Should I rock the boat??

[anggelRN]

Hello everyone. I need some advice on how to handle a certain situation. I am currently doing my first clinical rotation. I had my orientataion last week but today we did patient care for the first time. I have a real problem with my clinical instructor's teaching methods. She has a tendency to yell at students while she is teaching . She pays no attention to who is around while she is yelling. You can yelled at in front of guests, other students, other nurses, the patient- it doesn't matter. Today, she was yelling at two students while they were doing vitals on a patient. You can only imagine how uncomfortable a patient would feel when someone taking care of them is being yelled at by their instructor. I got yelled at today for taking too long to put on gloves, and taking my time while giving my very first patient a bed bath. According to her, I have to do things that I have not practiced and am not good at quickly. I think she was upset because the pt had a bowel movement in the diaper and the smell was getting to her. She had a disgusted look on her face. ( I thought as a nurse she would know that poop smells). She also made rude comments whie in a pt's room like "why does the charge nurse always give us the "difficult" patients."I can literally go on and on about her faults but my question is- Should I report her to the main clinical instructor? I know many students have grievances against their clincial instructors but I have a real problem with her lack of respect for the patients and the students. I show her nothing but respect so I think I am deserving of the same. I even smile in her face when she insults me. I don't have a problem with being corrected. I want to be corrected so I eventually feel confident in what I am doing- but I do have a problem with people yelling at me to correct me. She is like this with everyone so I don't feel like I'm being singled out. Other people has also complained. Other than that, she's ok. She praises you when you're finished with the task and she is not generally a horribly nasty person. I don't want her to be upset at the whole clincal group because I complained. Should I just take the abuse for 6 more weeks? Is it worth it to rock the boat in this situtation. I need some input from experienced nurses.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Keep your head down and fly under the radar. This is your first clinical rotation and you cannot afford to complain and possibly be singled out for this instructor's lash.

Keep in mind that it is very unprofessional of her to yell. Get as much clinical practice time in as you can at home or in your school's clinical lab. Practice your skills on your family, friends, pets, anyone who'll let you. I know a few of us had to practice Foley'ing bed pillows because we couldn't get a family volunteer.

Your goal is to get through the semester pretty much unscathed and these skills will serve you well as you continue in your clinicals.

Best wishes, and remember, we're here if you need to vent.

[leslie :-D]

imo, it would be more ideal if you spoke w/your instructor.

i understand how awkward this could be, but still think it may feel less threatening if it came from a student, rather than her superior.

politely share, "while i appreciate the resposibility you have in teaching the ____ of us, i was wondering if your feedback could be done in a more private place. i noticed the _________ look on mr. jone's face, when you said 'why do we get all the difficult pts?'

while she may get initially huffy, if she has any sort of decency, she will be more sensitive in her surroundings.

my biggest concern, is how the pts receive her:

and how she makes them feel.

i also learned in nsg school, that student evals are a great time to get in your about school, clinicals, concerns...

wishing you the best.

leslie

[Ms Kylee]

No, don't rock the boat. Take it from someone who did.. and paid the price. Stay under the radar, keep your mouth shut, and above all, PLAY THE GAME because you will not win.

[GGCC]

It seems like it is so hard for schools to find/keep clinical instructors that complaining about one will fall on completely deaf ears.

The thing is that when this is over, you will feel like you can endure anything - it will make you stronger.

Also, clinical instructors know and talk to each other - you don't want to get a reputation as a complainer.

Put on your annonymous eval at the end of the term to get it off your chest.

[Crocuta, RN]

I'm going to agree with Angie here. I'm not normally one to take abuse, or to recommend that others do. I've butted my share of heads. However, you're in a tenuous position. In nursing, as in nursing school, there are people who are natural teachers, and those who are not. When you are a practicing nurse, you can often avoid or minimize your interactions with those who would bring you down.

In nursing school, you have a few options: 1) Accept it for what it is and figure out how to deal with it. If you take this path, learn what your instructor's triggers are and avoid them like the plague. At the same time, learn what she wants and give it to her - always. 2) Complain, but constructively. Escalate your complaint up the channels as appropriate for your institution. Be prepared to deal with any backlash. Nursing students are a dime a dozen. Nursing instructors are hard to come by. 3) Leave your institution and find one that is more in line with your values. Easy for some people, next to impossible for others. Your mileage may vary.

