Ever encountered biased teachers in nsg school?

Keep your head up!! I also had a situation like this. My clinical teacher didn't like me for some reason. I would spend hours perfecting my care plans, learning meds, patho., and everything possible because I knew she would still question and give me a hard time. All I can say is DON'T GIVE UP! You will make it!!

I think this is one of the biggest issues in nursing schools. Teachers can be so subjective! Teachers will give some students bad grades on care planes, databases, etc. and give others A's and the paperwork will be the same! At least this happens in every semester at my school!

Sadly, this is all too commonly accepted norm in the medical world, but especially in Nursing. Per the whole eating-your-young theory, I wonder if nurses who "got it give it." Making up for receiving demeaning lectures is an unfortunate highlight of having dealt with the medical hierarchical system. DOWN with pulling rank!

I see what you mean now. As others have said: do what you need to do to graduate. I do shiver at the thought of trying to befriend someone who has no trouble to publicly belittle those under their care.

Get used to it. More specifically, gain some skills in not letting it get to you.

We had our Oral Med Administration checkoff the other day. Up till now, our Lab Instructors have been rather low key and helpful. This particular checkoff was different. We were given almost no information on how the test would go or insight into ways they would try to trip us up. We tested in groups of 5.

As we walked into the lab, the normally reasonable instructors began yelling at us like recruits on their way to basic training. "DROP YOUR THINGS!! GO FIND AN OPEN STATION!! HURRY UP!! NOW!! NOW!!" My immediate internal reaction was bemusement, but I tried to remain outwardly calm and nonresponsive as I gathered my stuff while they wailed and walked to an open station. A classmate walked in behind me and the instructors shifted their "wrath" to her. I almost laughed out loud at her shocked reaction to the R. Lee Ermey act.

After I finished the test, which I passed, I figured out the reason for the shenanigans: They wanted about a third of us to fail our first pass. Why? I came up with a few reasons:

1. Patient Safety. They didn't want this to be a test where we were given the answers. They wanted to see how we would react to completely random and unpredictable occurrences while passing meds. Our program values it's clinical sites and does not want to lose one because some dumbass student passed Med Administrations without being challenged. The Drill Sgt. act was contrived to get our heart rates up and rattle us before we even got to the test.

2. Educational Opportunity. Students can learn a hell of a lot from failing. We get three tries and the students who get remediation do have good learning experiences - including working under stress.

3. Program Validation. They must figure no Nursing Program worth it's salt has more than a 70% first-pass rate on Medication Administration checkoffs.

4. Recent graduate student screw up. One of my programs grads apparently went through a bunch of Pyxis machines emptying them of a drug because his calculation said he should give 100 tablets. Someone asked him what he was doing after he hit the 3rd machine. I think they want to shake that prospective guy out before he can take his boards.

Not that I wasn't rattled during my test. My tester for the Skills section was none other than my program's Dean and that was my first time meeting her. I stumbled around like a goon but I got it done.

I learned a lot about how to prepare for future checkoffs: It's kind of like a Haunted House the way things are thrown at you, but try to be as prepared, calm, and focused as you can. And don't worry about failing your first pass, we all are fodder for the mill at one time or another.

Good luck

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