Why are we learning all this stuff?!?

[JillFRN]

I am a little annoyed. So my professors send us with these gazillion books and chapters to read as expected and I read them. As I am going through them I realize no nurse has ever done this stuff to me. When I get to class Monday my teacher says, oh that book is meant for nurse practioners, they don't make books for regular nursing students! Whaaaat! Is this true? So here I am spending my whole weekend stressing over things I didn't need to know when I could have been concentrating on things I did need to know. Also, I know we have to know all of this stuff but how much do you really use of this outside in the real world? Many of these things I have never had a nurse do, it just seems all foreign to me. I don't mind learning or working hard, it just seems that maybe they are throwing stuff at us that we don't even need to know! Maybe this is my school in particular who knows!

[JillFRN]

I did realize this when writing the post, I thought people might be wondering specifics. Our book is Physical Assessment by Jarvis. Our book covers all the different hearing tests NP's would do. Vision tests that a NP would do. I am just frustrated that our professor did not inform us that we would not be accountable for this stuff and that I wasted my time studying this stuff when I could have used the time for exam questions. I know this might sound whiny, but I want to make the most of my time. As everyone knows there is A LOT of material to cover and I think added material that we don't need to know is a waste. If it were on the NCLEX I would indeed like to know it, but if not, I think it is just poor teaching/planning skills to be like woops sorry!

[Asherah, BSN, RN]

Our book is Physical Assessment by Jarvis...

As everyone knows there is A LOT of material to cover and I think added material that we don't need to know is a waste. If it were on the NCLEX I would indeed like to know it, but if not, I think it is just poor teaching/planning skills to be like woops sorry!

We also use Health Assessment & Physical Examination by Jarvis and I've found it incredibly detailed and helpful. I wouldn't say that its a text intended for NP education only. My only comment would be that just because certain content may not (likely) be addressed on the NCLEX, it doesn't mean its not worth knowing.

Get clear objectives (from your professors) to spend time studying to that will allow you do well in school and prepare for licensure. At the same time, I would say that detailed assessment skills would be valuable for an RN to master and maintain, even though you may not ever desire to pursue a role as a Nurse Practitioner. As an RN your role as a patient advocate and as the provider who will be spending the most time with the patient, you may use your more detailed assessment skills to detect a situation going on with a patient that other RNs or MDs may even miss.

[JillFRN]

Maybe I am just frustrated bc she didn't tell us to not focus on everything. Now I feel like I know now what to study. She told us it was for NP's so who knows.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I did realize this when writing the post, I thought people might be wondering specifics. Our book is Physical Assessment by Jarvis. Our book covers all the different hearing tests NP's would do. Vision tests that a NP would do. I am just frustrated that our professor did not inform us that we would not be accountable for this stuff and that I wasted my time studying this stuff when I could have used the time for exam questions. I know this might sound whiny, but I want to make the most of my time. As everyone knows there is A LOT of material to cover and I think added material that we don't need to know is a waste. If it were on the NCLEX I would indeed like to know it, but if not, I think it is just poor teaching/planning skills to be like woops sorry!

I also used that book in my fundamentals class for learning assessment skills, including many of the skills you mentioned (ie vision, hearing, etc). While it's true that the floor nurse typically won't be administering these tests, they can show up on NCLEX, so it's good to be at least somewhat familiar with them. I didn't think the information was a waste.

[ErinJane]

I know exactly what you are talking about with the hearing tests and visions tests, but I would disagree greatly that those are things that only a NP would do. Those assessments are made for nurses to use on a focused assessment, or on the assessment of a patient being admitted to a long term care/ rehabilitation. You probably wouldn't experience them if you've never had a serious issue that required an in depth assessment on that system. But I have to say, I think you are underestimating nursings scope of practice, yes NPs have a greater scope, but not by a great degree.

And percussion, most nurses don't do it, but its a good skill to learn. I had a patient yesterday who had a slightly distended abdomen, and I used percussion to assess what substance was present in the abdomen.

Just pay attention and try to master every single skill they teacher you. You never know when you might need it. They cannot teach you too much...

[JillFRN]

Maybe I did underestimate Nursing a little. I am all up for learning it all I just didn't know if it was all we needed to know! :) Thanks for all the responses. Guess I will be learning a lot more than I thought!