Your Money

It's the beggining of the semester and my first week but I already have an opinion on who is going to teach or not this semester. My intro to nursing sucks... I hope it turns out better , maybe it's too early to judge.. So far patho-pharm are giving us the necessary tools. Health Assessment looks fine as well.

I'll give it another 2 weeks to see...

My school has a very self-directed, critical thinking philosophy. Although we do not spend very much time in class (4 h/ week, 16 h/ clinicals), I am learning more than I ever expected. Sometimes when I am frustrated, I complain that I wish we had more direction, but then there are the times when I figure something out for myself and the accomlishment I feel is irreplaceable. So, yes, to answer the question, I do feel like I am getting my money's worth out of my rising cost, associates degree community college education :0)

Court

I'm transferring... did all prereq's at a cc... so I'm not really too sure about the value of my new school. But, at the old one, I had good and bad instructors. I did benefit in some way from each though... some taught me that I needed to teach myself!

Two classes that I paid for and felt were a rip off though were my abnormal psych class... it was a night class and the instructor didn't like to stay up late! She only kept us for half the time each week. All of our exams were take home, open book. I got an A... but I would have rather gotten an education!

I also felt cheated in my CPR/BLS class. The instructor didn't want to stay all day so he rushed through it. We worked on each thing for a minute or two and then moved on... please don't have a breathing/heart problem near me... I'm not sure what I should do... I do have the card that I need for my program though!

I am starting my last semester tomorrow and our program is class 6 hours a week and clinicals 16 hours a week. We do a lot of self learning. Here are some tips.....

Use your fellow students. If you don't understand something ask someone to clarify it. It you arent happy with what you get from them then approach the instructors, it sounds better if you approach by saying "we" don't seem to understand this could you explain. then at least they know that you have tried to figure it our on your own. Swap phone numbers or e-mail addresses with other students. One student in my class put together a list and then passed it out to everyone, it has been so helpful when I am at home and can't remember something or need someone else to help.

I also realized that I learned the most form clinicals, nothing like seeing it, hearing it, or doing it to really help you understand it!

Use your instructors! They are there to help you and teach you. You may need to make an appointment with them instead of trying ot grab them after class, but it will show that you are really commited to learning the material!

Good luck to all!

Molly:p

I personally DO feel as if I'm getting my money's worth at my school. I attend a private Catholic university where the annual tuition is $16,000, plus books (this semester $950), supplies, and additional fees. Yes, it's alot of money, but thankfully my teachers are *wonderful* and so far have been nothing but supportive. They do try to enhance our critical thinking abilities and devote much of their time reinforcing our ability to think outside the box. The resources are all laid out on the table for us to utilize, and so we just have to make the best use of what we have available to us. Our lab instructors, theory instructors, and clinical instructors all lecture us on the book material and work together with both the students and the other teachers to make it seem as if we're all a team working together with one goal in mind: to make us great nurses.

I know this sounds like a school from a fairy tale, but I really can say I'm getting my money's worth, and thanks to financial aid, I won't have to pay it back for a few years!!!

NOPE, not at all. I attend a CC, costs are increasing and until this semester, we never had anything that we needed. THis year, our school got it together and built us a new lab, so it may be ok. We also have enough clinical instructors. I like my teacher this semester, but as for the rest of the semesters, I felt like it was all self taught. So, when I graduate, I will REALLY be able to answer this question. Until then, my opinion is NO!!

do you really have a choice?

I have had mostly crummy teachers. Since my first degree is in teaching this truely bothers me. But there isn't much I can do about it. Seems that is what gets hired to teach.

I go to Alvin Community College in Texas and pay about 500 a semester tuition and 500 a semester for books. I think I'm getting a bargain! Our instructors are all different but all great! As far as supplies go, we have what we need. Surely we could use more and that is a legislative problem. Also I can blame that on the cheap skates who didnt want their property taxes raised approximatly $50 annually for a middle class family to go towards furthuring nursing education in our community. People also don't realize the pay cuts many instructors take to teach all of us. It is natural to have personality conflicts with instructors as it is with all people. You must take advantage of what you can. If you feel the teacher doesn't teach well, maybe you could explain your having probelms and ask for your instructors advice. SCARED? More times than not, they will help you more when you bring the problem to their attention. We need to respect our instructors. In my class theyre are MANY people who talk BS and have negative attitudes towards teachers. That's there choice, they wont be as happy and they will learn much less. Also, regarding self teaching....its a 2 year program with more info in it than could be fit even into an 18 hr semester. Unless its preferable to go to school MUCH MUCH longer, you will have to read on some things on your own. When we are nurses, many things will come up that we are not educated about. Will we go back to our instructors and ask about it, no. We may ask another nurse, but most likely (if we want to protect our license) we will look the information up and learn ourselves.

Getting off my soapbox cause I have to study for a test.

Stacey

I think a lot of my feeling satisfaction or dissatisfaction comes from the teacher involved. If the teacher is just going through the motions and has said the same thing 501 times before and is counting the days until her retirement banquet, then I go away feeling like I haven't gained much from the course. I feel disappointed and stressed because the tests are questions she has pulled from a NYCLEX review book which none of us have seen before. Not fair. If the teacher is enthusiastic and truly enjoys what she is doing and has an interest in her students doing well, then the course is great and I feel much more gratified when it's over. Again, if you are puzzled in an area or are fumbling over a clinical procedure and you ask the teacher for help, they shouldn't look at you like you have three heads and just pulled in from Jupiter last night, but they should remember they are there to HELP YOU and are getting paid for just that. Nothing irks me more than the teachers who are paid quite handsomely and act put out when they have to explain something again. That is their job, what is what they are paid to do. I always feel like saying if you are not happy here and are burned out, there is the door marked EXIT!!!