Who believes instructors can be out to get you?

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jun 27, 2004

I noticed that the ones in my class that said that the instructor is out to get them were also failing the class miserably, didn't take any notes, and didn't record any lectures. And asked for copies of other people's notes.

To say that the instructor is out to get you is called paranoia.

Energizer Bunny · Jun 27, 2004

No kidding, Marie. That's usually the way it goes!

HyperRNRachel · Jun 27, 2004

I believe that instructors have better things to do than to enter pissing contests with students. I have seen personality conflicts in action, but they have never ended with that student being kicked out or failing a class. My concern, when I hear students with the "out to get me" story, is when will they see the real issue and make the appropriate corrections.

RNIAM, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2004

I have seen it happen many times throughout my time as a nursing student. Some were failing and then cried foul when they were kicked out. There were a couple who had valid issues. One was a guy and the nursing instructors had issues with male nurses in the program. They made it a point to make it as difficult as possible for the male students to pass. How about the other side of the fence, the instructors who baby the "special students" through the program! That to me is just pathetic but it happens all the time as well. :)

RNNoMore · Jun 27, 2004

Some professors can push hard, but that is what they're supposed to do. It would be very rare for a professor to fail a student just on a personality clash. If I feel that there's going to be a bit of a personality clash, then I just keep my head down, knuckle down and do my work to the best of my ability, and try to keep interactions with that particular professor to the minimum, and as impersonal as possible - that way we both survive the semester LOL!

I can empathise with them a great deal though....think about it - you (as a professor), have worked hard developing a syllabus, writing lectures, exams etc., and you make the commitment to be at school on time, for every lecture, whatever the weather or family problems you may have. Half your students then arrive late for class, in the middle of your lecture, without even so much as an apology or explanation. Students keep getting up and leaving the class without asking (because for some reason, as 'adults' they are completely incabable of lasting for a mere 90 minutes without having to go to the bathroom 3 times, getting a soda from the machine twice, and answering their mobile phone 5 times). You collect last weeks assignments in and find that 30% of them have not been done yet (bang goes your Spring vacation time because you will now be marking all those late assignments), and then you give them an exam and find that 15 of the students have not followed the simple instructions you wrote on the board, and have neglected to write their names on the top of their exam papers....... To top it all, the professor only has to make one single typo mistake on an exam question and half the students are off complaining to the Dean. All these things have happened in EVERY class I've ever attended, and to my mind, professors must be saints to put up with it in the way they do. It would drive me nuts!

Paint.

Rhoresmith · Jun 27, 2004

Well we have one student in our class and I feel they pick on him. He does not miss much (did have pnuemonia first semester) takes notes sits in the front and is very knowledgeable but one clinical instructor just does not like him. She tries to make things very difficult for him. He is slow and meticulas in clinicals but he never gives up. He did pass this last semester but only barely in the clinicals part. I really like the teacher he has problems with and don't understand her dislike of this guy but you can tell that there is a problem. Teachers are human and I think they can just dislike someone and make life more difficult for them

KibbsRNstudent · Jun 27, 2004

Anyone ever read the Echo heron books? They are Good. her first one called, Intensive Care( I think that is the first one) Was really good and spoke of this happening to her in nursing school. (the forst 3 books of hers are all true stories. )

Saved_by_Grace · Jun 27, 2004

my anatomy teacher is a real nut (in a good way..lol) and he says when someone doesn't like ya, just blame it on the pheromones....lol i'm not in clinicals yet i was only going on experience from other instructors, but there are are horrible rumors about the instructor i will be having. they say she flunked the whole ob rotation last semester and another teacher had to go in and regive the material and retest the students. all because she didn't like theses students supposedly. she also teaches one of the nutrition classes, but i don't have her yet. i am assigned to the hospital where she will be the overseeing instructor this fall. i admit i am kinda nervous after all the rumors but so far i had chalked it all up to rumors cause you know how they are. they say she doesn't like older students, only the cute right out of high school ones. i heard this from at least 5 people who all went to the dean and complained and they said she was going to be fired but i notice her name is still on the fall teachers list. but like i posted before most teachers that are hard, i believe do so for a reason. to make you stronger. noones gonna be holding your hand in the real world, and how many dr.s, other nurses, and patients are gonna yell at you and be unpleasant and have rotten personalities. i'm sure quite a few. i was told in the bathing post to look at nursing school as boot camp in a sense. that i could have my opinions but keep them inside until you get home and to never rock the boat. i plan to take that advice!:rotfl: ...lolol i guess i'll find out in a month or so.

All_Smiles_RN · Jun 27, 2004

I don't agree with the "teacher is out to get me" mentality. Teachers certainly aren't in it for the money, they are here to guide us. Personalities can clash, but I don't think a teacher would just fail someone because of it. And even if it did happen, you could solve the problem by taking all your graded assignments and figure out your grade for yourself. If there was foul play (or possibly a mistake, teachers are human after all) you could bring it to the attention of the teacher or the dean and get it corrected. I agree, some teachers are tougher on certain students, but perhaps that is what that student needs to realize his/her potential, and the teacher realizes this. We all don't learn the same way and the teacher may simply be tailoring his/her style to that students needs.

...Jennifer...

abundantjoy07, RN · Jun 27, 2004

talk about immaturity and a loss of what's important on the instructors behalf. to minimize this silliness i am enrolled in a christian nursing school/university. i really like it because our teachers are so open...they invite you to dinner or lunch in their homes, you see them at church, in the grocery store... i couldn't imagine not going where i go now. in my past three years here, i have never once thought about a teacher wanting to fail me or anybody else because they don't like you. sounds like elementary school stuff to me. :uhoh3:

purplekath · Jun 27, 2004

At our school, fails must be double graded. But I had an instructor this term who I felt was "out to get me". She went to great pains to tell me that I would not be getting an HD because she didn't believe any of us should be aiming that high (that's "high distinction") for a subject she didn't feel was very important for nurses.

She didn't fail me, but she gave me a lower grade than I know I deserved - not so low that I would have appealed, but low enough to send me a nasty message. And just low enough that I will be missing out on an HD for that subject in spite of scoring 100% on 3 tests and doing very well on my final.

I guess that where human beings are in charge it can happen - I think as long as *I* know I earned a good grade then what she writes on the paper is unimportant. But you can bet I'd love to write an essay on "nurses who eat their young" for her! lol

Altra, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2004

I have seen an instructor "out to get someone" but only with good reason. In other words, only to hasten the process that the student him/herself started with continual sub-par performance and put the process out of its misery.

I sometimes hear people complain, "but I had so-&-so instructor last term and it wasn't a problem then ..." But guess what kiddos - life isn't fair, and it's just part of being mature to learn to figure out how to go with the flow with each different instructor. No different than learning how to get along in life.