Why do some instructors...

Nursing Students General Students

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:( *strive* to make the students uncomfortable/embarrassed/stressed/miserable in clinicals??? In all fairness, *I* am not a "mark". There are a few in our group that our clinical instructor has confidence in (including me), and while the instructor is FAR from warm and fuzzy with us, she doesn't single us out, belittle us, etc, but there are several that she does, and it makes not only the rest of us uncomfortable, even the RNs on the floor are rolling their eyes and verbalizing their unhappiness with the way she treats us. I know she's not here to be our best friend, but as one nurse put it today, "she's just *rude*". Thing is, she definitely "turns it on" once we hit the floor. She's never a cuddly teddy bear, but she's got a great sense of humor and can be friendly. But when we hit the floor, it's as if she wants to see if she can make anyone cry...or quit. WHY? I know not all instructors are like that, so what's the possible purpose????? I know it's almost over, and I'm soon to be on to the next semester. It's just that it's been hrs since clinicals ended today, and my pulse is *still* about 25-30 bpm higher than normal. I still feel on the verge of tears. And that's not from any way she's treated me, personally...it's just from watching how she treats a few and her demeanor in general. If I had to deal with this every semester, I couldn't take it!!!!!!

Please understand... not all instructors teach just for the joy of making nursing school Hell for the student. I teach because I enjoy the students and they make me a better nurse. If there is any eye rolling or snide comments they need to be addressed. That is not appropriate in any educational setting...period. I strongly encourage any student that truly feels he or she is being treated unjustly to communicate that to the instructor. Now, if you feel that way after you have been found to be totally unprepared for clinical and potentially dangerous to your assigned pt, then that is a whole different story.

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I can soooo relate. I have had a one really rude CI. The rotation I am in now the CI is also my lecture instructor. She is nice in class and will laugh, joke, and share stories with you, but in clinical it is like she is a different person. I can't stand it. She will snap at you but then in post clinical she acts like she is your best friend. I don't know if I can take it much more. thank god I only have 5 more weeks with her.

funny, i wonder if we go to the same school in california and have the same instructor. i too am in my second semester and i have a CI that fits the bill. i wonder...

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Please understand... not all instructors teach just for the joy of making nursing school Hell for the student. I teach because I enjoy the students and they make me a better nurse. If there is any eye rolling or snide comments they need to be addressed. That is not appropriate in any educational setting...period. I strongly encourage any student that truly feels he or she is being treated unjustly to communicate that to the instructor. Now, if you feel that way after you have been found to be totally unprepared for clinical and potentially dangerous to your assigned pt, then that is a whole different story.

Absolutely. Some of my CIs have been great. One has taken special pains with me because she knows I can get nervous/shake during procedures. I'm certain things would have been far worse without her support ane encouragement.

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Hello lkh614,

I am beginning to sense that you need some further assistance in defending the nurse educators in clinical settings. I can say that I am the Clinical Instructor that students dread, claim that they are intimidated, and know that if they make it through my clinical, they can make it through the remainder of the program. At the same time, I am the faculty member that most students claim to be their best instructor and thank me at the end of the course and/or program. One of the biggest dilemmas that academia and especially, nursing practice personnel face today is that students are not prepared to enter the workforce. It is the faculty and Dean/Director who set the standard. I refuse to lower my standards and I also want the students to not only be safe, but to become effective critical thinkers, not merely robots performing psychomotor skills. I will never believe that the so-called easy instructors perform better as nurse educators. These are the same individuals that students like while in clinical and despise when they get out and realize they are clueless and cannot perform.

It is my belief that this issue is one reason for the significant difference in the performance of new graduate nurses today. I know there is a difference in the competencies of our new graduates and I would hope there will be a day when nurse administrators and middle level nurse managers begin to demand more from the educator and academic setting.

