Instructor Issues.

[It's Alisa]

hello all,

a situation has risen at my nursing school, and none of us know how to deal with it, so i decided to turn to the pros...you...

here's the story:

i've been enrolled in a private nursing school for lvns, and until now, everything has run fairly smooth, however, when we started the nervous system, we ended up getting stuck with a first time teacher. we basically sit in class, and read aloud from the book, no follow up comments to explain anything more thoroughly, no clinical experience to draw upon, nothing, just read directly from the book. (and we do that before class at home.) we are discouraged from asking questions, especially regarding medication because as she puts it "that is my weakness, and i am not going to stay up at nights looking up medications for you guys" ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

also, after taking a unit test, where most students just barely passed, and we reviewed the test, there were several questions that were not in the book, and were not discussed in class. when we discussed the questions in the exam with her, her answer to us was that we should have chosen the option we did not know, because we learned about the other ones, so the unfamiliar one was the answer. and she went on to say that taking the nclex is a technique...that there was a study done, and people who never studied nursing were taught how to take a test, and they all passed the nclex.

and it doesn't end there, our classes are in the evenings, so most of us get there right after work, with no rest period, or even dinner, so we all count on our 20 minute break to do everything, well, she doesn't give us a break, and every time anyone gets up to go to the restroom, she threatens us with "every time that door opens and closes, we are staying an extra five minutes." now, we are all adults, and carry ourselves as such, we are being treated like children by this dictator.

ok, so now that i gave you the background(sorry it's so long), here is the dilemma:

we want to ensure that we don't have her as a teacher again because we can't afford not to learn in our subjects. and our plan is to write a letter to the don of the school. however, we are afraid that we will be picked on if we do this, possibly forced to redo ns, we might get her fired (we don't want her fired, just not to teach us.)

and on a personal note, would there be repercussions for me because i am the one they designated to write the letter.

so what do you guys think? will the pros be better then the cons when it comes to the outcome? or should we just shut out mouths until we graduate? all help is truly appreciated.

[mikethern]

I'm in favor of complaining about her. Dozens of future nurses are more important than one bad instructor. If she is fired, she can easily find another job as a nurse.

[APBT mom, LPN, RN]

I agree I would let it be known as to what's going on in class. Check your student handbook (school rules) in regards to breaks. Also check in there about where tests questions come from. It is the instructors job to teach you the material not complain that pharm's her weakness. We have three instructors that rotate and if they don't know the answer about anything they'll look it up and come back to us meds included. I wouldn't want her to teach me and I wouldn't care if she kept her job because from what you wrote she's not doing it properly. If your worried about problems from writing the letter you could do it anonymously or have everyone in class sign it to show that's it's not just one person but the entire class.

[Christie RN2006]

We had a similar situation happen was I was in school. My class sent a group of students to represent the class to the dean and after several other complaints and some research being done into what was going on, the professor was asked to leave the college. Someone new came in for the last two weeks and she did a very short and to the point version of what we needed to know. Our final was cumulative and amazingly all of us passed!

I know it is a hard situation, but when it comes to learning you need a professor that is going to teach you what you need to know. How can you be adequately equipped to take care of patients when you didn't learn what you needed in class?

[RNDreamer]

even if you are the one writing the letter, everyone involved in the complaint should sign it so it is known that it is not just you who has concerns

and on a personal note, would there be repercussions for me because i am the one they designated to write the letter.

[cmo421]

It is not what u say,but how u say it! I tell everyone this ,and myself constantly. Send a few people in who have good communication skills and speak to her boss. Be consise,have examples of poor classes and state that you can get a majority to sign a petition if they need more proof. Professionalism here will prepare u for similar situations u will have in the future .

[Diahni]

Alissa,

I had exactly your situation - my particular teacher, though a very nice woman, could not pronounce many words, couldn't answer questions, would digress with personal stories. Just awful. I wouldn't say anything. Don't turn over a bee hive!

This is just my take, but I have always found study materials to be vastly superior to lectures. Many of my teachers were just awful, most didn't like questions, were hostile to students, ad nauseum. You are unlikely to get school support. I'd just suck it up and remember that one of the main reasons for the nursing shortage is shortage of teachers.

In my old school (I switched to Excelsior online, phew!) nearly all of the teaching was done off power point notes, which were also supplied to the students. It was so chaotic and crazy. Many times we'd have to go hunting down the teacher before the class to find the latest notes. The students with long commutes would have to come to school much earlier to find the notes.

As a general statement, nursing programs are not inclined to appreciate ANY input from students, and if you bother to bring something up, you'll be labeled a troublemaker. Hang in there, and stay current with NCLEX material. After all, passing the NCLEX is what it's all about. The read education starts at your first job.

Diahni

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

If you do go to the director of the program, remember to keep it on topic and NOT emotional. Nothing derails a point like angry personal attacks.

We don't get our breaks as outlined in the handbook (if it is).

We're told we are not allowed to go to the bathroom.

We can't ask questions.

Our instructor refuses to deal with relevant pharmacology issues.

They (the powers that be) may have pressed someone into service without nearly enough experience or skill. It would probably be better to point out the deficits than to say "we don't want her again". Keep it professional.

[deeDawntee, RN]

I applaud you for having the courage to deal with this issue. Do you think a core group of you students would be able to go and meet with that instructor first? I don't know, it seems that it probably would not make any difference, but at least you would demonstrate that you are trying to be as proactive as possible. Then, if that doesn't help, I believe your assessment of her teaching and your complaints would have more weight with the DON. The instructor would not be able to claim that she didn't know it was a problem...

You have every right to demand adequate teaching and to let the instructor and her boss know what isn't working!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree that you should speak up about the problem and try to get it resolved. However ... your expectation that she "not teach you" and also "not be fired" in unrealistic. If your complaint is taken seriously, then either the school will keep the teacher employed and counsel her on better teaching skills -- and you may have to face her again -- or she will be fired. The school can't take your complaint seriously and not do one of those two options.

If you are going to speak up (which I think you should do) ... then you have to take responsibility for the consequences of your decision. Be prepared to for the consequences before you act.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

You are paying customers. You have a right to get your money's worth. Also, the school has to answer to others regarding failure rates. They are interested in your success! If you present the FACTS in a non-personal way I think it will be well-received. There is not a lot they can do at this point, except counsel, because it is difficult to hire teachers during the semester (anytime really!). I had an issue with my algebra teacher. All but 6 of the class dropped his class and the Dean wanted to cancel the class but that would have set us back another semester so we talked the Dean into allowing the class and paying for a tutor. Worked for all concerned.

[NCLEX owns me]

You definitely need to speak up. Whether or not anything will be done is a different story. I just graduated with my BSN and I have failed the RN boards two times already. I attribute it to the horrible teachers I had throughout school. My situation was like your, probably a degree or two higher though. It got to the point that I stopped commuting all the way up there for class and just went in for tests a lot of the times. I still made Dean's List every semester (without their help of course). But, I never prepared myself for the NCLEX. From what I hear now, a lot of schools' missions is just to prepare you for the NCLEX. I wish that were my case. Also, I never knew you could look up passing rates of the school...come to find out mine is like 79% which is BAD. At the end of every semester we had to fill out evaluation forms on all of our classroom and clinical instructors. Every semester we did just that, and it was always bad from the majority. Nothing ever changed. So, you need to demand something be done. Remember, you are paying their salary! Don't be like me and wish, 4 years later you had made a bigger stink than some useless evaluation form! Good luck :)