My entire class is having difficulty with our new instructor

cursenurse · Jun 15, 2004

i would talk to the head of the department and/or the dean of nursing with a list of complaints, lecture notes, etc. it would also help if everyone in the class who is having problems does the same.

1styear · Jun 15, 2004

i would talk to the head of the department and/or the dean of nursing with a list of complaints, lecture notes, etc. it would also help if everyone in the class who is having problems does the same.

I wouldn't go comlaining till you've explored all options. Perhaps a letter stating some of you concerns without signing your name to administration would prevent any potential backlash against you. In a great world you should be able to voice your concerns and be awarded answers but sometimes in nursing programs that can work against you. Try to get a lot of people to join in whatever you decide and just be careful whatever you do can't come back to bite you in the ***

redraccoon, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2004

We had an instructor like that. She was just... impossible. Thankfully all of our classes were "team" taught, so our grades didn't rely solely on her.

I had the "joy" of having her as a clinical istructor too. Just awful. She had her favorites and harassed the others. Flirted with male students. Would come in looking to eat us alive on evening clinicals if someone in the day clinical had irritated her.

A few brave soles voiced complaints to the other instructors but nothing was done during the semester. At the end of the semester we did our usual class/instructor evaluations. Out of 80 students she got one, yes, only ONE positive eval. All of the rest of us were brutally honest. Thankfully the school actually paid attention and she was not back for the next semester.

Star Trek Nerd · Jun 16, 2004

:angryfire My entire class is having trouble with our new (ADN1 and Intro to ADN) instructor. She won't answer questions. She stumbles through her lectures. The class average is a 72% (which is considered an F). We have approached her several times with concerns, only to be told "It's in the book!"
We are reading the material but apparently that isn't helping. I have been with this class from the beginning (a majority of them through pre-reqs) We are an intelligent group and I really don't think it is anything we are doing wrong.
This her first teaching experience. I can't believe that the CC hired her because she doesn't have her masters degree (and isn't even close).
Have you experienced this yet? Any ideas on how to go about this?
TIA,
Jessica

Oh dear. This is quite the situation. Being her first teaching situation, she probably has a lot of self-doubts and doesn't realize she is just not helpful. I personally would firmly tell her at a discrete time that I require more help than just being directed back to the book, as talking through things and asking questions about them is more helpful than any other teaching method.

Good luck.

smk1, LPN · Jun 17, 2004

is she testing on material that is not in the book? or is she pulling the "say one thing. while the book says another" scam so that it is impossible to know what answer to pick on a test? if this is the case then i would start tape recording her lectures (if you are sure that it is allowed in your school) and nicely and kindly ask her which standard she wants the class to live and die by, her opinions or the book.

RNinProgress · Jun 17, 2004

Unfortunately, I have had several instructors in nursing school that I feel are incompetent. I think there is such a shortage of nursing instructors, schools are forced to hire just about anyone. Students, ultimately, pay the price.

But, when you have a great teacher, it's amazing how much you can learn! Here's to all those instructors who inspire!

jschut, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2004

I happen to agree with cursenurse. Go to the head person and talk to them.

Avoid personal attacks however. Just explain the diffiulties and ask that someone evaluate her and her style of teaching. Maybe she is in her first year and scared to death! I would be... :uhoh3: :chair: :uhoh21:

ham22 · Jun 17, 2004

hey there - i am an lpn and this exact thing happened to me when i went through my schooling. my instructor was hired about a month before classes started and she too had no prior teaching exp. our classes were always chaotic and hard to understand, she would sit on her desk and just pull a paragraph out of a book and expect you to know what the he** she was talking about. a lot of times she never even showed up to teach us at all. luckily we had another instructor there to help out. ( she was supposed to only teach 1 or 2 topics but pretty much had to run the show ) anyway word spread fast that she was doing a terrible job b/c this was a very small cc. what ended up happening was that the "head honchos" from the big school 2 hours away investigated her and found out that she had completely fudged her credentials and they canned her at semester break. so, the other instuctor had to teach us everything all by herself. she retired one year later. anyway that's just my exp. hope everything works out for you and your classmates. good luck!

mom1ST · Jun 17, 2004

Thanks guys! You are all really helpful. I'll keep you posted. Like you said, I don't want to come across as attacking (or whining..LOL). I am just there spending my precious summer nights(it is an evening/weekend program) and expect to get an education. At this rate I could go to the library and dedicate that time to reading and learn more....Anyway, enough whining.

Thanks Again