Nursing School Horrors

[jrosemoore, MSN, RN]

I am currently in RN school for an associate degree and may graduate May 2011. Last semester alot of the students complained about a particular instructor and her inability to run a smooth class. It was brought to the attention of our Department head and still nothing was done to replace her or reprimand her. She is on tenure. Here are some specific examples of her teaching deficients:

1. Her tests are not based off of book knowledge but rather on HER opinion of what is correct. If you want to pass then you best guess what she would answer.

2. She made us do concept maps but never gave us an example or taught us how to do them.

3. She never showed us how to do a physical assessment of a patient on our clinical days, much less anything else for clinicals.

4. She has been curving our grades significantly so we will pass.

As an another example, one of my male classmates had called me asking if I passed. I told him yes and then he asked about a few friends who had also passed. He told me he hadn't made it...but then the next day told me he had. He said he talked to the instructor and to quote him, "they really just want to get people through and will find ways."

These are not ALL the examples of what she has been doing. There are worse and many, my brain is just rather clouded from sleep.

Many of my classmates and myself included are very worried. She is "educating" us every semester but we feel that we are not learning anything or retaining knowledge. When we do graduate we are not sure we will pass the NCLEX because of the poor limits set on this program. I am scared. Is there something I could do to bring it to the attention of the Board of Nursing or at least the school?

This program is falling through and shouldn't be continued. Yes, we need to educate as many people to become nurses in a short time frame because the world needs nurses BUT we are guaranteed to make mistakes if we do not have the knowledge or the smarts to do the tasks that nursing asks of us. Any input?

[itsmejuli]

If it were me I'd quit the program and go elsewhere.

I expect to get what I paid for, a proper education. I'm not going to fork out thousands of dollars for a lousy education anywhere.

Buyer beware!

[tammikins]

We had similar incidents at our school. However, no one in our class got their grades curved. Some exams had an average of 40%, and people failed. So consider yourself lucky. Sorry to come off harsh, but the reality is that they're the ones giving you your degree, so you have to play by their rules. We learned early on that if you want to succeed, you need to take all the criticism thats thrown at you, and just fly under the radar.

[BellasMommyOBRN]

i agree with the above poster. as i was reading your post i started thinking, "yea...and?that's my nursing school too!"

however when i came across that grades were being curved, well, that in itself isn't safe and i wouldn't want any part of it.

it's old news that teachers like to throw in questions and have them graded based on their opinion, don't teach us enough, don't show us enough, etc.. but they shouldn't be allowing students through that haven't rightfully passed.

[Charlie0413]

I thought the same thing as previous posters WELCOME TO NURSING SCHOOL!

[Moogie]

1. Her tests are not based off of book knowledge but rather on HER opinion of what is correct. If you want to pass then you best guess what she would answer.

A good nursing instructor knows that he/she is NOT the absolute authority and should be the first person to check the accuracy of what he/she is teaching. I would be very afraid of a nursing instructor (or a practicing nurse) who thinks he/she knows all the answers and does not look anything up in a book or the current literature.

2. She made us do concept maps but never gave us an example or taught us how to do them.

3. She never showed us how to do a physical assessment of a patient on our clinical days, much less anything else for clinicals.

4. She has been curving our grades significantly so we will pass.

As an another example, one of my male classmates had called me asking if I passed. I told him yes and then he asked about a few friends who had also passed. He told me he hadn't made it...but then the next day told me he had. He said he talked to the instructor and to quote him, "they really just want to get people through and will find ways."

Not doing anyone any favors. I mean, it's wrong to fail students simply because an instructor is a hard-*** but there are some people who simply aren't cut out for nursing. Are they going to waste their time and money finishing this program and trying multiple times to pass NCLEX without success? And what about their job prospects?

May I ask---is this program through a proprietary school, a private college or a state community college/technical school, college or university? Is this an accredited school?

These are not ALL the examples of what she has been doing. There are worse and many, my brain is just rather clouded from sleep.

Many of my classmates and myself included are very worried. She is "educating" us every semester but we feel that we are not learning anything or retaining knowledge. When we do graduate we are not sure we will pass the NCLEX because of the poor limits set on this program. I am scared. Is there something I could do to bring it to the attention of the Board of Nursing or at least the school?

I'm sorry, but I not sure I understand you here. When you say this instructor is "educating" you every semester, do you mean to say she's the ONLY instructor you have throughout the entire program or does she teach only some of the classes or clinicals?

This program is falling through and shouldn't be continued. Yes, we need to educate as many people to become nurses in a short time frame because the world needs nurses BUT we are guaranteed to make mistakes if we do not have the knowledge or the smarts to do the tasks that nursing asks of us. Any input?

