Is my school weird?

[sfrgirl]

Hi All,

I have a question. I just started a BSN Nursing program this week, and parts of it seem pretty strange, I wanted to know if others had similar experiences.

We started school on Monday, and in our Intro class were told that our class instructors would not teach us skills. We have the Wilkinson and Treas DVDs, and that is the sum total of the skills instruction we will get--learning on our own time (this is not an online program). We have an open lab once a week where we can practice and get help from a lab instructor (but not our instructor) and some students.

We get tested on these skills every week in lab, but the instructors are explicitly told not to give us any instruction in lab (which is all day) because they want us to know everything by the time we get there. And, since the open lab instructor is different from our teacher (who is testing us), I have already been told contradictory ways to do things.

They tested us first week, second day!, on skills that we have never been shown. They were originally doing it for credit, but that seems to have changed, I'm assuming they heard complaints. While they made this week not for credit, they are pretty adamant that they are doing it the way they are doing it. This is all new this semester, students further along in the program tell me that they didn't start getting tested until much later.

I'm pretty worried! I did fine on my second-day-no-instruction test, but I feel like others must be getting taught skills better. I'm not even terribly concerned about my grades, but learning healthcare skills from a DVD doesn't seem like the best way to become a good nurse.

Is this how most nursing schools are? Has anyone else found strategies to work in this kind of environment?

Thank you for any thoughts you are willing to share!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

YIKES!!! I can assure you that this is absolutely not the norm. The usual process involves a real live qualified human instructor demonstrating skills & leading structured practice sessions before you have to be checked off in a skills lab. Are you in a commercial (investor owned) school? I know there is a faculty shortage, but this is ridiculous.

[WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

We were responsible for watching videos before lab and being ready to practice skills in lab, but we had our clinical instructor as our lab instructor and they actually instructed us in the skills...

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

Yes that is very weird

At my school we were responsible for doing the pre reading however we always went over them in clinical labs and got signed off prior to doing them in that clinical areas

[sfrgirl]

Thank you all for the information! That is such a relief to hear as I have been freaking out about it, and was worried that maybe I misunderstood how BSN programs were supposed to work. I think that DVDs are great supplemental material, just like the books, but they are our only real teachers in this course.

I am not in a for-profit school, actually it is an expensive non-profit private school with a very good reputation in my area, but this situation is really making me question it. They clarified again today that this is the way it is going to be, it is a new system they are trying out. I have a previous BA degree and am returning to school after working for awhile, and this just seemed like something my previous University wouldn't have done. I'm starting to think about finding another program with a later start date...

Thank you again! I'm so grateful for your thoughts & perspective.

[Nurse Leigh]

I think watching videos could be a good way to see skills from other angles and perhaps using other techniques that are still appropriate. However I think the main instruction should be live and in person with the opportunity for students to ask questions, get clarification, and see how that particular program wants skills done.

Sorry they are doing this to you.

[sfrgirl]

Thank you Nurse Leigh, it's helpful to hear kind words in such a stressful time.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

It is odd, but understand you are not really learning these skills to prepare you for the actual nursing world. I'm in my fourth semester and the only time I have done a foley or inserted a night tube was in lab, in my first semester. Do you think I remember how to really do that. Nope. It's something I will learn on the job.

Nursing school is to prepare you to take the NCLEX, not to actually learn how to do the skills part of nursing. And even when I was taught in lab, we were still taught about 3 different ways to do it. They don't want to waste their time to be honest. But they probably have to do the check offs for accreditation purposes. There is a certain curriculum they have to go by.

Good luck. You will be fine, it's just a little overwhelming at first.

[sfrgirl]

Thank you for your response Heathermaizey. Do you mind me asking how your clinicals have gone? Have you had a chance to practice a lot of the skills in them? I am assuming we will get to practice some or many of them during clinical time, but my biggest concern is that I may not be learning them correctly in the first place. I definitely understand the importance of check-offs (especially before being allowed into a clinical area), but the lack of instruction and structured practice time is really worrying me...

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Boy, oh boy. If this is the direction schools are going now I am SO glad I went during the dark ages when teachers actually taught. I understand that nursing programs don't really teach you to be a nurse, but rather teach you how to learn to be a nurse. I've said that here on AN many times.

That being said you should at least be learning the fundamentals, the basics of hands on care before you are set loose in clinicals and later wherever you work. Your future employers will guide and mold your skills, but they shouldn't be responsible for teaching even the most basic skills. It should be expected that your schooling would provide at least that. Sorry to say it sounds like your program is dropping the ball big time with this new policy.

[neogirl]

OP, Is your school in Northeastern Ohio?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

earning healthcare skills from a DVD doesn't seem like the best way to become a good nurse.

I'm starting to think about finding another program with a later start date...

My response will probably go against the grain, but few people in this modern day and age learn to become a good nurse through skills they learned in school. Competence develops during the first year of actually working as a nurse.

I've been to two different nursing programs (LVN and ASN). Not once did I learn to insert a Foley catheter on a live patient, or start an IV line, or draw blood, or perform many of the psychomotor skills that are required of bedside nurses.

Modern-day nursing school teaches you to pass NCLEX, not to become a good nurse. Becoming a good nurse will happen on your own. Dropping out of your current nursing program to attend another one will only add time to your graduation date.

Good luck to you.