Mean/Competitive nursing school classmates

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I am a RN who just graduated nursing school in May. I went to a very competitive nursing program and could never understand why some of the students were so mean and conniving. Looking back , I did make some good friends, but most of the students pretended to be your friend in hopes of getting study material, but not many true loyal friendships were made. Is this normal?

I was told by this monster in my A&P class that I shouldn't apply to nursing school "Because you already have a job". Basically, she thought I was taking a spot away from someone that needed a job. Sorry that I didn't want to live on a phlebotomist wage for the rest of my life. I was just competition for her. I got in, she didn't. Nastiness really doesn't pay off.

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
In my class, were divided into 2 teams and we didn't even know there was something going on beyond individual rivalries.

So there the left side of the class and the right side of the class. The left side, were just neutral were don't really talk a lot, we do our own things. But the right side, they're like the "lively" side. They talk to each other and they just bust out laughing and whatnot.

I'm at the left side, I just do my thing and leave. But the right side they're conniving. They would start rumors and such. They even went as far as sending us study guides with wrong info. A lot of people fell for it. And to make it worst out professor divided the class into 2 groups -left side and right side- and we play "educational games" and it gets real ugly

Ever since they started messing with us, we at left side started to unite a little

Oh and by the way this is in nursing school.

Sounds like middle school, at best. When I was in school, I was one of the "oldest" in the class. I was NOT there to make friends, but to earn my degree, and move on. I couldn't care LESS what anyone thought of me. I did make some friends along the way, which was great.

When you are a practicing RN, the behaviors your mentioned will PALE in comparison to what really goes on in the real world of nursing, and life in general...

All the best,

Diane

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There are a few of us that are competetive with eachother, but friendly about it. We study together, help each other out, go over each other's work before turning it in.... some of my classmates are amazing, and I would not have done as well as I have without the push we give eachother, or the comraderie.

However, there's about half the class that I am ready to be done with. They are lazy, inconsiderate, unprofessional, lack integrity and it scares the hell out of me that they're going to be nurses someday. Showing up late ALL the time, cheating-then bragging about it, laughing it off when they barely pass a test (who has time to study anyway, right???), sleep in class, dont do ANYthing in clinical, and can't even follow simple rules like not wearing hot pink polka dot undies under those thin white scrubs.... ughhhH!!!!!!

Those of us that are competetive are actually pretty good friends, and they are the ones that I want to work on the floor with!

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Where is it written that all your classmates have to share roses and unicorns with you? I can promise you that you should have no such expectation anywhere in life. You will make some friends, a lot of the people you meet and work with will be colleagues but not friends, some people you will loathe but learn to deal with, and some people you will never see again. Welcome to being a grown-up.

Who said about being besties with EVERYone? I think the OP was talking about the kind of attitudes that in the working world is called "lateral violence".

Being competetive has given me the push to study harder, but those who get nasty and cruel over grades just make things worse for everyone. We spend a lot of time with our classmates over the course of a couple years, and being vicious or bullying eachother is pointless.

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Specializes in CMSRN.

I definitely saw some competitive and nastiness that was disappointing in adults but I did my best to surround myself with amazing people that wanted to see me succeed as much as I wanted to see them succeed. We studied together, hung out together and are still close after having graduated in May. Yes, you are going to have people like that throughout life but it's not worth wasting energy on those type of people.

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Hello Collen,

I have the same exeprince with nursing students in my school. They are very evil and will do anything to bring their fellow students down. I have never seen anything like this in my life. I just wonder that may be it has to do with the state I am living in right now. How can someone with such dirty mind be able to care for a patient. One day, one of our professor was telling us how to be loving and caring for our patients. I raised my hand and asked her how this can be achieve if the students hates each other, I said that it is important that we care for one another because charity begins at home. I think it is very bad how nursing schools are breading hatred. it is just wrong because nursing required team work and people have to get along inorder to work together.

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Yes, many of my classmates think they're smarter and surperior than everyone else, because our program is very hard to get in to. They form cliques and isolate people who aren't like them. Sometimes, I forget that I'm not in high school anymore, lol. Honestly, ignore them! Some people are so disconcent with their own lives that they feel this burning desire to take it out on others and convince everyone else and themselves that they're better -usually at the expense of other people. To that, i usually think to myself "wow, have fun with that attitude in this profession. you're going to be an awesome nurse. " ;)

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Come September I will be an LPN student at a local community college... and let me tell you... the RN student's are absolutely pathetic. I used to sit in the hallway before my class and they would all come out and form a large group and just complain like you wouldn't believe. "The professor sucks, she didn't teach us that, this is way too hard, that one person who got a passing grade must have cheated, I hate clinical, this person is stupid, that person is dumb, this patient I have is a moron." On and on and on and on. I sit there like :o in disbelief. How can such negative nasty minded people not only get into nursing school... but become nurses and care for people!??! It baffles my mind! Is it because they think they know everything? Is it because they think they're smarter than everyone else.. and that's why failing a test is such a huge deal? I don't get it. To top it off they hate LPN student's because we're lower than them. It's horrible. I'm actually kind of proud to be an LPN student because I don't want to sit in classes with such nasty people. There are some LPN students like this, but not many I've learned. I hate that I have to work under them though, and because of that, I will either become an RN or I will find somewhere that employs mostly LPN's. I swear, most of these student's do it for the money and just to have something to complain about. Nothing more... nothing less.

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Specializes in Primary Care, OR.

The professors know EVERYTHING!!!!! It's like the students regard them as clueless to their doings... They know who is who and who's gonna make it.

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Specializes in Primary Care, OR.
I'm still in pre-reqs, but THIS, THIS, THIS a million times. Everyone in my chem class is treating me like some kind of genius/nerd/potential tutor, and I explained that I remember information very well by taking notes at lecture until my wrist aches. They shrug and keep gazing at their PowerPoint printouts... no wonder they're not getting it!

And there's an unbelievable amount of b***hing about how the prof actually seems to want us all to INTERNALIZE the CONCEPTS, and that she's not, say, giving us the questions that will be on the midterm ahead of time. I do. Not. Get. It.

THIS a hundred times over!!!! The constant b****ing of "what's on the test" , "can we have an outline of the test so we know what to study", "practice questions"??????......... Seriously people!!! A TEST is a TEST is a TEST..... Choose to actually study rather than to just study the 50 questions on a test. Your really not doing yourself any favors in the long run! I'll be the antisocial pegged "genius" any day than a whiney crock cutting corners.

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

Over all, my classmates are friendly and helpful. I appreciate them a lot, even though I am a bit of a loner, by choice. There are a few meanies. But I expect that in just about every situation. Some nice. Some mean. A lot in between. I choose not to associate at all with the meanies. There are too many nice people to talk to.

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I do understand where your coming from. However, as I'm sure you know, whether its nursing school or a workplace there's always going to be one or a few people that are going to be a challenge. Nursing school should be a place where support is shown to each other but unfortunately there are those that are immature and all about making themselves look good. I think it's kind of funny because it's so transparent and obvious, even though they don't think it is. Those are the people who are going to have a difficult time in the "real world"

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