Paired with horrible nurse today

Nursing Students General Students

Published

I have to get this off my chest- it's been bugging me and YES I told my instructor all of the follwoing.

FIRST- I go in and do my assessment...I turn my client and find a stage 2 breakdown on her sacral area because she seems to have laid for a long time on the connection tubing to her NC. It was the same shape as the connection piece. Ugh. So I went and got muy nurse who barely peeped at it and slapped a BAND AID on it. I followed her outside the room and said " Shouldn't we clean it?". Would you like me to re-do it? She just shrugged and walked off.

THEN I had to give her Lisinopril but her BP was 90/44 and that was WAY below her baseline..so I went to the nurse about holding it b/c of her BP ( it was for HTN)and she says " It's due...give it". Had to go tthe instructor RIGHT AWAY about that one. In structor says heck no! Hold it!

Lastly...and this is after my instructor basically says to me to come to her about anything out of line.....I went to do my note and we do DARP notes....anywho the nurse had done her DARP note for the shift and she had wrote all this crap that I KNOW she didn't do....she stated SHE found the breakdown and that SHE measured it ( no she didnt) with fake measurements and then she wrote that SHE told the "nursing student" to hold the Lisinopril because the BP was too low.

I wanted to go ring her neck. Anywho....seems my classmate who also had the same nurse had the SAME problem today.

It really stinks to be paired with someone who is obviously not out for her clients.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Call Center RN.

I had a few bad nurses in clinicals. I took notes of all the things that they did that I didn't think was proper and used that as a List of things I don't want to do when I am a nurse on my own." Learn from her errors. I hope that your next nurse is a 180 switch. Good luck, and keep your chin up. You will get through this and maybe some day have nurses with you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in NICU/L&D, Hospice.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways. What a horrid example of a nurse!

Some people just don't know when to change careers. The McDonald's near my house hires only rude people, with no customer service skills. She'd make manager in no time!

I have never heard of something that dispicable. Except for the nurse that was killing his patients, but she isn't far off. She'll just do it out of neglect.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

It seems that nurses are either really good or really bad (at least the ones I have been with lately). I was with a nurse the other day who left a patient WRITHING in pain for over an hour while she sat and charter, the nurse manager kept telling her the patient was in pain but she just kept saying she wanted to charter first. I wanted to slap her. THe whole time I was with this nurse she went on and on about her husband AND her boyfriend, how certain patients she couldn't stand and they "could just wait". She was horrible. She left this young man writhing in pain in bed with a dislocated shoulder as well.... all this while she sat around talking to her boyfriend on the cell phone, eating chips, and just not prioritizing.

I've ran into a lot of very uncaring and unprofessional nurses lately it seems...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I hate that made-up stuff too. I once worked in clinicals in Crit Care and everytime I went to enter vital information on the hour, it was already charted. How could that be? The nurse was never in the patient's room with me! Anyhow, get used to it. You will see good and bad. Just swear you'll come out one of the good ones!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in GI and Telemetry.

What a horrible experience for the patient! I hope that your instructor has brought this to the attention of the DON at the facility.

I know what you're going through being paired with poor RNs. I had one yesterday; didn't see her for 1/2 the shift, since she was in a meeting, and then when we went to check on an incision, she took off the abd binder, glanced at the dressing (which was clean and dry) and stated "it's fine, let's put the binder back on".

Yeesh....

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

So sorry you all have had bad experiences! Oh man that really bites!

For me, I love taking students in with me to do things! I explain what is going on and why I do things the way I do them (if I do them differently then school taught). I think talking through things and communication is vital, yeah it takes longer to do things that way...but for some reason I make it fun and informative! :)

Like for the pressure sore..heck I have seen more of those working in LTC to last me a lifetime..I dont' need to measure them much, I have a measurement guage in my brain and can quickly measure by looking (a trick with me...my pinkie finger width is exactly 1 cm...LOL!). However, I will clean a wound before putting the CORRECT type of dressing on it and contacting our wound care department so they can oversee and specifically treat the wound and also plan for at home care of it. Decubes can take months to heal..and I want to make sure they are getting proper home care to facilitate that (that includes dietary, activity, special aides to keep them off the area, etc.).

A time when a student may think I am cutting corners is during initial assessment, but I go over my ways before going in so they understand. I will typically get to the pt first thing in the AM before they have gone to the bathroom...this is an EXCELLENT time to get things done! Watching their gait, watching their body language, and facial expressions is almost half the assessment! I talk with people and establish alert status and cranial nerves (facial expression), and speech. Many times I can see them move their arms, legs, feet, toes, fingers, etc...why make them do all this in bed again if you just saw them do it ;)...and it also lets me know what they are capable of doing. Then I do my listening (steth time), and monitor if they have a cough (when they get up for the first time of the day...that is when a cough will happen ;) ). And as far as the morning BM or urination...there I am to check it!

If they don't have to go, have a foley, or bed bound...I will converse with them and get the info by watching their body movements and facial expressions/speech. Then I will hit the specifics by asking them to move them and what not.

But a student may see me not ask a pt to smile or stick out their tongue or what not and think I am not doing it. But I have learned to tell someone what I am doing, and challenge them to be very observant and we will do a fun quiz afterwards...and yes, I will even ask questions about the room! Good thing to be observent! (try that sometimes...it can be fun actually!).

