Why do they give so much ridiculous, insignificant homework?????

Nursing Students General Students

Published

I'm in my 3rd semester of a 4 semester ADN program. I feel like we have MORE hw this semester than ever before. Mind you, the answers to the homework are in the back of the workbook, so this just seems like time consuming busy work! Then all the care plans, and concept maps and practice tests. I am the kind of person who thrives on listening and learning so none of these extra assignments help. I may sound nuts, but sometimes I wish lectures were longer and get rid of some of the take home work. Since I go to a private university, I'm taking out my life in loans to teach myself?! I called out of clinicals today, which now means I have to make up the day at the end of the term just to have time to finish a care plan for one class and a concept map and hw for the other.

I am also a divorced mom in my 30's so I have to try to make time for my 5 y/o who has already said she doesn't want to go to college because she sees me doing so much work!!!!

Please someone talk me off the ledge!

I'm an ADN student as well by only level on right now. We had an overwhelming amount of busy work in intro. The worst were from the book "Test Taking Success". I'm in my forties and have been to college before. I know what works for me when it comes to learning, studying and testing. Those assignments did more harm than good. So far level one is not that bad. I actually like the online Evolve practice testing. That nine page care plans are a bit tedious for clinicals. I hope they don't pile on the busy work again in later levels. That doesn't make sense as your patient load dramatically increases. Hang in there and good luck.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Different teaching methods are effective (and preferred) by different students. The things that you don't like -- or that don't help you learn might be the exact type of thing that some of your classmates need. It's impossible for a school (or individual teacher) to always have all of their assignments tailored specifically to the needs of each individual student. Most programs do 2 things to deal with that fact:

1. They use a variety of methods so that each student gets a few learning experiences that are consistent with their preferred ways of learning. But that also means that each student has to endure some learning experiences that are NOT consistent with their preferred way of learning.

2. They emphasize the methods that seem to help most of the people most of the time (which may not be best for some students).

I am sorry that you are not happy with the methods chosen by your school. But your best course of action is probably just to bear it.

My program is small, only 18 in my cohort. By the second to last semester, the professors have gotten to know our strengths and weaknesses. The only thing I would love to see changed is making all that busywork workbook stuff optional, for people that NEED to bring there grade up. I need that extra time to work on the big stuff!

Different teaching methods are effective (and preferred) by different students. The things that you don't like -- or that don't help you learn might be the exact type of thing that some of your classmates need. It's impossible for a school (or individual teacher) to always have all of their assignments tailored specifically to the needs of each individual student. Most programs do 2 things to deal with that fact:

1. They use a variety of methods so that each student gets a few learning experiences that are consistent with their preferred ways of learning. But that also means that each student has to endure some learning experiences that are NOT consistent with their preferred way of learning.

2. They emphasize the methods that seem to help most of the people most of the time (which may not be best for some students).

I am sorry that you are not happy with the methods chosen by your school. But your best course of action is probably just to bear it.

I agree with you but it just wasn't helpful to me. The instructors on the other hand are very knowledgeable , insightful and have a ton of experience. I guess you just take what you can use and leave what you can't. My comment was a little negative. Oh well, that's something else that needs improvement. I'm still a work in progress.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Oncology, Epic CT.

I am currently a nursing student as well attending a BSN program at a for-profit college. My cohort started as 24 people and it is now down to about 15 people because of the workload that was expected of us. Much of the material we are expected to complete at home includes extra assignments, essays, and reading. LOTS OF READING.

What is the answer to my prayers? Study groups! Not only did I form a study group inside of my cohort, but I have reached out to other cohorts to help me as well.

I hope that little bit of advice will help you. Hang in there, you're almost there and best of luck!

Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
this just seems like time consuming busy work! Then all the care plans, and concept maps and practice tests. I am the kind of person who thrives on listening and learning so none of these extra assignments help.QUOTE]

*** The real irony will come when you get your first job and your preceptor is suprised you didn't learn to draw bood or insert IVs or NGs and don't know the appropiate IV size to insert for an amioderone drip vs a fluid bolus. Nobody at your nursing job is going to ever ask you to draw a comcept map or write a care plan.

IMO nursing students are not getting, or demanding enough from their nursing schools.

I can't speak for your school or assignments, but our instructors have never assigned anything that didn't cover some test material. I hate it too, but I've learned that they do it for a reason. (at least at my school) One of our instructors test questions come straight from her "study guide" she creates and sends to us.

You have gotten good grades, worked hard in all areas to achieve this goal and have accomplished more than most, which bears witness to your strength. When I returned to school I hoped/hope in a small way that my 13 y/o daughter recognizes her own abilities as I work toward my goal, that she will/would feed off my example in some way. You are getting close to the end of this phase of your nursing career and there are new pressures to face, but given your prior performance most would bet on you, so bet on yourself too. You are doing many tasks at once and the load of busy work may seem unnecessary, so discussing your frustrations, feelings about it with a faculty member may relieve some pressure. Perhaps an adjustment could be made for you as what is necessary, or devise a different path to accomplish the work that uses your time more efficiently. I will close with this thought, what I saw first in your OP was the actual structure of the post, a whole paragraph of frustrations and release of emotion about what you have sacrificed and done. Then a small sentence about your child and the comment made, I feel awkard saying "that must have hurt" but I felt your frustration/pain and wanted to be supportive

RNUSFstudent

Specializes in geriatrics.

I remember many of us thinking the same thing in nursing school. Easily, a year of my four year BSN program was a waste of time. However, I am a second career nurse, so my perspective was much different than many of the other students. As someone mentioned, what some people consider a waste of time is important for others. You just have to endure it, and know there is an end in sight.

I don't really consider it a waste of time, but it bothers me that all the assignments we get that are mandatory don't count towards our grade. Research papers, careplans, presentations, etc. are all "do it or fail" but the only things that actually counts towards our final grade is our exam grades. I feel like all of our assignments are relative to our learning, but I wish that the effort that I put into papers and care plans would affect my grade. It's hard to be motivated to put in my maximum effort, when I know what I need to do in order to meet the bare minimum for passing.

Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

This is exactly the reason I have no desire to go back to school. The original plan was for me to get my LPN, then start taking classes again right away for my RN. However I'm SO not in the mood to write papers, make posters, do oral presentations, work in cooperative groups, etc. I am in my 40's and I already have a bachelor's in another field. Been there, done that. I'm done with doing all that busy-work stuff. I know, it's good experience for dealing with people, and retaining info in different ways, blah, blah, blah, I have had my share. I got it. I'm also tired of substandard, humbug-behind-the-curtain professors with god-complexes, in both nursing and general ed classes. I see right through them and hate having to bow and scrape and jump through their hoops. So when I'm ready to advance, I think I'll be doing online study, probably Excelsior. And probably some CLEPs if I need them, too.

+ Add a Comment