“Sadly, some teachers are also incredibly attached to that power”

This is a thesis for so much of nursing education.

It’s very structure, even.

I mean, we hold “boot camps”
Do folks know what a boot camp is?
It’s purpose?

Some of y’all grew up outside of the USMC & it shows https://twitter.com/jessifer/status/1340473874492895237

Brief biographical disclosure: I come from a family with a long history of military service. Growing up, I wanted to be a U.S. Marine. Or a SEAL. Parents begged me to reconsider when the Naval Academy app showed up. So I went to UVA, enrolled in Navy ROTC courses, & joined SAR.->

SEALS was out (I didn’t want to physically hurt anyone- I know, I know, cognitive dissonance). The Coast Guard PJs were appealing (rescue-oriented, no weapons, badass) but they didn’t take women. Like, any women. So specifically, I wanted to be a US Marine Corps pilot. And like,

That too was ultimately going to be way too violent, esp given our country’s track record of never ending wars, but I hadn’t fully thought it through. Applied to the Navy officer corps & got in. Started to consider just how I would fare carrying out orders I disagreed with. And-

Realized I could not live with that.
So I declined the offer & joined the U.S. Peace Corps instead. Which is a whole other colonial unpacking. But before I left the states, some of my buddies headed to boot camp for the U.S. Marines. And here’s what they said about boot camp:

“They break you. They break you down completely, so they can build you back up in their image”

That is boot camp.
And in so many ways, based on what I hear from nursing students from all over, that boot camp mentality of breaking to control is alive & well.

And it’s not right.