I am transitioning from an ADN to a BSN, and I am very financially strapped right now. The RN-to-BSN program I hope to start wants proof of sufficient pharmacology. I didn't have a pharmacology class per se - it was embedded in the curriculum. I can test out of it, but the test is $200. The school asked for syllabi from my nursing alma mater, so I contacted them. The current head of the nursing department was dismissive and abrupt -
"Your request for us to verify that you had "ample pharmacology" is not possible. Instructions involved select categories and examples of a few specific drugs, but I would not consider that "ample". And it also varied greatly from course to course. Secondly, your education was over 7 years ago and pharmacology has undergone many changes."
This woman has been teaching since 1980, so it's safe to assume her education is quite a bit older than mine. Does that invalidate it? I don't think so. Clearly I passed my NCLEX, and my RN is current in both OH and NY. I was taken aback by her attitude, but I have seen a lot of this sort of behavior among nurses - especially in academia. I don't understand it. I would think she would want to support a graduate of her program, not shoot me down - the condescension in that reply is palpable. I have a BS and an MS in different fields; I am hardly stupid.
Can any of you speak to this nurses eating their young? Because I just don't get it. We should be supporting each other. I have no problem taking the pharm test - I just don't want to be out $200 - I can't afford it.
Your rant would perhaps (no, CERTAINLY) have been better received if you had not entitled it "Why do nurses eat their young?" If you've been a member since January 07, surely you have SOME idea how insulting this question and the underlying assumption would be. So if all you want is to understand, not to insult anyone, why start out in such an insulting fashion?
Your rant seems to be about educators, anyway, not nurses.
It is cool, the work that I do. I love it. It is hard, interesting work. It doesn't pay the bills, though. Nursing might do that, and I think I would be good at that. I was as a student, as good as a student can be anyway. I'm not trying to be something I am not.
It is cool, the work that I do. I love it. It is hard, interesting work. It doesn't pay the bills, though. Nursing might do that, and I think I would be good at that. I was as a student, as good as a student can be anyway. I'm not trying to be something I am not.
It is cool, the work that I do. I love it. It is hard, interesting work. It doesn't pay the bills, though. Nursing might do that, and I think I would be good at that. I was as a student, as good as a student can be anyway. I'm not trying to be something I am not.
I think my lesson here is to keep my mouth shut.
No, you don't have to keep your mouth shut. That kind of defeats the purpose of a public forum.
One valuable piece of advice-lurk here for awhile. Learn the culture. There actually is one lol.
Realize that your dearly held opinions might not hold up in here, and that sometimes we can be a little blunt, especially if it's the millionth time a question has been asked (check out the "Why don't floor nurses jump up and down and clap their hands at the thought of teaching us entitled nursing students everything we need to learn? Don't they make a ton of extra money for doing that? And isn't it expected of them since our CIs drop us at the door and disappear until the end of the shift?" threads for examples).
No, you don't have to keep your mouth shut. That kind of defeats the purpose of a public forum.
One valuable piece of advice-lurk here for awhile. Learn the culture. There actually is one lol.
Realize that your dearly held opinions might not hold up in here, and that sometimes we can be a little blunt, especially if it's the millionth time a question has been asked (check out the "Why don't floor nurses jump up and down and clap their hands at the thought of teaching us entitled nursing students everything we need to learn? Don't they make a ton of extra money for doing that? And isn't it expected of them since our CIs drop us at the door and disappear until the end of the shift?" threads for examples).
I never had a stand-alone pharm class, and I can assure you it was not a "shady" program.
I didn't say all were. Just the ones that seem to be popping up lately in my neck of the woods. The universities and community colleges have stand alone pharm classes
Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN
6 Articles; 12,052 Posts
Really? Some stereotypes need to just hurry up and go away.