Nursing students and their bad behaviors >:(

[PrettyNerd]

Hi allnurses! :)

So, I've been wanting to write this for a really long time now, I just want to vent.

I'm currently in my last semester of nursing school, then I graduate, yay me!

I believe nursing school is an awesome experience that a lot of people work really hard to get into, and sometimes we may get rejected a few times before we finally get accepted into a program. Nursing school is NOT easy to get into, therefore, we should appreciate every moment that we spend in it, doing homework, studying, waking up early, going to clinicals, just embrace it! We worked so hard to get into this program, this will pay off in the end and it will be a huge accomplishment.

Ok so I want to get this off my chest and vent because sometimes my classmates really annoy me!

1. There's that one student that is always coming to class late, not 5-10 minutes, like (literally) an hour late! - NO!!! How is that you are always running that late?! I know she has kids but other students have kids and they manage their time and have everything set to get to class on time. Being constantly late, is unprofessional and irresponsible, not what you want to be in nursing school.

2. There's the students that are always wanting to change the schedule (that's already been set up for us by the instructors), change the rules, or complain about everything to the instructors- For example, if something on the schedule doesn't work for THEM, they go to the instructor and they make them change everything for the class. I look at the schedule and plan things around it, I never think "Hmmm, that assignment doesn't work for me on that day, I have to talk to my instructor". Be responsible and manage your time, the schedule/assignments are set up for us so we know what is due and when. DO YOUR WORK AND STOP COMPLAINING!

3. There's the students that don't like to wear their nursing uniform, what??- We earned that uniform! like I said, I know a lot of people that wish they can be in the program and wear the scrubs we wear with the school's name on it. We deserve to own it and show everyone that we are nursing students.

4. Like #2, we have student's that like to disobey the rules that are set for us. We are not allowed to wear nail polish or have long nails, yet some girls are still doing it regardless, like they think it's no big deal. You need to start acting and presenting yourself as professionals, those are cute on special occasions, but NOT for clinical.

5. There's one student that (I see) disrespects, and intimidates the instructors. She complains about everything and wants things done HER way. She gives the instructors a mean look and is very outspoken about how she wants things to be done (like #2). First of all, RESPECT your instructors, yea they are strict but it's for a good reason, they are teaching us how to be good, competent nurses. Second, Don't try to make things easy because you can't handle the hard work. I've never complained to the instructors because the work was too hard, and I've gotten very good grades thus far!

6. There's people that don't pay attention during lecture! This irritates me! I see them going on different websites in their laptops, then during break or after class, they say "so what were we talking about?" :facepalm:I'm not even joking! During clinical, a student asked what was a [certain condition we talked about in class]....ummm, we had a whole hour lecture on this condition and she didn't know what it was.

7. This is the one I HATE the most! People that want to copy your work. I don't agree with cheating or copying. I don't believe it's right that I worked so hard on an assignment, put the time and effort into it, and then have someone ask me to let them "borrow" it, when they clearly haven't done their work. I also had a student TELL ME after we were done with our midterm that she tried looking at my answers because she didn't know what one of the answers was. She keeps asking for my assignments but I don't understand! We are about to graduate, we are about to be nurses, WORK for it, Oh but she gets mad when I don't give it.

8. The people that look for all the answers online instead of in the book....where they are whenever we have online assignments/quizzes, not only do they look online for the answers (without reading and understanding it from the book) but they pass it around to the class, so NO ONE does the work, they just copy and don't understand the material.

Anyway, that's it for now, this is already too long.

Just wanted to let you guys know that as nursing students we need to work hard, understand the material, read, be organized, ask questions, respect and appreciate the instructors, we are held to a higher standard!

I just feel like I don't have a reason to complain, I knew this was going to be hard, and I'm enjoying and embracing every aspect of nursing school.

Do you guys have people like these in class?

[AspiringNurseMW]

I agree with absolutely everything :) ...except for #1.

I feel that we don't have the right to judge nursing students with children that are late to class... They are probably getting their kids to school, rushing to class, working full-time, and barely making ends meet for all we know. Having one kid is a full-time job in itself.

I personally know a wonderful student with 3 children. She is frequently late because she has to take her kids to school, but she works very hard and achieves good grades.

That's still not acceptable. Nor is it an excuse. I have 2 kids and work with you no family/friends to help, just my husband, and get to class ON TIME.

And employer is not going to accept frequent lateness, why should the school. It's disrespectful, and part of being a grown up is figuring out how to solve those kinds of problems.

