Nursing Program from Hell

[cin808]

Hello All,

I am in my first semester of a community college ADN program. I selected this program because it is the only one in the area that offers an evening program and I really need to keep my day job. I worked hard to get there and now I'm terribly disappointed! The program is in transition (partnered with a local university). I know things will improve in time but for the remainder of the semester I need advice on how to handle things. Here are some of the issues my classmates and I are facing:

Disorganization!! Everything I read about how to survive nursing school suggests being organized. It's really difficulty to stay organized when the professor isn't. She uses Blackboard (bb) to post powerpoints and other assignments. She posts things haphazardly and at the last minute. Our lab instructors never seem to be prepared and rarely provide clear expectations so that we can succeed when it comes time to demonstrate skills/etc. We were given two case studies to practice doing shift reports for the first time. The pt's in these studies were absolute train wrecks! You name it, they had it and every conceivable problem that a nurse could encounter was included. I am not looking for easy or for someone to spoon feed me information. I do believe that you have to walk before you can run and so perhaps a less complicated case would be more appropriate so as to build a foundation on how to do report.

Lack of respect for student's time. We were told that a "lengthy" assignment would be posted on bb over the spring break. I looked everyday. Every day that passed I started to worry about having enough time to complete it as I was also preparing for an upcoming exam. Nothing was ever posted and nothing was communicated to us via email. She changed her mind and never bothered to tell us.

Poorly written exams. Oh boy. I wish I had some of the questions to share with you all. Many questions do not make sense and are not clear! Ugh. I know about Nclex questions and understand they are challenging, but at least they make sense! I don't know what she's doing. She clearly makes up her own questions and uses words that change the meaning or are not grammatically correct leaving me scratching my head, asking WTH??!! Fortunately, even though the tests are screwy, I am passing them.

Despite all these issues I am learning a lot. She is a very good lecturer. For that I am grateful. However, I am really concerned about our final. We do have one more exam before that, but the final is worth 30%!

I know that several students have complained to the Dean for a variety of things. I'm wondering, is it worth my efforts at this point? There are only six weeks left in the semester and I don't seem to be in any danger of failing, but the issues are stressful and cause anxiety. Especially the exams!

Any advice would be welcomed!

[Simplistic]

I would just let it go. If other people have already gone to the dean, and nothing has been done, than I dont really see what else you could do. Buckle down and get through it. Youre almost there!

[3ringnursing, BSN]

I agree. Just keep on doing what you are doing. If you can survive this I think you will be an excellent, resourceful nurse.

I graduated in December of 1993 - i.e., an eternity ago. I never stopped to actually appreciate the organization of it all.

Mind you, this was when computers were still in DOS format, and the internet was in it's infancy. Perhaps 5% of the population had home computers (which were huge). Cellphones didn't exist. We actually had to go the the library for research, and I remember using about a million nickels Xeroxing material you weren't allowed to check out. I paid a desktop publisher to typeset my papers. We had to take a class on computers (useless) before graduation because they predicted hospitals would eventually go this direction for charting. The day we changed over to computers from actual paper in the VA ICU I worked at was chaos - absolute bedlam …

Are you laughing yet?

You'll get there. A determined nurse always finds a way.

[cin808]

Thank you so much! I appreciate your response and, yes nursing school is so much easier and convenient in the 21st Century!

[cin808]

Im counting down the weeks and hoping next semester will be better! Thank you.