I had an aweful day and need some humor to boost my mood.
O.K. I'll start.
Things I hate ablout nursing school!
When you get to clinical and your patient has been discharged, because you have to start a whole new careplan on a different patient.
When you find art history class difficult because you are trying to use critical thinking on your art exams.
When the ex-nurses aid that you have class with always tries to correct the instructor on every procedure because she "Worked as an aid for two years and that's not how they did it"
Let's vent everyone and try to add a little humor. Sometimes if I don't laugh about these things I just might cry. I'd rather laugh about them and keep some sanity (what little I have left at this point). Oh my goodness listen to me it's only October.
The main thing I dislike about nursing school is this:
There is a shortage of RN's and this shortage will continue to grow over the next few years........so tell me this........why is it that Nursing Schools are not willing to work with those of us that must work full-time to support ourselves while going to Nursing School. Whenever I have a conflict or problem with scheduling I'm told I shouldn't expect to work full-time! That is why I enrolled in an evening program to start with! Then how do I pay for child care while I'm in school and my car that brings me to school if I'm not working full-time????
Specializes in ICU / Med-Surg / Education / Management.
The main thing I dislike about nursing school is this:
There is a shortage of RN's and this shortage will continue to grow over the next few years........so tell me this........why is it that Nursing Schools are not willing to work with those of us that must work full-time to support ourselves while going to Nursing School. Whenever I have a conflict or problem with scheduling I'm told I shouldn't expect to work full-time! That is why I enrolled in an evening program to start with! Then how do I pay for child care while I'm in school and my car that brings me to school if I'm not working full-time????
I don't disagree with you. I think they (we) could be more flexable. The trouble is - for the most part those that teach are no longer in the clinical field so they are not affected by the shortage. Many of the profs don't want evening clinicals. Some simply do not care. Other have been "abused" by past students and now figure all the student will. I hope that most of my students understand that most things I am unable to change but I am understanding. Todd
The stress! I am in the honeymoon phase as well and am feeling pretty good today after acing two pharm. tests in a row. But the stress is crazy! I feel like I am riding a bicycle down the hill and now the road has ice on it and my bike keeps going and I realize I have no breaks! LOL
I really do love the way though that everything is fitting together and we are actually learning things that correlate!
Oh, and yes a commute less than 45 miles each way would be better! =o)
~Student Parking lots located a mile from the hospital
~Menopausal teachers who would rather teach incorrect info than admit they were wrong :angryfire
~Intruding on patient privacy because you are an "observer"
~Staying up until 2am to write a paper due the next day (gotta love procrastination) :uhoh21:
~Not having a social life because you have to study on Friday/Saturday night
~Those hard, plastic chairs we sit on during class that have no respect for the posteriorly-challenged :imbar :chair:
~Teachers who say "hypo-" when they meant "hyper-" and vice versa
~Having a sleep schedule of a 97 year old woman!
~50lbs books that cost $100
~Hearing from the same student every semester about the time she had her gallbladder removed, the time she delivered her son, the time she had this, the time she had that, etc.
"When the ex-nurses aid that you have class with always tries to correct the instructor on every procedure because she "Worked as an aid for two years and that's not how they did it"
Interesting observation.
I go to school with an ex physical therapy aid....does the same thing, thinks she knows more than the rest because she was an assistant.
I have a big big big issue with being a student nurse in a class with a bunch of teeny bopper wannabes I left highschool ten years ago !!! but its worse now!!
I was a licensed practical nurse before entering the registered nursing program.....try working five years as a full scope practical nurse (im in canada that means I do everything for my patients except IV meds) and then going back to school, the LPN's at work are ticked at me for becoming and RN the RN's treat me like I have the plague and the students....oh the students are great...NOT I can't tell you how many times ive been asked not to answer questions posed in class because they think "You know the answers and its unfair to us"
Nursing school itself? hmm Community assignments because i live no where near my clincal placements, i think the student co-ordinator enjoys taking the list of student residences and placing them in hospitals furthest from home!! so when it comes to community assignments you gotta go back to the foreign land to interview your clients when they get dischared
Group work in class especially when they switch the groups around everyday and you never know who you are working with and who's bringing what book so you have to carry all 500 lbs of books in yourself!
My particular program is so disorganized but i was on a two year waiting list so i don't want to stop now and play the waiting game again....but i think the programs disorganization is the biggest pet peeve i have about nursing school :)
Mine are probably repeats too, but they certainly bear repeating:
1. Instructors who are either not organized for the lecture, so we hear "uhhhhhhh, ummmmmmm, oh yeah, and back with what I was talking about 20 minutes ago..", OR they just read the book/notes to us. *I* could do that myself, and be at least sitting in a comfortable chair at home! Half the time, I bring something to study during those kinds of lectures and just tune them out.
2. I have an instructor that says "irregardless" and it's like fingernails down a chalkboard. Funny how a little thing like that can become your favorite pet peeve and drive you nuts. REGARDLESS!!!!!!! AAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!!
