know-it-all diva

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I rarely lose my cool, but it happened in the lab this week at the beginning of the summer clinical session. Our new instructor is an "old school" RN who's been a nurse for 30 years. Everyone in our group likes her teaching style because she's been showing us a few alternative (and easier) techniques to maneuver the equipment used in some of the more complicated skills and how to do them better than some of the methods shown in the skills book. She plays Devil's Advocate against herself while she demos the skills according to the way the skills book says they should be done, just to show us that in certain real life scenarios the textbook theory stuff isn't necessarily the most practical or the most efficient method to get the job done. You might think that an experienced RN would know more about these things than a nursing student, right?

Well, not according to one really arrogant know-it-all student, who's been determined from the first day of nursing school to prove that she is the nursing diva who knows the skills better than everyone else. This girl isn't even in our clinical group but she always presents herself in the lab and spends a lot of her time criticizing everything the other students are doing. A small group of us were in the lab practicing new skills on a dummy, and of course, she invites herself over and starts telling us that the methods our instuctor showed us are incorrect and that we should step aside and watch her do it. She then proceeded to take over the equipment began to demonstrate her proficiency. Everyone else was cool about it but I took exception to her rudeness, and I took her to task.

I went head-to-head with her on several points during her little "presentation" when I pointed out that she had violated a number of basic safety protocols, like leaving the bed in the high position with the siderail down while she walked away to go put on gloves. She also contaminated herself while setting up for a sterile procedure but continued the procedure anyway. I also pointed out to her that she didn't check the dummy's armband or the MAR before she began, that she didn't perform important parts of the assessment, and that she had the pt in the wrong position for the procedure. She got really angry after that and tried to start an argument. I told her to just shut up and back off and let us do our thing, and she walked away with her tail between her legs. I'm not usually that aggressive, but I felt that it was time somebody reminded her that she's still a student just like the rest of us.

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damn. sounds like she won't get very far with that attitude, especially around nurses. wait till she hits clinicals - she won't be able to hold herself back and end up getting her loud mouth in trouble!

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Good for you for not letting her get away with that attitude. I think you'll see that her perceptor (if she even graduates) will not let her get away with it either. You were truly being a "patient" advocate by pointing out her dangerous practices! In the future, hopefully she'll stay away from you b/c she knows you will not put up with her.

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woooohoooo...great to hear you sticking up for yourself, your classmates and your instructor like that. I cannot hack people like this student you describe!

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Good on ya! Nice to hear someone stick up for themselves.

I was in a similar situation (well kind of). For "Health Law & Ethics" our lecturer is a Barrister who commands $200 an hour, has written laws pertaining to health care, sits on various boards protecting communinity interests (including the one where they lock people up for their own protection). Anyway in another lecture a point was raised about "informed consent". having just sat through a lecture where Mr $200 an hour and I write laws told the class that the phrase has been ruled by the highest court in the land to no longer be used, this student say's "But it means the same thing". Made me real cross. 1) that a lecturer was using the phrase when it was booted out 5 years ago (hey I thought that they were supposed to be cutting edge) and 2) that a student could question someone whom obviously outclasses the whole faculty when it comes to law. I know that as students we are to question but it has to be sensibly.

Sorry to Rant

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I had a similar experience. When we were practicing bed making a student from another campus was in the lab and she saw me making up my bed and just walked right up and started finishing it!!! I kind of stood there for a minute thinking WTH and then I just left her there making the bed and I went to another one. Some people have lots of nerve!! LOL

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I had a guy like this in my anatomy class who tried to dissect everyone's cat for them. He was so irritating and I finally got in a verbal tussle with him one day. Even though everybody knew he was a know-it-all, it still made me look bad.

So a few days later he comes over, acting like the instructor, and starts to show me how to find the sartorius (sp?) muscle. I looked at him calmly and said, "Excuse me, fellow student. When I want help I will ask for Dr. Hill's expertise, not yours. I have a feeling he knows quite a bit more than you do. Thank you for your concern, but leave me alone and worry about your own damn cat. It looks like it's been torn apart by Edward Scissorhands!"

Okay, it wasn't the most graceful of responses...but the whole class heard it and broke into applause!

Better yet, he left me alone for the rest of that class, and the next semester when we had physiology.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, M/S.
I had a guy like this in my anatomy class who tried to dissect everyone's cat for them. He was so irritating and I finally got in a verbal tussle with him one day. Even though everybody knew he was a know-it-all, it still made me look bad.

So a few days later he comes over, acting like the instructor, and starts to show me how to find the sartorius (sp?) muscle. I looked at him calmly and said, "Excuse me, fellow student. When I want help I will ask for Dr. Hill's expertise, not yours. I have a feeling he knows quite a bit more than you do. Thank you for your concern, but leave me alone and worry about your own damn cat. It looks like it's been torn apart by Edward Scissorhands!"

Graceful? Maybe not. But pretty darn funny if you ask me!! Go Nerd!! :)

Know-it-alls PMO also. Thankfully, I haven't had any (yet - *knock on wood*). I'm usually not one to say much, but I would in the instances posted here. How rude can people be? Are they really like that IRL, not in school? I can't imagine them having many friends if they are.

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Specializes in Rehab, Step-down,Tele,Hospice.

Where do these people come from? I was asked to teach a class of freshman sterile technique and felt very uncomfortable, Umm hello? Im still a student too and don't know the background of these people, the last thing I want to do is insult anyone's intelligence, I ended up getting them all involved and at the end of the class several of them thanked me and said they appreciated not being talked down to.

I just don't get the "I'm superior" attitude.

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Argh! Good for you for telling that diva to mind her own business! I agree, where DO these people come from???????? I can't STAND know-it-alls, especially when you ask the instructor a question and they answer for the instructor. From now on, I'm going to say "I wasn't speaking to you, thank you." People like that make me so mad!

Michelle

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