled up the 35 references. I printed out the list and told her to go to the library and make copies of whatever articles she thought would be most helpful. Imagine that ... she thought my job as a CNS was to do her literature search for her!

I could go on and on ...

Fortunately, I have also met many wonderful students along the way -- students who take responsibility for their own learning and who will make terrific nurses in what I hope will be long and satisfying careers. Those students make it all worthwhile.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Apr 19, 2007

I'm not a prof, but a 45 year old person going into nursing as a second career. It's been "interesting", to say the least, to see how my fellow students behave in class.

I had an A&P prof who announced at the start of the quarter that he would give some pop quizzes throughout the quarter for extra credit. These quizzes would be given in the first few minutes of class. It wasn't for a huge amount of points - maybe enough for 3-5% of the course total. But it would be enough to help a student on the borderline. It AMAZED me to see these "space cadets" wandering into class 10-15 minutes late, missing out on these "free" points.

Then there's the apparent need to be texting your friends while walking down the hall, eating your lunch, attending lectures,...

Then again, I look back on how I was in my first undergrad period at college (1979-1983). I'd regularly skip classes, and was only looking to pass, not excel. After a couple decades of life/work experience, that attitude has changed more than a wee bit.