Okay, I read a thread on the number of "how many students did you lose" and I was wondering, in your honest opinion, why these drops occurred. I do allow that there are some students that may have had to withdraw due to circumstances beyond their control, and many have come back to finish at a later date. I'm curious about those students that could have remained in the program, but didn't and why.
A friend of mine just finished her first semester, and she had some interesting tales to tell. Many who had not finished, just didn't take going to nursing school serious or expected everything to be spoonfed to them.
A more positive story: She also told me about a student in her class who had delivered her baby late last week and still managed to come for her final three days later, and missed only one day and that was due to her going into preterm labor. They were able to reverse that and the student went back to her clinicals the next day. If that is not dedication, I don't know what is.
Well, I made it through the first semester! I wasn't worried, I made the grades. :chuckle We started with 68 and then 4 dropped out early and now 8 failed Fundamentals of Nursing (NUR 104) so a total of 12 gone! Who knows how many won't return after the holidays?
In a nutshell, the reasons why they didn't make it was because, some of the students are there to please someone else (mainly parents) and not themselves and have found out it takes more than they are willing to give. Some of the students were not on the ball. (they just didn't have the brains) Some were not grown up enough to handle the responsibility and some were not able to adapt to change. Some students just didn't have the comunication skills to talk to the instructors and to the patients. The list goes on.......Barbiebabe
We started this year with 29 students at my school, a small technical college in south ga....we lost 1 the first week.
We have to take the NLN at the end of every semester and at the end of the 1st one we lost 11 people, and here we are, one day from the end of the last semester and we lost 2 more today, the only two guys we had...both brothers to.
A lot of people were not there to put forth the effort, and a lot of them did just not get some stuff, or did not study.
We are down to 9 now and we take our exit exam tomorrow. It will determine just how many of us will be taking the NCLEX in January!!!!
We started this year with 29 students at my school, a small technical college in south ga....we lost 1 the first week.
We have to take the NLN at the end of every semester and at the end of the 1st one we lost 11 people, and here we are, one day from the end of the last semester and we lost 2 more today, the only two guys we had...both brothers to.
A lot of people were not there to put forth the effort, and a lot of them did just not get some stuff, or did not study.
We are down to 9 now and we take our exit exam tomorrow. It will determine just how many of us will be taking the NCLEX in January!!!!
Wow. Where I'm at (community college) you have to work darn hard to get into a program. They do not just let anyone in. It's competetive and they design their application to ensure that they obtain the best of the best. To even apply you have to already be a state certified nursing assistant and they take those who have the most pre-reqs done with the best GPA. Because there are so many competing for so few spots it's the students who've made As in the difficult classes who make it in. I would guess that at least 90% of our class are type A people who take the program very seriously and work very hard. Our first term was 11 weeks long and in that time all but 2 people were at every single class every single day. I don't even think we lost anyone this term.
To the OP, one of the big challenges with nursing programs is that you are expected to master a lot of material in a little amount of time. It is not even close to the load you carry in a "regular" college class. This first term we were given about 2-3 weeks to go through about 8-17 chapters of material and then be tested (and don't even get me started on how different nursing exams are from regular college exams -- that's another thread). And this was only half of the program... the other half was all the skills you had to learn each week (a lot of reading and practice and homework for that too) and then be prepared to be checked off on twice a week in lab and in clinical. It could be exhausting and I know from talking to others on this board from around the country that they were a lot more loaded down than I was.
When you consider that everyone's life situation is different: some work full time, some have little children, some commute 2 hours to school etc.. etc.. you can see that there is no one reason why someone doesn't make it through and that it's not as simple as "they didn't have what it takes." Some people definitely do have what it takes, things just don't work out... for a lot of reasons.
