Typical Nursing School Behavior?

Published

Specializes in Medical Telemetry, SICU.

I'm in my first semester of nursing school and I love all the stuff we are learning. My classmates have been pretty nice overall but some of them have been complaining about how certain things are. Being on this site prior to getting in I've already expected most of these behaviors but I wanted to see if these things happen in other programs:

  • My lab partner doesn't read her chapters prior to lab and wonders why she doesn't know whats going on :down:
  • In Health Assessment lab, for each Assessment we fill out to labwork ourselves relying on our readings and videos. The professor only comes around if we ask or if there is a particular technique she wants to make sure we see in person.
  • One teacher constantly picking on me about my multi-earrings on non lecture days -_- Obviously on clinical/lab days I take them out. She also doesn't want any hair accessories during clinical/lab, she is the only professor that cares.
  • The same teacher picks on another student about her tattoos, telling her to stop it. Mind you she got them 4 years ago when she wasn't thinking about being a nurse.
  • Insane amount of work (not complaining, I already expected it). Starting next week we will have a test every week until Dec. finals, except one week in Nov.

You can add your own weird quirks about your NS

Up Vote Up Vote ×

The intensity of the last semester of nursing school! I can't believe how quick people are to jump all over other people. We had a HUGE blow up today at school between some classmates (I just kept my head down and didn't say a thing). I think it's just the stress of the final next week and the fact that we are sick of each other. It does amaze me though how much nursing school can bring the best and worst of our personalities out!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

"In Health Assessment lab, for each Assessment we fill out to labwork ourselves relying on our readings and videos. The professor only comes around if we ask or if there is a particular technique she wants to make sure we see in person."

My school is like this too and I think it sucks. I'm envious of my friends who are in schools with a more formal, structured lab setting. I don't like that watching videos is the bulk of our instruction. I actually think it's a bit of a rip off, lol!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical Telemetry, SICU.

I understand that they want to show the videos to make sure there is a uniform teaching example but certain things I wish they would demonstrate w/o me asking.

I'm only hoping that since our school is the way it is we will have no problem if we are just thrown into a situation that we have no experience in once we have actual nursing jobs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Our class of 64 students is split up into 5 lab groups and split again into 10 clinic groups. For each clinic group we have our own instructor that is on the floor with us as well as the nurse we are working under. In lab we have two instructors! I think this is great because we get so much individual attention. I am sorry you feel neglected by your instructors. Is there anyway you can make an appointment with your instructor to get some more one-on-one. As far as your lab partner goes call her out, but do it nicely. The next time it is clear she is lost say "it really helps me when I read and take notes on the chapter before class, do you want to meet in the library before lab next time and read it together? You can practice some therapeutic communication that way...lol, good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow. I thought my program was strict. I'm in my second program of the RN program. Took the LPN program last year and have my LPN license.

1. There are ALWAYS those students who think they can get by without reading and then get ticked off when they don't know anything. Many of them got through their pre-reqs without reading and they think they can continue to do the same. They will learn soon enough that not reading will hurt them. It may sound mean, but I refuse to help these people. I have a husband, a child, and I work and I manage to read the content - why can't they? When they ask me how I know stuff, I just say, "It was in the readings...you read, didn't you?" That sucks that your lab partner is such a slacker though. I would only help her enough so that you can get through lab. Don't carry her. Advise her to do her readings and ignore her when she complains.

2. My program's lab was similar but the instructor always demonstrated the assessment techniques for us. We had videos, but we had to watch them and write a short paper on them. We didn't really have any sheets to fill out during lab, we had to perform the techniques on each other and have our skills checked off, which was nerve wracking. If you didn't perform the skill correctly or you missed too many things, you would have to do it over. You only got 3 tries and if you didn't do it correctly in those 3 tries, you would get a "Needs Improvement" for that lab. If you got 3 "Needs Improvements" you would get an "Unsatisfactory" and if you got 3 "Unsatisfactories" you would fail out.

3. None of our instructors picks on anyone about anything as stupid as earrings or tattoos. Most of our students have tattoos, piercings, multiple earrings, etc. The important thing is following dress code for clinical - none of the instructors care about that during lab or lecture. If you ask me, pestering a student about those things is not professional unless the student is showing off/wearing them at an inappropriate time. It's being judgmental and that goes against the core values of nursing. I have several tattoos. Some of them are in visible areas (I got them before I decided to go to nursing school) and I always cover them for clinical. My instructors are always asking me about them and saying how pretty they are. Most of our instructors are younger, but there are a few older instructors and they're all open-minded and never act that way towards students. I wonder how they would act if they had a patient who was covered in tattoos or piercings? It just seems overcritical - as long as the student is dressed appropriately for clinical, why does it matter outside of clinical?

