Ultimate Nurse Forum

Pissed at instructor

15 posts · started Mar 8, 2008

jive shaman Mar 8, 2008, 11:48 PM
She's making my nursing class way more difficult than it needs to be. The chapters in our text book are on average 60 pages long ,and she just reads the whole chapter from a power point ,and won't tell us what to know for the test. She basically just tells us to know the whole chapter inside and out because any question could be on it.

Every teacher I have besides her tells us what to specifically review in the chapter for the test.

plus she is refusing to give us a studyguide for the midterm! another thing that every teacher ,but her is doing.
cougarnurse Mar 9, 2008, 7:00 AM
Gawd...sounds like an old instructor of mine. Another one stated she loved being a 'devil's advocate' and refused to let a tape recorder in her classes. You sure you didn't end up with either of these? And has other classes complained about her?

'Cat'
jive shaman Mar 9, 2008, 8:09 PM
yeah everyone complains about her. No one in that class has anything higher than a C average.
Ricu Mar 9, 2008, 10:02 PM
Hey Jive,

Not that these words will be very comforting but it seems that for as long as I can remember, there's been at least one medical education instructor who operates by the "no pain, no gain philosophy." My guess is that this sadistic instructor of yours manages to pass enough students to not attract too much negative attention and is likely prized by the school board as the "crucible." If you get through this class you have the stuff to graduate and go on to pass the boards. When I was in school, I had two in one. The same professor taught both A&P and Pharmacology and it was brutal but the good news is, I survived as did the others who were motivated to get through. You will get through yours too.

Keep writing,

R
Robert F Mar 9, 2008, 11:25 PM
I had a few instructors like that, and at the time I really didnt like it. In retrospect, having instructors like this forced me to rely on myself, be self-motivated. Looking back, no one can ever look at me and say that I didnt earn my degree; or any of us for that matter. We busted our butts to get where we are, and I am thankful for those instructors now. Was I back then? Nope.
pharmgirl Mar 17, 2008, 9:07 AM
I have an instructor for Anatomy & Physiology who is exactly like that. He is the dreaded professor on campus and no one ever takes his class unless all the others are full. I was scared at first but have now figured out his tests/teaching style etc., and know what he wants from us. He tells us that he is preparing us for the program because no one will spoon feed us information there. He's tough but the only thought that helps me keep an A in there is....the more I learn now, the more prepared I will be for the NCLEX and for my career.
ashez0520 Apr 27, 2008, 1:58 PM
I understand how difficult it is for you.. Thing is, I think this is a common way of nursing instructors. I'm at a community college, so I took 3 semesters of prerequisite courses and some electives. Almost all of those instructors gave outlines (extremely detailed though so they weren't very helpful), but most of them did give review guides for each test, as there were 5 chapters per test usually.

However, once I got into the actual nursing and clinical program (what the pre-requ's were for), we just have clinical, and 5 hrs of lecture a week. And lab but. My lecture has all us 60 students in one room, and there's a different teacher for each Unit (each exam material). I found that this program, it's not just one teacher.. they all don't give study guides or review. Like you said, it's just a lengthy powerpoint for the most part- I don't even use it cuz it's useless for me. It's tough, but you've gotta read those chapters; skim parts that are familiar or that you got a good grasp on from in-class learning; read parts that seem more difficult for you to understand.

Nursing programs are hard; much harder than other pre-requ courses you might have taken at your school. They are right though in that it'll help prepare you for nclex exams.. but that's hard to keep in mind when you're struggling with the current class and nclex is a ways off. Hang in there, put as much time into it as you can, and keep your eyes on the goal and what you need to do to get there. And they don't work for my studying methods, but maybe a study group would help?
1mg.epi May 31, 2008, 6:53 PM
Their is one sadistic instructor in every nursing school in the world. Just try to get past this person. My instructor from HELL was at the school for over 10 years. Fellow class mates hit brick walls with their complaints. Some became targes during clinicals. All I could do is work extra hard to get past her. This was 17 years ago. She was so important in my life, that today, I can't remember her name.

