Neopint15

Why are you picking a fight (or seemingly if I misunderstood) with me for stating how I feel about a specific program? I'm sure there are programs that have more seasoned professors, but that doesn't seem to be the case with mine. Of course they do have masters; however, they seem to be out of touch with nursing since the pandemic and there is a high turn over rate. They can't really answer questions the class has and tend to stick to the nursing theory/ leadership stuff, which I've become aware is a nursing school thing...I've learned more from my clinical instructors than lecturers. I should not have to say this, but I could get a job in my previous degree. It wasn't nearly as well paid and there is a barrier in my area as well. I liked the idea of being able to help people and the flexibility of nursing, but I did not realize the way the education is (I hear it is different in real practice, so I'm looking forward to that). I LOVE the technical skills, but I want more depth in the lectures, as I miss that from my previous degree. My main qualm with nursing is it touches the surface of many topics (we have to be very broad), but you never really get those basic components to problem solve on a micro level. That's just a fact and I hadn't really realized how much I enjoyed learning that way. Of course, critical thinking happens, but the lack of depth in science makes critical thinking largely based on exterior observations and experience (before you interject, I'm AWARE this is what nursing is, but hadn't realized it when I entered the program). Much of the staff is great, kind people, but there are a few that really shouldn't be teaching. In my previous degree, things such as retaliative marking, inconsistencies in rubric vs. marking and unprofessional behaviors etc were taken seriously by staff, but I have witnessed much of this to be tolerated in this degree. I'm concerned this trickles down from the workplace conflict that can occur, but have heard our sister campus program is a little better in that regard. Don't take it as an insult on nursing. I think it is more of a systemic issue. Nursing is a great career in that it is highly flexible, you get to learn and see different aspects of healthcare, and you are making a difference! It is just that I miss going in-depth and find most of the assignments in my accelerated program to be unhelpful in real practice.

This is more specific to my program. Everyone in the program has at least an undergraduate degree. Some have further postgrad education and others have worked in more niche areas of healthcare. Most of the professors just came from a 4 year nursing program after graduating high school and seemingly don't have extensive hospital experience to answer questions in class or got out of it as quickly as possible. That is likely a program-specific thing. The main problem I have with this is that I find they are out of touch with what the standards are in other university programs. Marking becomes very nitpicking (marking down for things that aren't their preference, even if it is correct) and when I compare it to my previous degree in 4th year, some of the logic doesn't add up and is not supported. Other times, the professors directly contradict information I have learned in my previous degree. For example, some resources the professors use for projects etc I have come across in my previous degree (same university). Yet, what I was told by my 4th year professors that had several publications under their belt, was contradictory to what the nursing profs wanted.

Are you me? Seriously, I came across this while searching on Google and just had to make an account to reply. I feel the EXACT SAME. My previous degree was in STEM (and a minor in business) and I find it increasingly difficult to get myself through this program. I'm in the accelerated program and it is VERY apparent that almost all of the professors have less education than most of the class. I resonate SO MUCH with everything you have said and it has made me question the profession MULTIPLE times. I also find the general personalities in this program (lots of good ones too) insufferable, as they are highly opinionated, political and judgmental. Many also slight other healthcare professions and they have NO IDEA the difference in education levels when some of them think a nurse or NP is "more knowledgeable" than a doctor. I have a friend that went RN-> medical school and she is AMAZINGLY SMART, but nursing school and years of nursing DID NOT prepare her even a little for the sheer volume of studying (16+ hours of studying daily). It infuriates me that I see and experience snide comments about doctors, particularly. This PARTICULARLY shouldn't be happening in school. School should be facilitating team work and respect. I feel cheated and lied too about what this degree involved. I understand many would have gone through the 4 year BSN from high school, but I never noticed how big of a difference STEM was from nursing nor the personality differences...nursing almost feels like an extension of high school rather than higher learning. The nursing education feels like pseudo-science in school, most of the time, and it drives me crazy. In class, we are forced to have opinions on political matters, which I feel largely unprofessional in real practice. The majority of our education also consists of group projects and essays on political topics or our "feelings". OR 'empathy training' to which I'm going to say you can't train based on a large body of psychology research. Empathy is part experience and part personality. I do enjoy the actual skills, but most of the "education" is outdated or not thoroughly researched to begin with and I find myself becoming more bitter about the profession as time goes on. I went through being stressed and challenged to being increasingly depressed and anxious due to the inorganization of this program and lack of objectivity. I feel like an outsider looking in. At this point, I can't drop out. At least having a RN license will make me eligible for other jobs, but is it ever HARD to get through this mentally. I really don't have an answer. I'm planning to get a more specialized position and I hope it will be more objective than general nursing. If that doesn't work out, the union apparently pays for further education, so I will do whatever it takes to get myself in another position.