I have spent the last 4 years trying to get into nursing school. I had to jump through many hoops and work really hard but I finally made it. While I was going through this process I met many incredulous folks who thought I was a slacker or something. Over and over people will ask "Why did you have such a hard time getting into nursing school when there's a nursing shortage."
I've tried explaining this until I'm blue in the face but people don't seem to get it. I'm not even sure I get it. Anyway, can any of you think of some way I can explain this so that people will understand?
In AZ, the process is computerized. Everyone has to send in their application along with records, fingerprint, ect in 1 weeks time. Then I guess a computer picks you or not pick you. I was also told the same story about not having enough facilities to cover the nursing students. There is one hospital here that just started taking students, because they did not want to waste their time, but now they are taking them because they are going to need nurses. I think it is sad when a facility gripes about not having the nurses to staff, but would not help in training them.
I am taking my final exam for an ADN program Friday (what am I doing reading posts on here!!!) and it has been a tough haul for all of us. We started with 48 students and for our final semester, we were combined with the LPN-Medic transitional class and we still have 48 students. Actually, 46, two have been dropped so far this semester. It's funny because I had a 3.9 GPA going into clinicals and now have about 3.65. Our college requires 76% to pass a class and I have a friend who has a 78% and ranks 31st in the class. Based on some quick math, it's likely our final exam on Friday will knock out at least 10 people. When I study my NCLEX prep book, I'm scoring in the high 80's, but not this semester. Is it that everything got so much harder? I think it's that the questions are written less professionally and our current professor is never wrong. In addition to 240 clinical hours this semester, we have had to write a critical care paper, in which more than 50% of the class failed after putting 30-50 hours into writing the paper. We had to give an oral presentation this week and again, the scores were not generous. According to our syllabus, we wrote a resume for 10 points but now we are informed that the resume is not worth any points. Since it is a community college and the average age of the student is over 30, what is the likelihood that we haven't written resumes before? We are all fuming mad about the resume points. If it isn't worth points for a class, why did we have to do it? We are all incredibly stressed out going into the final. Several students plan to take their critical care paper to the dean, and some are planning to take their oral presentation to the dean. I'm sitting at 81% so I just have to get a good enough score to make an overall of 76% to graduate. I have no doubt that those of us who pull through this semester will pass the NCLEX with no problems! I feel sorry for those who are behind me. I will say this for my program--even though it is rigorous, the local university nurses are less prepared for nursing and less prepared for the NCLEX than we are. Local hospitals prefer my ADN degree in a graduate nurse because we don't have to be trained. The BSN degree from the local U has students graduating who have never read a telemetry strip or started an IV in their clinicals.
One of our biggest problems here in CA is that there are a lack of clinical training facitlites. This severely reduces the number of students that programs can accept.
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, there is no shortage of nurses here in Erie, Pa.. There are 2 schools that are putting out a minimum of 125 LPN's/year, and three schools that are putting out RN's via the 2 and 4 year degree route. I currently work in acute care in med/surg and our floor has a full staff for the first time in quite a long time. They have been turning away applicants and there are very few places for these grad's to go unless they go agency. Right now Im thinking that, if you follow a standard business model, with the avaliability of applicants wages and benefits will probably stagnate at worst and shrink in the long run. Im thinking I need to move to a larger market to move up the ladder, cause things dont look good from here.................
that is also true in my area. There are five nursing programs competing for space in roughly four hospitals. Some days students are tripping over staff and each other because there might be students from 3 schools on one 40 bed unit.
Here's an unvarnished truth. I teach for a small LPN program in NY. Our school is likely to close soon. We have had a running ad for instructors and NO applicants. The nurse hired by miracle last year, resigned for full time pay and benefits. Her work load was just divvied up between the boss and two of us remaining. I make about $8 an hour because I so truly love what I do, and this is where my heart is. My paycheck stub says I make $19.75/hr after almost 14 years of teaching. If I teach a 6 hour class, 6 hours pay. No paid office time, no lesson prep time, no test formatting time, no homework correction time, no test grading time. Student issues, (and trust me, our students come to school with far more issues than ever before), are handled walking down the halls, on my lunch and coffee breaks, oh, and by the way, that's when we often have faculty meetings. This month's kicker? A local nursing home, because of our area's critical staff shortages, is paying their Per diem LPN's $19.97/hr. Do the math, and after 30 years as a nurse, I am tired. And, I teach pediatrics, and the point to acedemic failure is NOT to do a disservice to our students. Yes, the classes are tough. I could make a test that every student would pass happily, and earn Teacher of the Week. But no one would pass their NCLEX, and what kind of nurses do we deserve to have at the bedside, taking care of OUR loved ones, and us......? In NY state, the NCLEX is being written with tougher, more complex questions, with an industry acknowledgement that the passing rate will DROP! ATruth, disussed at the NYS education conference 2 years ago. Not to make the nurse shortage worse.. but to address the reality of increased med and procedure errors, and the growing cost of liability.Our nurse workload is what is driving me out of our profession.
that is also true in my area. There are five nursing programs competing for space in roughly four hospitals. Some days students are tripping over staff and each other because there might be students from 3 schools on one 40 bed unit.
