Abusive and Cruel Clinical Instructors: Why??

wow... very eloquently put thanks

My last CI was a nightmare for all of us but one student. Everything we did she picked apart. Pre-conference she came in slammed down her papers and basically told us how crappy we were. I am not sure how I made it through the semester with her riding my you know what. However, on that note I think it made me stronger. I didn't kiss her rear like the other girl who was favored and I took her basically abuse all semester long, but in the end I realized you will end up working with some people who are total jerks in the real world and I don't know if she had a power struggle problem, but in the end I think I won, because I am stronger.

It's comforting to know that this kind of behavior is rampant. I had three nursing instructors who were, to put it kindly, on a power and ego trip. No matter what I did in clinical, it was incorrect. They were evil personified and belittled, berated, and intimidatedme in front of staff, other students, and patients. It got to the point where I was not sleeping and ended up crying every day. I could no longer function on the med-surg floor to the capacity of which I was capable. Two clinical instructors basically told me I am not cut out for nursing even though my academic record was about a 3.5 when the director, at the most evil instructor's suggestion, suggested I resign or I would be kicked out of school for unsafe practice for an incident for which I was blamed. This could not have been further from the truth, but will not expand on that one.

My point is that these very sick, egomaniacal instructors need to leave the teaching profession or change their acts before we lose more perfectly capable nurses and nursing students. It is NEVER okay to abuse someone else, be it a nurse, instructor, etc. HAVE THEY HEARD THERE IS A SHORTAGE OUT THERE?????????????????

Hopefully, justice will prevail.

exstudent..thats sounds horrible...are you in another program now?

I was wondering how older students are treated by nursing instructors the same way. Being mature and experienced in the medical profession as well as life I won't take kindly to being mistreated. I think respect given deserves respect in return maybe I need to warm my lips up for kissing. Being adults people should take a mature stand for what is right in short the one in need of medical care.

I've seen it happen to students of all ages. They are unprofessional, through and through.

Dear IsItPossible,

No, unfortunately, I have notapplied to another school to finish up my last six weeks. Some instructors can sour you to ever pursuing a career again. However, I may just do it, anyway, being so close to the finish line.

Both students and nurses need to stand up for themselves and others that are being mistreated. And nurses are supposed to be patient advocates??? The patient is the bottom line, but when staff is being abused, it's a trickle down effect, and patients don't receive the best care possible.

Good luck to you!

Agreed. These degenerates are wasting everybody's time. Instead of training nursing students to be good nurses, they are turning students off to the profession, wasting nursing school and hospital clinical spots, and importantly, they are needlessly depriving the profession and the public of future nurses.

I understand where you are coming from and in the past have said the same thing about a mean instructor I had. In fact, lots of people have said the same thing about a few of the mean instructors. But, I just realized right now that it did not make us stronger, it made us better able to tolerate ABUSE. Thicker skin? Yes. Stronger? Now, I don't think so. Because every time someone gets away with abusing you, a little piece of you dies. Yes your skin might get thicker, but its because YOU HAVE A SCAR THERE. Once you have been able to "take" abuse from someone you are better able to tolerate it the next time. So if that is what one means by strong I guess it fits. But that is not really strength.

This is not to say that YOU are not strong. Its just that in reading this, and remembering I have said and though the same thing, that it is, in my mind, not really correct. I also said that being with my now ex husband that was abusive made me a stronger person. But, that is also not true. It is how I responded to his abuse, that is giving my best shot to let him turn it around and then when it became physical -leaving. That is what made me strong, MY response to the situation. And in the end being strong enough to leave a bad situation even if it met financial and other hardships. There is where my will and my strength grew.

This type of treatment of students by faculty is just not tolerated in other departments on campus. Why does nursing tolerate this? Is it because it prepares one for what will come in the actual job? I hope not. But I have seen a lot of nasty nurses and nasty working conditions and I am not even working in the field yet. Scarey.

1. Determine the treatment is actually happening by having a witness.
2. Speak to nurse in private explaining your feelings, BUT, use psychology and never put her on defensive, always use, "i feel, that I am, I feel that you are not happy with MY blah blah.."
3. Ask if there is anything you are consistently doing wrong and how you can improve. Make her slowly see the connection of your lack of infractions combined with her inconsistent treatment toward you.
4. Last option, take your witnesses and go to head of dept and tell whole story, perhaps the insturctor with get a "talkin too"