How My Instructor Affected My Life - Page 8

I had an expperience a lot like yours with.....of all things....my psych. rotation clinical instructor. OMG, lets just say our instructors mirrored each other. She made no secret of the fact that she couldnt stand me. Told the other students too. Little did she know, they were not quick to cross me and were simply humoring her as they listened to her whip up stories about me. See, I was a CNA at the very hospital we did clinicals at. Most of the people in my group were from non-medical backgrounds. So, as far as getting ADLs, AM care and such went, I helped everyone. Obviously, they were not going to jump on the bandwagon with her. This annoyed her to the point of rage. She gave me an evaluation filled with lies and twisted truths you couldnt believe.
In the end I got the best of her. Not only did her review not keep me from graduating, but I got very good scores on the psych. portion of the final that semester. Graduation came a semester later. We were to receive our pin then walk down the line of instructors to shake hands and be congradulated. When I got to her, I could see in her eyes the desire to give me a half hearted handshake and be done with me. There was venom in her eyes as I approached her. So, I did what every respectfull newly graduated nurse would do. I acted like I was none the wiser to her attitude towards me, gave her the biggest hug (picked her up off the floor and spun around and all) and acted like she was Gods gift to the school. She about puked from the experience from the look on her face, and she was trying to say something (something venomous I'm sure) but no words came out of ther mouth. She just stood there muttering, moving her lips with no sound coming forth.....total shock. I loved it.

That's what I call CLASS! Awesome!!

I also had a bad experience with an instructor. I have 15 yrs experience in the medical field as a paramedic. I decided that I wanted to be a nurse after filling in in our ER as a tech to pick up overtime. I found out that I loved taking care of patients. You know when something becomes so clear to you in an instant? I loved nursing!!!!! I enrolled in the local technical college right away. I found the clinicals to be a little tedious, and the care plans!!! Oh don't get me started on those 25 page epics that were required for each patient!! But, I did what I had to do and tried to stay under the radar, cuz I knew that if the intructors knew you had a strong medical background that they would be looking for any little thing. My classmates came to me if they had questions or needed a hand with something and I was glad to help out. Sometimes they would come to me before the instructors. I guess so they wouldn't look bad in the instructors eyes. I was glad to help. Well, close to the end of my second semester I had an intructor who seemed very nice, wanted to be friendly with all her students. She was evaluating me give an injection to a 450 lb. female. As I got into the room I realized that somehow a 1 inch needle had been put into the bin marked 5/8 needles. The needles had opaque caps on them so I couldn't see it before I uncapped it. This was to be a SQ injection in the abdomen. I looked at the instructor and indicated that I realized the needle was the wrong size, but then we looked at each other and the patients abdomen size, and the instructor nodded her head. Remember this patient was morbidly obese. I gave the injection, without using the entire length of the needle (I did not want the patient to lose confidence in the people giving her care by walking out of the room) and everything worked out. The instructor pulled me aside afterward and said that what happened shouldn't have happened. I agreed with her, but then she stated that given the patient's size, no harm was done. She told me that she sees the bigger picture and that she knows that I will make a good nurse one day. Well THREE days later she calls me into her office along with Department Chair to tell me she re-thought her decision to "overlook such a hazardous mistake" and that I will be dismissed from the program for putting a patient's life in danger. I was speechless!!!! Not only did she sit in that patient's room and watch me give that injection, she said that she would let it go because the patient came to no harm. Now I readily admit that it was the wrong needle, and had the patient not been 450 lbs. I would have made an excuse to leave the room and change the needle, but to kick me out of the program for something she allowed me to do was unbelievable. She had told the Department Chair the she did not get a close look at the needle until after the injection. It was her word against mine, and guess who they believed. She even had the nerve to tell me that perhaps I should choose another profession, that maybe nursing wasn't for me. I was completely devastated. I was inconsolable for days. I could not get into another RN program until the following year. If I did not make a fuss, I could apply to the LPN program the next semester.
During the next few weeks trying to decide what to do next, I saw Excelsior College on the internet. Enrolled, took all 8 theory exams in 4 months, then completed the CPNE just this past weekend! I am now a graduate RN waiting to take state boards, 3 months ahead of where I would have been. I will attend my classmates' pinning ceremony hoping to see this instructor just to tell her that perhaps she should consider another career!!!! She is one to prove the old saying "those who cannot do; teach". For someone to abuse their position like that is atrocious! People who have theopportunity to make or break people's very dreams should use some sensitivity when they know that they are crushing someones' hope. I don't like to use the word "hate", but I truly hate that woman for using her "christian" morals as an excuse to change her mind about what she felt was something "she just couldn't live with" just sickens me. But now I am what she said I couldn't be despite what she did.