Students requesting help with HW and interviewing a nurse for HW purposes

[Black Jade]

...but state you don't know anybody and come to allnurses.com... I'm curious, what would you do if this website didn't existed?

When I was in nursing school, I used allnurses.com and other nursing websites as well as books for their resources which really helped me a lot. It never occured to me to ask for help with my HW. If I needed help, I would go to my instructor or go to a tutor or even a mentor.

Regarding interviewing a nurse, the instructors gave you this HW for a reason. Otherwise what would be the purpose of this HW if the instructors think the students wouldn't know any nurses? If it were me, I would interview my nurse I was partnered in clinicals, ask my instructor if he/she knew any nurses, if I was a volunteer approach one of the nurses at the hospital or even ask my doctor's/child doctor's nurse or the nurse at the school health services for an interview. There are plenty of opportunities to find somebody and interview face to face. This is the beauty of it, because you can see the expression on their faces as she/he recounts her/his experience and how she/he built herself/himself as a nurse.

I'm not trying to be mean. I'm actually curious, for those requesting help with homework, what would you do if allnurses.com didn't existed?

BJ

[klone, MSN, RN]

Thank you thank you thank you OP for bringing this up. As I'm sure some people have realized, this is such a huge pet peeve of mine.

WRT asking for interviews from AN members. How do you know the people who respond are actually nurses? They could be hairy men living in their mothers' basements. People aren't always who or what they portray themselves to be online. For that reason alone, I would never request an interview from strangers online.

[CuriousMe]

I didn't mean that at all...I guess it came out wrong. I am older myself.

I just meant this for the interview part...I think an interview is an interview. Even professionals do interviews over the phone and other ways, and that is not looked down upon. When it comes to actual hw questions though I think there are better ways to find the answers than expecting us to do it.

While I may be older than dirt, I'm also changing careers from technology to nursing. I'm by no means anti-technology.

However, an interview should be a conversation.....not a form letter. If the Professor wanted students to get nurses to fill out a long-answer survey, I'm sure that's what they would have assigned. Generally, if an interview is assigned, there's an expectation of actual interaction. It doesn't have to be in person, it could be on the phone, over SKYPE, whatever. But it should be a conversation.

[OCNRN63, RN]

I simply ignore those threads. There must be at least four or five of them every day. I'm another one of those "older than dirt" nurses who thinks you should put some effort into an assignment. As far as not wanting to bother nurses on the floor, I don't think that's necessarily a valid concern. Maybe some wouldn't have the time, but I would be willing to bet there would be quite a few nurses who would be glad to take a minute or two to give a fledgling nurse their perspective on the profession. It's just a whole lot easier to post questions and have the answers come to the student, rather than the student seek out the answers on his/her own time.

[TDCHIM]

I'm definitely with you on the homework issue, OP. The approach of going onto a professional site and saying "Can someone tell me how to do x in y situation?" drives me insane, no matter what the field might be.

However, I do believe the interview scenario is a little different. As litchi pointed out, it is a way to ask people for assistance without adding another duty on to a nurse's already busy shift. I really hate putting people I know on the spot by asking them to help me with a project or interview, when I know they'd much rather be doing something else, but will help because they don't want to disappoint me. With online interview requests, those who are interested participate at their leisure, while those who aren't interested or don't have the time to participate skip the request. Now, if you're trying to conduct a survey study online, it might skew your results a bit because you're drawing people who are interested and/or have strong feelings about your topic, but that's a problem with a lot of surveys.

I don't see the harm in online interviews requests, although as a previous poster noted, you are passing up opportunities for face-to-face interaction and connections/networking. However, the student is still doing what the instructor specified - asking a nurse a certain set of questions or creating questions on a certain topic for the nurse to answer. If the instructor specifies doing the interview face-to-face, that's a different story.

[klone, MSN, RN]

If the instructor specifies doing the interview face-to-face, that's a different story.

I'm sure, though, that the instructor has an expectation that the student is doing the interview with an actual RN.

[sunnycalifRN]

BJ,

when I went through nursing school in 2003-2005, I think that Allnurses was probably around, but I was too busy reading/studying and had no time to be surfing the net. In fact, I think the only thing I used the net for during nursing school was to buy used books from Amazon; got tired of being ripped off by the school bookstore!

But, back to your post . . . I used the "Starbucks approach" for interviews . . . offered the interviewee Starbucks coffee/pastry, and it worked like a charm! I think that the SN's who come here with their surveys and interview requests should just use the Starbucks approach. I wonder if the SN's try to do patient interviews on the various patient blogsites?

[TDCHIM]

I'm sure, though, that the instructor has an expectation that the student is doing the interview with an actual RN.

Well, if the occasion calls for it, perhaps. Other situations might simply call for an interview with an experienced nurse - LPN, RN, NP, etc. - or for interviews with nurses from a variety of backgrounds and license levels. For instance, with an assignment given to someone in an LPN program the instructor might not want the student to speak to an RN. Again, it depends on the parameters of the assignment, as well as the type of program and course. If the student is unclear on those parameters, it is up to the student to ask the instructor to clarify them.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Well, if the occasion calls for it, perhaps. Other situations might simply call for an interview with an experienced nurse - LPN, RN, NP, etc. - or for interviews with nurses from a variety of backgrounds and license levels. For instance, with an assignment given to someone in an LPN program the instructor might not want the student to speak to an RN. Again, it depends on the parameters of the assignment, as well as the type of program and course. If the student is unclear on those parameters, it is up to the student to ask the instructor to clarify them.

