Let's Break it Down

I have in front of me the four year course schedule for the Nursing program at the University of Manitoba.

129 Credit hours to be taken

29 Credit hours of Clinical Nursing Practice
15 Credit hours of Biological Sciences
12 Credit hours of Social Sciences
6 Credit hours of Electives
4 Credit hours of Nursing Skills Laboratory
3 Credit hours of Mathematics (Statistics)
3 Credit hours of Pharmacology

and...

57 Credit hours of Theory-Based Nursing Courses

By my calculations the graduate nurses turned out by this institution will have spent 44.2% of their time learning theoretical and lecture-based concepts, 30.2% of their time on courses that build a basic medical knowledge-base, and 25.6% of their time with any sort of actual patient contact or physical skills application.

This means the U of M graduate nurse taking care of the severely physically abused woman in ER bed 2 will be able to empathize with the patient's family issues and accurately identify the patient's current stage in life but will only be able to slide the IV in 25% of the way after she/he has missed three times and will then be able to think of 25% of the appropriate medications to administer.

That is, if the nurse is perfect...