4. The insane amount of work only gets worse. What kind of program are you in? Do you take LPN year first, then RN, and so on? Or are you in just an RN program? My school requires that you take the LPN program, take the NCLEX-PN and pass, and then you can take the RN program. I thought LPN year was time consuming and difficult - but the RN program is so time consuming and full of madness that it makes the LPN part look like cake. If your program is like mine, just wait until next year! If you're in an RN program, I'm sure the work will multiply as the program goes on. The biggest thing is to stay on top of the work and the readings and if you have some free time, work ahead! Start on a paper, finish an assignment, do something to help lessen the load. During Christmas break last year, as soon as we got the syllabi for the next semester I began working on homework that was coming up. I had all my homework done before the semester started - this gave me more time to study for exams.

5. Be prepared to be annoyed with your classmates even more. The more you get to know people, the more you realize how different they seemed at the beginning. There was one girl who I didn't mind at the beginning but couldn't stand by the end of the program - she was rude and condescending and spoke to the nurses at our clinicals like they were stupid. It seems like every class has a know-it-all, a ditz, a freak-out/drama queen, a class clown, and a liar (they lie about their grades or what they've done). You just need to know how to deal with them and try not to make waves unless necessary.

Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Totally agree with ChinacatSN, the more you get to know people, the more different they are. And very true about always having that one person in class.

I personally can't stand the student that always has to add in their personal experience when talking about different medical conditions in class. Don't get me wrong...it's not a big deal when it's once and a while but when it's EVERY single class, it gets annoying.

I'm in my last year and this semester and most of the clinical instructors are really crappy to the students (thankfully, my instructor is pretty nice but other students have instructors from hell).

It seems like now that we are getting down the main stretch there are a bunch of know it alls in the classes/clinicals that should be been RNs five years ago!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical Telemetry, SICU.

@chinacatSN Thanks lol, thats my feeling too on my lab partner. Help enough so that I don't fail. I have a feeling she must have not read in pre-reqs too, I though she was smart. In fact I assumed everyone that got into the program worked hard but perhaps not.

I just found out that my teacher is giving us a whole day in lab and even some of lecture time to go over our assessment techniques for our Head-to-Toe Assessment Skills Exam so I'm not as worried anymore.

I'm in a BSN program so its just straight crazy from the door. They don't break it up in LPN 1st year then RN second year, which I actually wanted it to be in the beginning. But in New Jersey they don't use LPNs all that much anyway. I'm trying to take better advantage of time I have and read ahead when I can.

@tap87 Just today we were talking about peripheral vascular signs in pregnant females. And one chick had to add in a question about pregnancy "Oh yea I had that when I was pregnant with my twins".....I like when people ask questions that I may be thinking but I hate when they add in their own personal stuff. :yawn:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

I think some of you need to lighten up. Jeeze.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I agree, lighten up.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Medical Telemetry, SICU.

Could you both elaborate? Thanks

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

This seems to be like a good place to post what I've been thinking about lately.

Five months ago, I was graduating from nursing school, and this forum was my home. I have come back to it occasionally, and it seems foreign to me now.

In nursing school, I was very stressed out about grades and papers and tests. However, I usually let what other people did roll off my back, unless it affected me, i.e. group projects where others weren't holding up their end of the project. Even then, though, I sorta looked at it as a way to get most of the project done the way I wanted it done. :lol2:

Now, I've been a working nurse for about three months, and the same attitude I had in nursing school has helped me in my career. Unless it directly affects me, I don't sweat what other people are doing.

Don't let them get to you. It will drive you crazy if you do. Nursing school is hard enough, so it's better to not make it harder on yourselves by getting all worked up about your classmates' behavior.

There are even times at work where what another person DOES or doesn't do directly affects me, and I just have to let it go. Someone let an order sit around for six hours and now it's on my shift? What am I gonna do? I have to implement the order...no amount of getting ticked off will change that fact. Sometimes you know the previous nurse was swamped, and sometimes the reputation that precedes the nurse will tell you that it sat there because she was lazy.

Personality differences? Holy crap, it's NURSING...you will encounter HUGE personality differences. In fact, a "personality difference" I'm currently encountering has become somewhat entertaining to me. Yeah, I'm evil that way. I wish I had the cajones to give details on what happened tonight, but I don't. It would give me away. It was with another new-ish nurse who really thinks she's all that, and I just giggle inside when she decides to set me straight. BTW, it had nothing to do with patient care or nursing technique. It had everything to do with the way she wanted to be notified if she got a message from an internal department...a certain way that NO ONE else uses on my shift. Good lord. Really, that was the highlight of my night. It put a certain spring in my step, if you will. :devil:

On another note, I've noticed that nursing student threads are much more harsh than some of the nursing threads in the general forum, in my opinion. You guys are hard on each other!!

All this is to say...learn to let it roll off your back now. It will serve you well in the future. :nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion