Rules for Nursing School

Nursing Students General Students

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Following on from the other "Rules" Threads:

1. Turn off your mobile phone, if it absolutely must be on, let the lecturer know and keep it on the lowest possible volume or on silent (it is a rule at my school if your phone goes off you owe the lecturer chocolate or alcohol depending on the lecturers preference)

2. If you are a new student don't act like you know more than the students who have been there for longer (unless of course you do)

3. If the course has an online group and you can read previous questions, do not ask the same question again and again, the lecturer and other people will get sick of answering the same question 5 or 6 or even 7 times (you will be notified if the answer is different)

4. If you tell someone something it's bound to get around to other people so be careful what you tell people (Rumours spread extremely fast)

5. Be polite to your lecturers and respect them for who they are (They are the ones marking your assignments, and I'm afraid they know a lot more than you do presently)

6. If you have a story you are willing to share related to the current topic by all means share it but if it's not related forget it

7. Don't constantly complain about the number of hours you have to attend campus or how long it takes to do your assignments or how much study you need to do or how many readings you have, everyone is in the same boat and if you keep doing that you are likely to get offside with other students.

Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
Ok..my number 1 pet peeve....DO NOT complain to me when i make a better grade that "oh well your not married, and don't have 2 kids at home, and bills to pay." that is NOT my fault, you could have just as easy went to school straight out of highschool, and THEN began your home life, Don't complain about the money either, "well I didn't have any money to go to college," ANYONE can get a loan, or take 1 class at a time. I understand fully, and look up to people who are going back to school after children, or with children still at home, just don't give me a guilt trip about it. And yes alot of us work and go to school, I work 30+ hours and average 4+ semesters...but some people still think their the only ones.

This goes the opposite way as well. People are quick to tell a mom that she just stays home all day and doesn't work so she shouldn't complain about not having time for school.

Yeah because with 4 kids, a house that needs to be clean (that IS part of my job), a few of the kids being special needs, a husband that has to work whenever you are not in school and then work from home when you are in school so that he can't help around the house and so on...it's not "just staying at home".

This one goes both ways.

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Be prepared for ATI changes. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
Please refrain from the holier than thouness which starts to happen the minute people get just a shred of knowledge. The people who run to jump on someone and say "I wouldn't want ____ for my nurse" or if you don't know _____ you shouldn't be a nurse etc... It gets old. I try not to judge other people's nursing prowess because none of us are perfect and it is the instructors job to deem us up to par or not.

Ugh. That drives me up the wall. Honey, wait until you're a nurse and have six patients of your own before you start judging how others do their job.

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Two of my pet peeves were these:

1) Please try to keep in class contributions limited to pertinent info, questions, or observations that help make the topic easier to understand. Class time is very limited and should not be wasted. You can socialize with the instructor or try to impress the instructor on your own time if he/she allows you to take up their time. Instructors set up office hours for students to take advantage of. Please don't waste the time of other students while in class. There is too much material to cover.

2) Group projects. If you don't do your part, expect to be left out when it is time to choose groups again or when it is time to do peer evaluations. And don't be surprised if one of your group mates does not report your lack of participation to the instructor long before the presentation date. Nobody likes it when they bust their butt to make a group project happen, and one or more of the members don't do anything, or do a poor, at the last moment job.

This thread has provided some very good advice and opinions. It should be read by all students before they start.

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Specializes in Med/Surg < 1yr.

Here are some things that I have found useful in my experience with nursing school so far:

1. Do not give another class the answer to Thursdays test in exchange for the answers to Tuesday's test. (Last semester, some A&P classmates were exchanging test answers with some Nursing 101 class. None were caught, all passed with high grades....unfortunately the cheaters have destroyed their integrity)

2. Do not get mad at the clinical instructor and decide to challenge her in front of the group by say "Well I don't agree with that...", every time she gives advice. If you don't agree with something she says or does, there are respectable ways to discuss this without waging all out war.

3. ALWAYS COME PREPARED!!!!! Especially before coming to clinical. This means having your meds memorized and ready to reiterate to the instructor. If you can learn them and not use the med cards that would be a plus!

