Seemingly pointless classes

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Is there anyone out there who feels this way about some of their pre-reqs? I am currently taking Philosophy and Developmental Psych and I find these classes to be utterly boring and just completely pointless. I believe that my Philosophy professor knows that this information is pointless to us so she only requires us to do a little discussion board assignment and a chapter exam every week. No big deal. Just read and do the work. My psych professor must hate us. She is making this way harder than it needs to be. We have several papers to do before the end of the semester. We must read a chapter and a half every week and complete a chapter exam for each chapter and there are a few other projects. This is cool and all except if you don't understand something she will swear that it's in the syllabus or assignment tab or module tab. Yes everything is in three different places with several due dates. She makes it so hard and is super quick to fail you on an assignment. *sigh*. This class is boring as is. I tried to make the information interesting but when I see that I got a 50/100 on a assignment that information just makes me upset all over again. It's like conditional behavior or something like that. Every time I look at my textbook I think of my professor and I just get upset and I don't want to study. :crying2: But I must. *sigh* I must.

Specializes in Neuroscience.
^ You might not share the op's view on psych, but as someone with the same view on this class, who loves all their other classes, just let him vent. Everybody doesn't have to love the same classes that you did.

Gotta say, in addition to my previous comment - I really hate how this particular instructor has deadlines before the start of the next week, takes off 50% for being a couple of hours late in an online class and then takes over a month to grade everything. I hate when people push things like being uber prompt, and then they are the same ones that grade everything a month+ later.

:rolleyes:

Oh please. No one said they had to love them or that they couldn't vent, but to say they are pointless because of a dislike is incorrect. I wasn't in love with A&P but it was hardly pointless.

Boo hoo, something in life is hard...

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Philosophy may not be a 'necessary' class if you're going into nursing (most school has other options like Ethics or Logic, which would be helpful, I believe.)

Lifespan on the other hand, is a requirement at any nursing school you want to go to because it is much a core pre-nursing class as Microbiology or Anatomy and Physiology. You may have a teacher going out of his or her way to make it the hardest class you've ever taken, and if so that sucks and I am sorry. (I believe a lot of teachers who teach nursing-related courses do this on purpose. They like to believe it is their job and their job alone to weed out those who can't handle it.)

Anyway- good luck. I absolutely hate Chemistry... but I certainly see where it is relevant.

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Specializes in LTC, Med-surg.

I'm sorry that psychology is giving you a hard time but it is absolutely necessary for you to take the course. You need to learn about how humans think and be able to understand you patient at the psychological level because most of the time, you're not only going to be taking care of patients physically. Being a nurse is about taking care of the complete patient's psychological, spiritual and physical needs.

These pre-requisites will contribute to your analytical and critical thinking skills and expand your breadth of knowledge. You might not remember all of it completely after you are done with the course but you WILL take something. When I took psychology I remembered several important things like Piaget's theory on child development, conditioning/operant conditioniong, and MASLOWS heirarchy of needs.

Also, I don't know if you know by Young and Lehrer (1991) did a research study that said that BSN nurses were more likely to perform high skill tasks frequently and understand complex functions while associate degree nurses (who are more technical) preferred to perform technical tasks and failed at CONCEPTUALIZING. And what do you think that might suggest? Associate degrees are more technical and do not have enough theory and analytical skills.

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These pre-requisites will contribute to your analytical and critical thinking skills and expand your breadth of knowledge. You might not remember all of it completely after you are done with the course but you WILL take something. When I took psychology I remembered several important things like Piaget's theory on child development, conditioning/operant conditioniong, and MASLOWS heirarchy of needs.

These are good examples of what some of the important things to take out of the class are. I actually was watching "Teen Mom" the other night, and I remember watching Janelle's baby turn his back on her and walk away; he never really acknowledges her, and thinking "Wow, that's an example of an 'insecurely attached' child", which made sense in the situation b/c she was gone so much. So definitely some of the things learned can be applied to real-world situations, and can bring about a better understanding about why a child (or adult) acts a certain way. :up: This class being my personal least favorite has nothing to do w/the material. :)

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Specializes in Cardiac.

It has already been mentioned, but in Nursing school you're expected to already know everything from your Developmental Psych class. It will be briefly mentioned for about 20 minutes during one lecture and after that you will be responsible for all of it at anytime in the future.

Also, your class isn't hard. In general, Nursing school is infinitely harder than any combination of pre-reqs with any difficult professors. For one class you may be responsible for 10-20 chapters a week, plus clinicals, care plans, and you will be consistently bombarded with contradictory and ambiguous information.

That last part is hard for a lot of people. They're used to concrete yes/no situations but unfortunately nothing is like that in Nursing.

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I'm sorry that psychology is giving you a hard time but it is absolutely necessary for you to take the course. You need to learn about how humans think and be able to understand you patient at the psychological level because most of the time, you're not only going to be taking care of patients physically. Being a nurse is about taking care of the complete patient's psychological, spiritual and physical needs.

These pre-requisites will contribute to your analytical and critical thinking skills and expand your breadth of knowledge. You might not remember all of it completely after you are done with the course but you WILL take something. When I took psychology I remembered several important things like Piaget's theory on child development, conditioning/operant conditioniong, and MASLOWS heirarchy of needs.

Also, I don't know if you know by Young and Lehrer (1991) did a research study that said that BSN nurses were more likely to perform high skill tasks frequently and understand complex functions while associate degree nurses (who are more technical) preferred to perform technical tasks and failed at CONCEPTUALIZING. And what do you think that might suggest? Associate degrees are more technical and do not have enough theory and analytical skills.

