Why does sleep deprivation have to be a part of my LPN training?

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Why does sleep deprivation have to be a part of my LPN training? I'm told it is necessary to do massive amounts of homework the night before a clinical in order to get the "total clinical picture" for my patient. But that rationale is not plausible to me. I retain very little of what I study after about 10 PM. I retain very little of what I learn at the clinical site after having slept only 2 or 3 hours the night before. It hurts me that the quality of my homework is not what it could be. I would like to take the time to get a little more in depth knowledge about certain disease processes or drugs. But instead I take every available shortcut in order to complete all the assignments. Sleep deprived medical students used to be one of my pet peeves. Now I am one.

I know darn well there is a better way. It is possible to learn more and sleep more. So why? Is it a throwback to the days when nurses were sisters and self-flagellation was in style? Is it the perverse preference of the head teacher at my school? Or is this the norm?

I will have to endure this ordeal one night a week almost every week between now and October. I keep wondering if I should drop out and try some other type of program. Medical assisting? Medical lab tech? Do I want to be a nurse this badly?

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I totally agree with you. I was unable to get everything out of clinical that I needed to because of sleep deprivation. My school has come a long way in this though, I think for this very reason. Our clinical paperwork load was lightened this semester and it really helped us learn more in the clinical setting because we could actually think.(that is on most days, as some days were sleepless because of studying/projects for other classes)

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I pondered the same exact things when I was in nursing school. It seemed to me that torture was big part of the curriculum and no it's not like that once you graduate. I don't know why many nursing students are treated so poorly but I promise you that once you graduate and have your life back you will not regret going to nursing school. I have nothing against medical assistants and lab techs but the fact is that nurses have more job opportunities and room for growth than MAs or lab assistants. So try and stick with it because school doesn't last forever.

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Specializes in Rehabilitation; LTC; Med-Surg.

What is your school schedule? I know it's tough, but you can do it. Do you have a job and go to school at the same time? If so, you may need to consider your options and cut back on hours. Many students in my program started out with full-time jobs in August and now, April, many of them cut it down to 20 hours or so.

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I don't work outside the home. I have a seven and an 11 year-old. For clinical homework I have a 7-page history and physical, a med dosage schedule , a medication worksheet, a lab list, a 5-lab worksheet, a 5-diagnosis worksheet, sometimes a surgery worksheet, one patient problem worksheet, 2 nursing care plans, a teaching plan, a focused assessment card, and a time management card, all to be all completed between 12 PM Monday and 7 AM Tuesday. I do patient care for half a day at an LTC on Monday, then go home and do homework until 1:00 or 2:00 AM. The only thing I stop for is to pick up my kids from school, and to help them with their homework. I don't cook. I don't wash dishes. I don't do any other kind of homework. I have many of the common diagnoses and labs done already, so I just cut and paste. Even so, I cannot seem to finish it all in time to get enough sleep to be fit to care for seriously ill patients by 7:15 AM the following day. I should be complaining because I am not being taught many of the procedures that I need to know. But I am just relieved to be free of that extra stress.

Maybe I am slow. Maybe my nervous system is weak. Maybe I'm a whiner. Maybe in a few years I will be embarassed that I had the nerve to criticize something I did not understand. Or maybe my newcomer status gives me a fresh perspective. Maybe I don't accept that something is the best way just because it has been done that way for hundreds of years.

Time will tell.

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That is a really excessive amount of homework. We didn't have to do the half of that for our LPN or RN program.

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Specializes in Rehabilitation; LTC; Med-Surg.
That is a really excessive amount of homework. We didn't have to do the half of that for our LPN or RN program.

I agree. I can't imagine having that many assignments due in such a short amount of time. I think some nursing programs reach a point where they are simply assigning "busy work" which cuts into the time a student has to REALLY learn how to take care of a patient. Why do we focus so much on "fluff" that won't even be on boards? The rationale for the "busy work" falls in line with this common phrase: "Practice makes perfect."

I think you, and some other students who feel as you do, should get together and have a meeting with the program director to express your concerns. If enough students put light on the situation you may change it.

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We never got to study our patient the night before clinical... this is really strange. >.>; Make a suggestion to your teachers or something that this doesn't work very well or something. My school was ALWAYS open to what the students thought. If something is not working, they got rid of it for the future classes.

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The more I think about it, I believe the excessive clinical homework is the policy of our head instructor. She invites input, but not much changes. I don't think the other instructors have a lot of say either. Some of them seem pretty sympathetic to our clinical homework ordeal. I guess what I'm looking for is some authority to back me up. Probably someone has done research on what works for training nurses. I will fish around at some other forums and google it when I get more time.

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That is a really excessive amount of homework. We didn't have to do the half of that for our LPN or RN program.

What school was this? I was told that at the LPN program I plan on taking this September, you'll be given an average of 200 to 300 pages of reading EVERY DAY. Out of 100 that were accepted, they're down to 60. Is this a sign that students are being overloaded? I was thinking of having a full time job, while I studied, but now with this study schedule this'll be nearly impossible!! I'm going to have to move out of my apartment, just so I can rent it and have my mortgage paid so that I can cut my expenses, because part time work just won't cut it.

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I don't work outside the home. I have a seven and an 11 year-old. For clinical homework I have a 7-page history and physical, a med dosage schedule , a medication worksheet, a lab list, a 5-lab worksheet, a 5-diagnosis worksheet, sometimes a surgery worksheet, one patient problem worksheet, 2 nursing care plans, a teaching plan, a focused assessment card, and a time management card, all to be all completed between 12 PM Monday and 7 AM Tuesday. I do patient care for half a day at an LTC on Monday, then go home and do homework until 1:00 or 2:00 AM. The only thing I stop for is to pick up my kids from school, and to help them with their homework. I don't cook. I don't wash dishes. I don't do any other kind of homework. I have many of the common diagnoses and labs done already, so I just cut and paste. Even so, I cannot seem to finish it all in time to get enough sleep to be fit to care for seriously ill patients by 7:15 AM the following day. I should be complaining because I am not being taught many of the procedures that I need to know. But I am just relieved to be free of that extra stress.

Maybe I am slow. Maybe my nervous system is weak. Maybe I'm a whiner. Maybe in a few years I will be embarassed that I had the nerve to criticize something I did not understand. Or maybe my newcomer status gives me a fresh perspective. Maybe I don't accept that something is the best way just because it has been done that way for hundreds of years.

Time will tell.

How many hours do you work per week, besides taking care of your kids? If you don't have a full time job than you're luckier than most in being able to dedicate more time to your studying.

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You definitely cannot work more than a few hours a week. My classes are the easy part of the program. We have nowhere near as much homework as you describe. It is a good thing though since the clinicals are so grueling. :up:Good luck!

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