Published
In defense of the student....I would have looked up and smiled and said "Hi.... I'm Esme, is there something I can help you with?"....she is after all a stranger in your breakroom.
I tell my kids, manners matter......as my daughter enters the nursing world I also explain to her to remain polite regardless of any rudeness she may perceive or encounter as she enters the adult world.
I am with Esme here. I go way way WAY out of my way for students. Many times the make the difference between a horrible shift and a bearable shift. Plus I love the chance to help shape a new nurse and show them the way things are done properly. We just got a fresh crop yesterday...first semester, very first time on a hospital floor. By the end of the day they were all thrilled and super excited and super motivated. They thanked us for being so kind to them. When I was a student I was frequently treated horribly. Every nurse out there was once a student. It is a shame that some of them have forgotten where they came from......
I am majoring in education and love love love students. I agree with both sides represented here frankly.
Making students feel welcome is important. It is nice to make them feel good about being there. However, in any social situation if someone is engrossed in reading something it is considered rude to interrupt. This situation is no different. The student was in the wrong. The fact that she/he was a student is nothing more than an aside. The student was rude, period.
It would have been nice had the OP chosen to be more warm to the student and forgiven his/her social blunder but the OP was in no way obligated to. A cool "hello" is all that was required and all the student got. The student's reaction to not getting the "warm and fuzzy" he/she was hoping for was over-the-top and not terribly politically wise.
NanikRN
392 Posts
True story from this morning---
I'm in break room , reading document student comes in to use computer to preview pts for clinical tomorrow
Hi I'm Sally student
Me - still intent on document--mumbles hi
*silence *
Student --I guess you don't like students I've heard about nurses eating their young
Me: still reading--huhh?
Really? Give me a break