Same thing here in Tampa. There are only 5-6 teaching hospitals in the area, but they are dealing with students from 2 universities and about 4 community colleges. They all need staff I'm sure, but after attending an info session at USF, I was told that limited # of slots at the hospitals are the biggest problem.
Don't you think that continuing a shortage of nurses is what increases the med and procedural errors? Half the nurses I have encountered couldn't pass my level one clinical exams and I am not being unkind. Passing those exams doesn't make one a better nurse or a more critical thinker. Add to that the fact that one local hospital has eliminated all LPN's that are not currently going for RN and another hospital uses LPN's as Aides who occasionally will pass an oral med. Even at the hospital where I work, an LPN is interchangeable with an Aide for staffing levels. Most of the students going for LPN are doing so as a ladder program in our area. LPN's are going to either be glorified aides or work at doctor's offices. I personally am working on my RN, never been an LPN, but I feel sorry for the LPN's right now. I don't think that shutting out a portion of the nursing population is going to improve patient care at all!
Well I believe the inability to get into school is directly related to faculty pay. Teaching is tough and there are so many options for nurses. If you have to work hard you might as well get the most bang for your buck. I don't believe that statistics bear out that we have a nursing shortage. We have thousands of nurses who choose not to work in nursing professions and particularly choose not to work in hospitals. The average age of a nurse in our country is 45-46 years old. We are no spring chickens. The lifting alone can be daunting as our hospital patients become sicker and heavier every day. Increasing pay is one way to solve the problem. Hospitals investing in mechanized lifting equipment is another.
I did not realize that there were any schools who were strictly "first come, first served". That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Yeah, that's how they do it at my school in MS. Just first come. Although, you do have to have passed (made at least a C in) Eng I, A&P I, Psych I, and passed the Nursing Entrance Test (tests reading ability and math skills). Also, you have to have at least a composite score of 18 on the ACT. I guess that kind of weeds out the totally hopeless. There is no GPA requirement to get in, or at least, you only have to have a 2.5 to apply, so it is not high. But again, these qualifiers will at least keep the bottom of the barrel from getting in.
I have spent the last 4 years trying to get into nursing school. I had to jump through many hoops and work really hard but I finally made it. While I was going through this process I met many incredulous folks who thought I was a slacker or something. Over and over people will ask "Why did you have such a hard time getting into nursing school when there's a nursing shortage."
I've tried explaining this until I'm blue in the face but people don't seem to get it. I'm not even sure I get it. Anyway, can any of you think of some way I can explain this so that people will understand?
Thank you.
NatKat,
I think it's a true shame we can not get more people into nursing schools so we can have more nurses at the bedside taking care of sick people.
So glad you finally made into school and your dedication to getting accepted shows your commitment to nursing. Good luck with school.
I am in a MSN program now to get a degree in Nursing education. One problem with nursing schools is not enough nursing instructors to teach new nursing students. We have to fix this problem as well.
In my lovely school, they don't even look at your grades when applying into the program. You need to do extrememly well on an entrance exam. The entrance exam is sort of like a college placement test. It has an English section and a Math section. You need to shine on both sections and then once you do that then they look at your grades.
I haven't sat for the test yet b/c i am still taking pre-reqs, but i find it rediculous that they base you getting into the program on how well you do on an english / math test. I agree that they should look at your grades and if you have done well in your sciences and those related subjects they should consider you. They should also interview you. That way they can get a sense of your personality and why you want to become a nurse. But God Forbid they talk to the individuals! Now that would be too much work.
wimpy
24 Posts
In AZ, the process is computerized. Everyone has to send in their application along with records, fingerprint, ect in 1 weeks time. Then I guess a computer picks you or not pick you. I was also told the same story about not having enough facilities to cover the nursing students. There is one hospital here that just started taking students, because they did not want to waste their time, but now they are taking them because they are going to need nurses. I think it is sad when a facility gripes about not having the nurses to staff, but would not help in training them.