Should our instructors really expect us to be perfect in order to pass???

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

i dont agree with it , but i would hope they expect perfection. we are dealing with peoples lives you know. we're not art majors or chefs cooking ***** food.

i dont think she should make people cry, but its good you have a instructor who lites a fire under your a**es, to be the best nurses you can be :)

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

let's read that last one again. "... she doesn't feel comfortable passing all of us at the point we are now, and we only have three weeks of clinical left and then we are in our preceptorship. correct me if i'm wrong, but i didn't know that as nursing students, we were expected to be perfect to pass. i thought that as long as we are safe, know the basics and look up the right answers when we don't know them, that we are fine. after all, real learning only begins after you graduate. am i wrong?"

:eek: yes, you are. wrong, that is. i will endeavor to correct you, since you ask.

at the present time, your instructor feels that you are not, in fact, safe. she has seen a lot of students and a lot of new grads, and you haven't; you, yourself, are not in any position to judge what is regressed, safe or unsafe. you haven't been in clinical for six months, you can't answer questions on basics that she thinks you ought to know by now, not "looking it up" on everything (perfection being beside the point), and i'm sorry to break it to you that "real learning only begins after you graduate" does not give you a pass on anything now in any way, shape, manner, or form. it would be much more accurate to say, "more learning happens after you graduate."

if i were you i'd lose the attitude and do some very serious buckling down, because, like it or not, if she says you're not safe to move on to the next level, believe me, you won't be moving on. :nono:

FutureOBNurse2118 · Sep 10, 2011

let's read that last one again. "... she doesn't feel comfortable passing all of us at the point we are now, and we only have three weeks of clinical left and then we are in our preceptorship. correct me if i'm wrong, but i didn't know that as nursing students, we were expected to be perfect to pass. i thought that as long as we are safe, know the basics and look up the right answers when we don't know them, that we are fine. after all, real learning only begins after you graduate. am i wrong?"
yes, you are. wrong, that is. i will endeavor to correct you, since you ask.

at the present time, your instructor feels that you are not, in fact, safe. she has seen a lot of students and a lot of new grads, and you haven't; you, yourself, are not in any position to judge what is regressed, safe or unsafe. you haven't been in clinical for six months, you can't answer questions on basics that she thinks you ought to know by now, not "looking it up" on everything (perfection being beside the point), and i'm sorry to break it to you that "real learning only begins after you graduate" does not give you a pass on anything now in any way, shape, manner, or form. it would be much more accurate to say, "more learning happens after you graduate."

if i were you i'd lose the attitude and do some very serious buckling down, because, like it or not, if she says you're not safe to move on to the next level, believe me, you won't be moving on.

okay, well it looks as though you are the one who has something wrong, because nowhere in my post have i said that we weren't being safe.. as a matter of fact, we are being safe, we do know the basics... we are not incompetent... but when instructors such as her, down us for not knowing things that we simply have not learned yet, then i think that is a little unfair. every friend or family member i know thats been through nursing school will tell you that they didn't really feel like they knew much when getting out into the real world... as a matter of fact, and i quote my aunt "when i got out of nursing school and started my first job, after a week i thought to myself, what the hell did i go to nursing school for?? i feel like i know nothing." instructors are there to guide us and help us, teach us, instead of shunning us for things we have no fault for not knowing.

but thanks for misunderstanding what i was saying. next time, read a little more thoroughly. thanks.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2011

i didn't say that you said you weren't safe. i said that your instructor felt you weren't safe enough to pass along to the next level. i also said that you, a student, don't have the perspective on what's safe practice for an almost-graduate that your instructor's education and experience gives her, and she knows more about this than you do. if she says she's not comfortable passing you along, then she has a reason. you may be misunderstanding her, but if she says that, you should believe she has a good reason. and that she has the power to hold you back.

we can discuss reading "more thoroughly" at another time, but as a start, if you look up to the top of my post you will see that i have been a nurse for a very long time; i have taught a lot of nursing students, new grads, and experienced nurses. i agree with your relative who realized when she got out of school that she had a lot more to learn-- we all felt that way, and a good thing too, because as new grads we'd have been health hazards in white shoes if we didn't have that much humility.

i still learn new things all the time. but i stand by my opinion that saying "real learning only begins after you graduate" does not give you a pass on anything now in any way, shape, manner, or form, and that the best thing you can do now is reconsider the attitude about thinking your instructor is all wet and mean and unfair, and start preparing better for her questions. this is your last semester? better get on it.

but hey, if you don't care for my advice, you are free to ignore it. that's what makes america great. good luck to you.

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 11, 2011

After all, real learning only begins after you graduate. Am I wrong?

Yes ... you are wrong. Real learning should occur in school. Learning continues after you graduate, but society expects schools to actually teach you things and to not let you graduate and take the NCLEX if you do not meet their standards.

You cannot take the NCLEX and get a license if you do not meet the standards set by the school -- as judged by the faculty. That's the way the system is designed on purpose. It's a 2-step process. The NCLEX alone is not enough to get you a license. You need the school faculty to endorse your candidacy.

I suggest you get to work and take this rotation very seriously.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Sep 11, 2011

In reading your post, were you one of the students who received constructive criticism from your instructor? If not, I would keep my head down and work harder. There has been many times where I have seen people who, in my opinion, have been treated unfair. However, it is not my place to correct the person doing it, especially a superior. What she says goes. The two who started crying need to toughen up. How will they handle a difficult situation with the patient, or doctor for that matter?

You wrote a message on the board of a situation from your perspective and asked a question. GrnTea responded to your question. I think her response was straight forward, but not rude. However, your response was quite acidic, rude, and immature. Perhaps your attitude is the common denominator to the issue at hand.

vagirl76 · Sep 11, 2011

Keep your head up and stay focused. You are almost there. If your Instructor doesnt feel that you should be passed in order to be a Nurse, prove her wrong! Good Luck!

applewhitern, BSN, RN · Sep 11, 2011

Nursing school is a total commitment, period. You don't "forget" stuff. Every thing you learn builds upon things you already learned. Even if school let out in March, there is no way anyone should have "forgotten" stuff they already learned that quick. When you are out working in the real world as a real nurse, it won't fly to say "it's been 6 months, I don't remember!" I am sorry if I sound mean or harsh, believe me, I am not, but I agree that if a student cries because of nursing school, just think what they will be like during a code and they don't know what to do. Read your nursing books all the time, study a lot on your own, not just in class. Nursing school is hard, but real nursing is a whole lot harder. And yes, you pretty much have to be "perfect."

rn/writer, RN · Sep 11, 2011

Maybe this was your instructor's way of giving you guys a wake-up call and letting you know that she expects you to pull yourselves together and pour it on these last three weeks.

BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN · Sep 11, 2011

I dont have much else to add, but I do concur with those who are "correcting you, if you are wrong". Any school with any worth expects perfection. How can we say "it's ok to make mistakes"? Granted no student is 100% perfect, but there is a standard that needs to be upheld. Being safe (as you put it) is ok for getting through fundamentals. But you are in the final semester. There are no more semesters for you to improve anymore. While you will learn much more of your trade on the job, this is your last chance to learn in a legitimate learning environment. Your instructor feels you have not mastered the requisite skills of a graduate nurse.

The fact that you have the same instructor may be throwing you off a bit. Lemme guess: she's not as warm and fuzzy as she was back then. She expects more from you, she's not holding your hand as much. Imagine having your kindergarten teacher for 6th grade. It's gotta be a different approach.

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 11, 2011

Great post, nurse educate.

:yeah: :yeah: :yeah: