The student nurse

[musickx2]

How do you feel about working with a student nurse? How comfortable are you with the student nurse basically taking over your patients and paper work while you observe? If you are not comfortable with the student taking your patient load what do you like your student nurse to do while assigned to you and your patients.

[mama.RN]

When I was in school, the nurses (and nurse's aides) were always happy to have a student nurse take a couple of their patients as it actually resulted in less work for them. However, the way it worked with us was that the student nurse was responsible for all patient care for two patients including what both the nurse and nurse's aide would have been responsible for. The nurse did not have to lift a finger for these patients while we were there nor did the NA. The SN's were supervised and guided by the nursing clinical instructor. So, no work was added to the nurses workload, in fact quite the opposite. We even did all associated med administration, treatments and documentation, which was co-signed by the instructor. If we weren't sure how to do something or needed to be walked through a procedure we were doing for the first time, that would be the instructor's job. Occasionally, nurses would invite us to participate in a procedure that they thought would be interesting or especially educational for us, usually after we had proven ourselves to be a big help to them. I didn't realize it was done differently than this. There were a few nurses along the way who were less than welcoming, but they were few and far between and it seemed to be that they had issues with people in general anyway. We were all students once. I would be glad to help another nurse-to-be any way I could.

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

Our peds day was more of observation, so I am not sure how we left a bad taste in their mouth. Plus, there was only one student at a time. And yes, there was mainly only one nurse that we went with because no one else wanted a student. Some nurses already had a new employee that they were orienting and to some degree were already frustrated.

[PetsToPeople]

rnsrwe i found your entire post unnecessary...as someone seems to have to mention in just about every thread, anyone should feel free to comment on any thread, wish_me_luck was simply stating her feelings on the matter and was not attacking anyone, unlike yourself when you had to take it to another level.

i agree with wish_me_luck, and as a student nurse i completely understand that i add to the work load of a nurse, it's pretty obvious, and it will happen no matter how well prepared i am, how hard i try, how upbeat and positive i try to be or how many hoops i will jump through to try to prevent that. and if i have questions or problems, i go to my clinical instructor, not the nurses, because they are busy with their other pt's and that is what my instructor is there for. if you don't want a sn then speak up, no need to make yourself and us miserable. some people are fine with handling their assignments and a student, some are not, simple as that. also, not all sn are created equal either i feel bad for the nurses that get stuck with "certain" students.

thank you gitanorn for your enthusiasm and willingness to help your fellow future nurses, i hope the students that are assigned to you realize how lucky they are.

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

mama. RN that's the way it was with us the first two semesters. We did baths, assessments (again our assessment did not take the place of the nurse's assessment), and our instructor did meds with us and we went and observed procedures.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Our peds day was more of observation, so I am not sure how we left a bad taste in their mouth. Plus, there was only one student at a time. And yes, there was mainly only one nurse that we went with because no one else wanted a student. Some nurses already had a new employee that they were orienting and to some degree were already frustrated.

wish_me_luck, I clearly cannot get across to you the point of my post, so I won't persist in trying. I feel that you are being argumentative (something I am certain you would argue), and rather than hearing what I'm saying, you insist that you are right in every regard. I cannot change your mind, nor do I wish to keep up attempts, as I'm sure I won't succeed.

Best of luck in your future career.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

How do you feel about working with a student nurse? How comfortable are you with the student nurse basically taking over your patients and paper work while you observe? If you are not comfortable with the student taking your patient load what do you like your student nurse to do while assigned to you and your patients.

I like working with student nurses. The student nurse doesn't really take over while I observe, but that isn't your concern.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

rnsrwe i found your entire post unnecessary...as someone seems to have to mention in just about every thread, anyone should feel free to comment on any thread, wish_me_luck was simply stating her feelings on the matter and was not attacking anyone, unlike yourself when you had to take it to another level.

i made no attack; i disagreed with a number of aspects of wish-me-luck's post and said so. apparently i am not allowed to comment on her post? interesting.

i was also pointing out that the op asked a question for nurses to answer, and after one post from a nurse saying why s/he had a hard time with students, here we have a student arguing why it was actually the nurse's fault if there was a problem.

if you found my entire post unnecessary, you clearly weren't understanding it at all.

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

It's your opinion and you are entitled to it RNsRWe. And I respect that. I just get irritated because there are multiple posts about frustration with students. If you do not want them, just say so. It saves everyone. That's my point. I am done. Yes, some nurses love students and love seeing that bulb go off with the "aha moment" and others get behind and rather not have them. To each their own.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

It's your opinion and you are entitled to it RNsRWe. And I respect that. I just get irritated because there are multiple posts about frustration with students. If you do not want them, just say so. It saves everyone. That's my point. I am done. Yes, some nurses love students and love seeing that bulb go off with the "aha moment" and others get behind and rather not have them. To each their own.

Can I just put a thought out there, something to think about before we part ways?

When you find multiple posts concerning frustration with students, I'd like you to think about the possibility that the nurse(s) writing them have had some GREAT students. They've had some really terrific encounters with some really talented students, and that's why they persist with having students...because there are some real gems in the lot.

But that doesn't mean they don't have some real clankers as well: the students who argue to try to make an impression (and they sure do, boy oh boy), the ones who make mistakes because they don't ask for help, who say they know how to do procedures they don't know how to do. And of course the ones who will just declare "that nurse hates students" when in actuality, that nurse LOVES students, she just can't stand YOU (not you, wish-me-luck, "you" as in "the student").

I genuinely enjoy teaching students. But that doesn't mean there aren't days when I want to bang my head against a wall and wonder what the profession is coming to.

Just something to think about.

[grownuprosie]

I have this weird nostalgia for student nursing and how, looking back, it all seems so easy.

Please tell me that is how i will feel once i graduate!? I am dreaming of that day!

[PetsToPeople]

No, I understood it, I simply disagreed. It is possible to agree to disagree without clawing each others eyes out, we all have unique thoughts and personalities, which is what makes this site so very interesting at times.

I never said you couldn't post, I said your post wasn't necessary, whereas you have pointed out that she is a student and you do not feel she should post on a thread where "the OP asked a question for nurses to answer"...

And I still don't see anywhere where she said "it's all the nurses fault because we students are puurrrfect"

[RockinChick66]

I've been a nurse for less than 5 years and love working with student nurses.

However, this last week I had the worse student ever that had two of my patients.

This student had two of my pts and didn't even go in and talk to or introduce

herself to one of these patients.

I found this student sitting around most the day. She would ask

me occasionally if she could help me, but they were unable to do any med passes, so

I encouraged this student to have some initiative and go into the pts room to ask the

patient if there was anything they needed.

It gripes me so bad to see students with no initiative. Please, just go into the pts

rooms and empty urinals, pick up trays, offer snacks, talk with the patient, or

feel free to follow me. Just do something other than asking me what you can do all day.