Nursing Instructors Would Rather see You Fail than Succeed

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2015

Its the nursing culture. For whatever reason, 'nurses eat their young' starts in nursing school. Until all of these old guards retire and with their their attitude, nursing wiill remain the same.
These instructors keep telling us Nurses are professionals, nbut I have seen a lot of them not carrying tjhemselves ina professional demeanor. The entire Nursing profession is so ridden with old school attritude of treating RNs as if they are rank-and-file employees. They bark orders at you, they yell at you, they do things in the workplace that elsewhere is called "harrassment" and "workplace violence" that a supervisor could get fired for. And it is pervasive in the hospitalsa nd the SNFs and wherever nurses work, so HR MUST know about it , but they do nothing to correct the situation. Why? they expect nurese to take the abuse.

You do realize that once the "old guard" retires (or dies, whichever comes first), YOU will become the old guard, and all the sweet young entitlement snowflakes will complain that you boss them around and don't give them the respect they feel they deserve?

MJane29 · Sep 4, 2015

In my experience, the instructors that have been the hardest on me, are typically the ones who see great potential. I believe that these instructors push students when they see something special. Essentially, they are fairly certain that you can handle the pressure and desperately want you to reach your full potential. At least this is what I have ascertained.

cracklingkraken, ASN, RN · Sep 4, 2015

Never had this experience. A lot of my classmates who have problems with our professors tend to be the ones who blame the professor for not bumping their grade from a 81 to an 82 (82 = B ), accepting late homework, or giving them a better grade on a paper.

NotAllThoseWhoWander · Sep 5, 2015

My instructors are amazing, and have honestly alleviated most of my fears of being inadequate... Yeah, they show tough love. But they never leave out the "love" part. :up: If anything they do not want us to be an embarrassment to the college, or to the pt's facility.

My nursing school has a 100% passing rate, and my instructors intend to keep it that way.

Nonyvole, BSN, RN · Sep 5, 2015

A sample size of one does not a survey make...

Riawahine, BSN, MSN · Sep 8, 2015

OP, can you provide some examples that help us understand your complaint?

FlyingScot, RN · Sep 8, 2015

OP, can you provide some examples that help us understand your complaint?

He/She did. It was one instructor who wrote him/her up. Then the OP gave us a ton of attitude when we didn't give the answers they wanted.

jdraper · Sep 8, 2015

Not all instructors are cut from the same cloth, nor nursing students. However, if you experienced consistent negativity from your instructors, perhaps you might want to take an introspective look at yourself. I had tough instructors who were not nice or perhaps did not like me, but I never felt as though they wanted me to fail. When I did have "run ins", I found it best to address it with the instructor. Most of the time it was resolved with little to no fanfare.

NurseFifty · Sep 8, 2015

The manner in which people respond in this posts tells a lot. That is what I refer to as Professional demeanor. There is no need for ridicule, just treat everyine's response with respect. Don;t hide behind an anonymous handle to perpertuate the nurses' attitude that is being complained about by the OP in the first place.

All these reports about nursing instructors do happen. And you'd be disadvantaged in school if you closed your eyes. That doesnt mean you have to keep complaining about it. You have to work with it. Your goal while in school is to graduate and not be best friends with your nursing insutructors. They can act out the way they choose to, but think that in a few years you'd have the same RN license as they are!

As for RNs not being professionals and being rank and file, it would help if you look up the definiton of Professional Nursing. Be proud of your profession. Nobody will respect you if you do not respect yourself as an RN.

FlyingScot, RN · Sep 8, 2015

The manner in which people respond in this posts tells a lot. That is what I refer to as Professional demeanor. There is no need for ridicule, just treat everyine's response with respect. Don;t hide behind an anonymous handle to perpertuate the nurses' attitude that is being complained about by the OP in the first place.
All these reports about nursing instructors do happen. And you'd be disadvantaged in school if you closed your eyes. That doesnt mean you have to keep complaining about it. You have to work with it. Your goal while in school is to graduate and not be best friends with your nursing insutructors. They can act out the way they choose to, but think that in a few years you'd have the same RN license as they are!
As for RNs not being professionals and being rank and file, it would help if you look up the definiton of Professional Nursing. Be proud of your profession. Nobody will respect you if you do not respect yourself as an RN.

So. I looked back at every single post and nobody ridiculed the OP. Most of the posters just disagreed with the original premise that almost EVERY instructor wants to fail students.

Wave Watcher · Sep 9, 2015

Hey everyone,,,I just had a lightbulb go off in this feeble brain of mine!
I went to the wrong school! Thanks so much for all your answers and feedback !
I really appreciate it !

LOL Bless. Good luck. No, you picked the wrong profession. And you're welcome.

ladedah1, BSN, RN · Sep 9, 2015

I think that it is a matter of perception. During nursing school, yes, I believe there were certainly times when I thought "This B* wants to see us all fail!"... but in retrospective, I don't believe it is that simple. My description, throughout nursing school, when trying to form an analogy for others was always: "Nursing school is like mental boot camp." It is the Army (or marines or navy or air force or coast guard) for your mind. We are pushed and filled with knowledge to the furthermost capacity of our brain... often to the point of breaking. Yes, if you are on time, you are late; you must be super early to be earlier than on time... that answer may be right, but it is not the best answer... you are great at this but this other thing is what really matters... etc. You never feel good enough, question yourself at every turn, and wonder - by the time you reach your mental health rotation - if you are better off as a patient than the person assessing everyone else. But it all has a reason, I assure you.

What these instructors are preparing you for is the mental strain which will come with real life situations in your profession. They are preparing you for the very real consequences which will occur if you happen to be off your game for a single second - be it the patient's demise or your own.

The amount of time that I spent despising my instructors for their "unrealistic" expectations is absolutely nothing in comparison to the time that I've spent mentally thanking them at the conclusion of my education. I find myself endlessly grateful for who they have made me into with their crazy antics and the self doubt they've imposed. Those test questions that you deem unfair because you thought your answer was equally right? Try taking the NCLEX and you will wish the questions were so easy. I literally thought that I failed for two whole days when my test shut off at 75 questions... I could think of nothing other than the fact that I must have royally bombed it and that all of those stupid select all that apply questions didn't even compare to what I found on the official test... I thought, at that moment, that my instructors were actually too easy on us... until I realized that I passed with flying colors because of what I went through.

In clinic, when I received comment cards for seemingly stupid errors, I wished that they would have just talked to me; in the end, it was the harsh punishment that ensured I would never make the same mistake twice.... which then made me think in depth about every action I was performing... and in the end, I feel so much more competent for it.

You see, your instructors are not tough for the sake of being evil or vengeful or the fact that "those who cant do teach" - they are tough because that is what it takes to change a person's instincts from the inside out (remember operational conditioning? Remember the basic instinct to avoid pain (mental pain, in this case)?) They are reshaping your response mechanism; and this is something that you will highly value when you find yourself in a career. A patient cannot unexperience your mistakes. A doctor or coworker WILL make you feel stupid if you are not up to par. The legal process and your employer WILL hold you responsible for poor judgment. In this sense, when you have graduated and become responsible for your own actions, you will be grateful for the pain you are now experiencing and (likely unknowingly) referring onto your instructors. Give it time, my dear, for when you have completed this awful challenge, you will inevitably be proud of how strong you have become :)