Just my opinion, but schools make it easy harder than it has to be. You can't be a minute late, your uniform had better have 1980's creases, your hair band has to match your hair, some require you to make cards for the drugs you give, you have to plaster on a fake smile, and Heaven forbid you question someone. We had to call everyone at the college by their last names, even classmates. Its ridiculous. Nursing isn't what it was back in Florence's time. Nurse rarely get respect, I've seen doctors and surgeons literally cuss nurses into a corner and nothing is done. Why would anyone want to be a nurse? It's all about covering your butt and throwing others under the bus. Where I work, nurses all seem to hate each other. Constant negativity and complaining about everyone else. Can we please have a nursing school that focuses on the important things, such as giving medications, knowing correct sites for injections, drugs, antidotes and what drugs do to the body, instead of worrying about not having the proper colored hair tie? I had an instructor literally grab my cartilage ring one day because it is small and I had forgotten to take out out. Can someone please explain why it is important to remove an earring to take a test? I've seen people kicked out for forgetting a paper in their vehicle. It seems it would make more sense to allow a person to retrieve a paper from a vehicle than to ruin their career plans because an instructor is on a power trip. Nursing school is no joke, it's cut throat and I don't feel it has to be. You spend way too much time stressing over non-profit critical things and way too little on the big stuff. We were never taught how to do a medication pass, told nothing about narcotics and counting them, not taught how to call a doctor, not taught how to handle families, but we were taught how to "be professional". It's insane how much unnecessary stress is placed on nursing students and how many have been kicked out over small trivial matters. It makes me sick.
If nursing school was too hard for no reason then there would be no nurses to take care of patients. I work FT in a hospital and I also am an adjunct clinical instructor. Both jobs are demanding and challenging. I go back and forth as to which one is more difficult.
In regards to why the instructors are "nit-picky" or whatever else you have referred to them as, it is called holding the students accountable. I do not treat students like children unless they act like children. For instance the first day of clinical I had a student stroll in 18 minutes late laughing, interrupting orientation, not calling ahead of time to say she is running late, and not take accountability for being late. I sent her home immediately, which counts as an absence. Being late is unprofessional and disrespectful to both the instructor and the other students. Also, the rule applies give and inch and take a mile. If I had allowed to the student to come late that one day then its a free for all for all the other students.
The rules are clearly written in the policies and clinical expectations. To be in nursing school you are an adult. Act like it and take accountability for your actions. I am not your parent and do not want to or expect to hold your hand to pull you through nursing school. Yes I will encourage you, educate you, and try and motivate you. However, as the student you must show accountability and professionalism to make it. At the start of every clinical I tell my students: "Nursing is a profession not a job. If you are just looking for a pay check you are in the wrong place".
I may seem harsh but I am very understanding to my students. I take extra time where they need it. I always encourage questions. I tell them from the beginning how to succeed in clinical and I follow through with what I say. Instructors are NOT friends and it would be unprofessional for them to act that way.
Just thought I'd thrown my two cents in...I personally would want a nurse that could follow rules,directions, policies with a positive attitude rather than the grumpy nurse that complains about dress code and policies. Someone that follows the rules seems more reliable to me when it has to deal with someone's health. I've read an article where yes, the instructors are trying to weed you out(not sure if this is true since I'm about to start and if it's true everywhere). The thing is not everyone can be a nurse, just bc you got into the program doesn't mean you're good and going to be a nurse. It's hard but because you're dealing with someone's life. I'm starting nursing school & will not push buttons and keep a smile on my face even when it's hard. Why? Because I'm proud to be a nursing student & get to learn in the best medical center and I'm grateful for that so if my instructor wants something as small as my hair tie to match my hair, my hair tie will.
Maybe I have no business replying because I haven't had a nursing class yet, and my school is really good.
I just read this though and asked myself how would I feel. I honestly don't think I'd have a problem as long as I knew what the regulations/rules were coming into it. (I am thinking that once a nurse, I'd have a lot of coworkers who I'd call by their first name and vice versa though...) So what I think is you just needed to vent. Which is fine imo.
It sounds like the problem is the OP's specific program and not "nursing school" in general. I had ZERO experiences similar to those described in the OP while in school. I had to take a medical LOA my sophomore year, the Dean understood and signed my form with minimal questions. She communicated with me regularly while I was out and once my paperwork to return was complete, cleared me to register for next semester. When my grandfather died my junior year, his funeral was scheduled for the day of a test. The Dean excused me from the test and told the instructor that she was to let me make it up. My clinical instructor told me not to come to clinical the day after his funeral because she didn't want me caring for an elderly gentleman in a med/surg clinical 4 days after I watched my grandfather die.