I don't want to get into another round of ADN vs BSN but I would imagine that this might depend on the approach or model that different programs adopt. I'm in an ADN program and I can assure you that technical skills is not our main focus. Its been interesting since school started. Many of us came in with that idea that it would be mostly skills oriented. NOPE. We are constantly reminded that Nursing is about nursing people, not nursing a problem.

Perfect example, I had my first clinical last week. Our care plans address the holistic person. As I was going over my data clusters for my patient, I realized that there was something in her chart concerning something in her life that was not a part of her immediate physiological need that I needed to address. Being my first day on the floor, I asked my clinical instructor for advice on how to best approach that topic with my patient as it had the potential to be a very sensitive issue. She looked at all the data I had gathered and said hmm, doesn't look like you've gathered a lot of psycho social info. She gave me suggestions on how to approach the topic. Going back to the OP, my patient is in the hospital for XYZ complaint, but she has ABC and DEF issues, needs,concerns that need to be addressed that are not directly related to the complaint that brought her to the hospital. However they are in need of nursing interventions. In my program the Holistic person has been been beaten into our heads from day 1. I have dreams about the words HOLISTIC and ASSESS - LOL!

When you get to nursing school and start studying the Nursing Process, you might be surprised at the things nurses do and info needed to help them serve their patients. Even if you have a difficult professor, try to get as much as you can out of the course for your own benefit. It will definitely help you down the road IMO.

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I am just too frustrated to continue reading the comments on this posts. (I will continue though). Anyway, for those of you who feel as if it's your job to bash me (I'm a girl by the way) I think you should reread my post. The title says "seemingly pointless" as in it SEEMS pointless but I know it isn't. Also, I am not by any means crying over hard classes. I dont' mind a challenge. I just dont' understand why my professor is making this a bad experience for me. The main issue here is that she posts SEVERAL DEADLINES to the same assignments. Those who seems to think I am still "crying" must do all of their studying in like the first week so you have no idea what a deadline even means. Besides, I asked a question. It was do any of you feel the same way. Thank you to those who comment and gave me your experience and insight. To those who chose to overlook that question maybe you should brush up on your attention to detail. This post obviously wasn't meant for you. I don't know why so many people on this forum seem like they are out to get people. Oh there I go again using that word "seem" that no one SEEMS to know what it means. I'm just saying that you may be giving your opinion but if you're going to be rude about it don't post at all. Please and thank you. And this is the nice version of what I have to say.

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Oh by the way, I never said the class was hard (again attention to detail folks). I said the teacher is making it hard. I find the information very interesting but it's such a discouragement with the whole due date thing. That's the only issue. All of my exams I've gotten A's (I've taken 4 so far) so the material isn't hard if you read it and seek to understand it.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.
I am just too frustrated to continue reading the comments on this posts. (I will continue though). Anyway, for those of you who feel as if it's your job to bash me (I'm a girl by the way) I think you should reread my post. The title says "seemingly pointless" as in it SEEMS pointless but I know it isn't. Also, I am not by any means crying over hard classes. I dont' mind a challenge. I just dont' understand why my professor is making this a bad experience for me. The main issue here is that she posts SEVERAL DEADLINES to the same assignments. Those who seems to think I am still "crying" must do all of their studying in like the first week so you have no idea what a deadline even means. Besides, I asked a question. It was do any of you feel the same way. Thank you to those who comment and gave me your experience and insight. To those who chose to overlook that question maybe you should brush up on your attention to detail. This post obviously wasn't meant for you. I don't know why so many people on this forum seem like they are out to get people. Oh there I go again using that word "seem" that no one SEEMS to know what it means. I'm just saying that you may be giving your opinion but if you're going to be rude about it don't post at all. Please and thank you. And this is the nice version of what I have to say.

nvm, don't want to get banned as I need this site.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I love deadlines! I love the swooshing sound they make as they pass by! ;) (A Douglas Adams quote) I think about every time I'm down to the wire on an assignment or project.

Like I said, a lot of teachers make it their mission to make it hard on you. I took Geology a couple of semesters ago and my instructor said the first day of class, "those of you taking this because you want a class easier than Biology, I can and will make this class just as hard if not harder" (or along those lines). She was a brat, her labs were simple but her lecture exams were the trickiest tests I've ever taken. The class average was ridiculously low. She WANTED people to struggle.. she tested on the most obscure things, told everyone not to worry about getting up-to-date books, that she'd give us everything we needed for exams.. then tested on things she either barely touched or didn't even bring up in class.

She gave a LOT of extra credit though, if she hadn't, I'm pretty sure 3/4 of the class would have failed!

Rocks are not difficult. Geology isn't that difficult. A teacher can make it or break it.

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nvm, don't want to get banned as I need this site.

Unnecessary. Hence the reason why I gave you the nice version and you must be guilty because I said no names. Thanks.

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I love deadlines! I love the swooshing sound they make as they pass by! ;) (A Douglas Adams quote) I think about every time I'm down to the wire on an assignment or project.

Like I said, a lot of teachers make it their mission to make it hard on you. I took Geology a couple of semesters ago and my instructor said the first day of class, "those of you taking this because you want a class easier than Biology, I can and will make this class just as hard if not harder" (or along those lines). She was a brat, her labs were simple but her lecture exams were the trickiest tests I've ever taken. The class average was ridiculously low. She WANTED people to struggle.. she tested on the most obscure things, told everyone not to worry about getting up-to-date books, that she'd give us everything we needed for exams.. then tested on things she either barely touched or didn't even bring up in class.

She gave a LOT of extra credit though, if she hadn't, I'm pretty sure 3/4 of the class would have failed!

Rocks are not difficult. Geology isn't that difficult. A teacher can make it or break it.

I love that quote. And I agree with professors making or breaking it. Same in the workplace. Your coworkers could really make your job difficult. I always find something (not someone) to like about my job that way I don't upset when someone wants to make things just a little harder than it needs to be.

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