[AspiringNurseMW]

WHERE do you people go to school?!! None of that ish would fly at my community college at all.

There is ZERO tolerance for frequent lateness (ESPECIALLY my current med surg teacher)

We love our uniforms/scrubs especially compared to what the previous cohorts had to wear.

Our teachers have backbones. They don't change anything for anyone (except maybe the new clinical instructors).

I don't think anyone in my class feels like they can afford to not pay attention. And if people ask for help, it's because they want to understand the content, not copy you.

Seriously, this is an accredited program with good nclex pass rates? That's scary! The staff needs some backbone!

[CelticGoddess, BSN, RN]

I agree with absolutely everything :) ...except for #1.

I feel that we don't have the right to judge nursing students with children that are late to class... They are probably getting their kids to school, rushing to class, working full-time, and barely making ends meet for all we know. Having one kid is a full-time job in itself.

I personally know a wonderful student with 3 children. She is frequently late because she has to take her kids to school, but she works very hard and achieves good grades.

When you are the off going nurse and you have to wait 1 to2 hours for you relief to show up, do you honestly think you are still going to feel this way? I seriously doubt it. And I do NOT like to work with others who are late all the time because until they show up, the other nurses and I are responsible for their patients. We have far to much to do to care for our own patients let alone have our assignment increased because of that one nurse who can't be to work on time.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

I agree with absolutely everything :) ...except for #1.

I feel that we don't have the right to judge nursing students with children that are late to class... They are probably getting their kids to school, rushing to class, working full-time, and barely making ends meet for all we know. Having one kid is a full-time job in itself.

I personally know a wonderful student with 3 children. She is frequently late because she has to take her kids to school, but she works very hard and achieves good grades.

I have 2 children, and balancing my school versus getting them ready for their school was ... interesting. And, yup, there were (and are) a lot of crazy, rushed mornings. Welcome to parenthood. Just because I'm a mom doesn't give me an automatic go-ahead to be late to class. It just means I organize my time -- get things ready the night before (pack lunches, set out clothes, have bags packed and by the door), set alarm wicked early, etc.

And, no. My husband is not around to help out. I'm on my own.

It drives me nuts to hear this justification that, because someone has kids, they have the automatic a-ok to be late. No no no no no ... it's part of your responsibility of being a student, and then later being a nurse.

[milesims]

When you are the off going nurse and you have to wait 1 to2 hours for you relief to show up, do you honestly think you are still going to feel this way? I seriously doubt it. And I do NOT like to work with others who are late all the time because until they show up, the other nurses and I are responsible for their patients. We have far to much to do to care for our own patients let alone have our assignment increased because of that one nurse who can't be to work on time.

Excuse me, but showing up to class and showing up to clinical are two completely different things. You're getting paid to show up on the floor, and tardiness is not acceptable due to obvious reasons. You're paying for your classes, so it's your choice whether to show up late, early, or not at all. And frankly, many professors do not care (at least at my university).

It does you no harm whatsoever if a student with however many kids and/or jobs shows up late to class, and I honestly can't blame them. I think people with children will more likely show up to their job, which PAYS, on time since they have a family to support, and less likely to show up to class because of the same reason.

[milesims]

I have 2 children, and balancing my school versus getting them ready for their school was ... interesting. And, yup, there were (and are) a lot of crazy, rushed mornings. Welcome to parenthood. Just because I'm a mom doesn't give me an automatic go-ahead to be late to class. It just means I organize my time -- get things ready the night before (pack lunches, set out clothes, have bags packed and by the door), set alarm wicked early, etc.

And, no. My husband is not around to help out. I'm on my own.

It drives me nuts to hear this justification that, because someone has kids, they have the automatic a-ok to be late. No no no no no ... it's part of your responsibility of being a student, and then later being a nurse.

It is very admirable that you were able to balance your schooling and your children at the same time. However, I don't think that because somebody else can do it, like yourself, that it can apply to everyone. I believe we shouldn't be so judgmental.

I worked 40 hours a week while in school, got straight As, and came to class on time. However, I don't expect everyone else to be able to do this, since life is so complex and we never know what troubles other people have.

It definitely is a responsibility, but it's not a necessity to show up to class like it is to show up on the floor. Since the floor pays and class takes money from you.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

WHERE do you people go to school?!! None of that ish would fly at my community college at all.

