Why are nursing instructors so intimidating?

[beeenieweeenie, RN]

Why do nursing instructors feel the need to be so intimidating and humiliating? I am really struggling with this in my nursing class. Is there a good reason for this that I am just not getting yet?

I was in a BSN program prior to LPN school, and those instructors were the same way. So I hoped that maybe it was just RN instructors that were that way, and maybe LPN instructors would be different. WRONG!

My instructors have pushed students to the point of tears, yell at students right in front of the nurses station, not to mention in front of classmates. Seriously these women will question you until they find something that you don't know the answer to and pounce on you like a freakin pit bull and make you feel like a total idiot for not knowing what your patient's RBC count was ten years ago.

I mean really, we are STUDENTS! Why does it have to be this way? I just don't get it.

This attitude from my instructors has really ruined my clinical experience, and makes me dread every single clinical day.

I have serious doubts about returning to school to get my RN, and am seriously thinking about going into another field entirely. I just can't deal with such a negative learning environment.

[Anne36, LPN]

Reflecting back on my clinical experience I was fortunate. Most of my instructors were wonderful. I had a couple that were intimidating, but overall they were focused on teaching and wanted us to get the most out of our learning experience. Some of my friends had instructors that would eat you for breakfast, and Im not sure I would be sitting here if I had gotten one of those.

[Pharmboy518]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. First of all... It's their job to hype up the program and "weed out the weak" or whatever. They're just getting you ready - psychologically for what's to come. Have you ever noticed that any nurse you talk to tells you that their program was the worst, most brutal, program.. no matter where it was? Yes, they are responsible for lives, but unfortunately... any and i mean ANY time there is a situation or profession that involves human beings, mistakes can be made. This is because noone is perfect, no matter how hard we try or how prepared we might be. We can get pretty damn close to perfection, but we won't ever BE perfection... not in this lifetime anyway. That being said... In my estimation, YES nurses DO have a very vital and important role in regards to how the quality of someone elses life depends on how well they do their jobs., and there is probably good reason for their no-nonsense, borderline mean attitudes. But remember this - Nursing and this type of work comes and flows from an undercurrent of genuine caring and a real yearning to give quality of life. I know this sounds cheesy but if you always keep that in mind, and approach every potential hardship and obstacle with that attitude, of "i'm going to go into this always concsious of that understanding, that i am an honest person, who wants to do my best to give good quality of life" then i've always found everything works out just fine.

good luck.

[nekozuki, LPN]

During the interview process for my LPN program, a question was posed to each prospective student that we were not expecting. It was, "who is responsible for your education, instructor or student? Rate it by percentage." Many of us said 50/50, a few said students 80%, instructor 20%. The correct answer, we were told afterward, was student 100%, instructor 0%.

Sound shocking? Yep. Sorry kids, the fun is over. You can't enter nursing school with that kind of entitled attitude. Sometimes the instructors are mean. Sometimes they are rude. Sometimes they can make you feel embarrassed and stupid.

The nastier, the meaner and the more dreadful an instructor is, the better nurse you will be. It's one of the greatest life lessons you will learn: That people can suck, and you still have to learn to do your job and survive day to day. Looking for pity, puffing up your indignant chest and seeking sympathetic pats on the back doesn't make you a better student, nurse or person. Putting your head down, working through the awkwardness and learning to live with the pressure is invaluable.

Take it for what it is -- a barrier to be overcome. As a nurse, you will face plenty of desperate, frustrating situations. Consider it a crash course.