I will be getting students again really soon and I am so happy! This is going to be fun!

Good luck to all of you!!!!!!!!!! And remember...if at all possible use your best observation skills on the patient at all times, and make it fun too...you actually retain more information if things are more fun and memorable than not! My trick to passing infact...LOL!!!!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Like for the pressure sore..heck I have seen more of those working in LTC to last me a lifetime..I dont' need to measure them much, I have a measurement guage in my brain and can quickly measure by looking (a trick with me...my pinkie finger width is exactly 1 cm...LOL!). However, I will clean a wound before putting the CORRECT type of dressing on it and contacting our wound care department so they can oversee and specifically treat the wound and also plan for at home care of it. Decubes can take months to heal..and I want to make sure they are getting proper home care to facilitate that (that includes dietary, activity, special aides to keep them off the area, etc.).

A time when a student may think I am cutting corners is during initial assessment, but I go over my ways before going in so they understand. I will typically get to the pt first thing in the AM before they have gone to the bathroom...this is an EXCELLENT time to get things done! Watching their gait, watching their body language, and facial expressions is almost half the assessment! I talk with people and establish alert status and cranial nerves (facial expression), and speech. Many times I can see them move their arms, legs, feet, toes, fingers, etc...why make them do all this in bed again if you just saw them do it ;)...and it also lets me know what they are capable of doing. Then I do my listening (steth time), and monitor if they have a cough (when they get up for the first time of the day...that is when a cough will happen ;) ). And as far as the morning BM or urination...there I am to check it!

If they don't have to go, have a foley, or bed bound...I will converse with them and get the info by watching their body movements and facial expressions/speech. Then I will hit the specifics by asking them to move them and what not.

But a student may see me not ask a pt to smile or stick out their tongue or what not and think I am not doing it. But I have learned to tell someone what I am doing, and challenge them to be very observant and we will do a fun quiz afterwards...and yes, I will even ask questions about the room! Good thing to be observent! (try that sometimes...it can be fun actually!).

Excellent tips!!! I would love to have you as a clinicl instructor!:nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in GI and Telemetry.

Thank you for that wonderful post! I forwarded it onto my friend who was paired up with a terrible nurse yesterday; those tips for assessments were also so valuable. These are the things that I worry about the most - what am I not catching? I came home from clinical yesterday feeling like a complete moron, and I've got 14 weeks of school left before graduation!

Thank you again for that awesome post!:kiss

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.

All I can say is "welcome to nursing school" My classmates and I had our fair share of bad nurses during our time in nursing school. We actually ended up turning in one of the facilities that we had gone to because it was so bad. We saw a nurse drop a heart med on the floor and instead of throwing it out and getting a new one, she kicked it under the bed and charted that she gave it! We also saw a nurse wipe poop into a patients bedsore. Needless to say that patient ended up getting an infection and they died about a week or so after that. In that same facility I got yelled at by a nurse for wanting to assess my patient! It was very bad.

You did the right thing though by going to your clinical instructor about the problems you were having. In the future if you assigned to this nurse again ask your instructor to assign you to a different nurse.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My goodness...I sure hope that this provides justification for the tough nursing clinical instructors that students sometimes have- that's its to counter the bad nurses that so many students will eventually witness at least a handful of times. May none of us ever get so callous as to care so little about our own integrity and the quality of our care! (Just think: that's what you SAW...what DIDN'T you see??)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

BoonersMom. . .reading your post brings back so much deja vu. I can't tell you how many times similar things to this have gone on in my own professional career. I do something to help out another RN who gives me a cold shoulder only to find out a few days later when I read her nurses notes that she charts things that she did and had been scoffing at with me when I suggested them!

What you need is a real or mental punching bag. I don't usually reveal this, but I did a lot of psychic development classes some years ago and attended all kinds of fun psychic meetings, fairs, classes, etc. One of the things we did in one class was a directed meditation where we were to imagine a boxing ring and put a person in that ring who had wronged us in some way and then just beat the crap out of them. When we came out of the meditation we all took turns going around the group and talking about as much of the experience as we felt comfortable revealing. Some people in the group were actually bawling during the meditation. I actually think this might be a clinical psychological technique as well as a psychic activity. In any case, it's safe because the other person doesn't know they're getting beat up, no one's getting physically hurt, and it sure satisfies the ego! You might want to try your first one with this particular nurse.

On the real side of things (!) you did all the right things, you good nurse you! :yelclap: I wish I could tell you that this nurse was just a fluke, but, unfortunately, there are others like her out there. What you do is resolve to do things the way you were taught--the right way. You can only be responsible for your own actions. You also reinforce that when ever you are teaching someone when you become a role model for them.

I'm still awestruck! Patient's butt was lying on her oxygen tubing! Poor thing. You know, of course, you actually taught that nurse something, don't you? If you hadn't been there, she might have made a very serious error in giving that patient her blood pressure medication. She might not have known it, but she would have been responsible for an even bigger problem with her skin situation. The fact that she even bothered to chart these things tells me that she recognized the importance of those two things. I just wanted to point that out to you in case you hadn't realized that yourself. Of course, you're never going to hear her say "thanks for saving my butt", so I'll mention it for her. Thanks for saving her butt. I know, however, that you did it for the patient and not for the nurse, which is as it should be. :loveya:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment