Is it just me?

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Nursing classes seem to be run much differently than any other classes I've ever experienced. I realize it is a mainly female field and most students are rather young but the touchy feely way classes are run is really getting on my nerves. When ever we test there are always hugs for the people who do well or badly, tears that are consoled by the instructors when ever someone messes up a check off and constant "buck up you'll get through it" speeches throughout lecture. We even spent an entire 3 hour lecture on ways to stay emotionally healthy through the disappointment of not getting the grades your used to.

It seems to me that they are setting people up with unrealistic expectations of nursing school and nursing in general. After all the hugs and warm/fuzzy "you can do it" speeches we lost half my class in the first semester. Most of these ladies never saw it coming or thought the instructors would make sure they "could make it".

Maybe it is just me. But coming from a military background where nobody pats you on the back every time you do something right it just drives me nuts to see people preparing for what is a high stress field being put into as low stress a position as possible. You can see it at clinical where students are afraid to do anything without another student holding their hand. And then when we get an instructor who doesn't put up with that stuff there are tears all around.

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Nursing needs compassion. Military needs blind obedience. It is not unusual for 1/2 the class to flunk 1st semester in ASN programs. Many of the young students are not prepared for the difficulties of nursing school. They slack off in the beginning of the semester and are never able to catch up as things become even more difficult.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

My friend...the military world and the civilian world are light years apart. It took me some time to adjust as well...it is of a different mind set. Give yourself some time to adjust as well. Also, many go into a nursing program not having much of a clue what they are getting into. It is not high school...it is college, which plays by different rules as well. Many are just not prepared for it or for that transition. And no doubt, any entry level program is rigorous...and it should be. But you my friend, will do well. I have no doubts.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
Nursing needs compassion. Military needs blind obedience. It is not unusual for 1/2 the class to flunk 1st semester in ASN programs. Many of the young students are not prepared for the difficulties of nursing school. They slack off in the beginning of the semester and are never able to catch up as things become even more difficult.

SFCardiacRN - Military needs blind obedience?

Are you referring to the enlisted, or officer ranks? I am an officer in the USAR Nurse Corps [commissioned 1LT, 2003] with orders to report to active duty April 3, 2006. I'm also prior service active duty enlisted USMC, 1980-1988. The significant difference between the enlisted Soldier & officers is the extremely special moral expectation and authority, officers' personal & professional conduct must remain above reproach. Do you know the difference between the enlisted oath & officer's oath of military service?

Enlisted Oath

I do solemnly affirm that i will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign & domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

Officer's Oath

I having been appointed in the United States Army, do solemnly affirm that i will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign & domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Notice the key difference in the oaths with the omission of the promise to obey in the officers oath, which defines the differences between Army officers & enlisted Soldiers. Officers fall under the same UCMJ requirement to obey as do other Soldiers. However, by oath, officers are not morally bound to the promise to obey, i.e. blind obedience. Officers are trusted by enlisted Soldiers, through their congressional representatives who approve commissons, with the enormous moral responsibility of knowing when to not obey those instructions, regulations, or orders that are not in the best interest of the Army at the moment.

So, the military is not solely about blind obedience. BTW, the Army Nurse Corps motto is Ready, Caring, and Proud. Therefore, military nursing has the best of both worlds; military discipline & nursing compassion

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
My friend...the military world and the civilian world are light years apart. It took me some time to adjust as well...it is of a different mind set. Give yourself some time to adjust as well. Also, many go into a nursing program not having much of a clue what they are getting into. It is not high school...it is college, which plays by different rules as well. Many are just not prepared for it or for that transition. And no doubt, any entry level program is rigorous...and it should be. But you my friend, will do well. I have no doubts.

Again, are we talking about patient care? If so, military nursing & civilian nursing have more in common than not.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

No, not at all......it was in reference to differences in coping with high stress. The military is much more structured. You go in, go to boot camp/training, then go out prepared/disciplined to soldier..whatever ones job is. It prepares you also in the civilian world as well when demands are placed upon you...like college. Civilian folks going into college quite often do not have this type of preparation. When met with high stress in college, they walk in "with or without" the structure to persevere (what they brought in from their own civilian lives). Many may develop their own sense of discipline as a result of the rigors of college...but, many do not.

Also, many who go into the military have a pretty good idea as to what things may be like or how their lives may change...they read, they watch TV, they have family members who serve or have served. But, many go into college with no clue at all or think it is like high school or that nursing school is cake walk. Then reality hits them. Many, if not half, get overwhelmed with the demand and drop out.

No, nursing as a profession is the same....just the environment is MUCH different. In the work environment, insubordination isn't tolerated in the military. Whereas in the civilian world, it is much more a fact of life....a hard adjustment for some to get used to. There are other differences as well...but, you get my drift.

That was my point.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.

Thunderwolf - Point well taken, and I agree!

:cheers:

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Nursing classes seem to be run much differently than any other classes I've ever experienced. I realize it is a mainly female field and most students are rather young but the touchy feely way classes are run is really getting on my nerves. When ever we test there are always hugs for the people who do well or badly, tears that are consoled by the instructors when ever someone messes up a check off and constant "buck up you'll get through it" speeches throughout lecture. We even spent an entire 3 hour lecture on ways to stay emotionally healthy through the disappointment of not getting the grades your used to.

It seems to me that they are setting people up with unrealistic expectations of nursing school and nursing in general. After all the hugs and warm/fuzzy "you can do it" speeches we lost half my class in the first semester. Most of these ladies never saw it coming or thought the instructors would make sure they "could make it".

Maybe it is just me. But coming from a military background where nobody pats you on the back every time you do something right it just drives me nuts to see people preparing for what is a high stress field being put into as low stress a position as possible. You can see it at clinical where students are afraid to do anything without another student holding their hand. And then when we get an instructor who doesn't put up with that stuff there are tears all around.

No, not just you. I felt the same way when I was in school. I remember when we first started, many girls in our class just totally freak out in front of a patient. I helped them a few times just to get them started.

But I remind myself that I'm entering into a female dominated area and these issues should not come to my surprise. It took me a while to adjust when in school. Honestly, my last day at school was my happiest day and I have never missed it a bit since then.

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Specializes in M/S, OB, Ortho, ICU, Diabetes, QA/PI.

ok - I don't usually lurk in the Male Nursing Student Forum but the title intrigued me...............

I gotta ask where you are going to school cuz MY nursing school sure as shootin' was not warm and fuzzy in the least - in my junior year, we had to drive approximately 6 hrs to a clinical site to "observe" for 2 days - one of my classmates had a spouse who had a lot of mental and physical issues and was profoundly depressed - he was having a harder time than usual around then and my classmate was afraid to leave him home alone with their 2 elementary school-aged kids because she was afraid he wouldn't deal well with the stress of being home alone with the kids and her so far away (he also had a history of suicidal thoughts and ideation) - she expressed this fear to our profs and asked if she could be excused and was told "You need to decide - you are going to stay home with your family or fulfill your obligations to this program so you can be a nurse" - she went on the trip but was a nervous wreck the whole time...............(BTW, things worked out fine but I think she was treated quite callously - I must work in paradise because I've never experienced that level of cruelty in my entire nursing career....)

maybe things are different in the '00's but it sure wasn't like that in my day....

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Like Mama, I hesitate to barge in on guy-talk.

I'd just like to say that I've taught nursing on the ADN, BSN, and MSN levels and if there had been that kind of hugging, and babying going on, I'd have gagged.

So, I think there may be something weird about the program the OP is in.

Although, as time has progressed, I've noticed that students have gotten more... how do I say this... fragile, I guess. In my last teaching post there was a good bit of drama going on. But it was on the student end of things, not the faculty.

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A few examples from the last week that come to mind- While watching a circumcision one of my fellow students passed out, that's fine I understand that some are not used to blood of any sort. What to me seemed unusual was the instructor gave her a big hug and said it was OK, shouldn't blood be something that is expected in nursing? Also we had our first exam today and one of my fellow students was having issues at home and said she was unprepared, the instructor asked if she felt "emotionally able" to take the exam and if not just go home and make it up at the next class. This seems unrealistic as in the real world you do your job no matter how you happen to feel.

My main point though was that during check-offs last semester I don't know how many times I saw a student fail and start crying just to be given a hug by the instructor and told "this doesn't define you as a person", Maybe it doesn't but the crying does define you as someone who can't operate under stress.

As far as the military blindly following orders, stop watching so many movies. We are not mindless automatons, officer or enlisted. The only time an order isn't explained is in an emergency and then, through training, you will know why the order is being given anyway through your own situational assesment.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

This post reminds me of me 10years ago. My first job when i got out was in IT and I made my secretary cry over something petty. In the military there was only one way to handle things(YELL).

One thing that has helped me is to learn the difference between empathy and sympathy. Imo young people in nursing are too emotional and not empathic enough.

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