GCU Nursing Scholarship Essay

Hello Dr. Logue

I wanted to reach out and message you as someone who has fought extremely hard for this wonderful and amazing opportunity of pursuing my dream. I felt I should write to you voicing my concerns and opinion about how these first 5-weeks in nursing school are going. I want to let you know how “ I “ feel the GCU nursing program in Albuquerque is running and what I have heard from upper level students and students in my current cohert are feeling.

First of all, I am person who has worked at the bottom and the top of many different companies. I have learned, that you do not know what people are thinking or feeling unless you ask them personally, or they open up and say something. One of the biggest and hardest things to do is getting

people to say something. Many individuals don’t speak up, because they don’t want to look stupid, fear repercussions, or feel that what they have to say doesn’t matter to the higher ups! I’m going to be a voice, I am going to speak up and say something regardless of the consequences. I’m all about open communication, and the fact that everyone has a voice and I want changes for future students.
I am looking at it like this, the GCU’s nursing programs have been running for nearly 30 years and it should not be that difficult to move from semester to semester or year to year. Obviously there are sublet changes with the times and advancements within the profession that need addressing (i.e. new books, EBP, eMAR, medical advancements etc.), but they should not affect the student body very much. So far, this expedience has been anything but cohesive. (Communication between the university-students-staff-campuses etc., has been very poor in my opinion)
There are so many issues right now; it is hard to focus on which one should be first on the priority list. But, as in nursing, focusing on which one comes first or is more of a priority, takes think about other than myself. So, let me begin with this issue first, because it’s the core of the program… EDUCATION! I feel “We Are” not getting what we need; or what I believe “We All”, as students should be receiving out of these early nursing courses from a university that wants to be known as one of the best educational institutions in the southwest for nursing!
Personally at this point, out of the four 3-hour lectures, only one has any real interaction with the instructor.

And as far as the educational value of the four courses, I couldn’t get the same out of an online course. We as students are all capable of reading chapters in a book and looking at power points, but we need to be taught, understand and realize what is on those slides (power points) being displayed and the reasons they are important… “Not just asked…did you get that or any questions?” So, to say that myself and other students are frustrated is to say the least.

Furthermore, because I have been asked before, did you speak up? Yes, I did ask questions, I’m probably one of the more vocal people in the class, even though I am usually the quite one any other time. I have taken into consideration that some people are quite, shy, or scared. I know some students have past or present hospital experience and some things are more understandable, but there are others that have no experience and they feeling lost. I can’t ask the questions they may have, but I try to ask questions or make comments on thing as much as possible, because I don’t understand.

There are many more issues that should be addressed, here are bullet points that I thought are

issues…
• Loud cloud not working at times
• Wi-Fi not work within the school at times
• Teachers not being able to access loud cloud to teach class or grade work completed
• Syllabus not matching loud cloud syllabus
• Information not the same from one lab to the next
• Teachers not knowing what is on the test they are teach the information for
• Information in to many different places
• Assignments that have no true meaning other than busy work

These are just some issues I feel need to be addressed on behalf of myself and some other students that are feeling the same way. Trust me, I want to learn as much as by brain can handle. I want to be the best nurse that I possibly can; and also be able to tell others prospective students that I got my superior education and caring skills from GCU. I don’t want to tell others, that I had to make sure my commas, semicolons and paper writing skills were more important than learning where the decimal points for my drug calculations where, or that you are on your own when it comes to learning.
My goal, if anything, is to make the transition to becoming a nursing student at GCU stress free and without complications. It should be like the nursing process… a continuous circle that makes adjustments as needed for the best outcome, it should not be like A fib where everything feels like it is crashing!