I have just recently finished my master's degree in nursing education and find myself wondering just what do nursing students want from their nursing instructors?
With a bevy of people on this forum either in school or having just finished their nursing degrees I was very curious to know, what would make your lives better?
Nursing is hard, as I'm sure you're all aware, and the transitions from school to practice are not always what we would imagine. Do you believe there is a gap? Do you believe educators need to do more to prepare you for the nursing workforce? What would help you all become better nurses? Do you feel there is too much emphasis on grades and not enough on practice? Do you feel the technological aspects of nursing are not covered enough? Do you feel they get in the way?
Jason
What do you believe is/are the most important thing(s) nursing educators need to do to help you succeed?
I wanna know what you're thinking, because as a future educator I want to help.
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May 27th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Teach us how to think like a nurse! I have a BS in Biology and am back in school (after two years) for my BSN. I did really well the first time in school and thought nursing school would be easier than Biochem and all my other crazy science classes. Nursing logic is something I’ve had to work really hard at wrapping my brain around. Practice questions have helped so much. I love when teachers take a couple practice questions at the end of each lecture and walk us through why one choice was wrong and the other was right.
Also, be there to help us because nurses are there to learn how to be good nurses…we don’t want to kill anybody! I can’t believe there have been a few instructors that treat us like kindergartners and not responsible adults.
We understand (hopefully) there will probably always be a gap between what is taught in school and in the “real world” when it comes to tactile skills. Every hospital has a slightly different procedure but the core of the skill should stay the same and therefore be taught in lab. I’ve actually been really surprised how often my teachers have been right about the way things are practiced in the hospital considering most haven’t practiced in several years. I’m assuming they keep up to date with research and new procedures.
Grades are motivating. Make us work for the A and we will learn more. Don’t make the class impossible and constantly try to trick us otherwise it will work against you. People care about their grades…which means they will care about doing what is necessary to get a good grade. Does it really matter why a person learns or just that they learn?
Oh and let us record your lectures! I have ADD in class even though I love learning. I try my hardest to pay attention but I focus so much better listening to lectures at home or when I’m running. Don’t let us disrespect you but don’t take offense if somebody falls asleep or isn’t paying attention – it’s our demanding schedule…not you.
Get a mentor that you respect because teaching is rough! That’s what I did before I went into nursing.
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:34 am
Make learning something they want to do. I started teaching bedside clinicals 3 years ago. I found when I got my students to understand WHY they want to learn the information required of them, they were much more interested. I try to make them understand that after 18 years of nursing I still learn something new everyday.
The hardest lesson for me to learn was to not supply the answer to them, but show them how to find it themselves. That and always have documented rationale for your teaching if you do have to just give the answer. Nothing frustrates a student more than to have information given to them in class and find it proven false in clinical.
Be accessible (but not to the point they feel they own you). I started using a magnet flag to place outside of the room I am in so they didn’t spend half their morning looking for me. The students AND the staff have nothing but positive things to say about that and the clinical day seemed to go much smoother.
Finally, have them see the fun and humor in nursing. I truly enjoy being a nurse and now I am enjoying sharing all the lessons I’ve learned over the years.
June 2nd, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Please teach clinicals and labs
June 2nd, 2011 at 4:10 pm
A bit more focus on the “How”, “why” and “then what” of Nursing care. Skills lab went so quickly and was mostly unsupervised until “check off” and we were all scrambling to “follow the script” that I feel a lot of the critical thinking/reasoning skills were left out. Why do we look at a certain test result, what do we do after we get the result back.
Also, more realistic charting and order reading. Charting is so important when it comes to TJC and chart audits, but the pseudo charting we got in school didn’t help me (at least) to really understand all the components that go together to do complete charting on a patient each shift. Also, keeping up with physician orders throughout the day is a daunting task because I didn’t get much of that throughout my clinical rotations.
Finally, student nurses should be treated as adults and not as kinder-gardener’s – I experienced that throughout my clinical rotation and resented it. I chose nursing as a second career and the younger students worked so hard to do well that it was an insult to be talked down to or bullied by instructors.
I also felt that we didn’t get enough clinical experience. The first few semesters were spent giving baths and changing bed linens (which is good to get a feel for caring for patients) and there were only a few hours on the floor each week. We didn’t get to experience as much as we could have had we started out by shadowing a nurse for at least an 8 hour day and then in subsequent clinicals begin taking on more patient assignments where the student has to keep up with meds, charting, orders, MD communication, etc. I think it would make the transition from student to RN go much more smoothly.
If I sound like I don’t love my job – I apologize, I do, but I’m finding that in some aspects I don’t feel as equal to the challenges as I could be (and I’m a perfectionist) which makes me disappointed in myself.
June 2nd, 2011 at 11:24 pm
Be there to teach us what we need to pass the NCLEX, not to bully, haze us, or that whole stupid “nurses eat their young” bullcrap. Many of us already know what kind of people we will be up against in the workplace, and don’t need you to treat us like you’re our drill sergeant.
When someone comes to you for help, don’t automatically assume they are trying to challenge you. Many of us are just eager to learn and are very analytical. If you feel the ones who ask a lot of questions are only trying to challenge you, then maybe you need to do more self studying of the material.
June 7th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Jane Doe, I totally agreed with what you said! I had thesame problem when i was taking my Anatomy and Physiology classes. I was eager to learn which led me to asked lots of questions, but sadly, my teacher thought i was being challenging. Most teachers don’t study prior to class which lead them to not know most answers to students’ questions. It is very annoying when teachers are not willing to help students understand the material!!!
June 14th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Great answers everybody! Believe me, I’m listening. I experienced all of the same things coming through nursing school, but the one thing I’ve tried to do is always keep what I experienced in perspective. That goes doubly now that I’m able to be an educator, because I too feel clinicals are lacking, the “real” experience is lacking, and above all consistency is lacking.
I like what CJM had to say, from an educator standpoint. It is a two-way street when it comes to learning. So, for me, there will always be a balancing act between what my experiences were as a student, and what they are and will be as an educator. I have to always remember, nursing students don’t know everything, but neither do I.
So keep it coming. What other things would you like to see different? Or more of?
June 16th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Being a nurse is prestigius and rewarding. Do not become a nurse for these reason.be a nurse because you want to help. If ever you loose that passion..step aside and allow the passionet the opportunity…i’nursed for over 28 years and although i love the pay, my biggest reward was the gratitude of my patients.