I hate group assignments

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I know that others have mentioned this as well, I just have to reiterate that group assignments are the worst aspect of school. Especially with a bunch of working nurses that all work different schedules, trying to get assignments done is a nightmare. I set up a shared document three weeks ago for an assignment due this Sunday. Has anyone else contributed a single word yet? Nope. I've been working 50+ hours on nights for the past six weeks, and I admit I'm a bit exhausted. I finally have a weekend off and apparently I'll be doing the assignment for the whole group. I'm always tempted to just let things fail, but then my Type A kicks in and I have to get it done. sigh. Only 22 more months..... (and I'm hoping once I hit the clinical portion the group work will go away)

[deza, MSN, NP]

Wow. That sounds terrible. I have been asking about the amount of group work when calling universities for grad school. I have been lucky having decent group members in my RN to BSN program. Most of the group work the teacher and TA can see who has contributed by looking in our discussions.

Have you brought this up with your teacher?

[caliotter3]

Sometimes an instructor will accept work from a single individual or otherwise less than all of the group when there are those who refuse to contribute. A written explanation should be included to cover all bases.

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

Yes, group projects are a pain. However, once you are working as an NP, you may have to do some group work. At any rate, I went through some similar troubles. Usually, if I sent out an email and text reminding everyone that we need to get going on the project, that would suffice. In addition, appoint someone as "project manager" and have task assignments - Jane does this, Joe does that, etc. Also have a schedule - first draft by such and such a date, final version by a certain date and time, and then indicate who will do the final edits and turn it in. Allow sufficient time for that, along with some contingency in case something happens like the power fails, etc.

I did have one disastrous group project in 3.5 years of ABSN and MSN studies, and of course, it was the last semester of the MSN. Very little got done, despite my constant reminders. I was not in a position to do this whole project by myself. I went to the professor at the last minute and boy, did I learn a lesson. You are well within your rights to notify the professor that the group members are not doing their work. Just don't wait until the last minute! Notify the professor as soon as possible, as then you can be reassigned to a different group or you can be graded differently. If you end up doing all the work, why should the other group members get the credit for your work? In my own situation, I was lucky - I got a decent grade and the other group members got Cs.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

Thanks. Just venting. The assignment in this case was small enough that I've managed to finish most of it and I just don't have the energy to pursue it with the professor.

I'm well aware that group work follows us into the workplace. I've had 17+ years of experience working with others, but I've encountered less trouble with collaboration in the work environment.

[Dodongo, APRN, NP]

Group projects? In an NP program?

Why....

[lhflanurseNP, APRN]

Let your instructor know what you have tried and who has not contributed. This happened to me, and the ones who got the work done got the grade, the others received an incomplete and thus removed from the program.