possible rant: the real reason for the nursing shortage

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This kinda goes hand in hand with flowery's last thread. The real reason there is a nursing shortage is nursing school. it's hell and no one wants to go through it. I don't know about other schools, but for the one i'm going to- the teachers and administrators make you feel like s#$^ every chance they get. there is so much pressure to be perfect all the time.

For example- today i failed a performance exam on parenteral injections. yes, i realize what i did wrong. I realize that i could've killed a patient had it happened in real life. I feel like s*** for making such a stupid mistake. I'm sorry!!!! I always choke under pressure when someone is watching me. but my instructor- she comes up to me - SMILING - and says: "i think i'm going to fail you."

OMG

I hate bashing people behind their backs- but she's ugly and has a freaking beard (i'm not kidding) and she smiles at the thought of failing students. the two other instructors were ok and passing people (don't get me wrong- they weren't lax, they just don't make you so nervous) but she's the only person failing people. Don't you think someone somewhere would notice that and say "hey, what's going on here?"

Another thing is my school- administrative wise- is so disorganized!!! They keep changing people for student advisors (i've had 4 different advisors in the past 1 1/2 years) and don't even try to sign up for classes because they don't know what they're doing. I've heard students from other schools come to the school of nursing and they all say that it's crap when it comes to administration. you don't find out where you'll be for clinicals until the night before.

If lots of nursing schools are like this then no wonder nurses aren't well respected and no one wants to be one!!! I understand we have to be put up to these difficult standards because we are dealing with people's lives, but making people hate their lives and themselves isn't going to solve the problem!!!

this week is going to be the week from hell for this month (there is one or two every month). Spring Break is not going to be enough to recover, especially if my parents make me travel to see family......

P.S.- sorry for long post and ranting- i'm just uber-stressed!!! does anyone have any suggestions on blowing off teachers without getting into trouble? lol!;)

Specializes in Emergency.

Hey MistyDave,

Not all nursing schools are living hells. My school is the exact opposite of what the OP described. Our instructors (all of them, based on those I've had and from talking to seniors) are caring, commonsense based and are doing their best to teach us how to be excellent nurses. Some of the instructors do have, shall we say, personality quirks, but none are mean spirited. Our current instructor for respiratory could do stand-up comedy if she wanted. And let me tell ya, laughing while you're learning is great.

Also, passing at my school is 80% with 100% for the once-a-semester math mastery test (and ya get 3 shots at that).

G'luck.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
does anyone have any suggestions on blowing off teachers without getting into trouble? lol!;)

I usually don't post suggestions like this, but in this case I think I'm justified. Based on what you posted and the absolutely vile tone to your "rant" I would recommend that you reconsider your choice of a career in nursing. Blaming others for your own failures and problems is dysfunctional and if you are not able to understand that then counseling is definitely warranted.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Infection, Home Health, and LTC.

spring break is not going to be enough to recover, especially if my parents make me travel to see family......

don't know if this idea will help, but no one can make you "do" anything if you don't want to. take the time to just relax and de-stress. you have a lifetime to "see" family after you are out of school.

i think i wanted to quit school about once a week or so and the instructors are really hard on you, or so it seems, but they are not as hard on you as family members can be when they want momma "on the pot to pee right now" or a doctor chews you up and spits you out for something that happened a day earlier when you weren't even working.

nursing school is stressful, for the student and for the instructors. they are often paid less than they could make in a hospital with the same years of experience. they usually have fewer benefits and work at nights doing paperwork at home when others can just clock out and then tune out.

it is never easy to take the stress in nursing school, but it is also not easy handling the stress on the floors and the games that people play ...and the power games and ....well let's just say ...... it doesn't just happen in school.

it's part of life and you have to learn to de-stress and pick your battles carefully or it will burn you out before you even learn to fly. hang in there. you will survive.

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Specializes in Telemetry/CCU/Home Health.

Hang in there, nursing school is hard and some of the instructors are difficult to deal with, but you can do it! I don't think I know anyone in nursing school who hasn't had at least one experience that made them question their choice in careers!! Someday soon it will all be second nature!!

Good luck!!

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I thought nursing school was difficult years ago but not like it is today. I waited 20 years to get my BSN and the difficulties and problems these students faced was enormous. There was a constant strive for perfection. I did not really see any degrading of any individual student but I know that nursing school is VERY HARD to get admittance. It's hell, I know. I hope it changes but I don't forsee that anytime soon. Stick it out, we need people like you who have compassion.:nurse:

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Specializes in geriatric, ltc, telemetry, med-surg.

you are so right. It is like they make it part of their job to keep you on edge as if you aren't already. I think it just a power thing. I have been an lpn for 18 years now and will start my clinicals for the Rn in the fall as i have finished everything else. Now my problem with that is, I can't tell you how many other nurses I have trained and most were RN's because as we know LPN's have a more hands on kind of clinical run. It all works out to just a money racket because I sure don't feel like I need to work for free for the next two semesters, or actually paying to work, when this is what I have been doing and since most of my years were in long term care, at night and on the weekends where you don't have any type of help.

