What do you want to tell Nursing Students?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Our latest group of students passing through prompts this question. Here are a few of mine:

1. If the nurses have no where to sit and chart, and 5 of you are sitting gossiping-GET YOUR TAIL UP!

2. If you are capable of doing it, like passing trays and answering call light, then- DO IT! Don't reply it isn't your patient. You aren't my student either, but when you ask me a question I don't make that my response, do I? Help me out, and I'll be better able to help you.

3. At your level, in and out the patients room in 3 minutes is probably not a good assessment. Especially when you tell me that the patient has a reg heart rate, and his admitting diagnosis is new onset A-Fib.

4. Reading a Stephen King book in the nurses station is a bad idea, and you look like you don't care. As does playing solitare on the computer in OUR breakroom.

5. If you have had a patient for two days, and he is your only patient, you should be able to tell me the diagnosis. You should also know a fair amount about his medications. At least read your drug guide before coming to clinicals.

I could go on and on. This new group we have takes the lazy/stupid cake!

BTW - I love having students that are motivated and are truely there to learn.

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I don't know whether to defend myself or go hide under a rock... :chair:

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Specializes in ED.

I'm a student (done in May) and agree with all of those except answering call lights. We are not allowed to answer call lights unless it is our patient. We are only allowed to answer lights for our own patients. So, that might be a policy they have to follow. I believe we can bring in food trays, but even that is questionable (if we don't know the pt diet and the food service sends up the wrong tray we would have no idea. I know I've had pt that are NPO that receive a tray and if a student just brought it in the pt may eat. I've also had pt that are on liquid diets receive trays with solid/regular foods). Otherwise, I can't believe some of the things the students on your unit do!! If we were caught reading or playing solitaire we would be written up and sent home. Where is their instructor??

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.

1. Get your hands out of your pockets and find something to do. Your assignment did not end with the morning med pass.

2. My shifts last wayyy past the time you waltz out of the hospital. Do not hustle to the desk just so you can sit and watch me while I stand and chart.

3. If there is something you see that needs to be done and you are competent in doing so, don't just sit there. Believe me, nurses will be more apt to take their time to show you things when you act like you want to learn.

4. We don't care about the politics going on with your classmates. I am sorry, but we just don't have the time to get involved. Save the gossip sessions for after clinical time. You don't get nearly enough clinical time while in school, so make the best of what you do get.

I could go on, but that is a start!

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I so totally understand where you are coming from. When I was a student, we worked our bottoms off to know our stuff- I would very very RARELY take a break and if a nurse needed a chair I jumped out of my seat 1st! Maybe I was wrong in not taking a break but I lived and I knew I needed the experience. How did I make it w/out food? Energy/meal bars. The slimfast ones really curbed my massive hunger. Yes, I did this with 5 kids and a hubby at home sometime with very little sleep because I had to be a mom and wife and STILL know my meds and give good patient care.

On the other hand, I work with a seasoned nurse who is just a total witch to students and will do anything to be a witch to the instructor. Granted - the instructor isn't the brightest bulb in the socket but still. I think her (the nurses) behavior is very unprofessional.

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.
i don't know whether to defend myself or go hide under a rock... :chair:

trust me, the folks guilty of this never recognize themselves--which means you don't need to hide or defend yourself--

some of your clueless classmates, maybe, but not yourself!!:smokin:

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Specializes in Emergency Dept.

I can certainly understand being upset with students reading or playing solitaire. That is absolutely unacceptable.

I must say though that when I was a student, we didn't know what we could do or were allowed to do. I know if someone is standing around it doesn't look like they are under a lot of pressure, but clinicals always stressed me out. I always felt the hospital we went to was confusing - I was doing good to find the unit I was suppose to be on each time, let alone find anything else to do. I was forever opening wrong doors to find the supply closets, dirty linens, etc. Plus, as students, we didn't know that floors routines, nor any of the staff. Also, as we got to our last year of school we were lectured AGAINST doing 'aide' work. Now, I know every nurse is responsible for their patients, and I do help do anything my patients require (yes, we are all responsible for making beds, cleaning the patient up, etc.), but in school, we were advised against it. We were told to spend our time learning what 'nurses do' and were not to give the patients baths, etc. Just another possible side to things - but absolutely NO reading non-nursing related books or playing solitaire.

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Specializes in ED.
1. Get your hands out of your pockets and find something to do. Your assignment did not end with the morning med pass.

Some nursing students (especially 1st year) do not know WHAT to do. many times they have not been on the floor at all, and are given very minimal orientation. For some, that is really intimidating and as much as we want to help we are not sure what to do!! Now that I'm in 2nd year, I have more patients and am much more busy. With 1 patient, it really isn't that busy and if we aren't familiar with the floor it is hard to help out. We don't know where anything is, and if no one is around to help us, then it probably does look like we are not doing anything!! I always tried to at least look at charts, and learn about my patient. However, it just isn't always busy for a first year student with 1 patient.

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Maybe instead of a venting/bashing the students thread... we could come up with some of the helpful things that students can and do do. (do do LOL)...

All nurses were students at one point... what is it that students should do?? What would you like to see?

I'm sorry if the group you have now are not the most ambitious. I'm hoping that not all nursing students are representative of that group. I haven't started clinicals yet... but when I do, I know what I will be doing. Right now I bust my butt just as a volunteer at my hospital just to prove myself. I'm hoping one day I will be able to work there, and I feel like I'm already showing them what I'm capable of.

So again, what can students do that would make you happy?? TIA

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med Surg, Pediatrics, ER.
Some nursing students (especially 1st year) do not know WHAT to do. many times they have not been on the floor at all, and are given very minimal orientation. For some, that is really intimidating and as much as we want to help we are not sure what to do!! Now that I'm in 2nd year, I have more patients and am much more busy. With 1 patient, it really isn't that busy and if we aren't familiar with the floor it is hard to help out. We don't know where anything is, and if no one is around to help us, then it probably does look like we are not doing anything!! I always tried to at least look at charts, and learn about my patient. However, it just isn't always busy for a first year student with 1 patient.

I remember the feeling of not knowing what to do. That is competely understandable and expected. I have had students stand around with their hands in their pockets, nursing assistants calling for help, and the students do nothing. Some of them have commented that they are there to be a nurse, not an assistant. That is really frustrating. I wipe butts just like an assistant does. It is all a part of nursing. When you don't know what to do and you see an assitant struggling to keep her head above water, offer to help her. The same goes for nurses. When a student asks me what they can do to help it shows that they want to learn and I try to find something worthwhile to delegate to them.

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trust me, the folks guilty of this never recognize themselves--which means you don't need to hide or defend yourself--

some of your clueless classmates, maybe, but not yourself!!:smokin:

this is so true. some people don't want to recognize themselves.

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Just remember that you were a student and didn't roll out of bed one day and suddenly were a nurse. As a first year student, we have been limited with what we are allowed to do....and in my situation we were very intimidated by the nurses and aides on the last units we were on.

Most of the time the nurses do not speak to us, treat us as if we are not welcome, and definitely don't go out of their way to want to teach or show us anything.

I'm not a slacker, but I'm not paid to be an aide.....especially when the aides who are supposed to be on duty are sitting at the desk ordering stuff off the internet. I take care of my patients, provide excellent care within what I have been trained and authorized to do by my school & instructor, and I don't stand around with my hands in my pockets.....

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