I'm in my last semester of nursing school and have met so many amazing nurses in my clinical experiences. These nurses were patient and willing to take a minute in their busy day to teach or allow me observe.
Of course I have also met nurses who wanted nothing to do with us students. I've had nurses roll their eyes at me when being assigned a student, nurses introduce themselves by telling me "stay outta my way", nurses that don't want me to do anything with their patients, nurses that say "your assessments don't count, you're just a student", I've had nurses say "I don't get paid to teach", nurses that have been mean and rude. Why??? Haven't these nurses been new? Students Eager to learn?
So last week on Medsurge unit in our "teaching hospital" I knew I was in for a long day when I saw my assignment. I worked with this nurse once and had heard nothing but horror stories from other students. I started by introducing myself [received an eye roll], and let her know my assignment included med administration, labs (blood draw from central line), general nursing care, and of course shift assessments. Her response a sarcastic "great". I prepared my meds and discussed them with my instructor. As we headed into the room to administer the nurse was already there giving meds. "You took too long" she said. I apologized and explained I needed to do them with my instructor. She also did the blood draw. My day went on like this.
Frustrated I caught her at the nurses station and asked if we could talk. I asked her "what made you want to be a nurse? Do you remember being a student?" She didn't answer. Then I said " I feel like I am an inconvenience, I want nothing more to be a great nurse and in order to do so I need to learn from someone with the same passion". I then walked away. 30 minutes later she came up to me and said that she thinks we have it easy. Computers and nclex prep courses we are just taught to pass an exam. Although I don't fully disagree I did explain that the nursing field is growing and medical advances, increasing comorbitities, and advancing technology does not make it any easier to learn. She then said "I wanted to be a nurse to take care of people, to be respected, and to make a change... I almost forgot". Aside from my end of shift report we didn't talk again.
Since this day my fellow students have said she's a great nurse, willing to teach and patient.
Moral of my king story -- stick up for yourself and never forget why you want to be a nurse.