I have not called anyone "Mr" or "Ms" so in so since high school and, even then, we called our school nurse by her first name. In college, most of my professors and all of my nursing professors preferred to be called by their first name. Clinical instructors and certainly classmates were always first name only. When I worked per diem in a boarding school, I cringed at the idea of the students calling me "Ms. Last Name." Other than teachers, I've honestly never called anyone Mr. or Mrs. Anything. I grew up calling all friends' parents by their first names and only called them Mr or Mrs Last Name once before I was told to call them by first name. My 2 and 3 year old patients call me by first name and I would never dream of them calling me anything else. I can't imagine anyone being told to call a nursing colleague by last name up here. The only time I can see ANYONE in my area doing it is one teacher talking about another teacher to children.
What gives instructors the knowledge to "weed students out"? I can understand if someone were not being safe or doing something that could harm a patient. However, my experience tells me that some instructors "weed people out" simply because they can. If you rock the boat at all, ask a question they don't like it whatever, they have it out for you and will get you out of the program at all costs. I for one won't be going back for a higher degree for this reason.
Some of us may be a little unconventional, but it takes all kinds. Our class had older people, younger people, experienced and lay people, tattooed people, religious and non-religious, different cultures, different views, but all intelligent people. My point is that you can't judge everyone by the same token. There's a cartoon somewhere with a giraffe, a fish in a bowl, an elephant and a monkey. They are told to climb a tree or they are stupid. Not every animal can climb a tree, but they all have their own skill sets. It takes all kinds. Old, young, tall, short, you get my point.
Some of us may be a little unconventional, but it takes all kinds. Our class had older people, younger people, experienced and lay people, tattooed people, religious and non-religious, different cultures, different views, but all intelligent people. My point is that you can't judge everyone by the same token. There's a cartoon somewhere with a giraffe, a fish in a bowl, an elephant and a monkey. They are told to climb a tree or they are stupid. Not every animal can climb a tree, but they all have their own skill sets. It takes all kinds. Old, young, tall, short, you get my point.
Ah, yes, but you don't get ours. There is a certain minimum skill set for entry into nursing practice, and just as everyone can't climb a tree, everyone can't (or won't) succeed at mastering it. Not everyone is cut out for it. If you're not a monkey, you'll find something else to do.
As to your previous post about what gives faculty the knowledge to make the decision to pass or fail students who can't or won't master that basic skill set (which, BTW, has less to do with age, skin adornment, religiosity, or culture than with willingness to learn it), that should be obvious. At some point in your life you may find yourself in a position or responsibility to do that, too, to teach and evaluate who's ready to go on and who's not, and perhaps you'll get it then.
I saw the title and thought I would find someone whining about failing classes with less than an 80%, being dropped from the program after two failed classes, having to write papers in APA format, etc. I have a special, angry place in my heart for lazy nursing students who don't take their education seriously, who try to skate by on the minimum required, with no consideration of the fact that they'll be making life and death decisions after graduations, and that C+ nursing care kills people.
But man alive that is some serious bull&^$% you had to deal with, and if it really is like you tell, then you have every right to feel robbed. Please know that this is not normal, and that those instructors and the environment they created are not representative of what nursing education can and should be. If you aren't completely soured on being a nurse, take some time to look around and find a quality program. Make certain to talk to current and former students. It really doesn't have to be like that ..
I agree! I got a zero on a quiz because I took 1 day off when my mother and mother-in-law died in the same week. They literally wanted me to come in and take the quiz and go back home. For Real??? My mother just freaking died. I also agree about focusing on all the silly things instead of the important ones. Our first day of clinicals, one of the students got lost and came in at literally 7:03 and was sent home! We weren't even in the classroom yet! We were putting our lunches in the break room. How ridiculous is that. As much as it breaks my heart to give up a lifelong dream, I'm seriously considering withdrawing from nursing school!
I'm sorry for your losses; I cannot imagine what it would be in your shoes where two family members die in the same week. Yes, my first thought is the school should accommodate for the death of any family members.
In terms of being on time, that's a different story. It's called being professional. Employers expect their employees to be on time. If that was our school, if the time to be there was 7:00 (class room or not, if the time was 7:00), then anyone coming in at 7:00:01 would get sent home with an academic deficiency. That's why a lot of us at our school show up 15 minutes early (in the very least) with some of us showing up 45 minutes early.
QuietRiot
292 Posts
Have an aunt who's a nurse and her husband is a doctor. What they both seem to agree on is
As far as added unnecessary rules and drama..Nursing school wins. And they both seem to contribute it to "Cattiness"- Female drama.