[fiesty_gemini]

I’m currently a second yr student nurse and I’m really disappointed in my fellow tem members. I find as a student you are often being discourage into the profession by mentors and their behaviour towards each other is little better than squabbling five year olds. I’m feed up with hearing mentors and health care support workers slag each other off in my presence, not only does it make me feel uncomfortable but it also makes me doubt entering a profession where the MDT cant remain professional at work. During this placement I have seen a fellow student leave the ward in tears twice due to the aggression her mentors have portrayed towards her. Luckily I have a great support system behind me so when I get home I can vent to them, go back on the ward and take their behaviour with a pinch of salt, and lashings of vodka on the wkend. Just want to know is it this bad when you qualify? or r there any other students that experience difficult placements, if so what are your coping strategies.
Thanks for allowing me to vent

[sharrie]

Is this just something that you have experienced within this placement or throught the 2 years. I find it very worrying if this is something you are expereincing in every placement and it must be very unpleasant and uncomfortable for you to try to learn in such a place.

I have found that there are some areas that have enviornments such as you describe but then have worked in others that have really excellent working relationships.

As far as you fellow student leaving the ward because of the treatment from her mentors, I hope this was reported to you tutors and the ward manager as this is clearly unacceptable.

As far as coping with environments such as this as a student it is difficult, I am in a senior position now and I would just say to these nurses that I find thier discussion uncomfortable and remove yourself from that conversation.

I no longer tolerate gossip or back biting, if there are problems with you colleagues then you really need to address them in a professional manner, you don't have to like who you work with but you do need to be professional at work.

It is not all like this, as I have said there are some very good places to work it's just a case of finding them. Don't lose hope completely

[english_nurse]

I think this may be a sad reflection of discontent and low morale at work to be honest, people tend to turn on each other when under pressure or fed up

[ZippyGBR]

it's a refelction of the distorted pressures on the hit the pointless target at all costs mentality which is sweeping the NHS

you can give fantastic careand 'cure' someone in the ED but if it takes 4 hours and one minute to do that it's a 'failure'

if it takes the first respource from theambulance service 8 minutesand 1 second to reach someone having an asthma attack it's a 'failure' even if the treatments given pre-hospital and in the ED ( if transported) work ...

the other problem is ignorant senior staff who believe that just becasue something works in one place it will work in another regardless of case mix, site geography and clinicla support services...

[fiesty_gemini]

I understand that people are under pressure but it puts students, atleast me, in a difficult position but I guess its something that I will have to deal with. the positive is its a real eye opener and it does make me a little more thick skined.

[sharrie]

Originally Posted by fiesty_gemini

I understand that people are under pressure but it puts students, atleast me, in a difficult position but I guess its something that I will have to deal with. the positive is its a real eye opener and it does make me a little more thick skined.

It sounded like in your PM that you have some ideas to improve the situations for students that follow you though. Please let us know how you get on.

Sharrie
xxx

[sharrie]

Originally Posted by ZippyGBR

it's a refelction of the distorted pressures on the hit the pointless target at all costs mentality which is sweeping the NHS

you can give fantastic careand 'cure' someone in the ED but if it takes 4 hours and one minute to do that it's a 'failure'

if it takes the first respource from theambulance service 8 minutesand 1 second to reach someone having an asthma attack it's a 'failure' even if the treatments given pre-hospital and in the ED ( if transported) work ...

the other problem is ignorant senior staff who believe that just becasue something works in one place it will work in another regardless of case mix, site geography and clinicla support services...

I do agree that there are pressures in meeting these targets and there are times they compromise patient care however this is not what the OP is having a problem with. It is the unprofessional behaviour of the nurses that are supposed to be supervising and mentoring these students making the students experience on the ward unpleasant.

Yes there are some unbearable pressures within the NHS and these can make working life at times very difficult, but I am not sure that it can be used to excuse the behaviour that has been described here.

[english_nurse]

i dont think its meant as an excuse for the behaviour, what i notice at work is when pressure comes from above for more and more stupid stuff which seems to matter more than the patients, people get 'fed up' and ******** starts, usually at each other.
at least thats what it seems like to me

Ive only been qualified a few years and the job has changed so much its unbelieveable, my boss had me in the office the other day asking me if everything was ok and did i have any problems at home because i forgot to fill in two vips scores on a very busy night where i was the only experianced staff on a shift, I was working with a bank HCA who had never seen an obs machine in her life and a 12 month qualified nurse who needs to retrain in my opinion as it took her 3 quarters of an hour to give a bolus dose of amoxyl, which i had drawn up for her!! (shes regular staff, doing her degree in her spare time)
I had two cases of peritionitis arrive on the ward which only I could treat, (the other staff nurse doesnt have time to do the on ward training-too busy doing degree) one bleeding neckline which needed lots of compression and FFP etc, confused wandering patients interferring with lines, I wrote my cardex and half the other staff nurses cardex as she was so slow she didnt manage to get them done (all 8 of them) and then my boss has a go about 2 pieces of paper i didnt have time to fill in!!
.. its the people pecking at your head all the time like little birds about stuff which doesnt seem that important which takes us away from real nursing, thats what makes people ***** and moan...

well...its my excuse anyway!

[english_nurse]

hey how come i cant say ***** on here?? thats made me smile

[Sueilp]

Originally Posted by english_nurse

hey how come i cant say ***** on here?? thats made me smile

What words that then lol