Wow. Where I'm at (community college) you have to work darn hard to get into a program. They do not just let anyone in. It's competetive and they design their application to ensure that they obtain the best of the best. To even apply you have to already be a state certified nursing assistant and they take those who have the most pre-reqs done with the best GPA. Because there are so many competing for so few spots it's the students who've made As in the difficult classes who make it in. I would guess that at least 90% of our class are type A people who take the program very seriously and work very hard. Our first term was 11 weeks long and in that time all but 2 people were at every single class every single day. I don't even think we lost anyone this term.
To the OP, one of the big challenges with nursing programs is that you are expected to master a lot of material in a little amount of time. It is not even close to the load you carry in a "regular" college class. This first term we were given about 2-3 weeks to go through about 8-17 chapters of material and then be tested (and don't even get me started on how different nursing exams are from regular college exams -- that's another thread). And this was only half of the program... the other half was all the skills you had to learn each week (a lot of reading and practice and homework for that too) and then be prepared to be checked off on twice a week in lab and in clinical. It could be exhausting and I know from talking to others on this board from around the country that they were a lot more loaded down than I was.
When you consider that everyone's life situation is different: some work full time, some have little children, some commute 2 hours to school etc.. etc.. you can see that there is no one reason why someone doesn't make it through and that it's not as simple as "they didn't have what it takes." Some people definitely do have what it takes, things just don't work out... for a lot of reasons.
I think some of my classmates just underestimated the amount of work/dedicated that nursing school would entail. The others - some had health problems, others decided that nursing/nursing school just wasn't what they wanted to do after all. One was just plain unsafe/incompetent. We just had finals, so I won't know how many more we lost until class begins again on Jan 10th. So far (this was semester 2/5) we're down from 60 to 54.
I think some of my classmates just underestimated the amount of work/dedicated that nursing school would entail. The others - some had health problems, others decided that nursing/nursing school just wasn't what they wanted to do after all. One was just plain unsafe/incompetent. We just had finals, so I won't know how many more we lost until class begins again on Jan 10th. So far (this was semester 2/5) we're down from 60 to 54.
wow. where i'm at (community college) you have to work darn hard to get into a program. they do not just let anyone in. it's competetive and they design their application to ensure that they obtain the best of the best. to even apply you have to already be a state certified nursing assistant and they take those who have the most pre-reqs done with the best gpa. because there are so many competing for so few spots it's the students who've made as in the difficult classes who make it in. i would guess that at least 90% of our class are type a people who take the program very seriously and work very hard. our first term was 11 weeks long and in that time all but 2 people were at every single class every single day. i don't even think we lost anyone this term.
to the op, one of the big challenges with nursing programs is that you are expected to master a lot of material in a little amount of time. it is not even close to the load you carry in a "regular" college class. this first term we were given about 2-3 weeks to go through about 8-17 chapters of material and then be tested (and don't even get me started on how different nursing exams are from regular college exams -- that's another thread). and this was only half of the program... the other half was all the skills you had to learn each week (a lot of reading and practice and homework for that too) and then be prepared to be checked off on twice a week in lab and in clinical. it could be exhausting and i know from talking to others on this board from around the country that they were a lot more loaded down than i was.
when you consider that everyone's life situation is different: some work full time, some have little children, some commute 2 hours to school etc.. etc.. you can see that there is no one reason why someone doesn't make it through and that it's not as simple as "they didn't have what it takes." some people definitely do have what it takes, things just don't work out... for a lot of reasons.
wow. where i'm at (community college) you have to work darn hard to get into a program. they do not just let anyone in. it's competetive and they design their application to ensure that they obtain the best of the best. to even apply you have to already be a state certified nursing assistant and they take those who have the most pre-reqs done with the best gpa. because there are so many competing for so few spots it's the students who've made as in the difficult classes who make it in. i would guess that at least 90% of our class are type a people who take the program very seriously and work very hard. our first term was 11 weeks long and in that time all but 2 people were at every single class every single day. i don't even think we lost anyone this term.
