As a current nursing student, I have learned many things. Things about myself, about others, and of course about nursing. I like to think of myself as a dedicated student, one who strives to be the best. I put in countless hours of studying every week. I also put in countless hours helping others study every week. So, it is safe to say that I earn my grades.
Well, here is the reason that I am writing this article. There are many people in my nursing class that are failing. Many of them are quick to blame the professor and say "she sucks, she doesn't know what she is doing, blah blah blah". I agree, she is not the best professor and could improve her teaching methods. BUT, this is nursing school. Nursing school is not supposed to be easy, and in my opinion you should NOT be spoon-fed the material. As responsible adults and nursing students, it is OUR responsibility to make sure we are learning the material and not just trying memorize it for a test. The students that are failing and complaining about the professor want to write a letter to the dean, telling her how "unfair" this class is. Is writing a letter going to solve your issues, NO probably not.
Now, I am not bashing anyone for failing or for wanting to voice their opinions. I understand how difficult the material can be and how overwhelming it may be. I am not a natural born genius, I definitely work for my grades. My advice is, before you go blaming others for the reason you are failing; reevaluate yourself. Are you truly giving it your all? Are you asking for help? What can you change? I would gladly help my classmates who are failing, if they asked. They could easily find a study group, if they asked. Maybe, just maybe if they didn't waste their time on other things, they could pass.
So, for any nursing student/ future nursing student... If you are struggling or even begin to struggle, ask for help. Nursing school is not easy, sometimes you need other people to help you along the way, and that is perfectly okay! Don't let your ego ever get in the way of asking for help. We are all facing the same struggles, join together with your classmates, make new friends and learn as much as you can. It really annoys me when someone says "I didn't read because it's all on the powerpoint" or my favorite " I don't take notes because I record the lecture". Is it necessary to read every page of your textbook, no. But it is necessary to reference it and use it as a guide! Good luck to all the nursing students out there, I wish you all the best.
*Sorry if this offended anyone, just needed to share my experience**
I agree with you on some things and I disagree with others. I agree the whining and complaining gets you nowhere. But I disagree that you should be teaching yourself the concepts. Nursing school is a whole other ball of wax and we need to be taught what is going on so we have an use of what to look for on a patient and what exactly we need to know for NCLEX. This is a whole new area for most of us.
Most people have lives outside of school. I study hard. When it's a test week I may put in 10-12 hours of studying. On a non-test week, maybe 6. But I'm a single mom. I own my own home so I must be a homeowner. I also have a relationship I'm trying to balance. I work 12 hours a week on night shift. Which means the day I go in I sleep in until 11am, and the day after I'm worthless because I gotta sleep. It's hard to squeeze hours of studying in. And if I'm having to teach myself the material, forget it.
It sounds like to me your classmates are having a hard time finding a balance. And they are not dealing with their frustrations correctly. They should be going to the instructor to figure out where they are going wrong. Then if they are not happy, up the chain of command.
I think it's great you are doing well and have lots of time to study. I'm guessing you are young and don't have many responsibilities outside of school where many of us do. And be confident that in the end if your classmates are not studying and doing the work, it will catch up with them on NCLEX.
I totally understand having things to do outside of school, I don't a house by myself nor do I have children. But, I do work 24 hours/week and I also tutor for underclass nursing students 12 hours a week. Also, I am in a relationship of 2 years, but sometimes I have to put her on the back burner because school is my priority right now. I study almost every day, and typically stay up late to do so then wake up early the next day for lecture or clinical. That's just what it takes for me to be successful and to get the most out of my education. I don't think we should teach ourselves, but it is our responsibility to learn the material and to be able to apply it. There's no way possible an instructor can teach every little detail or cover everything that is important or else lectures would be 5-6 hours long for every class. I do find it to be outstanding for single mothers, like yourself to be in a nursing program and to be successful because that's a big load to carry.
All I'm saying is, if someone is struggling with a topic or a class, they shouldn't bash the professor right away. There are many other things that the person can do besides bash the professor. Again, great job for being a single mother and going through nursing school! Best of luck to you!😀
Very well said, and I couldn't agree with you more.
You would think that by this point fellow students would accept responsibility for their academic success or failure, but sadly that's not always the case. If someone is trying and struggling, that's one thing. You can only help someone if they are willing to help themselves. I'm in my second semester of nursing school and also work as a tutor. I see this ALL THE TIME in tutoring. Students come in and complain about their professor, meanwhile they haven't: read the book, studied notes (if they even took them), or really done any preparation whatsoever.
These people will weed themselves out, as stated above.
Exactly! Also, many people study for the test the wrong way and look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that. For example, I am in MedSurg right now, well many of my classmates feel the need to spend the majority of their time studying the pathophysiology (we had patho last semester) instead of studying the interventions. Another thing that I find a lot of students do is, they study strictly just the PowerPoints without thinking "outside" the box. When I tutor people, they either love me or hate me, because I will make them think critically and give them scenarios to apply information that may have been on 5 or 6 different slides. To me, it's all about how you study, and how much effort is put in. If you just study the PowerPoints, yeah you'll probably pass the test with an average grade, but if you actually challenge yourself then you'll see improvement and a lot of people just can not grasp that concept.
2bNurseDR.T
58 Posts
I totally understand having things to do outside of school, I don't a house by myself nor do I have children. But, I do work 24 hours/week and I also tutor for underclass nursing students 12 hours a week. Also, I am in a relationship of 2 years, but sometimes I have to put her on the back burner because school is my priority right now. I study almost every day, and typically stay up late to do so then wake up early the next day for lecture or clinical. That's just what it takes for me to be successful and to get the most out of my education. I don't think we should teach ourselves, but it is our responsibility to learn the material and to be able to apply it. There's no way possible an instructor can teach every little detail or cover everything that is important or else lectures would be 5-6 hours long for every class. I do find it to be outstanding for single mothers, like yourself to be in a nursing program and to be successful because that's a big load to carry.
All I'm saying is, if someone is struggling with a topic or a class, they shouldn't bash the professor right away. There are many other things that the person can do besides bash the professor. Again, great job for being a single mother and going through nursing school! Best of luck to you!😀