Support Your Success
- nurseinprogress
- Dec 7, 2019
- 3 min read
Nursing School is Like Riding a Bike
“Nursing school is easy. It’s like riding a bike except the bike is on fire and you’re on fire and everything’s on fire and you’re in hell.” While the source of this quote remains unknown, there is some truth to this daunting analogy. Nursing school is like riding a bike except you start by pedaling fast while going up a hill. However, attending a school with accessible resources, such as faculty support and other student services, will give you a helmet and that supportive push to make your experience easier.
Help Wanted
As you research how nursing school faculty teach their classes, you should also consider how they assist their students outside of class. If you were to fail an exam, how would they respond? Faculty involvement in students’ success allows students to develop interpersonal relationships and identify areas of improvement. However, with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reporting a nursing faculty shortage (Rosseter), limited faculty is available to help students and their wide range of problems. With this in mind, it’s important to note how a school uses its faculty to be as efficient and resourceful as possible to ensure they meet students’ needs.
Coaching Your Success
As you progress through the program, maintaining passing grades can be increasingly difficult, but seeking help from faculty members can refine your learning needs. At one Virginia college, when students at risk of academic failure met regularly with a faculty member to discuss their issues and find solutions, there was “an overall improvement in class engagement, student responsibility, and academic success” (Bloomfield et al.). Additionally, choosing a school that enforces students to meet with a faculty member for poor academic performance, such as receiving a failing grade on an exam, allows students to identify problems earlier so they have more time to improve their study habits.
For an even more supportive faculty, select a nursing school that has a student success facilitator or academic coach who acts as a guidance counselor but also has a nursing background. They can answer any questions, provide study tips, or even recommend a study schedule. This is especially useful for new nursing students who are struggling to adapt to the demands of the program.
Besides knowing how a nursing school’s faculty serves its students, it’s also beneficial to identify the types of student services a school provides. Determine if there are tutoring centers available to review anatomy and physiology concepts or to assist you in writing research papers. Additionally, ensure psychological services for mental health issues, such as test anxiety or depression, are available to cope with the stressful learning environment. These services are detrimental to your nursing school experience which can be even more challenging when personal problems interfere with your studies. Have as many resources available so you can use them to your advantage.
Getting Ready to Ride Your Bike
For some, getting through nursing school also means getting more help. Luckily, you don’t have to go through it alone. By finding these resources and support systems when choosing a nursing school, you’ll still find yourself falling on that bike, but now you have more support and encouragement to get back up and do better the next time.
Sources:
Bloomfield, Karen, et al. "Nurse Success: A Faculty Intervention to Help Students Realize Their Goals." Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges, vol. 19, no. 1, 2014, pp. 57-62, ERIC. commons.vccs.edu/inquiry/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.
"Demystifying the Nursing Shortage." Infographic. NursingCAS, 26 Sept. 2018, www.nursingcas.org/demystifying-the-nursing-shortage/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.
Rosseter, Robert. "Nursing Faculty Shortage." American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Apr. 2019, www.aacnnursing.org/News-Information/Fact-Sheets/Nursing-Faculty-Shortage. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.
Commenti