Might fail clinical -

joey1967 · Mar 18, 2004

Approach the Dean with recommendations in the above posts. Ask if there is something extra you could do, like an inservice to your classmates, or poster, etc. Do not focus on the personality issue.
As for paying for extra clinical, the school will have to pay an instructor more for extra work, and I doubt if they want to absorb those costs since in their mind they are doing you a favor. What I don't understand is why should your illness be that great an issue, unless you are too ill to come to clinical? Has he never heard of universal and standard precautions? Are the nurses working that unit forced to stay home without pay when they have a cold or minor illness? Sounds arbitrary to me.

We cannot pay for extra clinical in Canada, just the way it goes, if anyone else out there knows different, please let me know. As for being ill on the ward, I am too sick to be there, so I won't argue with their decision, however, we do get sick in life, and there are no concessions made in this nursing school for real life events. I would imagine that in most cases, when students get sick, it doesn't really impact their performance because the clinical is spread out through several months. In my case the clinical is in block which means I go to work 5 days a week i.e. the hospital like a real nurse. So if you get sick, you are out that week. In most "conventional" nursing schools, if I got sick this week, and came back next week, I'd only miss one day of clinical. Unfortunately, the program has its problems, which again is something that is completely out of my control.

joey1967 · Mar 18, 2004

It is kind of bad to cross an instructor thou. Even thou he made a mistake, you should have let it go if it was not a very serious mistake.

I agree, but at the same time, this was my patient and I was responsible for his care. He was quite ill. Had I not done something, he would have suffered all night. Believe me, if I had my choice, I would have kept my mouth shut, but what if that was my family member? This was just a basic nursing action, which is what really really bothers me. It is unfortuante that my instructor was the one who did not take action. I think it just goes to show what kind of nurse he is.

joey1967 · Mar 18, 2004

Not to be disrespectful but patients in end stage of life certainly are 'real live patients'.
Yes, just do your best and they were absolutely right in pulling you off of clinical rotation due to your illness. Students in my school have showed up for clinical when sick and have been sent home. Must protect the patients!
But personally, I wouldn't make waves over his mistake...do what you have to do and get the job done.

That was three weeks ago and I haven't said boo since but the damage has been done. As for the real live patients comment, really really bad choice of words, I replied to someone else about this just to verify what I meant. As for being pullled off, I'm all in agreement for that. I am way too sick to be there for sure and could not give proper level of care. I think what I'm trying to say is that I've been evaluated unfairly over an incident that not seems to have tainted my entire clinical experience with this instructor and when I ask for constructive criticism I don't seem to be getting any. Don't our instructors have to be held accountable for our evaluation and don't they have to provide answers when we ask them "how can I improve in your eyes". I've done all this but still haven't had anything concrete or solid to go by. So I'm let frustrated in trying to figure out what I need to do, cause he won't tell me.

joey1967 · Mar 18, 2004

Yes, they certainly are real live patients. And they have families too.
This statement concerns me.
What is it that he did that you considered dangerous that you caught and saved the paitent from?

I don't want to get into the specifics but it was something so basic to nursing that I believe that this "mistake" would probably label him as an incompetent person to be instructing. I think he worked a nightshift before he came on to teach for 10 hours, and I get the feeling he does this alot. Maybe he's lacking in sleep, I once caught him coming in to teach our 6:30 am shift and he had just walked off the ward where he had worked all night...

natsfanrn · Mar 18, 2004

Okay, you asked for advice, so here it goes...

IMHO, personality conflicts are a two-way street -- you can either continue to fuel them or you can extinguish them. I've had instructors with whom I could never be friends with "out on the street," but in the classroom or clinical setting, it's "yes ma'am, no ma'am" all the way. Even though your instructor is 10 years your junior (which really isn't a great age difference), he's still your instructor. Even though he's only been out of school five years himself, he still has five more years of nursing experience than you do and likely has still acquired some knowledge that he can pass on if you're willing to listen and accept it.

No, your illness is not your fault, but that doesn't make you any less of a danger to your patients. At our school, and at most, you are not permitted at clinicals if you have a fever and/or infectious disease (other than a cold). And yes, that rule may mean that you can end up failing clinicals through no fault of your own, but that's one of the rules you sign on to when you enter nursing school. It's not that the school or the instructor just "doesn't care"; most schools have a mandatory minimum number of clinical hours a student must complete to pass, and this number of hours is mandated by the state. It makes no difference how many skills you mastered during those hours. At our school, you MAY be able to make up missed clinicals IF the instructor AND the hospital are able to offer you a make-up clinical, but their ability to do this is not guaranteed and is in fact unlikely (and the student will have to pay an hourly rate for the instruction as well).

