do your instructors do this?

[Dre2416, BSN, RN]

I am in my first semester fundamentals course for my RN. After being in class for 4 weeks the other students and I have come to the conclusion that our teachers don't "teach", they read right off the book provided powerpoints. then tell us to read the chapters to prepare for the tests. During our lab, our teachers describe ONCE how to do a procedure then expect us to read the book and figure the rest out. Last lab class was on positioning.. our class time is for 2 hours but they talked for 20 min, and all the did was put definitions up of positions and say "know these for wednesday" and dismissed the class!!! I would think since there is an hour and a half left they would go over these positions! Is this just my school or are your teachers making you self learn? I find this so frustrating as we are supposed to learn how to "think like nurses" and I feel I'm not going to get that just from reading a text.

[OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN]

Our school does a little bit of stuff like that but not to that extreme. This semester though I love my med/surg instructors they really lecture well and i feel like I'm learning a lot. Our lab was kind of like that though because they would quickly demonstrate a skill and then you kind were on your own to practice but sometimes they wander so you could get help. Thankfully, I'm done with all the lab stuff! Anyhow, I would be upset too but in my first semester things were very different then they are now in my third semester. SO maybe it will get better :)

[AgentBeast, MSN, RN]

Actually for issues of accredidation if your school says you have x number of lecture hours, x number of lab hours, and x number of clinical hours. It is expected you will have x number of lecture hours, x number of lab hours, and x number of clinical hours. They can get in serious serious trouble both with the accredidation agency and with the state board of nursing.

Thankfully my school is pretty good and provides quality instruction and keeps us there the entire scheduled time, but like iluvpatho I'm basically done with lab and am "skills" complete. Final semster has a lab, but it's entirely simulated scenarios. Not new skills.

[anonymousstudent]

Reading off of publisher created PP's drives me crazy. That is the epitome of lazy IMO.

[akruthie]

My first semester (fundamentals) was similar and we received NO sympathy whatsoever. If we complained at all, we were told that we are adult learners and need to act as such or get out. In a sense, I agree. I think what they're trying to do is weed out the weaklings from the program early on. Later in the program, you really have to be a self-starter and own up alot of independence to learn on your own and get in on experiences.

My advice to you is to read all you can and learn on your own and if you are still having trouble grasping a skill, THEN go to your instructor for help.

[nik415]

A guy in my clinical section called me on Sunday to complain about this very thing. He just kept saying how the teachers aren't teaching, that we're expected to teach ourselves, and how in paramedic school they told you everything blah blah blah. I don't understand why he was so upset over being told to read one chapter for 10 question quiz on Monday. I really didn't care to listen to him complain as I was studying at the time, and immediately felt pretty guilty for complaining to my mom all the time about the same thing.

However, what he was complaining about is nothing like what you described. We are in class pretty much the whole time we're supposed to be there. In fact we stayed late today to make up for lost time last week. We have been getting out early in lab but that might change as we get further along.

I hope things improve, or at the very least you don't have these instructors again.

[RLtinker, LPN]

I ran into this in prerequisite a few times, but not in NS, yet. Thank god. There is nothing more boring than sitting in a three hour lecture, just to have the Instructor read off the power points.

[NCRNMDM, ASN, RN]

I don't want to sound condescending, but you are a first semester student, and this will only get worse. Some instructors are great, and they make their own power points and give wonderful lectures. Some instructors are less than stellar, and they read directly from the book-made power point.

Here's my point: no matter how good the lectures are, you are expected to go home and do some work outside of class. The instructors are not responsible for giving you every answer that you need to know during the lecture. If they did that, then you would never read the book.

If the instructors aren't great, and all they do is give you definitions and examples from the book, then it is up to you to go home, read the book, and figure things out. You can't change it, complaining won't do any good, and wasting time isn't going to help. You might as well suck it up, accept it, and move on.

Once you get to second semester and beyond, this only gets worse, and the material only gets harder. Learn to look things up in the book now, learn to read the book now, learn how the book is laid out now, learn to take good notes now, and learn how to focus in on what is important and what is extraneous now. If you do all these things, then you won't have a problem when things get harder.

Also, believe it or not, these instructors who make you go home and dig are actually doing you a favor. By forcing you to look things up, you are becoming familiar with the book, you are learning time management, and you are learning what's important and what's not.

No matter how hard or contrary an instructor may seem, there is something to learn from each one you will have. Make the best of it, learn the material, and learn whatever lesson that instructor can teach you.

Good luck!

[EightySeven]

I find most of nursing school you have to kind of be self directed. What made a professor good in my eyes was how they were able to convey the information through their experiences as a nurse. Other than that most information is paraphrased (or directly from) textbooks. They don't really have a choice as most of what you are tested on is black and white.

If you think about it you can know all the information from the books and not make mistakes in your career but still not be considered a great nurse. Exams and evaluation can only be objective and as such they lend themselves to learning from books, knowing definitions, etc.

It is hard but what makes a good nursing professor is somewhat abstract in the same way as what makes a good nurse. I think you can not blame them since schools focus so much on "WE HAVE XX% PASS RATE"

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I would expect that you'd do some self-teaching. It's really not that difficult. They expect that you're an adult-learner and do not therefore have to be spoon-fed. A good instructor uses the power point presentations as an adjunct to the lecture, not read from it! A good measure of this would be whether or not the instructor can do the lecture without the PP.

Yes, I do have an issue with the instructors just quickly going over some material and then tell you to study certain questions/pages/chapters and dismiss the class really early without explaination. My instructors plan to reach a certain point in their lectures by the end of the class. If they reach that point early, they ask us if we want to get ahead a bit or if we want to head for home. We usually want to get ahead as it's less material for us to go over tomorrow... and that helps build in a cushion of instructional time "just in case" something comes along and your class suddenly has a need to cover some material and there's precious little time to get to it.

A good instructor knows how to teach and that is a skill that can not be readily taught or acquired. When you find a good one, you'll know you have found one.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I am in my last semester and there are students complaining that they are not cmfortable with skills. We have the same issue with lecture as you. We had a fabulous Patho teacher but b/c she had her masters in TEACHING not nursing, she had to leave. We have an instructor this semester that is great, but we figured out why they teach straight out of the book: the information on the book contradicts what best practice is. We had 4 resources that had 4 different parameters for Code meds. Very frustrating for everyone.

Learn how to teach yourself and practice as much as you can; SEEK out your instructors for help. I used to be a school teacher and I told my students to be selfish. I was there to teach and if you don't tell me you don't get something, I am going to assume you get it.

Good Luck!!!!

[dadweeb]

The instructors treat you as adults. If you want to know something ask a specific question. As to the reading, this semester you will have to do a lot of reading it does get lighter as you get further. Lastly, as to nursing skills, you should go to youtube and find videos of people performing the skills and it will help you tremendously!

Lastly, most nursing programs spend the first few semesters weeding out the weaker students who don't belong in the program. Don't let yourself be one of those! Make friends with 3rd and 4th level nursing students, most will be happy to give you a few hints as to how to get through the semesters ahead.

Good Luck!