to the op, one of the big challenges with nursing programs is that you are expected to master a lot of material in a little amount of time. it is not even close to the load you carry in a "regular" college class. this first term we were given about 2-3 weeks to go through about 8-17 chapters of material and then be tested (and don't even get me started on how different nursing exams are from regular college exams -- that's another thread). and this was only half of the program... the other half was all the skills you had to learn each week (a lot of reading and practice and homework for that too) and then be prepared to be checked off on twice a week in lab and in clinical. it could be exhausting and i know from talking to others on this board from around the country that they were a lot more loaded down than i was.
when you consider that everyone's life situation is different: some work full time, some have little children, some commute 2 hours to school etc.. etc.. you can see that there is no one reason why someone doesn't make it through and that it's not as simple as "they didn't have what it takes." some people definitely do have what it takes, things just don't work out... for a lot of reasons.
one lady showed up to our orientation and had just found out she was pregnant the week before and we never saw her again. Some people just stop coming and you dont really know why. Several people have just up and quit b/c they disliked the instructor or it was too stressful. Failing of course is a biggie. Some even get booted b/c of excessive absences. You can miss one clinical a semester, if you miss a 2nd one, you're out of the program. So, we've lost several due to that also.
My question is this... if you get the flu and you're out of it for like 4 or 5 days and highly contagious, do they really expect you to still go to clinicals and spread your flu germs to patients that don't have the immune system to fight off the germs? It seems like you'd be doing more harm than good. But yes, our instructors don't care. If you have the flu, you better be there in full uniform with a smile on your face. Seems counter-productive, but I guess they can't bend the rules for anyone.
one lady showed up to our orientation and had just found out she was pregnant the week before and we never saw her again. Some people just stop coming and you dont really know why. Several people have just up and quit b/c they disliked the instructor or it was too stressful. Failing of course is a biggie. Some even get booted b/c of excessive absences. You can miss one clinical a semester, if you miss a 2nd one, you're out of the program. So, we've lost several due to that also.
My question is this... if you get the flu and you're out of it for like 4 or 5 days and highly contagious, do they really expect you to still go to clinicals and spread your flu germs to patients that don't have the immune system to fight off the germs? It seems like you'd be doing more harm than good. But yes, our instructors don't care. If you have the flu, you better be there in full uniform with a smile on your face. Seems counter-productive, but I guess they can't bend the rules for anyone.
There are many reasons people disappear from my program too... sick mother, student needs surgery (will come back next semester/year), failed a class, etc. I would guess ours are about 65% failing a class/changing their mind about wanting to be in the program and 35% for other reasons. One of the girls in my clinical stayed out until 3am all the time the night before clinicals (you know, we have to be there at 6:45), another girl just couldn't seem to grasp the info (I wonder how she even got into the program?), etc.
I am not sure yet how many won't be back next semester.. it will be interesting.
Like someone else alluded to... it sounds awful but I almost hope a few of them don't show up (out of 100) - I felt like they were wasting our time, leaching, and dragging us down. I kinda wanted the teachers to bi+ch them out or go ahead and kick them out... instead the teachers would get frustrated and yell at everyone... no thanks.
Generally my school doesn't seem the kind to just kick out marginal people quickly, they try to help (within reason) first. I was writing about that the other day, I think it's one reason our NCLEX rate isn't very good. It's fine with me except when I have to pick up the slack for someone. I'd still rather it be this way than the boot camp attitude way.
We started this year with 29 students at my school, a small technical college in south ga....we lost 1 the first week.
**********-RN
12 Posts
Well, I made it through the first semester! I wasn't worried, I made the grades. :chuckle We started with 68 and then 4 dropped out early and now 8 failed Fundamentals of Nursing (NUR 104) so a total of 12 gone! Who knows how many won't return after the holidays?
In a nutshell, the reasons why they didn't make it was because, some of the students are there to please someone else (mainly parents) and not themselves and have found out it takes more than they are willing to give. Some of the students were not on the ball. (they just didn't have the brains) Some were not grown up enough to handle the responsibility and some were not able to adapt to change. Some students just didn't have the comunication skills to talk to the instructors and to the patients. The list goes on.......Barbiebabe