The hospital employees and nursing administration prefer my students. The reasons for this are multiple. They do act and dress professionally, behave as civilized individuals who are in the student role, keep busy, try to learn all they can from the staff and assist them with their workload at the same time, and provide the utmost quality care of their assigned clients. I am proud of them and there is absolutely no way that I will get any easier on them until the day of their graduation. In the end, they just may become the nurse educator whom I emulated and despised as well.

Barbara

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Specializes in Trauma.
Hello lkh614,

I am beginning to sense that you need some further assistance in defending the nurse educators in clinical settings. I can say that I am the Clinical Instructor that students dread, claim that they are intimidated, and know that if they make it through my clinical, they can make it through the remainder of the program. At the same time, I am the faculty member that most students claim to be their best instructor and thank me at the end of the course and/or program. One of the biggest dilemmas that academia and especially, nursing practice personnel face today is that students are not prepared to enter the workforce. It is the faculty and Dean/Director who set the standard. I refuse to lower my standards and I also want the students to not only be safe, but to become effective critical thinkers, not merely robots performing psychomotor skills. I will never believe that the so-called easy instructors perform better as nurse educators. These are the same individuals that students like while in clinical and despise when they get out and realize they are clueless and cannot perform.

It is my belief that this issue is one reason for the significant difference in the performance of new graduate nurses today. I know there is a difference in the competencies of our new graduates and I would hope there will be a day when nurse administrators and middle level nurse managers begin to demand more from the educator and academic setting.

The hospital employees and nursing administration prefer my students. The reasons for this are multiple. They do act and dress professionally, behave as civilized individuals who are in the student role, keep busy, try to learn all they can from the staff and assist them with their workload at the same time, and provide the utmost quality care of their assigned clients. I am proud of them and there is absolutely no way that I will get any easier on them until the day of their graduation. In the end, they just may become the nurse educator whom I emulated and despised as well.

Barbara

I totally understand your point of view. Coming from clinicals that I have had the most basic of instructors, I come out clueless more than half the time. My current community clinical instructor I was having difficulty at the start of the semester. Just today she gave me my review and it was outstanding. A COMPLETE turn around from when the clinical started. It made me VERY HAPPY:) Also, my med surg clinical instructor is tough and does so much hands on with us in comparison to writing care plans, etc. We started not being so great at critical thinking and are blossoming into pretty good critical thinkers. Atleast I hope we are:) She is tough with the hands on, she wants us to know how to do things, to understand why things are happening and what we can do as nurses to first understand and then intervene. Me personally, I feel like I would be lost without her teachings. Regardless of her toughness, she is by far the BEST clinical professor I have had and I HIGHLY recommend her to students at my school. But, I do know many students who have strayed away from her because she demands things and expects a lot from her students.

Another thing...I'm always talking to my fellow students about how we all are not feeling prepared for the "real world". We all know that real world is far different from textboook smarts. I mean, just because you can memorize something, doesn't mean you will be able to do it when the time comes. This has happened to me numerous times and honestly, it's a little scary. Anyhow, I HOPE to gain the necessary critical thinking skills before I graduate in May and move into the real world. It's a frightening thought to think I might overlook something and that patient may die.

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I do have an instructor who is horrible to many of my peers. These people are smart,prudent,and capable of becoming great nurses. I understand toughness very well. I do not understand being flat out mean,rude, and obnoxious. Instructors should encourage and not discourage. I am determined to make them out of liars. Nursing school is hard enough without all that they do.

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Specializes in MED/SURG-PCU.

I think some of it is a power trip, but after having similiar experiences, TRUST ME -- I think we all have, i believe it is to make us strong competent nurse-- At least that's what I tell myself. Remember a HUGE majority of nurses are very particuliar and a lot OCD.

