How does nursing school differ from the real world of nursing?

[whiteoleander5]

Hello, I am in my first semester of an ADN program. I've heard my professors say this so many times... They are getting us ready for long haul but in "reality" we won't use all the information we are recieving. How is this true? How did what you learn in nursing school differ from your nursing job in a hospital? What information/skills/anything from school was irrelevant once you became a nurse?

Just curious, thanks...

[Woodenpug, BSN]

oops, someday I could want a position at a nursing school. Sorry, i ment to say I really valued my education and learned a lots o stuff.

[laketrash]

There is a lot of useless junk we had to learn that I nor any of the nurses I've worked with have ever had to use. Example; identifying the bones, ridges inside the skull. I think it would have been a lot better for them to focus on what to do for a head injury verses TIAS etc, after all we are nurses learning to take care of pts, not brain surgeons !

[OC_An Khe]

All entry level professional education, be it nursing, medicine law et. al., have very little resemblance to the real world. You are learning mainly theory and how to act/react to patients/clients. The real world allows you to develop your professional theory into true professional competency.

[amjowens]

All entry level professional education, be it nursing, medicine law et. al., have very little resemblance to the real world. You are learning mainly theory and how to act/react to patients/clients. The real world allows you to develop your professional theory into true professional competency.

It's nice to hear this come to light. In nursing, the talk is almost that if you get As, you'll be no good in clinical. While I believe results/patient care is most important in nursing, I find it so interesting how so many nurses demean the educational side of nursing. Maybe this is part of the reason the profession goes through such struggle regarding respect, etc. throughout its history. I mean, engineers, attorneys, physicians, etc. all have a very established educational process, and though a lot of what they learn isn't used (the Kreb's cycle, etc.), it is part of the process of learning to think and function on a professional level.

[mpccrn, BSN, RN]

the difference between nursing school and the real world? miles and miles and miles and miles

[Woodenpug, BSN]

I do, honestly, see it differently. If the instructors were up-to-date and the course content also current, then it would have some value. I understand the mechanisms which prevent nursing schools from keeping current. (eg. course content must be approved before inclusion.) Yet, most nursing schools still teach Homan's sign, anoxic drive and renal dose dopamine. Not to mention Selye's generalized adaptation syndrome. Much time and effort is spent "learning the 'perfect' way," which in reality is dated and more the instructor's idea of what she thinks is ideal, than in anyway ideal.