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To share or not to share, THAT is the ?

Ok, so in our Pharm class we have a midterm coming up.  So the teacher gives out this long (275 questions) study guide that has all the questions from the test bank that could possibly be on the test.  Problem is the questions are unanswered, which means mucho time spent looking up the answers to all these questions, which in turn means MAJOR TIME!  So, my bestie & I decide (ok  it may have been his original idea) that we need to contact a few of our friends & see if they want to divide & conquer.  Great idea right?  Well, what was supposed to be a small group of about 7 or so people blossomed into 25 people (which is almost HALF the class) & then another group that totally split off on their own.  I mean once the word got out it was like "Oh well so & so would want to do this too) & of course the more people the less questions we each have to answer.  Sooo, we ended up with about 16 questions a piece, which isn't too bad.  I mean I think it took me like an hour,  maybe less, to get all of mine answered.  So far so good right?  Well, sort of... At the point that it became half of the class I suggested that we just open it up to the whole class so that everyone could participate, but there were a few people who didn't want to do that.  They said that we didn't want to include everyone b/c we didn't know if everyone would take it as seriously.  So we didn't open it up to everyone, thereby excluding half of the class.  So we got all of our questions done & in direct conversation with a few of the people in the group we decided that it was no big deal if we shared the answers with anyone that may want them.  I mean there were other groups as well & we talked about comparing answers to make sure that we got them right.  So today's the day.  We got all of the questions back & lo & behold I offered someone who wasn't in the group the list of questions & all hell broke loose.  The main girl who didn't want to share the questions spoke right up.  She said if she had known that she was doing all the work for the rest of the class then she wouldn't have done it.  I'm sorry since when is 16 out of 276 questions "ALL of the work"???  Seriously?  Then her nursing BFF chimed in & said she didn't want to share her 16 answers either, really?  I couldn't believe it.  So I sent out a mass email to everyone involved & basically said that as nurses we will be expected to work as a team & like or not this group of students is our "team" for the next year & a half.  I said that whoever didn't want me to share their 16 questions that I wouldn't, but that I just figured we'd want to help each other out.  Well, only one other girl chimed in saying that she didn't want to share her answers.  I have to admit, I was SORELY disappointed.  I mean I could understand NOT sharing if say we had opened up the questions to the whole class & then someone chose NOT to participate and THEN asked for the answers, but we didn't even give everyone a chance to participate, so why exclude them??  Those three were like "We don't want to do all the work for everyone else in the class."  Ok, I get that, believe me I do, but some of those people who WOULD have liked to have participated didn't even get the chance, so why punish them???  To say I was upset is an understatement.  If you can't share 16 questions to help out your fellow classmate then how are you going to be if we're working together on the hospital floor????  Needless to say, I do NOT want them on the floor working with me.

Ok, I'm stepping off of my soapbox now, what do you think?


Comments

  1. Ok...I'll bite...every year, I have to renew my NP certification and several of those years, I have to complete self study modules. They are thick packets of article that are time consuming. There is a group of PNPs that I know who pool their resources every year, much like your class did in this instance, and split up the questions. I don't participate in that. First of all, I find that answering all the questions helps me to learn the material. Second, what if someone picks the wrong answer? Then we all get it wrong. Finally, in my situation, we are awarded a large amt of CME for completely the modules, so it feels somewhat dishonest to make it a community effort.

    In your situation, you would probably be better off with a small group of friends that you trust and stick with that. And make a vow to keep quiet about. Welcome to nursing.

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    1. Agree that answering the questions #1 helps you to learn it better & #2 doesn't lend for blaming someone else if they get the question wrong. In your situation I can see not pooling resources, but in this situation we all have to come up with the answers somehow, therefore the more the merrier, the faster we can get them answered & get to studying. It is done with the knowledge that these may not be 100% accurate & you are responsible for verifying them yourself. But yes, in the future there will be no other groups like this one. It will either be all included or like you said a small QUIET group, lol.

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  2. I understand your frustration. I would've shared the answers anyways out of spite. haha plus like you said, 16 questions is nowhere near doing a ton of work when the thing is so huge. I don't understand how they can be so selfish. I think you were smart to send that email out.

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    1. Agree, since when is 16 questions not worth sharing?

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  3. Hi there! I'm new to your blog and am in nursing school myself. I haven't gotten to pharmacology yet, but if I wasn't scared before, I'm scared now! lol. Sounds like a lot! It seems a little weird about the not sharing. Like you mentioned, I can understand if these were people who hadn't put anything in themselves. But such is life and people, I suppose! Thanks for sharing your nursing school struggles, makes me feel better about my own :)

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    Replies
    1. Hey there, I'm glad you stopped by. What semester are you? What kind of program are you in? Thanks for your comments, hope to see you around again.

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    2. I'm JUST starting. This is my first semester and I'm in an ASN program. It's so nice to read about other people's journeys because I have to say, this whole process is very daunting! So thank-you for sharing! :)

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  4. In a profession with a majority of women, this is bound to happen. In nursing school, I just kept to my small little group. It was the best.

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