The reality is, though, that I am loving school now like I never have before, because I'm doing the right thing. I don't think I've ever put so much work into something before, and actually WANTED to put that work in.
i hate to say it, but i am so glad that other students are having the same problems that i am in nursing school. i had to laugh at some of them because they are exactly what i go through every day and here i thought no one could relate! :chuckle one of the things that i didn't see, but may have just missed is the instructor saying, "well, i didn't go over that, but it's in your reading." yea, one of those 20 books that i have, i'm sure it's in there somewhere. thanks for your help! we aren't assigned specific reading, so we pretty much have to go through all the books we have and read up on the topic for that week.
i have a general question for everyone......if you were an instructor for a group of appx 50 people and you have them a test and only 9 people passed it, would you feel like it may be something that you did wrong in instructing?? just wondering!
i have one last one for you. how about on your very first day of nursing school the head of nursing comes in and says, "you should look at your neighbor because that person will not be here next semester because more than half of you will fail! how do you like that for a morale booster?!
Hmmmm...good question. It depends on what day of the week you ask this question, but today's complaints are:
-Labor and delivery. Why on earth do I have to take this class! AGH!
-4 hour lectures.
-When you schedule a home visit with your patient, you show up at their house and they're not at home! ARGH!
-The fact that graduation isn't until April 2005. It can't get here soon enough...
Amen! We're doing L&D right now, spending 7 weeks on it, plus a rotation in L&D. I realize it's an important part of health, and it's great for the people who are going into it, but it's rotten for people like me. I have no desire to work L&D, and I have to say, I hate the fact that we spend so much time on this one specialty, and almost no time on the specialty I'm interested in (emergency and critical care). Plus, I did my L&D rotation last night, and as soon as the nurses found out I wasn't interested in doing L&D, they ignored me for the rest of the night! One RN even told me flat out, "If you're not going to work in this area, there's no point in my showing you how to do this." As a result, I spent 8 VERY boring hours standing around doing nothing.
Okay, as you can probably tell, last night was a little frustrating, and it felt good to rant a little bit!
Amen! We're doing L&D right now, spending 7 weeks on it, plus a rotation in L&D. I realize it's an important part of health, and it's great for the people who are going into it, but it's rotten for people like me. I have no desire to work L&D, and I have to say, I hate the fact that we spend so much time on this one specialty, and almost no time on the specialty I'm interested in (emergency and critical care). Plus, I did my L&D rotation last night, and as soon as the nurses found out I wasn't interested in doing L&D, they ignored me for the rest of the night! One RN even told me flat out, "If you're not going to work in this area, there's no point in my showing you how to do this." As a result, I spent 8 VERY boring hours standing around doing nothing.
Okay, as you can probably tell, last night was a little frustrating, and it felt good to rant a little bit!
So glad to see someone agree with me! Sorry to hear about your experience. I had a similar situation this week when I spent the day doing pre-natal exams. I spent about four hours standing around since none of the women would agree to let me in the exam room with the midwife! Very frustrating since I'm still required to complete all the same paperwork and assignments as all the other students.
I've actually acquired somewhat of an appreciation for L&D, since the ICU I work in has gotten several women following a c-section. I really feel that if you don't have any intention of working in L&D that you shouldn't be required to take an entire class on it. I think some basics could be covered in another class and that would provide more than enough info for all those future ICU and ER nurses.
On a completely seperate note...I see you're from Portland. I'm thinking of moving there after graduation next April. Any advice on what hospitals are the best for new grads? I've gotten several suggestions from some other folks, but I'm curious to hear what you have to say. Thanks in advance!
1. They say there's a nursing shortage...but you don't see many companies putting money into nursing students (the largest source of future nurses?) The government doesn't seem to want nurses very badly either.
2. Quite a few nursing students are women with young children. So why do all the clinicals seem to start at 6:30 AM? Most nursing schools could probably support a full-service daycare center that stayed open from 4:30 AM to 10 PM.
3. Stress. Tons of it. From multiple sources. Some of it unnecessary. Does suffering make better nurses? If suffering is required, couldn't we just get it all over at one time and spend the rest of nursing school relatively stress-free? What would we name that course? "Foundations of Nursing?"
4. Textbooks that should be divided into 2 volumes. Sorta obvious when you consider that most nursing texts go places with nurses.
5. Textbooks that aren't great. Not bad enought to burn, just poor quality. I admit that I'm not to the point where I can judge, but my Obstetrics text material was "lifted" from another text. (Pretty obvious when every 2nd page quotes the same source.)
6. Instructors that need to "refresh" their skills. When the floor nurses start to laugh at your clinical instructor...there's a problem.
7. Instructors calling each other "professor" when they have a Master's Degree and are spelling-challenged.
8. Registering for a clinical class by instructor only, then not getting that instructor. Repeatedly.
9. Uniforms. What's the point? Nurses wear scrubs. Students should wear scrubs. Sure, put the dorky school patch on it and specify a color that can be found at the local uniform shops. Stop forcing the students to pay 2-3 times retail for "required" uniforms. Especially when the company with the contract can't get their act together year after year.
10. Two strikes, you're out. My school drops anyone who fails two courses. (With 3 quarters to go, I've been lucky so far. I haven't failed.) I've seen some good students who crashed and burned. They deserved better.
Mads Mum RN2B
4 Posts
The main thing I dislike about nursing school is this:
There is a shortage of RN's and this shortage will continue to grow over the next few years........so tell me this........why is it that Nursing Schools are not willing to work with those of us that must work full-time to support ourselves while going to Nursing School. Whenever I have a conflict or problem with scheduling I'm told I shouldn't expect to work full-time! That is why I enrolled in an evening program to start with! Then how do I pay for child care while I'm in school and my car that brings me to school if I'm not working full-time????