My experience at Otero junior college

TofuSandwich, ASN, RN · Nov 28, 2017

Relying only on exams to determine your grade is not uncommon at all. My program is 4 exams and a final that determine your semester grade, that's it. No extra credit, no participation points or graded assignments, no chance to pad your grade to make up for subpar exam scores. You either know the content or you don't, and if you don't then you don't pass. I like it that way- it shouldn't be easy to get a position where you're responsible for people's lives. We do have clinicals and all the associated paperwork that we are responsible for, but clinical is a pass/fail grade. If you fail clinical you fail class regardless of your exam scores. Passing clinical means nothing though if you don't have the exam scores you need to pass.

It's not the instructors' jobs to care about you, and there is way more content than they can thoroughly teach. I'd say 95% of my learning is independent, and lecture fills in the few gaps plus helps reinforce the information. You should be teaching yourself the content before class, then using class time to reinforce and clarify what you learned.

CelticGoddess, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2017

The program I went through, which is well regarded in my area, worked in much the same way. Lecture was a letter grade and we were graded on exams only. All our exams used NCLEX style questions. And it was a lot of independent study: Nursing school isn't about rote memorization or being spoon fed information. What exactly do you mean by "TEACH"?

Some of nursing is hands on: That is the clinical portion of your education. And lab. And it was pass/fail in my program. The care plans, med lists, etc were part of clinical.

You are going to have a hard time finding a program that doesn't work this way. Nursing school is NOT supposed to be easy. Unless you can provide firm examples of "weird rationales" or the DON functioning likes its the 1900's, I'm going to have to go with my gut feeling that this is a rant and sour grapes comes to mind.

Dianax7 · Dec 26, 2017

Unfortunately, nursing school is not about teaching anymore it became a business where schools can make money by failing students. I believe OJC is one of them I know what I experienced, and I will make sure many students in Colorado are aware of the corrupt system that they have in place at OJC. What many people don't consider is that we all come from different backgrounds, different learning styles, and different financial situation. I almost starved myself to make sure I had gas money for school plus time in the library. I know how many hours of studying I spent at OJC, and yet they failed me. Their instructors won't give you guidance about their test style they just fail you period. They expect you to undo the puzzle they created to fail you. Its not necessarily about being knowledgeable about the contents but, knowing to use testing skills which they won't teach you. Grades cannot define how good of a nurse you will become. I have seen books mart nurses who cannot stand working in the floor. They want the office maybe status, and less contact with their patients. Its time for schools to understand that the fact that a student doesn't have good testing skills, it doesn't mean they cannot perform in the clinical setting. I will never recommend working students to apply at OJC. Trust me they are probably not doing well financially so they have to fail you to make sure you come back to their dirty system. I met several students there who failed more than twice. Students take my advice stay away there are better schools out there.

Dianax7 · Dec 26, 2017

Unfortunately, nursing school is not about teaching anymore it became a business where schools can make money by failing students. I believe OJC is one of them I know what I experienced, and I will make sure many students in Colorado are aware of the corrupt system that they have in place at OJC. What many people don't consider is that we all come from different backgrounds, different learning styles, and different financial situation. I almost starved myself to make sure I had gas money for school plus time in the library. I know how many hours of studying I spent at OJC, and yet they failed me. Their instructors won't give you guidance about their test style they just fail you period. They expect you to undo the puzzle they created to fail you. Its not necessarily about being knowledgeable about the contents but, knowing to use testing skills which they won't teach you. Grades cannot define how good of a nurse you will become. I have seen books mart nurses who cannot stand working in the floor. They want the office maybe status, and less contact with their patients. Its time for schools to understand that the fact that a student doesn't have good testing skills, it doesn't mean they cannot perform in the clinical setting. I will never recommend working students to apply at OJC. Trust me they are probably not doing well financially so they have to fail you to make sure you come back to their dirty system. I met several students there who failed more than twice. Students take my advice stay away there are better schools out there.

Dianax7 · Dec 26, 2017

I totally disagree with your comment " You should be teaching yourself" that is ridiculous. Many students can read about how to give blood for example but, until they see a demonstration they probably won't get things in the right order. I don't think that students with different learning styles can properly understand nursing skills just by reading out of the books and power points. Then, the instructor wants to test you about skills that she didn't even demonstrate. That is not fair. That is what I call poor teaching and unfortunately OJC is full of it. I wish they would test in the same level they teach. BOY nobody would fail. OJC is a bad school that is my message my story and I will make sure to share with many students out there. They don't care if you understood the contents or not. Some of their instructors barely know some of the nursing skills themselves. You think you will have the chance to practice such skills in their clinical think again. It is a bad school I will never recommend.

TofuSandwich, ASN, RN · Dec 28, 2017

I totally disagree with your comment " You should be teaching yourself" that is ridiculous. Many students can read about how to give blood for example but, until they see a demonstration they probably won't get things in the right order.

You can think it's ridiculous, but you're the one that failed your program because you expected to be spoon fed all the content. You will not find a passing student whose instructors manage to cover 100% of the needed content within the lectures, lab, and clinicals, in the depth that you need to know it. Again, nursing requires an enormous amount of independent learning, and students that don't take initiative to learn the content on their own do not do well (as you have demonstrated). You can feel like poor test taking skills shouldn't preclude you from becoming an RN, but you aren't going to get a license when you can't pass the NCLEX. Further, if you recognize that you have a certain learning style, there is nothing keeping you from seeking out resources that fulfill those needs. You need a blood draw demonstration? There are 8,484,000 videos on youtube that you could've watched: drawing blood - YouTube

Anyway, it's clear that you've decided that you bear no responsibility for your performance whatsoever, so I think you're probably better off in another profession. Please try to find one where you aren't responsible for people's lives.

Dianax7 · Jan 3, 2018

Dear TofuSandwich,

I am glad to announce that I will become a RN because I was accepted into a better nursing school, and because I left OJC. I met several students who failed at OJC went to CSU and are doing very well there. I also heard from students who were part of study groups and still failed at OJC. More I heard from other students who failed at OJC more discouraged I felt to go back there. I hope other students are wise enough to listen before they consider applying at OJC. I can do better in NCLEX questions from Kaplan and other sources than the ridiculous exams from OJC. This is my story and my message for every student, Stay away from OJC it is not a good school. You will be disappointed to experience how cold, cruel, and heartless their instructors can be. I take responsibility for not doing a better search in the school before putting my application. My employer, friends, and family are my witnesses about how many months I ignored all of them to make sure I could have quality time studying. It is a cheap school "You get what you pay for". Don't rush to a school just because the application process is fast and simple. OJC will steal your time and money if you allow them to do so. Also, They do not seem to like Hispanics neither blacks don't let their advertisements fool you. Good luck everyone!! Be Wise!!

Dianax7 · Feb 1, 2018

Dear CelticGoddess,

I found a better school that doesn't take advantage of students to make money. OJC IS A CORRUPT SCHOOL PERIOD!! State had an investigation going on there few years ago wonder why? I love taking exams and that's no normal that students who sacrifice time on study groups won't pass. Something is wrong with that picture. They love to put honey on booksmart nurses. Where are the booksmart nurses in the medical field??? They quit any job that requires a lot of contact with their patients period!!

OJC IS A BAD SCHOOL they select the students that they want to allow it to pass. It goes beyond how many hours of studying you spend in your textbooks. I don't struggle with exams at my new school at all, and the instructors consider all the affords I put into clinical hours and paperwork. There are better schools out there.