I hate to say this but, the more you complain the bigger target you become.
Good luck!!!!
amberdouglas Jun 20, 2008, 4:46 AM
something I learned when I was in Nursing school about teachers like that, they are not trying to be mean, they are just REALLY LAZY. look at your study guide in your text book, and if your book came with a cd with practice test questions, they are a shoo in to be on her test, becasue they are the easy ones for her to do.
Robert F Jun 29, 2008, 10:58 PM
I remember the stresses of Motlow. It was seven days a week, and whenever you had a clinical, you were required to report to the clinical site the day before to review your patient's chart and meet him/her; even if the clinical was 200 miles away(which some were). I was an EMT-IV at the time; so other than IV therapy, dual lumen intubations(Combitube/PtL), I didnt have much experience in advanced procedures, so I was in the same boat as everyone else--a noobie, if you will. Clinical instructors were relentless, as were the lecture professors(especially during test times). There was a dosage calculation exam at the beginning of every class, which you had to pass or else you were not allowed to sit in class for the remainder, and had to make up the study at your own discretion. However, clinical agencies still brag to this day that Motlow nurses are some of the most well prepared students they have seen. Motlow had a 98% success rate on the NCLEX last year, 99% before that, and 97% the year before that, helping TN to acheive the title as the highest NCLEX pass rate in the nation as of this year. Was it worth it? You bet. (btw sorry for the little hiatus; I haven't posted in quite some time as practitioner school is getting rougher.)
JennyP Jul 1, 2008, 5:46 PM
I'll probably get flamed for saying this; but nursing isn't easy and when you are caring for patients, there aren't any easy answers. No one will spoonfeed you the correct answers of how to care for a crashing patient before the docs get there; it's up to you to know how to assess and prevent further problems before they happen.

I know that nursing school is tough; but buckle down and study hard and you will get through it. This instructor may be doing you a favor by making you think about what you are studying and figure out what is pertinent and what isn't.

There isn't a Power Point in the world that will help you when you're an RN out on the floors with a full load of patients, trying to juggle everything (patients, families, MDs and schedules) hitting you at the same time.

I'm old (or "seasoned," if you prefer that term), and I remember spending WAY too much time in the library trying to find the answers for study questions that weren't even in our text books. Our instructors told us repeatedly that patients don't follow any sort of "average" or "normal" ideals; so we had to think of them as individuals and learn to think for ourselves.

To this day whenever I think about nursing school, it triggers memories of the musty old library smells from back then!
kormakarma Jul 8, 2008, 5:29 PM
cumng
orionseal Jul 29, 2008, 2:09 PM
pharmgirl wrote:I have an instructor for Anatomy & Physiology who is exactly like that. He is the dreaded professor on campus and no one ever takes his class unless all the others are full. I was scared at first but have now figured out his tests/teaching style etc., and know what he wants from us. He tells us that he is preparing us for the program because no one will spoon feed us information there. He's tough but the only thought that helps me keep an A in there is....the more I learn now, the more prepared I will be for the NCLEX and for my career.

Sounds like Dr. Bellows from A.C.C.
orionseal Jul 29, 2008, 2:17 PM
jive shaman wrote:She's making my nursing class way more difficult than it needs to be. The chapters in our text book are on average 60 pages long ,and she just reads the whole chapter from a power point ,and won't tell us what to know for the test. She basically just tells us to know the whole chapter inside and out because any question could be on it.

Every teacher I have besides her tells us what to specifically review in the chapter for the test.

plus she is refusing to give us a studyguide for the midterm! another thing that every teacher ,but her is doing.

Some good thaughts comming at ya from all sides here kiddo, but in your deffence I will say this.

"Those who can, DO. While those who can't, TEACH."

I had an instructor from hell too. She spent two years in O.B. and thirty years teaching Parent/Child Nursing.

She worked with a relative of mine who refused to speek of her because of what was thaught of her on the floor.

"And thats all I've got to say about that." (Forest Gump)
tippy1977 Apr 28, 2009, 8:50 PM
I had an instructor exactly like that. she would say we are adult learners so read and review everything. It is what it is.