possible rant: the real reason for the nursing shortage

[Delirium, RN]

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!

[Shenanigans, RN]

My problem is I've fallen into the trap of being a "professional bludge... ah...student". Nevermind, though.

My take on the nursing shortage is such: the NZL govt are a bunch of *insert appropriate level of swears here*.

They cannot seriously expect anyone to believe that they can't afford to help us student nurses out when they throw away over $250 grand on a couple of idiots to go to America and study "hip hop", or the recent $96,000 for some guy to study "Bogans". WTH?

The huge student loans, poor pay rates, almost impossibility of getting a student allowance and the general apathetic and nasty nature of those working for Studylink (WINZ = Work and Income NZL) doesn't help matters.

:trout:

Stinky government. I didn't vote for Labour, why do I have to live under their boarderline commie Tyranny.

Heh. I likes complaining bouts the govts!!

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

If nursing school is a "walk in the park" compared to real life nursing and if there truly is nothing that gets easier, jeez, I guess I am really screwed.

No! You're not. I promise.

Of course, nursing school won't completely prepare you for your first nursing job, but by the time you get there you will be a whole lot better at learning to cope with the stress from your first job than you were when you first started nursing school.

In other words, I think one of the reasons instructors are so tough is to prepare you for the intense pressure of being a nurse. I'm not a nurse, but what I've learned in clinicals is that you have to be able to think clearly in the midst of chaos sometimes. You have to be able to do your job well even when people are criticizing you to your face (I'm thinking of family members), questioning every move you make, telling you that you're incompetent and maybe even taking a poke at your physical attributes. Just today I was dealing with a family when another nurse walked in and the family said "Oh good, at least this time they sent in somebody younger." What the...........?

Dealing with difficult instructors teaches you to keep your emotions in check and not let emotions cloud your judgement. You'll need it.

I feel fortunate that I haven't had a difficult instructor. I had one over the summer that was a bit of a drill sergeant. I dealt with it by making sure I jumped through every hoop she trotted out. I didn't question why she was asking me to do something I thought was ridiculous or unreasonable. I just did it.

At least in nursing school if you have trouble, you get a "do-over". If you are struggling in lab, you can make arrangements with the lab coordinator to practice your skills. If you can't wrap your mind around something, you can make an appointment with the instructor to meet after class and go over it one-on-one. If you fail part of a class you can go into remediation and try again. If you mess up on the job, often times you don't get a second chance.

One thing I noticed with my classmates is that when the instructor was riding somebody pretty hard, there was usually a good reason. I saw some of my classmates doing things on the floor and I was thinking "holy crap! How did they even make it this far?" I didn't want to be that person. If my instructor asked me a question I didn't have an answer to, I made darn sure I never forgot that piece of information again. Never again will I not know the seizure patient's Dilantin level before I pass meds.

[jogimada]

I am actually enjoying nursing school. We have tons of work to do each week, but the instructors are so nice and understanding. They often perform skits during lectures to help the students remember the material better.

I am an older student and I worked very hard to get into the ADN program, so I am going to think positively and make the most of my time until graduation.

Enjoy your time in nursing school!