lardo

It is not being spoon-fed,,,,,,,,,,,it is called teaching ! The purpose of going to school is to be taught by an expert; an expert with the ability to teach others. I can get a textbook and read it on my own; I don't need to pay tuition for that. If the teachers aren't going to add any value beyond what the book offers, why would any reasonable person pay to attend school?

Let me tell you about my journey and the school I attended, Ivy Tech in Richmond Indiana. When I was trying to decide on a career path, I wasn't sure as to whether I could cope with the realities of nursing; basically the gory stuff. Even after I decided to apply to nursing school, I wasn't totally sure that I would not back out before it started, if I were accepted. Well, I got accepted and decided to stick it out. My school divided the RN students into two groups where each group had different teachers. *First semester, my group was lucky enough to have the only two teachers who actually taught the material; the other group wasn't so lucky. *Second semester, my group got the other teachers. They only read power points, would not answer questions over material, did not teach at all. I had med-surg teacher who could not do a dosage calculation without making a phone call to another teacher; she didn't know how to manipulate the fraction to convert from pounds to kilograms. And she was a practicing NP. Sadly, my pharmacology teacher told us that the school was setting us up for failure, and then she quit. By that time, I too, had put up with enough stupidity and decided to finish my nursing degree at another campus where teachers actually taught the material. MY POINTS: 1. Please quit using the phrase "critically think" as if nobody but nurses has ever used critical thinking. Critical thinking is a part of everyday life and everybody does it. Nursing teachers like to throw that phrase around to make themselves feel superior. 2. When students attend nursing school, they deserve to be taught by experts with teaching ability, not just someone with a degree. 3. I expect students to study the material, ask questions, and come to class. They do not however need to waste time in a classroom where teachers only read powerpoints to them. And if they are going to ask questions, then the faculty better be willing and knowledgeable enough to answer them. 4. I expect the teachers to let the students know over which material they will be tested. I had teachers that would not give us a clue as to what we needed to know for a test. Then the test came and there would be questions pertaining to lengthy tables or information given under pictures. 5. Yes there is a weeding-out mentality in nursing school. What other reason would there be for not informing the students of the material they need to master for a test. The entry requirements should suffice for weeding out unprepared students; if they have all the prerequisites, they should be good to go. If unprepared students are still getting accepted, then maybe the schools need to rethink their admission requirements. 6. Paths, other than traditional schools, should exist for students to earn the right to sit for the nclex to become RNs. Considering all of the negative comments on this site about poor nursing schools and poor teachers, there needs to be better alternatives to attaining RN status. The way it sits right now is you have to graduate from an accredited nursing school, no matter how bad the school is, to get your ATT. My first nursing school, Ivy Tech Richmond Indiana, was accredited and it was a joke. The only thing that should matter is your mastery of the material and your clinical skills. The internet has made it possible to bring together the best teachers on the entire planet; no longer do students need to put up with teachers who can't teach. It is no longer necessary to spend thousands of dollars to go to a brick-and-mortar school to get an education when you can sit at home and learn via youtube for free.

In my school, Ivy Tech of Richmond Indiana 2011, we had 2 great teachers who would do anything possible to help students succeed, and then we had the rest of the teachers who's only goal was to making nursing school difficult so the students would fail; they did NOT teach. Let me get one point out there, "Reading powerpoints is not teaching". When a student takes the time, money, and effort to go to nursing school, they deserve teaching teachers who want them to succeed and will do anything to help them achieve their goal of becoming a nurse. NURSING SCHOOL, in my opinion has become a big joke.

Ivy Tech Richmond Indiana, was encouraging the students to break the law and go against a level 3 weather emergency, which means nobody allowed on the roads. That was very irresponsible of the Dean of the nursing program to let any instructor make such a stupid statement to students; it just shows you the type of people running some of these programs. Scaring students is part of the weeding-out process that I don't agree with. Some nursing schools would rather waste energy trying to get students to drop out by scaring them or flunk out by not teaching them. Nursing isn't rocket science; nursing schools are only difficult because of the morons who run many of them.

Unfortunately for patients, even getting an "A" doesn't mean you know and understand the material. There are many people who are nurses who probably shouldn't be; as long as you pass, that seems to be all that matters.