But just hang in and in a couple of years you will be able say school wasn't so bad and you will surely miss the friends you made while there and be able to laugh at how bad your instructor was to you. Good luck to you and try to just go with the flow, or maybe like your playing a part in a movie or something that works for you. You will be the winner in the end anyway.

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Specializes in Oncology, Cardiac.

Hey everybody- sorry i took so long to reply!

Boy, am i embarrassed!

I apologize for my rant- it was completely uncalled for and I should have waited and calmed down some to voice my complaints before posting.

Everybody who posted is right- nursing school is supposed to be hard, there will always be someone watching, it's not the real reason for the shortage, etc.

The instructors are within reason. My lab instructor really shaped up this semester. Last year she treated us like babies. And being ugly is not an excuse- correct. i guess what i didn't explain was if you heard her attitude when she says certain things. Everybody is creeped out by her attitude towards us.

MistyDave- don't be discouraged by people like me. if you go in with a good sense of humor (something i lost that day), a positive attitude and a light heart you'll make it.

I'm not changing schools- apparently sophomore year is the hardest year and i'm almost done, so i'll stick through. I hate being a quitter and i realized that i came close to quitting which isn't cool. I would do well to remember that with nursing there are the good days and the bad days and i need to take them all in stride.

So, again, I'm sorry for the hateful remarks and i hope i didn't make a bad impression on people here on the forum. I'm remembering kindergarten wisdom where if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all and restrict your comments to the weather. lol!

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Specializes in Oncology, Cardiac.

As an extra note:

From the test- I was just really scared. My mistake: I didn't put the right amount of insulin in the syringe. Had this happened in real life, I could have killed the patient. That scared the s*** out of me. I never want to do that!! Here I am making that mistake and i haven't even graduated. I have learned my lesson and when i'm on the floor I'll get someone to check my meds with me.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.

For me nursing school is hard and lots of work. The instructors are amazing. They are truly beautiful and smart women. I have so much respect for all of them.

I heard the next set has some rough ones but I'll tackle that when it's time.

Last year my teachers were wonderful as well.

I've really had a positive experience. I just adore my instructors. They really care. I also feel like they are very respectful of us. They are just wonderful.

So positive experience here. Love it! Love the instructors. Love the clinicals. Love the skills lab people. My only complaint...our classrooms are awful because they are old. They are building a new school and it will be amazing...though I won't spend much time in it because it will be done shortly before I graduate.

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Specializes in Cardiac.
The real reason there is a nursing shortage is nursing school. it's hell and no one wants to go through it.

:lol2: Nursing school is a walk in the park to real life nursing. Just wait until one of your coworkers is just like your instructor. Wait until she has it out for you.... Nevermind being sick of hearing your own name becuase pharmacy and lab and the doctor and the family are always on the phone.

Enjoy the easy part of nursing while it lasts.

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Specializes in geriatric, ltc, telemetry, med-surg.

hey,

Don't be so hard on yourself. That is what we are here for, think about it. It is proven that writing your thoughts is the best medicine and you get to have the advatage of having so many different outlooks about the same situation. As for the insulin, at least you did it in school, I have been nursing for 18 years and have seen some bad stuff. As a matter of fact the last job I had a nurse gave the pt. 54u of reg. insulin when infact he was supposed to be getting 54u of a long acting insulin. The sad part is that when I pointed this out, because she had just given it before my shift started, I was made to look like a trouble maker and was written off the schedule. So we are human and do make mistakes, the thing is to know how to fix it if it causes someone a medical emerg. Try to think of all the good things you can do and how you can make your patient feel like they are the only thing you are worried about. Good Luck!

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.
doesn't anyone have anything good to say about nursing school? I am starting in April and I am so excited. I would hate that they are just sitting there like wolves waiting to fail us? I hope some will join in and say that nursing school really isn't HELL.

It's not all miserable....it's intense, stressful at times, and a TON of stuff to learn unless you're just full of medical knowledge....BUT, you'll learn a lot of cool stuff, you'll have patients telling you thank you at the end of a clinical shift, you'll meet some great RNs and other staff in clinicals...you'll make some great friends in school who might be the only ones (other than these boards) who will be understanding of what you're going through...you'll have some sleepless nights, you'll have instructors who are nightmares or drill instructors and some who you swear embody the Florence Nightingale image....

And mostly, it'll be a lot of what YOU make of it and what YOU put in to it...I'm in my second semester and surviving...my head swims a lot, but it'll all come together at some point...take it day by day and don't let some of the negativity dampen your enthusiasm....keep your eye on the goal!!

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