4. Try to stay out of the gossip circles that inevitably will form. Keep your opinions to yourself because words have a way of spreading and by the time the story goes around the school it is completely different and your name is all up in it!

5. Make time for your family and friends. Yes, nursing school takes up sooooo sooooo soooo much of your time but, if you schedule your time right, you can fit in at least an hour with your loved ones each day.

6. Make sure you have one extra clinical uniforms for each day of clinical. If you start out with one day of clinical, you need one uniform, and a back up. You never know when the washer can break or you get something really bad on you're uniform, get it snagged, etc. If you have clinical 2x wk, you need three uniforms. You are going to be so tired and if you're unable to wash when you need to, a spare uniform in the closet will be a luxury.

7. Never ever wait until the last minute to see the instructor. When you get that first test and your grade it under 80%, go see the instructor. You never want to be just barely making it. You may not do so well on the next test and then its too late and you're repeating the class again or worse.....

8. Do not compare yourself to other students. (I need to follow this one myself.) Don't worry if so and so gets A's on every test. If you are not failing and are doing better than barely passing than don't worry if you can't get an A to save your life. Be satisfied and quit putting excess stress on yourself. Pat yourself on the back for making it as far as you have.

9. Though it is hard, enjoy nursing school while you can because when you are on the floor, you will have more than one or two pts at a time and you will have to think and do for yourself so take this time to learn what you can and enjoy it while it last.

10. Fake it, until you make it. Always look like you know what you are doing when caring for the patients. Don't give the patients the impression you don't know what you're doing to them.

11. Volunteer for everything. This is the only way you will learn. And also don't be afraid to take on a patient who have multiple issues. You will learn so much.

12. Practice on anyone and everyone you can. Practice vitals, practice head-to-toe assessment, practice asking questions, practice transfer techniques. Ask to take home some bandages and practice wound care. Ask to take home some packages of sterile gloves and practice putting them on. This will help so much.

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Keep em coming this is a great idea. Especially for someone like me thats about to start!

Sidenote- It doesn't matter if your in nursing lecture or regular gen. ed. classes, put your phone on VIBRATE! Also, STOP texting in class!!! I leave my cell in my truck, to many people see the cellphone as an extra hand cause their never without it.

Every syllabus has rules on the usage of cellphones in class now. So whatever the consequences are then you HAVE to abide by them. In Biology, we had a test everytime we came in, and if your cellphone went off ANYTIME during class you failed the test that day. No ones cellphone EVER went off, greatest idea ever.

oh I have one a personal pet peeve of mine. Stop chewing gum during exams, ok wait I'll clarify it, don't smack your gum during exams, chew if you must but please quietly! I had a guy in my AP class that smacked his gum so obnoxiously during practical exams, I had to plug my ears while going around looking at the test questions.

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Specializes in acute care.

And stop kicking the table! I don't like taking an exam on a vibrating table. Sheesh!

Vent over.

oh I have one a personal pet peeve of mine. Stop chewing gum during exams, ok wait I'll clarify it, don't smack your gum during exams, chew if you must but please quietly! I had a guy in my AP class that smacked his gum so obnoxiously during practical exams, I had to plug my ears while going around looking at the test questions.
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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
And stop kicking the table! I don't like taking an exam on a vibrating table. Sheesh!

Vent over.

Oh, and how about the leg bouncers who vibrate the table? STOP IT!

Or the pen clickers who nervously click their pen during the lecture. Click-CLICK, CLICK-click, click-CLICK, CLICK-click.

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1. Show up (also on time), work hard, study harder.

2. Realize that there are people in your class that are not as smart as you. Help them if you can.

3. Also realize that there are people in your class that are smarter than you. Get help from them.

4. Don't let it all get to you. Keep a sense of humor about school, it'll keep you from going insane.

5. If there's a problem, tell someone. Keeping an issue to yourself accomplishes nothing but making it worse.

6. Take time for yourself at least occasionally. One needs to take care of oneself before being able to take care of others!

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