You've got my attention on this one; I agree with you 100%. Nursing at my school, the Ivy Tech in Richmond Indiana, was difficult because the Dean of Nursing(fall 2011) and 99% of the other nursing instructors were on power trips; rather than concentrating on teaching, they concentrated on doing whatever they could to make you quit or flunk out. Some of these teachers have such massive egos. I think a lot of them have educational orgasms when students get booted out of the nursing programs. I understand and accept some rules for attendance, dress, and having paperwork submitted on time because you are in a setting that involves other people and any deviation from what is expected could inconvenience the rest of the class. Some teachers do go overboard. What I hate is the stupidity. 1) During clinical orientation, we were told that no matter how bad the weather got, we could not miss our clinical time. They wanted us to put our lives on the line even if there were a level 3 emergency where you are not allowed on the roads. 2) they should not expect you to put school before your family's welfare. 3)If I am sick, I am not going to be there 4) If my children need me, I will not be there. It isn't as though I was ever looking for an excuse not to go, but life happens. I had a girl in my pharmacology class who had a car wreck because they had her so upset about the consequences of missing or coming in late. I agree that schools put too much emphasis on the little things when they should be concentrating on better teaching. In the end it is the knowledge that a student has acquired that will make a difference.

Becoming an LPN/LVN first will allow you to determine if you like nursing, your school, and your teachers while making a short term commitment. I went the RN route first and had mixed experiences. In my first semester I had great teachers who would do anything to help the student succeed. In the second semester I had the worst teachers on the face of the earth, who didn't teach, only read power points, would not answer questions over material. After the first four weeks of that second semester, I realized how much I hated my nursing school and after many heated discussions with the Director of Admissions at Ivy Tech Richmond Indiana.....I withdrew from the program. Before I withdrew, I spoke with other non-nursing faculty about the issues and they supported me and agreed that I had valid reasons for filing complaints against the school. And by the way, the year I started at Richmond Ivy Tech----they were on the chopping block by the Indiana State Board of Nursing; so check out your prospective schools with the Board of Nursing in your state before you commit. One of my teachers during our first semester broke the news to us; the school itself didn't want it to be known. After going through what I did, I put a lot of time into researching my next nursing school in order to finish becoming an RN; truthfully, it is almost impossible to research every aspect of a school.

When I was in nursing school, I had a teacher who was a nurse practitioner that couldn't set up a dosage calculation without making a phone call...........NOW THAT IS A LITTLE SCARY ! I have issues with people who can't handle the math or chemistry and still end up becoming nurses. But it isn't always the fault of the student; there are many bad teachers. Nursing isn't all chemistry, but I would like to feel that nurses are competent enough to do what is necessary for the job.

Sorry to hear about your struggles. My best advice is to use youtube for chemistry help. Thanks to the internet, education has changed for the better. No longer do you have to put up with teachers who can't teach. I found youtube videos when I was in nursing school, and was wasting my time going to class where I had to listen to incompetent nursing teachers try to teach subjects they obviously didn't understand themselves; youtube saved me. Here are some great youtube chemistry teachers: thatchemguy,freelanceteach,brightstorm,teachmechemistry,robertbecker,johnnycantrell,michelvanbiezen. Hope this helps, Bill

Ivy Tech Nursing School was in trouble with the Indiana State Board of Nursing when I began in the fall of 2011, because of low nlcex pass rates. The quality of an Ivy Tech nursing education depends on which campus you attend and which teachers you have. I went to the Richmond Ivy Tech campus starting Fall 2011 and had both good and bad experiences. The RN students were divided up into groups A & B. My first semester of nursing school went well but it was only because my group, group "A",had two wonderful teachers; not that I agreed with everything they did, but they did try their hardest to actually teach the material. Group B was no so lucky in that they had the worst teachers; they were struggling and complaining all of first semester and we didn't know why because my group was getting good teaching and good grades. My second semester, my group got the worst teachers and everybody came unglued. The teachers during our second semester didn't teach, didn't answer questions over material, didn't tell you over which material you would be tested, and did everything in their power to not give you the information you needed to succeed. When someone failed, they were pleased with themselves. They had some type of delusional superiority complex and the only way they could maintain that feeling of superiority was to do anything they could to get students to fail. Every class was 8 weeks, covering at least 16 weeks worth of material; maybe more. And we were taking four of these 8 week classes at a time. We had to pay $400 for this stupid ATI nclex preparation course which was a big joke. So we not only had to take our regular weekly tests, we had to take ATI tests for each course which covered material that was never covered in the course; now is that stupid or is that stupid. Nursing is not difficult in and of itself; nursing school is difficult because of the idiots that manage the programs. I have the upmost respect for nurses, but if a person can pass other college classes, they should able to study and pass nursing classes. Nursing is not above and beyond the intellectual capacity of any typical college student. What you have in many nursing schools are teachers who are so bitter and dissatisfied with their lives, that they take it out on everyone else. To put all of this in context, in my advanced pharmacology class, our wonderful teacher told us that the school was setting us up for failure; and it wasn't long until I found out what she meant. She didn't like the way the school was being run and advised us to find another nursing school, which some of us did. Stay away from Richmond Ivy Tech, it is evil. They will not rid themselves of bad teachers as they are the only ones who will work for such low pay. THEY WILL NOT TEACH AT RICHMOND IVY TECH. I fear for patients who have nurses that went to Richmond Ivy Tech to learn how to be a nurse!