Seeking Advice! Failed 2-Year Program. Now What?

On 5/19/2021 at 1:15 PM, AliceBack2It said:

Then, I decided to go back in 2019 at the same two-year community college because it was the economical decision and they accepted my TEAS (big mistake) because the program was/is terrible. 

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I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

Groucho Marx

Just move on...several here have tried to encourage you to meet with the Dean but you just keep saying bad things about the school. I am sorry for your disappointment but it sounds like this just wasn't the school for you.(either time)

11 minutes ago, londonflo said:

When people quote the CDC is infallible to me ("NO you don't need to wear masks now...it's all science!"), I think of when the CDC named it GRID (Gay related immunodeficiency disorder) attributed to "Haitians, Hemophiliacs, Heroin addicts and Homosexuals". 

Back to the topic of COVID and clinical... It was reasonable to shut down clinical in the very beginning when PPE was scarce, but as PPE became more available and COVID was more well understood, it is now just ridiculous that clinical is limited.  I'm going into Summer semester psych and only about 1/3 of the entire class is able to do in person clinical due to site availability. 

Last semester peds we only were able to do 1/2 of our clinical rotations.

The lack of clinical is definitely impactful.

1 hour ago, Hannahbanana said:

On behalf of my good friend RubyVee, who has had a hard time posting lately, thank you.

I don't know her other than what she's written here but I absolutely wish her all the best. 

17 minutes ago, FiremedicMike said:

Back to the topic of COVID and clinical... It was reasonable to shut down clinical in the very beginning when PPE was scarce, but as PPE became more available and COVID was more well understood, it is now just ridiculous that clinical is limited.  I'm going into Summer semester psych and only about 1/3 of the entire class is able to do in person clinical due to site availability. 

Last semester peds we only were able to do 1/2 of our clinical rotations.

The lack of clinical is definitely impactful.

It isn't just about the PPE. Sites didn't want extra bodies that could potentially be bringing COVID into the facility. Patient numbers have also been reduced in some facilities, either due to patients not seeking services due to COVID or due to reduced bed numbers. And depending on how many nursing schools are in your area, is there competition for host facilities? 

Just saying there are other moving pieces. 

23 minutes ago, Tacocat said:

Just saying there are other moving pieces. 

We have 5 colleges using 2 hospitals with over 200 hundred students. Integrating these students into very busy medical/surgical units was a step the hospitals could not risk. Even in OB, the mother could only have ONE support person. In retrospect, it seems things could have been tamer but at that point in time ---- it was better to restrict the "coming and going" of visitors and staff/

To be clear, I wasn't blaming my program for lack of clinical, and I wasn't necessarily blaming the hospitals for shutting down to nursing students.  I was merely reinforcing that nursing school during COVID was unprecedented.  It's always been hard, people have always had personal issues they bring with them to class, but (to my knowledge) never before have students had to deal with a curriculum delivery that shifted on a dime and a complete lack of clinical experience to reinforce what they've learned.

I think you could loosely debate the stance of "I had to deal with my own stuff during school, just push through it" if the struggles were within one's personal span of control.  COVID was not in anyone's span of control, and nursing school became a disheveled mess overnight. 

My personal feelings notwithstanding on utilizing instructional methods that are decades old (lecture, textbook, then exam), I think that approach proved to be a disaster for many when COVID shut programs down.  Nursing is a personal and hands-on profession and it is difficult to learn that through zoom calls and Youtube.

I reiterate my statement earlier in this thread, unless you were a nursing student when COVID hit, I don't think it's fair to insist that it wasn't impactful.

1 hour ago, FiremedicMike said:

Back to the topic of COVID and clinical... It was reasonable to shut down clinical in the very beginning when PPE was scarce, but as PPE became more available and COVID was more well understood, it is now just ridiculous that clinical is limited.  I'm going into Summer semester psych and only about 1/3 of the entire class is able to do in person clinical due to site availability. 

Last semester peds we only were able to do 1/2 of our clinical rotations.

The lack of clinical is definitely impactful.

A psych clinical is so bizarre to me. That is something you cannot recreate through videos or case studies. It needs to be experienced in person. Mine was via Zoom and all we did was discuss Netflix movies. 

13 minutes ago, AliceBack2It said:

A psych clinical is so bizarre to me. That is something you cannot recreate through videos or case studies. It needs to be experienced in person. Mine was via Zoom and all we did was discuss Netflix movies. 

Our college can only schedule 3 days of psych clinical at different facilities. Somehow I would think your Master's in psych would have provided you with the knowledge. skills and attitude you would need for this population.

To compete in this 21st century you need to develop your learning style to include reading, listening, and practice.  (Ohhhh, I only had my textbook.....) And please do not tell me you learn by making mistakes. If you want to be in a challenging,  skilled, knowledgeable profession you need to know what to do by reading. If you have to have pictures to work consistently,  a fast food restaurant will provide that.

47 minutes ago, londonflo said:

To compete in this 21st century you need to develop your learning style to include reading, listening, and practice.  (Ohhhh, I only had my textbook.....) And please do not tell me you learn by making mistakes. If you want to be in a challenging,  skilled, knowledgeable profession you need to know what to do by reading. If you have to have pictures to work consistently,  a fast food restaurant will provide that.

 

Is this in response to me?  If so, I agree with your first sentence, but I think the part that should be emphasized is "to include" because it should incorporate all of those things.

I personally feel that your last statement regarding pictures and fast food restaurants is a condescending oversimplification of learning styles, rooted in decades old teaching practices unimpeded by the progress of understanding how adults learn, most notably that not all adults absorb knowledge in the same way as others.  Reading is important, but very few people can be simply given a textbook and some exam dates, especially on something as complicated and nuanced as assessing and treating our fellow humans.

I truly respect your 44 years of nursing experience, but I must say that from my own experience in nursing school, what I read here about other nursing programs, and what I read on other forums about PA and medical school, it seems that medical education as a whole is behind the times in terms of the evolution of instruction and efficient learning.

20 minutes ago, FiremedicMike said:

Is this in response to me? 

20 minutes ago, FiremedicMike said:

what I read on other forums about PA and medical school, it seems that medical education as a whole is behind the times in terms of the evolution of instruction and efficient learning.

No, this was in no way directed to you.....but the tide is turning in regards to catering to learning styles. The current literature, while saying you can deliver learning in different modes, stresses that you can't accommodate everyone in learning endeavors. Nursing and Medical education are  NOT behind......entrance tests are used to evaluate if the student will do well with the formal learning program. Reading and lecture ARE indeed the most efficient method of instruction..not the best  but the most efficient.