Things you "should" be taught in nursing school

[KimberlyRN89]

I'm about 1 week from finishing up my 2nd semester in a BSN program. In my skills portion of Med-Surg, on our syllabus it stated that we would learn how to apply 12-lead EKG's. But we never did. I mentioned that to one of the instructors, and she said waved it off and said "Well your employer will teach you that once you get a job".

I understand that, but wouldn't some employers expect you to know that (i.e., basic skills?)

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

I wish that just one class was dedicated to conflict management in the workplace. There have been COUNTLESS posts by new nurses on this very topic. It is a real issue, and one that should be addressed in nursing school. For more than 15 minutes during the psych rotation.

[SweetOldWorld, BSN, RN]

So I always wondered with the "K" stood for in EKG - considering it's an electroCardiogram (we call it - more accurately - an ECG here in NZ). Today I wiki'd it and discovered that the K is for the german version ... electroKardiogram. So congratulations America on randomly adopting a Germanism instead of sticking with the English version lol.

Not random at all. It wasn't invented in the USA.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

I think nursing students should be taught how to organize themselves, prioritize and at least manage more than 1 patient at a time before graduation.

Also - I would like someone to sit down and tell them that not all feedback will be positive - people will tell them what they've done wrong and that there is NOTHING wrong with this. If they are not told their mistakes they can't correct them and learn. I get so tired of hearing new nurses complain that they are being picked on because someone points out what they missed or could have done better.

And once again,Ruby Vee has hit the nail on the head- everything she said I agree with!

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

I am a senior now and I still don't know how to read a freaking EKG, this is because all my instructors never talk about it in details. Yes, I know that I will learn billions of things when I start working but I am not paying $60000/year just so you can tell me what I am going to learn in real life.

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

Thanks everyone for the responses :) We use evolve.elsevier.com ALOT in our nursing program, and the website has very helpful videos. I guess I'm just sort of trying to get a feel for what employers would expect a new nurse to know :)

[CrimsonAlchemist]

I am a senior now and I still don't know how to read a freaking EKG, this is because all my instructors never talk about it in details. Yes, I know that I will learn billions of things when I start working but I am not paying $60000/year just so you can tell me what I am going to learn in real life.

WHERE are you going that is $60,000/year?? I really hope that was a typo and you meant 6,000...My school has one of the highest NCLEX pass rates in the state and our tuition is about $2,000 a semester. Wow.

Back on topic, though. I'd like more focus on problem solving.

[JenniferSews]

I think nursing students should be taught how to organize themselves, prioritize and at least manage more than 1 patient at a time before graduation.

I totally agree! Our instructors tried really hard to have us take more than 1 patient but with clinical spots being what they are these days we were lucky to get 1 patient sometimes. Then I graduated and got a job and after 2.5 days orientation I had 20 patients!!! Some sort of fall back plan on how to organize my time would have been really helpful. All we got were NCLEX questions on "which patient to see first." Organizing time and prioritizing would have had some real world impact even if you don't get stuck in a sub acute setting.

From my own experience it would have been helpful to have experience with inserting foleys, managing gtubes, suctioning trachs, inserting IVs and doing PICC line dressing changes. Thankfully I had at least done all in a lab setting or my one amazing day in the ER, except the PICC dressing. With no preceptor I was left to flounder through and learn on my own. Hopefully most don't have the same experience. You can bet any student that comes my way (with any interest in learning at least) gets a crash course.

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

I think nursing students should be taught how to organize themselves, prioritize and at least manage more than 1 patient at a time before graduation.

I'm guilty of this This semester we were responsible for having two (or three if the census permits) patients. However there were a couple of days when I only had one due to the census being low. One the days where I had two pts, I managed okay..but on other days I think I spent more time paying more attention to one patient over the other. On our care plans we are supposed to self-evaluate our performance for that week by identifying our strengths & weaknesses. I put that I didn't balance my time like I should. For next semester I really hope to learn how to better balance my time

I think part of the problem might have been that when we arrived we just received our assignment & that was it; no report or anything.. Basically it was "go in the pt's room, give them their meal tray, take their vitals & help them get dressed. Then give them their medicine".

[KareBear0609]

I think that is something that should be taught in nursing school. I took a Patient Care Technician class last Spring semester at my CC and we were even taught how to do it.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

I am a senior now and I still don't know how to read a freaking EKG, this is because all my instructors never talk about it in details. Yes, I know that I will learn billions of things when I start working but I am not paying $60000/year just so you can tell me what I am going to learn in real life.

Holy hell, girl! You are paying through the nose for tuition! I only paid $45,000/yr for my baby brother's tuition at Yale, and that just about broke me! Where in the heck are you going to school?

[Always_Learning, BSN, RN]

I agree that more "hands on" practice with skills would have been beneficial, although I understand that due to faculty/student ratio, skill availability, and clinical hours, sometimes that just isn't possible. It would also be nice to get some more practical knowledge (e.g. steps that go into a typical admission or discharge, how to prioritize the paperwork, etc.) I know this varies facility to facility, but I had utterly no clue about this when I graduated, so anything would've been nice.

Also, instruction on how best to speak with doctors (efficiently and succinctly) would have been helpful. SBAR is a start, but I think you have to learn that when you call a physician about decreased bowel sounds, say, they may ask you about how much you've had out of the NG. Or when you call about decreased urine output, they may want you to have an idea of whether the patient's wet or dry; in other words, you kinda have to know what you want before you call.

I could make a really long wish list, but I understand that the variety of nursing settings and specialties make it nearly impossible to fully prepare a new grad for the "real world." Because of this, I would like to see much more standardized and comprehensive new grad internship programs across the board.

[sistasoul]

I am a senior now and I still don't know how to read a freaking EKG, this is because all my instructors never talk about it in details. Yes, I know that I will learn billions of things when I start working but I am not paying $60000/year just so you can tell me what I am going to learn in real life.

Nurses typically do not read EKGs unless they have had specialized training. Telemetry strips is one thing that nurses are taught after they have been a nurse for a little while. I am ACLS trained and still have a difficult time reading telemetry strips. Don't worry about this stuff now. Just learning to function as a nurse is enough.

I do agree that nursing school in no way prepares one for the reality of nursing.