[mattsmom81]

I know a nurse who was fired for a mistake made by a student in ICU...so I am very careful with what I allow students in ICU to do. My friend thought the instructor was supervising, she was off the unit and while my friend was with his 2nd patient the student took it on herself to inject a GTube med into a central line. My advice is to be very careful out there, and like Mark said....set your own boundaries and watch 'em like hawks.

[debmac]

totally unacceptable! i wouldn't be risking my license or my patient's welfare in such a set up. there have to be prearranged rules, guidlines and plan of care...the instructor has to be accessible and has to be accountable. i would have to question a student who is willing to say "we do it all" and expected to be turned loose in a critical care setting...that in itself is dangerous thinking.

[Mariah]

I was an instructor at a diploma program. Senior students spent 8 weeks in the ICU/CCU. But then in those days, diploma students had over 1500 hrs of practice before they got there. I never did the ICU rotation, but in Med Surg, I was on the unit the entire time. In the morning I made sure each student knew what they were doing, what they had to be concerned about, what their plans were, etc. Assignments were carefully selected depending on the education needs of the students, the complexity and status of the patient, personal desires of the patient, etc. I followed up frequently throughout the day with the student and the status of the patient. Although they were cosigned with an RN and checked with the RN throughout the day, I always assumed that the were also working under my license. Instructors were an integral part of the team on the unit and we worked collaborative with the head nurses. Activity wise - we functioned like a team leader (when team leading was practiced). I just can't imagine a instructor leaving a student there and disappearing.

[renerian]

Our instructor was in house...........amongst several floors, the staff RN cosigned our notes. Where we ran into some concern when I became staff nurse is ADNs felt uncomfortable with being a new grad of six months or so time, and working with BSN students since they were farther along in most cases-or so we found. We then paired Bachelors to Bachelors nurses are everyone was happy......

Just a thought,

renerian

[New CCU RN]

Well, perhaps that could work BSN to BSN ... however I do have my BSN but still didn't feel as though it was safe or fair to the RNs that we were the ones pretty much instructing the students. Never did we see an instructor....nor did we ever get any sort of guidelines from the school.

If it was a paired RN-student type situation....where the student was known to the nurse, and the nurse knew that she was mentoring a student, the situation would have been different. However, it wasnt like that.

And for me personally, I was just out of orientation... still on "protected time" and I was paired with a student.

[shaz]

as a new RN you may not feel you have the right to question your senior staff when a SN is given to you to look after. but you must set ground rules at the start of the shift. you go to your senior and ask what the student is and isnt allowed to do and sit down with the student for 10 minutes and ask them what their goals are and what do they know about CCU. In australia the legal responsibility lies with the university and the hospital. so if you are practicing within your scope of practice and following hospital protocol you should feel comfortable. and if you are not comfortable with a SN you must speak out because it will be detrimental for you both.

[New CCU RN]

I do have no problem speaking up for myself to the senior nurses... it gets you no where to be quiet and not be heard. And I addressed the situation with my NM who agreed with me as well as the charge RN who was a student of that same university and also agreed. The instructor should be there, it isnt fair to ask the RN to be the instructor of the student.
I agree with what you are saying .... however, I still feel as though the instructor should be there ....that it shouldnt fall on to the staff's shoulders and even if the "university" and instructor is responsible.......I as the patient's assigned RN am responsible for the student......sooo say while I am in the other room with my other patient, the student does something that is not in the p/p and causes damage to the patient..... well, I could still be held liable.

It isn't safe to have students without an instructor. We were never given her name or beeper or any way to contact her. In the CC setting, it is just asking for problems.

[New CCU RN]

By the way, this is new...this year...not having the instructor there... I found out from various sources that it will be the last year bc I was one of many who complained about this situation

[nadia562002]

I am about to graduate from a BSN program. During my med-surg rotation about half way through the program, my instructor evaluated each of her students to see where they would do well in for those extra rotations to places besides general med-surg floors. She felt very comfortable sending me to the CICU because she saw that I had the qualities to do well there.

Aside from that, she and all my other clinical instructors were available when I ever I needed them. The students work under the instructors license. The instructor also verifies that each student is capable of doing certain tasks before they are ever allowed to run free. I always felt comfortable asking questions of the nurses for what ever I needed. THere were several nurses who seemed to disappear though when they found they had a student. THat was a little nerve wracking to say the least.