Nursing Instructors Would Rather see You Fail than Succeed

augurey · Aug 31, 2015

Do you have specific examples of what makes you think they would rather see you fail than succeed?

It's an honestly curious question.

I can't say with absolute certainty that there aren't instructors out there like that, but I would think that there are far fewer of those instructors. Are all of these instructors at one school? Is it a for profit school?

I'm just curious as to what makes an instructor fit the criteria that they'd rather see you fail than succeed.

allnurses Guide · Aug 31, 2015

I'm curious about what you mean exactly, too. My mental image is a tough-as-nails clinical instructor, but I understand you might be talking about your classroom or distance learning experience. Not asking for a lot of detail-- just enough information to give you a response that could be helpful.

angeloublue22, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2015

All of my instructors bent over backwards and sacrificed a lot of their personal time making sure their students succeeded. I'm not sure why they would get into teaching if the idea was to see you fail. You sound like you're pretty frustrated right now so I'm going to guess that's why you didn't clarify.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 31, 2015

You're right. We WOULD rather see you fail. We LOVE the feeling of breaking hearts and crushing dreams. All of us. Every day. It's why we earned advanced degrees and sought out lower pay with worse benefits from our former hospital jobs where we may have had decades of experience and positions of leadership.

tiny_nurse · Aug 31, 2015

I think maybe some are hard on you because there are literal lives on the line if you do fail in everyday life. It's definitely serious business.

I'm sure there are those select few who are just evil and vindictive, however I don't think that's the norm. I do like to think most just push you to make sure you'll be competent and safe. And that might seem like they're trying everything they can to fail you.

(Just two cents from a nursing student who has failed before.)

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2015

All of my instructors bent over backwards and sacrificed a lot of their personal time making sure their students succeeded.

DITTO.

mc3, ASN, RN · Aug 31, 2015

I have experienced this with almost EVERY nursing instructor I had.
I can honestly say they would rather see you fail than succeed.
Has anyone else experienced this ?

One question,,why on earth do you they would do that? For kicks??

mc3

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 31, 2015

It requires a lot more paperwork to fail a student than to pass them.

Very few instructors want more paperwork.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Aug 31, 2015

I've had some very tough instructors in school, though most of them wanted us to pass. I had ONE that constantly threatened to fail us, but most actually passed. Her method of inspiration was "the stick." I think she actually did want us to pass, but she would up the stress level by doing what she did. I did learn a lot from her but I think she'd have been a better instructor if she'd learned to use a different technique for getting her students to step up. She's no longer an instructor there, and I don't recall her doing any classroom teaching, but she was very knowledgeable and for all the stress she put us through, she did get us to step things up.

FlyingScot, RN · Aug 31, 2015

I have experienced this with almost EVERY nursing instructor I had.
I can honestly say they would rather see you fail than succeed.

Are you sure the problem is the nursing instructors?

Mavrick, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2015

If you are looking for an excuse as to why you failed, I guess blaming the instructor is as good as any.