I know this an old beast but if I cannot vent and speak my mind freely here (within reason); where else can I?
I am quite annoyed; I have several friends who are in a BSN program and it's evident that their course load is extremely light; it's evident that they are babied and quite frankly... it ANNOYS ME.
I was flat out told by professors that they are here to break us down and build us back up. In fact, one professor told me in private that they strive to make exams are ridiculously hard as possible.
In my theory class we had (at one point of time) the class average was a 50%. It's not because we're not studying; I see how we study... we studied hard... it's THOSE exams.
Then after I find out I get ALL C's ... my friend in (BSN) student tells me how she got 2 B's and an A thanks to receiving (wait for it)... bonus points... (HOLD UP... bonus points? what is this... grammar school?)
We get no bonus points, we get NO rounding of grades. My other BSN friend was surprised to hear that professors don't round. (Seriously? Your professors round? this is a professional school; there's NO rounding).
She was also surprised to here we do 2 care plans the night BEFORE ... they do ONE care plan ... and get an entire WEEK.
The part that truly infuriates me is that she says that her classmates truly believe that ADN's are the equivalent of a CNA.
Don't get me wrong; nothing wrong with being a CNA... it just makes me angry because I've spent nights studying (sleepless nights). I've gone to clinical with 1 - 2 hours of sleep.
BOTH are in 3rd semester and have already taken Medsurg 1 & 2 and pharm... and do NOT know the relationship between Mannitol and HF (why it's Contraindicated) ... okay, I guess I can't knock them for not possessing recall knowledge but for the love of the Big Guy, I don't think it's rocket science.
They can talk to me about theories and Florence nightingale but not how the physician will most likely fix Dig Toxicity and what their nursing responsibilities would be.
They can tell me about Barton but not about WHY we check potassium before administering insulin to our DKA patients.
and THEY are preferred to be hired rather than me?
Well FINE... have at it...
when I graduate and am refused a job (I WILL be working on my BSN prereqs) because I don't already have a BSN ... you will lose someone who will:
NOT be scared to get down and dirty
NOT be scared to defend my patients health
GLADLY learn new thing (otherwise I wouldn't bridge to BSN)
GLADLY do the "lowly" task
GLADLY perform the complicated procedures AFTER I understand the rationale and pathophysiology behind my interventions.
Just to add some wood to the fire; my clinical buddy was doing clinical and she floated to another floor b/c her original floor had too many new grads who were shadowing...
she floated to a floor with students from a BSN program and ALL they did was sit, chat, chew gum, and TEXT...
We get sent HOME for having our phone. We get sent home for having a speck of mud on our shoes.
I'm not sure what exactly the studies say about BSN prepared nurses but I think it's malarkey.
I'm sure it can help with management but honestly; you're going to say my hard work has earned me a CNA position?
But surely you could be gearing up for next term? Reading ahead, preparing? Perhaps that's why I was able to sleep at night? Pharm cards were prepared during breaks, I had research topics ready to go? Like I said, work ethics vary, homework habits vary....everyone is different :)
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)
I can tell you that here in my location the BSN students DO NOT do what they can. they aren't willing to change diapers, bathe patients, or other basic care. obviously not all schools are like that!!! But here that is what happens. Im not sure why!
Lol this is probably the BSN education in me speaking, but I have no idea why you shouldn't give mannitol in someone with heart failure. Gonna go look it up...
I think sleepless nights probably have to do more with schedules and other commitments. Just in my class alone, some of us were up until two am to finish three care plans and others were in bed by ten pm. Some people have children and have lots of help or very little help with daycare and what not. That's just one example of not necessarily study habits being different but people's lives just looking different. It's interesting a program as tight knit as nursing with presumingly the same goals has the ability to tear each other apart. Hopefully it just makes us all stronger!
But surely you could be gearing up for next term? Reading ahead, preparing? Perhaps that's why I was able to sleep at night? Pharm cards were prepared during breaks, I had research topics ready to go? Like I said, work ethics vary, homework habits vary....everyone is different :)
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)
I would like to take a break from my studies. I just TOOK my last finals. I need to rest my mind for a FEW days.
If its any of your business I already have all my ICU case studies printed and bought some old critical care books that I could afford.
I even asked a member of AN what I need to review for ICU.
I can tell you that here in my location the BSN students DO NOT do what they can. they aren't willing to change diapers, bathe patients, or other basic care. obviously not all schools are like that!!! But here that is what happens. Im not sure why!
I'm in an ADN program and we have students who aren't willing to change diapers, bathe patients, or other basic care. We also have some great BSN programs where the students bust a$$. What it boils down to is the person themselves. You can work hard or be lazy no matter what program you are in. Being in a BSN or ADN program has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Textbook: Osmotic diuretics can precipitate pulmonary edema 2/2 increased intravascular volumes in individuals with limited cardiac reserve such as CHF.
Practice: There are times where acutely increased ICP must be managed by osmotics. In these cases intravascular fluid increases can be aggressively managed with loop diuretics, reducing the risk of water toxicity. There is both a synergistic effect on ICP as well as renal clearance.
Hmm I also just learned mannitol is an artificial sweetener? My text says its a 6 Carbon sugar so I googled contraindications in DM but indeed its actually encouraged as a sweetener.
LOL. I'm not laughing at your vent. I'm laughing at the "universalness" of this anecdote.
I was the typical career changer, got a BSN, and ran straight into the NP program (because I went to school to be a psych NP [nothing else]). We had a few people who dropped out of the associate's degree RN program to enter our's because although they would take four times the classes the programs were the same length.
In comparison, they said the BSN program, which was about one-fifth the size of the ADN program, was hands down more student friendly. In my observations, it seems as though the ADNs were being pushed through a funnel. Most made it through, but some slipped over the edge.
In the BSN program I learned a good bit about healthcare funding, what I'd already learned about management albeit from another life, research, evidence based practice, etc. We also were given more coursework on assessment, pathophysiology, and pharmacology (my favorites!).
Having said that, I cannot tell you anything text book or "best practice" about tending to any sort of stoma, -ostomy, chronic wound, any of those -derm dressings, Foley, or for that matter gynecological problem but I think ignorance is bliss im some respects, etc. We were not a procedure oriented degree and although I'm working as a RN in a medical unit I don't do any of that now. In fact, when we have patients like those in census I defer them to LPNs because they're usually the best at tending to said matters. I get the consult on "does this look right?" and generally that refers to tissue appearance, etc. I can guage that. I just don't know what to put on it, lol. I am, however, the only one that can read the telemetry waveforms in this unit, and I get asked about meds a lot by others I work with.
My interests in medicine are organ-specific and what's happening at the cellular level. I didn't know at the time that nursing wasn't actually devoted to this particular area, lol. You may think it's odd that I chose psychiatrics, and it is. That's my chosen career now. Knowing about the pathophysiology of the rest of the body is merely a fascinating side interest. Do I want to get hands on and do anything about it? Not really. Judge me not because it's not what I want or need to do in life. Others want to do it so they do.
itsnowornever, BSN, RN
1,029 Posts
But surely you could be gearing up for next term? Reading ahead, preparing? Perhaps that's why I was able to sleep at night? Pharm cards were prepared during breaks, I had research topics ready to go? Like I said, work ethics vary, homework habits vary....everyone is different :)
Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)