There is ZERO tolerance for frequent lateness (ESPECIALLY my current med surg teacher)

Now obviously I graduated 19 years ago, but I wonder too about where some of y'all are going to nursing school? Because there is NO way any of the things mentioned would have been tolerated.

It sounds like the teachers are just not as firm about the rules like they used to be . . . maybe a sign of the times??

Having kids was no excuse for not meeting your obligations as a nursing student. And you do have obligations.

[milesims]

Now obviously I graduated 19 years ago, but I wonder too about where some of y'all are going to nursing school? Because there is NO way any of the things mentioned would have been tolerated.

It sounds like the teachers are just not as firm about the rules like they used to be . . . maybe a sign of the times??

Having kids was no excuse for not meeting your obligations as a nursing student. And you do have obligations.

What rules did you have in school regarding tardiness?.. In any university program in Canada, they can't do anything if you show up late to class or not show up at all, since this isn't high school and they expect you to have the responsibility to show up. They don't take attendance, and they're not going to kick a student out for being late..

The only exception is clinical, where if you're late even once, they can fail you for the year. Which is understandable, unless under an emergency circumstance.

And I can understand why people with children don't go above and beyond by showing up on time, or even showing up at all. It's not a requirement to show up to class, and you can learn easily from the textbook.

It certainly is an obligation, but who are you to judge? I know students who never show up and get straight As from reading the textbook. To each his own.

[SarahStoddard14]

What nursing school allows you to be that late..? In my school being 15 minutes late 2 times is an absence. And 3 absences you're out. I can relate to a lot of your rant. ..And there's always that one person who asks the same question that the professor just went over lol. Never fails.

[Purple_roses]

WHERE do you people go to school?!! None of that ish would fly at my community college at all.

There is ZERO tolerance for frequent lateness (ESPECIALLY my current med surg teacher)

We love our uniforms/scrubs especially compared to what the previous cohorts had to wear.

Our teachers have backbones. They don't change anything for anyone (except maybe the new clinical instructors).

I don't think anyone in my class feels like they can afford to not pay attention. And if people ask for help, it's because they want to understand the content, not copy you.

Seriously, this is an accredited program with good nclex pass rates? That's scary! The staff needs some backbone!

The people in my class only did this for the instructor who had just started teaching at our particular nursing school. They don't dare try any of these shenanigans with the experienced instructors. Which speaks volumes for the character of those students. I think it's borderline bullying when you take advantage of an instructor because you know they're new.

[AspiringNurseMW]

Excuse me, but showing up to class and showing up to clinical are two completely different things. You're getting paid to show up on the floor, and tardiness is not acceptable due to obvious reasons. You're paying for your classes, so it's your choice whether to show up late, early, or not at all. And frankly, many professors do not care (at least at my university).

It does you no harm whatsoever if a student with however many kids and/or jobs shows up late to class, and I honestly can't blame them. I think people with children will more likely show up to their job, which PAYS, on time since they have a family to support, and less likely to show up to class because of the same reason.

Those may be 2 different things, but it speaks to your character. It's rude and unprofessional to show up late to anything. People showing up late are distracting and disrespectful of the teacher, even if you are the one paying. ESPECIALLY if you only show up late to class but not to clinicals.

Sorry, kids are NOT an excuse. Everyone has responsibilities and issues going on with their lives. You knew this going into school, and there are plenty of other people with kids or jobs that will put forth the effort to be on time. Someone who is chronically late to class is not going to all of a sudden change when they start working, because it's usually not about just circumstances, it's also about character and resolve.

[BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN]

Now obviously I graduated 19 years ago, but I wonder too about where some of y'all are going to nursing school? Because there is NO way any of the things mentioned would have been tolerated.

It sounds like the teachers are just not as firm about the rules like they used to be . . . maybe a sign of the times??

Having kids was no excuse for not meeting your obligations as a nursing student. And you do have obligations.

The problem is, it needs to come from ALL faculty, and the higher ups. I teach in the second level class, and I find it hard to believe that all of a sudden, students think they have a golden ticket to do whatever they want once they make it out of Fundamentals. So I asked around, and learned that many in the course me did not reinforce such things, and did not role model these behaviors themselves.

It is incredibly draining to be on top of students who do not comply with professional behaviors. The excuses we hear, oh my goodness!! I feel like all of a sudden, everyone has medical issues!! In my course, we have failed students for excessive absences/latenesses to clinical. But in the classroom it isn't enforced nearly as much. Many of us are of the belief that you can come to class, or not... but don't come crying to us if you don't pass!