How about an inspirational quote from Mark Twain:

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Unfortunately, the world is full of small people who have little faith in their own abilities so they take it out on the people around them. The next time she talks to you like that, consider how horrible it must be to be so insecure. See if that doesn't change your outlook.

This could be a good time to practice your diplomacy skills, however. Try: "I see - could we talk about that a little more in the hall?" When in the hall, this works: "Thanks - I didn't want the patient to feel nervous about my lack of experience." I've had to cut a doctor off in mid rant with a forceful "I'd be happy to discuss this matter with you further in private." That usually works.

Good luck, and remember, nursing school is just a bump in the road. It doesn't last forever.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

Ditto, don't rock the boat. Your goal is to get through a very difficult program. You should never try to fight a battle where you are a sure loser.

Sorry you have the instructor from you know where. Your's sounds like a real piece of work.

[miko014]

I agree with what most people here have said. I do NOT tolerate abuse from anyone, and don't want anyone else to have to do that. If I was a nurse on your floor and overheard her talking to her students that way, especially in front of a patient, I would pull her aside and say something to her. But being one of her students, I would just save it for the eval. I actually had an instructor once who got fired after the bigwigs read the evals from her clinical groups. She would just leave the floor and go to the cafeteria and not tell anyone (us or the nurses), and be gone for half an hour! I thnk there were 9 of us in the group that time, taking 2 pts apiece on a stepdown unit, so we were really busy. She didn't know a LOT, but she didn't admit that, and she didn't look stuff up, either. If we asked questions, even something like, "okay, this is how I hang this antibiotic, right?" she would go off on us about how we were junior level nursing students and she expected more of us, etc. The nurses on the unit hated her so much that they sort of "adopted" us. They took the time to show us stuff, they helped us give meds, they answered our questions. That says a lot right there. So you're not alone. Just stay low, and like others said, ask to take the conversation to a more private place if possible.

Nursing is high stress. Even though I don't condone it at all, you're going to get yelled at many times, by docs, pts, family, even coworkers. Good to get some experience on how to handle it now! Save some specific examples for your end-of-term eval. Do it just like you would chart - with quotes if you can remember any. You never know, maybe one of the nurses on the unit will see what's going on and say something about it. I wouldn't hold your breath, but it could happen. Good luck, and learn as much as you can in spite of her! And don't let her stress you out!!!!!

[nyapa, RN]

We had a similar experience at our school. The clinical instructor was also abusive and into making ppl cry. Every year people complained verbally to the Dean; every year nothing happened. Then one year it was put into writing by a number of students. This lady was sacked...

[RN1982]

While I agree with the other comments about not "rocking the boat", as a human being I should not have to take verbal abuse from anyone, even a clinical instructor.

[BypassThisNurse]

Well, given your situation, I have to remember that this instructor has the ability to pass or fail you! My advice, ROCK THE BOAT! Just make sure you jump out and swim like hell before your instructor sees you! In other words, bring the issue to her attention with an anonymous letter. Don't ignore your instructors behaviors if it upsets the patient or their care ... our main job as a nurse is to advocate for our patients! Just remember that you will have some pretty "difficult" and "tuff" instructors in nursing school. And I think it is good that we have instructors like that ... after all, we are dealing with life and death ... and their expectations of us should be set high! But reprimanding should be done one on one. Anyway, good luck ... and welcome to nursing!!

[Flames9_RN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

After a 15 yr in the military, people yelling at me doesn't bother me,lol Would i rock the boat? hard to say. What you should be doing is documenting everything. So if you do report her, have the information at hand. As well i would talk to your other students and see if they are willing to do the same. if they are not willing to report her, or make statements that back up yours, well your probably best not to report it. But , you know this situation better than all of us, and one has to do, what one has to do, and be prepared to face the consequences!! You could be 100% right, and the school could still favor on the side of the clinical instructor.