Nursing School: Self-Taught?

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Specializes in None.

Well I have been in Nursing school for a month now, and its been an eye opener. Both positive and negative. However, I wish the instructor would be more hands-on instead of us having to read and basically teach ourselves these skills.......is this the norm or is it just me?:sniff:

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I feel the same way!! I thought maybe it was just us. I realize that we can't be taught EVERYTHING, but I feel the important things that we are going to be tested on should be gone over in class. Hopefully we will get into the groove of how this whole "NS thing" goes....LOL We are having our first test on 20 main chapters, and 15 supplemental reading chapters Monday, wish me luck!!

Good luck to you!! Good luck to us all!!!

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Specializes in None.

OMG!??!!?!?!?!? 30 chapter test??!!?!?!? When I first saw that I cursed in my head then almost typed!!! Wow, I guess I won't be complaining about my work anymore. OH wow, I just sent a prayer up for you! Well hopefully we will get the hang of it, obviously we are not the only ones to embark on this nursing journey!!:yeah:

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Medsurg.

OMG i was so happy to read this thread. We thought that our program was the only one like this. We have lecture for 4 hours a week and so far (a month in) at least 1.5 of those hours has been "housekeeping" stuff (so and so still needs TB test etc.). I feel like we read and take notes and then the instructor just re-reads my notes back to me. No teaching. I feel like I could stay home to read and get the same benefit. Did manage an A on the first 20+ chapter test but it was all self-taught.

We did move into f/e and acid base balance this week and yesterday was the first informative lecture we have had. They brought someone in from Respiratory Therapy to talk to us LOL.

So glad I'm not alone.....maybe this is just the way NS is?

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Specializes in None.

LOL, one of my classmates said she might as well just stay home and only come to class and clinical on testing days since she was teaching herself!

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Specializes in E.R..

The way our school handles it, is they will go through the skill one time, and then you have to practice on your own time, before you check off. As for lectures, our teachers also pretty much just read off of P.P. slides. I think they expect you to be able to learn on your own, to prepare us for the real world. As others have said in the past, once we get out practicing as a nurse, we have to be able to find out information on our own.

I will say there have been many times where I didn't understand something, and I went up to the teachers after or before class and asked them to elaborate on what I didn't understand.:D

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LOL!!! Thanks....I need all the prayers I can get right now. Needless to say, my weekend will be spent hiding from my family looking for a quiet spot to read. Our class did think they may give a little review today, but no, not a thing!! Just some rules....no hints, no examples, no nothing. I guess it's do or die, huh? LOL.....

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I would be afraid of that program...I hope that everything works out for you....

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Specializes in LTC, wound care.

Wow. I feel for you. I start in a couple days, but you all are scaring me. All I can suggest is you students need to write reviews on

http://www.ratemyprofessor.com

so that other students can get a heads up on a particular instructor's teaching style. It would be great if there were such a place that kept comments and reviews for college nursing programs (a third party site, that was kept and maintained by someone not aligned with any college).

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Specializes in MS, ED.
The way our school handles it, is they will go through the skill one time, and then you have to practice on your own time, before you check off. As for lectures, our teachers also pretty much just read off of P.P. slides.

This was exactly how the first month went for me...

and then clinicals began.

If you can form a group to quiz each other and practice skills, I found it much more encouraging and supportive to get together one afternoon each week and run through things. With regards to the lectures read directly off notes or slides, I would listen with half an ear and draw up critical thinking concept sheets while the teacher was talking to make better use of the time. :rolleyes:

It does accelerate as you build on skills and go into the hospital, IME. A different instructor next semester may change things, too!

Best,

Southern

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

op: i am a nurse extern and 4th semester student right now. i learned that in nursing school and in the outside nursing world this is true for the most part. i was asked to perform skills several times i barely knew or never performed on a human. in some cases i had to teach myself on the fly. in other cases i only needed to refresh my memory. i noticed that rns are the same way because they have no choice! you will not be trained to do all the skills and tasks nurses must perform during nursing school. it is not possible. technology is always changing and directors of floors are always buying something new. :rolleyes:

on a brighter note, if you know your learning style then teaching yourself many skills should not be a problem. usually there are instructions, protocols, reference books, and possibly training. during and after nursing school, if all else fails ask for help. i also learned that no one is going to assume that you need help, especially clinical instructors. other students, faculty (not necessarily yours), cis (again, not necessarily yours), rns, etc. can be good resources too.

good luck and do not beat yourself up if you have trouble. practice until your hands know what to do even if your mind is scared to death and you should be fine. :twocents:

i'm getting closer and closer to graduation... :nurse:

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I graduated this summer, and the percentage of nursing school that was self-taught was very surprising to me. I don't mind being tested on something that wasn't covered in lecture - nursing was my second BS, and I'm accustomed to having to do all the reading in order to get the grade I want. However, the clinical skills...we'd get to practice things once in lab, we weren't allowed to come in on our own time, and we couldn't take equipment home. Then we were expected to not only remember all the steps when an opportunity to do the skill came up in clinical (sometimes MONTHS after we were checked off), we were expected to seek out those opportunities on our own. My school did "preceptored" clinicals, which meant that we had two instructors, 12 students, and 6-8 different floors - and that's if they weren't covering another group of 12 on the same day. Our instructors rounded on us, so in an 8-12 hour shift I would usually spend 10-15 minutes with one of them once (plus post-conference). My assigned nurse for the day was responsible for checking me off on skills, and I had to let him/her know what I was allowed to do and what I needed to practice. If you didn't want to learn it was pretty easy to slide by, but for those of who were go-getters it was actually a great experience.

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