"Graduating & Not Ready"

Nurses Safety

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Please tell me if I'm crazy, but my class will be graduating in two weeks and I am frustrated with a couple of people who are just not ready. They bug me all day at clinicals for help and are truely not ready for Safe patient care. One actually asked me today (while reading her drug book) "what benzodiazapine is". I mean really? We graduate in 14 days and you don't know? I follow her around all day trying to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone. Today I heard her telling her patiet to stop moving because her IV was going to come out. I go into the room and find the patient wraped in the IV tubing. I'm helping her get the pt untangled when "lil miss" "I'm not ready to graduate either" walks into the room (Great, now I stuck in there with two incompetent students) The phone begins to ring just as she walked through the door, she looks at me like I'm crazy and say's "aren't you going to answer the phone". I returned the look and nicely said NO. When all fails and you have no idea of what to say or do when you enter a patients room, always always fall back on the nursing process. ASSESS the situation, priority #1, get the poor little patient untangled from the IV tubing before you answer the phone. I MEAN REALLY?

Sorry for rambling I just can't believe these are the people I'm about to graduate with.

Specializes in -.

OP,

I would just worry about your own license, your skills etc. Let the instructors decide who is ready or not, it is their job. I am sure you already have enough to worry about. At the end of the day, if they aren't up to scratch, it isn't going to affect your license.

If you are working with them in clinicals and they do something majorly wrong, then I would tell the instructor and let the instructor take it from there and worry about it.

I agree. In order to be a nurse you don't need to know every medication out there, you just need to know where to look it up.

i think a few are stomping on this students VENT thread......the only suggestion i have for the OP is to absent yourself from the equation and let the, hmm, unprepared, fail....the sooner the better.

Specializes in -.
I had one fellow student that always needed help, never seemed to get organized, and, quite frankly, didn't seem very bright. Back in the old days, our exam was multi-part, and if you failed one part, you could take just that part.

She failed 2 parts out of five, and had to repeat them. She eventually passed, after needing to repeat an entire rotation.

Fast forward about 6 years. I was a new orientee to a specialty area, and she had come in for an interview. After she left, I went to the head nurse, and told her I didn't think she make it in our unit.....

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but...

Did it ever cross your mind that this person could have changed in 6 years and was now a good nurse ?

I failed a module at school, and have to repeat. I also had to repeat a rotation because at the time my mother was diagnosed with cancer and having major surgeries. I am passing all other modules with High Distinctions. I dont brag to my fellow students, and because of this I have been called a "dumb***" by others because I dont tell people my scores and because of this one failed module. People automatically think I must be doing poorly cause I don't brag like the rest.

I'm NOT saying this is the case with you and this other nurse..I guess I am just saying just because people might seem unorganised, or failed a module, it doesn't mean they will forever a "bad nurse".

Just my 2c. Please don't take this as a personal attack. I guess I'm just trying to convince myself that just because I failed a subject Im not an idiot. In 10 years time I dont want my fellow students telling prospective employers I am a bad nurse because of this.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

That's right! You learn something new everyday. Having common sense is a must in the nursing world, but also keeping an open mind and heart is key.

Those students you criticize may know something you don't....

Specializes in ED, Informatics, Clinical Analyst.
OP,

I would just worry about your own license, your skills etc. Let the instructors decide who is ready or not, it is their job. I am sure you already have enough to worry about. At the end of the day, if they aren't up to scratch, it isn't going to affect your license.

If you are working with them in clinicals and they do something majorly wrong, then I would tell the instructor and let the instructor take it from there and worry about it.

My thoughts exactly.

Fast forward about 6 years. I was a new orientee to a specialty area, and she had come in for an interview. After she left, I went to the head nurse, and told her I didn't think she make it in our unit. She was hired anyway.

Really? SIX years later you felt qualified to critiqe the skills of someone you went to school with? Maybe she didn't make it through the first week of orientation because she didn't care to deal with gossip.

Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Don't let some remarks bother you. This is my take. You are smart, and I mean you catch on quick.

They are not. I wouldn't be worried about them only because they will be assessed by NCLEX as well as their preceptors (if they already have a job)...

As for you being new, you will be learning a lot more. Just be open to it. I am not surprised that you get frustrated easily because as a new grad, I was in the same position.

Don't let naysayers tell you that you "can't do that.." I was a supreme overachiever and took Open Hearts (super sick ones) after working 6 months in the ICU. They told me I couldn't do it..they were wrong...

Just go with it and smile...

Specializes in Pediatric Oncology/BMT.

The other day at my clinical site, a seasoned RN told me "nursing school is like getting a learner's permit. You really only get a taste of what to expect. Once you go out and get a job, that's where the real learning happens."

In short, I don't think anyone is really ready to be a nurse when they graduate. Some more than others, true, but that learning curve is steep and those who can't cut it will be cut out eventually.

Good luck with your nursing career!

I would rather my nurse manager hire a new grad who at least has the sense to tell a patient to stop moving before an IV is ripped out, whatever other faults or deficiencies she may have--that's something, at any rate!--than a new grad who wastes her time at clinical with "I follow her around all day trying to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone" rather than tending to her own duties and her own learning.

Hands-on nursing skills can be taught--and learned. Some things can't.

And if I started to count the number of times I'd accidentally gotten a patient tangled up in an IV line--not to mention the times I've come across a patient who tangled himself up--we'd be here all day.

Specializes in Ward Nurse and everything in between.

I defintely agree with everyone. When I was a student, I never thought it would be this hard. You are the one to blame if something happened to your patient, as long as they are under your shift. A lot of things were not learned at school, especially when dealing with doctors, patients who are cranky(and relatives, too) and pesky co-workers. You have to be one to know how it feels like to be one.

Specializes in MED/SURG.

I think it is my worst fear to be judged by others.I think people are aware when they are not being supported and when those around them are whispering and watching them like a hawk. As a fairly new grad and being a nurse for 11 months I am grateful for those around me who supported me and never judged me for asking a question even if it was a stupid one.

I used to think I was SO stupid because I had a poor math background and failed some math classes(old skeleton in the closet).It was because I wanted to be a nurse so bad that I learned it.I even had some rocky moments with my preceptor re: math because I was so nervouse I couldn't think.My preceptor learned to leave me alone to figure out calculations because she saw I was nervous with her standing over me.She would verify my work and off I went happily and safely.I have so much respect for this nurse.Now I am confident with my calculations and never hesitate to have someone check my work.

I look back on this and think how easy would it of been for my preceptor to judge and doubt me and how adverse that could of been to my psyche, confidence,and learning.

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