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.
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!
We actually have had discussions with her as a class regarding this problem. that's when we asked her to give us more pharma info, and she shot us down, we also gave her examples of how other teachers were teaching, and so on, and 5 class sessions have passed since then,and nothing.
Thank you all so much for your input! I really appreciate it. And we are going to take your advice, and write a concise, professional letter stating the facts, and what we would like done. Hopefully this will solve our probs. I'll keep you updated.
We actually have had discussions with her as a class regarding this problem. that's when we asked her to give us more pharma info and she shot us down, we also gave her examples of how other teachers were teaching, and so on, and 5 class sessions have passed since then,and nothing. [/quote']
Great job to you and your classmates. You all are being very mature and professional in how you are handling this (far more so than your teacher). Perhaps that is the lesson the universe had is store for you all in this situation. You are going to be an awesome nurse... this kind of responsibility that you are already possess is very commendable. You can be my nurse anytime.;)
Hello. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Over the summer, we had a substitute teacher in our first nursing course. (It was our first semester in a masters entry program). She was our teacher for Conceptual Foundations of Nursing. She was the most scattered-brain teacher who thought our class was more of an online course and she was merely there to keep us on track. She was always late and always sidebar into discussions that were totally irrelevant to our course. Now, we go to a private school and we definitely deserve a better education for the amount we pay.
We simply talked to the instructor and asked if she can stay on course with the syllabus and skip on some personal stories about her olden days in Minnesota. It's interesting stories, but not when it consumes more than 50% of class time. We just all sat down as adults and conversed about how the class should be run instead of personally attacking her in anyway.
When it was time to do evaluations for the instructor, I definitely let the administration know how I felt, and it was anonymous.
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!
I totally agree. I would think that the dean or whoever would be more apt to listening to everyone complain if you had talked to the instructor first (even if she is totally unresponsive) and had still not gotten the issue resolved. JMHO
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I understand what you are going through, but I have sincere reservations about YOU being chosen to start the letter. In many cases, the person who initiates an action is usually left out in the cold. I think it is better to call a meeting with the instructor and have a few students with you, and let them speak as well as you. Letters can be saved, and a target can be chosen. Nursing can be very strange. You will hear many people moan and groan, but are unwilling to speak up when there is a chance. This is how they target a person who is intelligent many times; as the trouble maker. I don't know the individuals involved, but, I can tell you that there is a chance that there can be negative repercussions behind this. You have your career to think of the same as the rest of them. Or, I would meet with the instructor privately and voice my personal concerns in a very careful, diplomatic way to ilicit a response. How she responds will let you know how to deal.
;)
RNDreamer
1,237 Posts
I absolutely agree