To be totally honest, especially after reading the comment about not have "real, live patients," it sounds like you may need to step back a little bit, get rid of the excuses, have a taste of some humble pie and make an honest attempt at repairing your relationship with your instructor. You may be surprised to find that he DOES have something to offer; and if he doesn't, you always have that end-of-semester evaluation to unload on. Good luck.

orrnlori, RN · Mar 18, 2004

Okay, you asked for advice, so here it goes...
IMHO, personality conflicts are a two-way street -- you can either continue to fuel them or you can extinguish them. I've had instructors with whom I could never be friends with "out on the street," but in the classroom or clinical setting, it's "yes ma'am, no ma'am" all the way. Even though your instructor is 10 years your junior (which really isn't a great age difference), he's still your instructor. Even though he's only been out of school five years himself, he still has five more years of nursing experience than you do and likely has still acquired some knowledge that he can pass on if you're willing to listen and accept it.
No, your illness is not your fault, but that doesn't make you any less of a danger to your patients. At our school, and at most, you are not permitted at clinicals if you have a fever and/or infectious disease (other than a cold). And yes, that rule may mean that you can end up failing clinicals through no fault of your own, but that's one of the rules you sign on to when you enter nursing school. It's not that the school or the instructor just "doesn't care"; most schools have a mandatory minimum number of clinical hours a student must complete to pass, and this number of hours is mandated by the state. It makes no difference how many skills you mastered during those hours. At our school, you MAY be able to make up missed clinicals IF the instructor AND the hospital are able to offer you a make-up clinical, but their ability to do this is not guaranteed and is in fact unlikely (and the student will have to pay an hourly rate for the instruction as well).
To be totally honest, especially after reading the comment about not have "real, live patients," it sounds like you may need to step back a little bit, get rid of the excuses, have a taste of some humble pie and make an honest attempt at repairing your relationship with your instructor. You may be surprised to find that he DOES have something to offer; and if he doesn't, you always have that end-of-semester evaluation to unload on. Good luck.

I think this is excellent advice.

joey1967 · Mar 18, 2004

Okay, you asked for advice, so here it goes...
IMHO, personality conflicts are a two-way street -- you can either continue to fuel them or you can extinguish them. I've had instructors with whom I could never be friends with "out on the street," but in the classroom or clinical setting, it's "yes ma'am, no ma'am" all the way. Even though your instructor is 10 years your junior (which really isn't a great age difference), he's still your instructor. Even though he's only been out of school five years himself, he still has five more years of nursing experience than you do and likely has still acquired some knowledge that he can pass on if you're willing to listen and accept it.
No, your illness is not your fault, but that doesn't make you any less of a danger to your patients. At our school, and at most, you are not permitted at clinicals if you have a fever and/or infectious disease (other than a cold). And yes, that rule may mean that you can end up failing clinicals through no fault of your own, but that's one of the rules you sign on to when you enter nursing school. It's not that the school or the instructor just "doesn't care"; most schools have a mandatory minimum number of clinical hours a student must complete to pass, and this number of hours is mandated by the state. It makes no difference how many skills you mastered during those hours. At our school, you MAY be able to make up missed clinicals IF the instructor AND the hospital are able to offer you a make-up clinical, but their ability to do this is not guaranteed and is in fact unlikely (and the student will have to pay an hourly rate for the instruction as well).
To be totally honest, especially after reading the comment about not have "real, live patients," it sounds like you may need to step back a little bit, get rid of the excuses, have a taste of some humble pie and make an honest attempt at repairing your relationship with your instructor. You may be surprised to find that he DOES have something to offer; and if he doesn't, you always have that end-of-semester evaluation to unload on. Good luck.

I replied to some of your comments in a couple of other posts so I won't rehash them here. I totally agree with you, I am trying to repair the damage, however, when I ask him what I can do to improve, change, etc., I don't get feedback, which leads me to feel that it is personal. Having dealt with many types of personalities in my last career, I have been open to change but he won't commit to telling me what I can improve on. Furthermore, I have not only taken his personal criticism (ie and yes he has critcized me personally, as a human being) but have swallowed it. Which leads me to think that this is all personal. I think someone's ego has stepped in the way, and I've checked mine because I don't want to fail, so that leaves only one person. I felt that he did respond better in front of the director, so that leaves me with hope. I mean how can I go from getting great grades and great clinical reviews in past performances, and then start crashing all of a sudden? Not sure what to do, I guess my hands are tied. I can only do my best, and if it isn't good enough, then I guess I'll have to stay behind a year.

Carolanne · Mar 18, 2004

I basically agree with the wisdom that has already been posted here. We all run into personality clashes from time to time, it's inevitable. We've all had instructors we love and others we can't wait for the semester to be over. It could be worse, you could be stuck working with this person permanently, but this is only one course, so try to just focus on the main purpose of being there and get the job done. Forget the personality struggle you're having with this person. Perhaps you are making him uneasy, after all he is young and inexperienced himself. He obviously has goals too, this is not a permanent situation for him either. So try to look at it from a "learning experience" perspective, concentrate on the patients and their care and comfort and you'll get through it. If you come to clinical defensively and looking for ways to criticize his method of teaching, it will be more uncomfortable for you than it needs to be. Try to step back a little and be objective. Good luck with everything.