Nursing education today

[ga.bones]

I'm asking this to truely try to understand, not critisize,bash, or in any way demean students. I am a diploma graduate of 31 years. I don't understand why nursing education doesn't include more clinical experience. I can't imagine starting out the way new grads do today. I understand and appreciate the necessity of theory, but would it not be of significant value for that theory to be put into practice while in school on a much larger scale. Our students graduate having never cared for more than two patients. Is this the norm? Also, our nurses don't teach, the instructer must always be there for them to do anything new. Recently, a student had a patient on my assignment that went bad, the student and instructer walked away from the situation and it was mine alone to handle-I saw that as a terrific learning experience-what was that about?

[healingtouchRN]

to the new grads: you'll take about a year to assimilate to the role of professional. It takes time to learn a new routine, doctors handwriting, how to set up for procedures, get difficult IV sticks, trouble shoot. Heck I've been at this a long time & I am still learning! Just beware of the older nurses eating their young, who is gonna take care of us when we get old & infirmed?