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Student Nurse Bean,

It is always refreshing to read a response such as yours while in the student role. I can assure you that regardless of your program and faculty, you won't feel prepared when you graduate. It took me about one year after graduation to begin to feel more comfortable and three years to be confident. I can say that this is normal behavior and one should not expect more out of oneself as a new graduate nurse. Check out the rose-colored glasses out there in nursing theory and specifically, study Benner's model from novice to expert. It is a socialization process and it is expected. One of the major difficulties for the new graduate is handling an entire caseload on a unit where the majority of the caseload are patients with multisystem failure and belong in ICU...they would be there too if they were admitted ten years ago. Nursing has evolved in many negative ways, but it also has progressed in many positive ways as well. I graduated in 1982 and was a BSN graduate with three years of CNA experience in LTC. It assisted me with my comfort level in communication techniques, but I can tell you one story that will make you laugh. My mentor was a Diploma RN graduate from Burge School of Nursing out of Springfield, MO and today, she remains the best floor nurse that I have ever met. I was blessed to have her by my side. She was so calm and patient. I recall the day I had to restart my first patient's IV as a real new graduate nurse. I stood outside of the room forever, so nervous that I felt I would either cry or vomit. Carol, my mentor, kept coming down the hall and stopping and saying, "let me know when you are ready to go in". Finally, she came by one more time and said, now, Barb, if we don't go in there, the patient will not get the fluids and potassium she needs, we have to go in now. So, I did and so, I failed. She tried the second attempt and of course, was successful. I still can see that patient in my mind, which it is now 24 years later. She felt empathy for me and if she could have stuck herself and got it in for me, she would have....

We, as older and more experienced nurses, have many stories and it is through sharing these stories with the younger nurses, that we both grow. Realize that you will encounter many nurses who won't help you and they wouldn't help you if you were a new grad or been there for many years. But, that's ok, you don't need them. I will pray that your mentor is another Carol and that somehow, we as nurses can affect change in regard to insurance companies controlling our profession and the medical profession. Trust me, what you will encounter, will be far more difficult than what I faced in 1982, but YOU CAN DO IT, because YOU have the PASSION for it.

Barb

:idea:

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I'm most concerned here with the post referring to the "snarky" comments made by the other RN's to the student about the instructor!If this is the attitude of a student, he/she probably deserves to be ridden hard by the instructor!

And,so much for the professionalism ( or lack thereof) of the RN's who are making comments about the instructor.

The professional approach to a difficult working relationship is to go to the person you are having a problem with and talk it out! Not talk about that person to other people.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Everyone,

I feel obligated to offer up an apology for the horrible experiences you're having with your CIs. >>>>>>>

However, next time it happens, just keep one thought in mind. Very shortly after graduation, you will be making more $ than she/he does! Maybe that's why they're so snarky in the first place. Salaries for nursing faculty are miserable - much less than you can even imagine.

Even if the teensy-weensy salary issue was fixed, I know I could never be a CI - it would scare me to pieces! Like teaching Driver's Ed - but with 6 or 8 students 'driving' at the same time -- and if anything happened, it would impact my own license. No siree - my nerves couldn't take it. :no:

I'm just amazed that the faculty shortage isn't worse than it is. And if it gets worse, there will be fewer nursing school slots available. It just makes my head ache.

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

I've had many CI's like this. I often wonder why they seem to single out 1 or 2 and almost bring them to tears. Sometimes they don't make it and sometimes they do so I'm not sure if the CI sees something that tells them they won't make it or if its a personality clash. My last instructor had the reputation among students as Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde. She would turn on you in an instant in the pt room (especially if the pt was out of it). I learned to be prepared because I know she was running up and down the halls and had 8 students to keep track of. The trouble with that is she had very little time to guide us in newer skills (and we couldn't do them without her, a nurse was not ok). I made sure to have my supplies ready and knew what I needed to do. I just always felt rushed and nervous. The one student she 'turned on' flunked out of that rotation and semester. The student who had to redo every single care plan, many times more than 1x, (this was 3rd semester) passed easily. I just don't get it sometimes. but I hope there is a reason. I also find myself trying to fly low on the radar and get through it. That doesn't sit right with me either. The one thing I think of is that if I'm ever an instructor, I know how I want to be and how I don't want to be.

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