I respectfully disagree with you on this one; yes, the world does need nurses but right now there is a nursing overage and many new graduates and experienced nurses cannot find employment. The overage/shortage thing is cyclical and eventually there will be a shortage again but for right now, it's not all that necessary to churn out new nurses in a short period of time.

On the other hand, if you're not getting an appropriate education, it doesn't matter if there's a shortage or an overage. If employers are currently not aware that the graduates of this particular program are not qualified to work when they finish, the reputation of the program will be made known soon enough and it may be difficult for anyone who has been educated there to get a job in the future.

Definitely speak to the dean or director about your concerns. Document, document, document with dates and specific examples. Make sure you go in a group; there is power in numbers. If you don't get a satisfactory resolution to your concerns, it might be worth your while to take this to a higher educational authority or your state nursing board.

If things are as bad as you say and you do not feel that you are not getting an adequate education that will prepare you to become an RN, you may wish to look into a different program STAT. I know, it's not pleasant to have to drop out and start over when you are so close to finishing, but if you don't feel you're getting an education and things are this bad, you might be doing yourself a favor. BTW, if you do choose to finish this program, do start checking into a BSN program as you might learn things in that program that you did not learn in this one.

Best of luck to you. I am sorry you and your classmates are in this situation.

[missy--kay]

If it were me I'd quit the program and go elsewhere.

I expect to get what I paid for, a proper education. I'm not going to fork out thousands of dollars for a lousy education anywhere.

Buyer beware!

Really, you'd just drop out and quit over one instructor? When some students wait for YEARS for their name to come up on a waiting list. Every student (including myself) has had their fair share of lousy instructors. If it's not an instructor, it'll be a boss...

OP, hang in there and just get through it!!! Welcome to nursing school!!!

[nneokill175]

i wish i got curving at my program...

[BellasMommyOBRN]

i wish i got curving at my program...

as a possible future patient, i wish no one did

[Moogie]

Really, you'd just drop out and quit over one instructor? When some students wait for YEARS for their name to come up on a waiting list. Every student (including myself) has had their fair share of lousy instructors. If it's not an instructor, it'll be a boss...

OP, hang in there and just get through it!!! Welcome to nursing school!!!

If it's a question of not getting along with one instructor, yes, you are right, the best action might be to suck it up and get through the ordeal. However, if this is an issue with a consistently bad program with a history of passing students who would be flunked out in other programs and letting students graduate when they are in no way prepared to work or take NCLEX, it might be in the OP's best interest to look elsewhere.

As you said, nursing programs are in high demand right now and many programs have long waiting lists. On the other hand, why should any student settle for a mediocre education? Some of these schools are very aware that they are delivering a shoddy product and that their curricula is inferior and yet no one does anything because for every student they lose, there are others to take his/her place.

When students apply for nursing programs, they need to look at many factors including percentage of graduates who find jobs and who pass NCLEX on the first try, reputation of the school among health care facilities and attrition rates. An extremely high attrition rate might indicate problems with either the admission process or a mindset of "weeding out" students; a unusually low attrition rate, on the other hand, might indicate that faculty are encouraged to pass students who would otherwise fail because the school can't make money on dropouts.

I was a clinical instructor at a state university and served on the admissions and retention committee. While some instructors may be hardcore and others more lenient, reputable schools of nursing have set academic standards and policies that serve as guidelines for student retention. I have bent over backwards to help students who had difficulty in their classes and might have failed a course by a few points. Frankly, I don't believe in a capricious "weeding out" process because I think schools should weed out potential problem students before they're admitted---but I don't buy into the notion of retaining students who don't have the capacity to pass NCLEX or practice safely simply so the school can make money.

There are tremendous differences between the normal stress that one encounters in any type of nursing program and the stress of being stuck in a BAD program. Bad instructors happen even in good programs. But if the entire program is bad and the students are aware of this when they're in the program, they might be wise to cut their losses and try to get in elsewhere. It's far better to be waitlisted or have to start all over than to go through an entire program that one does not feel provides an adequate education or might actually harm one's chances for employment or further education in the future.

[pezamistik]

He said he talked to the instructor and to quote him, "they really just want to get people through and will find ways."

That is a scary statement. If they pad the grades to get people through, what are these students going to do when it comes time to take the NCLEX?

Speaking of which, what is their NCLEX pass rate? That is something that should be taken into consideration when you start a program, IMHO.

[Nicole2010]

It sounds like my nursing program. Really, at the end of the day you have to take control of your education. I have had teachers that the students have complained about, but those teachers will never be fired. So if you're not being taught something, use your resources & learn it. There are a ton of videos on how to do assessments and what not. I'm not trying to be mean, but instead of complaining about it...do something about it!