I think you missed my point. When an instructor requires you to interview a nurse, the expectation is that you will actually interview a NURSE. When you approach a bunch of strangers on the internet, you have no idea what these people's backgrounds are. People can and do lie online, and I'd be willing to bet any amount of money that there are people here who present themselves as nurse and aren't really nurses. You simply have no way of knowing that a stranger online is what they purport to be.

For that reason, I wish the administrators would change the TOS to reflect a rule that interview requests from students not be allowed.

[litchi]

I simply ignore those threads. There must be at least four or five of them every day. I'm another one of those "older than dirt" nurses who thinks you should put some effort into an assignment. As far as not wanting to bother nurses on the floor, I don't think that's necessarily a valid concern. Maybe some wouldn't have the time, but I would be willing to bet there would be quite a few nurses who would be glad to take a minute or two to give a fledgling nurse their perspective on the profession. It's just a whole lot easier to post questions and have the answers come to the student, rather than the student seek out the answers on his/her own time.

I agree that we students should be putting effort into our work, but asking questions on AN doesn't necessarily mean that we're not.

There are 140 students in my cohort that have the exact same assignments due the same week. We don't all go to the same facilities, but even then there are more students on the floor than there are RNs (at least in my current clinicals). Like I said before, I would have no problem asking someone who seemed open to answering questions.. but I do think bothering the RNs is a valid concern, because it won't be just me who needs the help--it'll be all 140 of us. I think even the most amiable of nurses would get tired of answering the same questions repeatedly. That's why I would want to be as considerate and accommodating as possible if I had an assigment that required a RN's help. If that means asking online for help, then so be it.

I've seen posts from students where it's obvious that they haven't even opened a book or tried to do the work on their own. I don't blame anybody here for being annoyed by that.. but some of us are actually trying our best, I promise!

[CuriousMe]

I agree that we students should be putting effort into our work, but asking questions on AN doesn't necessarily mean that we're not.

There are 140 students in my cohort that have the exact same assignments due the same week. We don't all go to the same facilities, but even then there are more students on the floor than there are RNs (at least in my current clinicals). Like I said before, I would have no problem asking someone who seemed open to answering questions.. but I do think bothering the RNs is a valid concern, because it won't be just me who needs the help--it'll be all 140 of us. I think even the most amiable of nurses would get tired of answering the same questions repeatedly. That's why I would want to be as considerate and accommodating as possible if I had an assigment that required a RN's help. If that means asking online for help, then so be it.

I've seen posts from students where it's obvious that they haven't even opened a book or tried to do the work on their own. I don't blame anybody here for being annoyed by that.. but some of us are actually trying our best, I promise!

Who said it's a question of bothering someone during their work hours or AN? Couldn't you ask a nurse to meet at their convenience outside of their hours on the floor? If they're busy and you don't want to interrupt them, write up a note explaining what you're looking for and offering to treat them to a cup of coffee, at their convenience, while they answer your questions.

The point is, there's likely more expected when being asked to interview a professional then having a page of answers, and learning how to make requests professionally is likely supposed to be part of the experience. Sending an anonymous form letter on AN....doesn't count.

[TDCHIM]

I think you missed my point. When an instructor requires you to interview a nurse, the expectation is that you will actually interview a NURSE. When you approach a bunch of strangers on the internet, you have no idea what these people's backgrounds are. People can and do lie online, and I'd be willing to bet any amount of money that there are people here who present themselves as nurse and aren't really nurses. You simply have no way of knowing that a stranger online is what they purport to be.

For that reason, I wish the administrators would change the TOS to reflect a rule that interview requests from students not be allowed.

That's a buyer beware matter to me. If the student is willing to take the interview subject's credential's on faith, that's his or her lookout. He or she could also PM the interview subjects for information to help verify their credentials. I think most of us who frequent this site but aren't nurses or are only in the process of becoming nurses would say as much, but I'm sure you're right when you say there are many people on the site who are indulging themselves by pretending to credentials they don't possess. Again, there are tradeoffs to doing things online - flexibility and response level are positives, while the potential for being fooled by a nurse-pretender and the lack of face-to-face connection are negatives.

I don't really see this as something the site should dictate, but that's just my personal opinion.

[litchi]

Who said it's a question of bothering someone during their work hours or AN? Couldn't you ask a nurse to meet at their convenience outside of their hours on the floor? If they're busy and you don't want to interrupt them, write up a note explaining what you're looking for and offering to treat them to a cup of coffee, at their convenience, while they answer your questions.

The point is, there's likely more expected when being asked to interview a professional then having a page of answers, and learning how to make requests professionally is likely supposed to be part of the experience. Sending an anonymous form letter on AN....doesn't count.

I already said that if I found someone who seemed up to answering questions in their off time, I wouldn't mind doing that. I don't disagree that in person is best! But if for whatever reason that isn't a possibility, I will use whatever other resources I have available.

Your point assumes that every student nurse who asks for help only posts a form to be filled out and goes no further with their "interview" than that. There are other ways to have a professional interaction with someone other than a face to face conversation though--if they're willing, I can communicate via PM, instant message or whatever else their preference might be.

The point I'm trying to make is that not all students do the absolute minimum and are genuinely trying to learn as much as they can, even if they do have to resort to asking a RN they found online questions to fulfill an assignment.