Please help me file a grievance letter

Nursing Students Student Assist

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Hi guys,

This is long. I just need to rant. I'm in my last year in a BSN program here in Canada and my clinical placement right now is at a cardiovascular floor. I am having problems with my instructor who nitpicks for example: she notices if my pt have a half full garbage by the bedside or if during a dressing change I forget a mepore and had to ask her to go outside and get it for me, or if the pt washroom is not tidy or as neat as she would have liked it to be, I did not wash the back of an independent pt stuff like this I can go on and on... yesterday after a pt has peed in the bedpan, I wiped her with some napkins and instructor exploded because I did not use the spray and made me move my face closer to the peri area so I can smell the 'stink' (I had a cold by the way and I did wash her peri area that morning)...Anyway this has made me extremely nervous and everytime she's there I just manage to screw up...The thing is she watches my every move such as hanging IVs, well now she said she'll watch all my bedbaths and pericare, dressing changes and of course this is quite draining as I am with her at least 3 hours ever clinical day (and she just volleys back all the negative feedback on and on which sinks me even more) and yes she has seven other students to watch so this majorly screws up my time and now it seems as if I have no time management at all..Not only that but the comments she's made about me are so discouraging...I can go on and on but please evaluate my grievance letter. I am ready to quit clinical even though I got weak satisfactory/satisfactory at midterm because she said that if I don't perform good she will fail me (if she's going to watch me consistently and she said she needs to, it's just not gonna work at all because of my anxiety around her and I know that Im not gonna make her happy at all. She wants me to be a 10/10 on everything and not have a single little mistake.). So somebody can give me some suggestions on how to edit/write an opening paragraph to my letter to the nursing counsellor please help...

*On one occasion after a dressing change instructor has remarked "that of all the students in the ward, you seem to have the worst technique". It was personally devastating to be compared to my other classmates in the ward.

*On February 27, after clinical - I was telling instructor about my experiences in Term V and mentioned that we picked our own patients, said instructor immediately replied that "you probably picked all the easy patients, hung out by the nurses' station, did the least amount of work you can get away with..."I personally worked very hard in Term IV and Term V. Her assumptions about me were wrong and very discouraging.

*On February 27, after clinical - instructor remarked that "I've had two CPE classes before and that's 16 students - of all the students you are the one that is struggling the most...I've never seen a student struggle this much before". This was a crushing blow because I needed encouragement and need not be compared to previous term students.

*On another occasion after an IV change instructor has remarked "I know you are quiet so your previous instructors probably thought oh she's just quiet and thought she must know her stuff...but actually you didn't" Her assumptions about me are not helpful.

*On February 27, during IV change when I mentioned that I did not learn backflushing in lab, said instructor came back and said "I asked student B and she said you were taught backflushing in the lab, come here..." Thus student B was there with her to teach me how to properly backflush IV. Said student and instructor (with the help of a board and felt pen) taught me how to backflush IV. I believe CI needed to teach me the skill herself and need not bring in another student with her to prove to me that yes, it was actually taught in the lab. This was a very humiliating experience.

*On February 27, my pt peed in the bedpan and I went in to wipe her with some tissues. Said instructor was there and instructed that I should have used the spray to which I complied. After wiping patient with wet cloths and spray. Instructor inspected my work and told me to put my face "closer" to the peri area. I complied but the distance was not enough so said to again put my face "closer" to the peri area. I complied yet again. She then demanded what I noticed. At this point I was terrified, nearly in tears and highly humiliated. She wanted to point to me the smell coming from the area and thus that my cleaning was not satisfactory. My patient was awake and watching us. This was a very demeaning experience for both me and the patient.

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This instructor is somewhere over the line. Using another student to humiliate you is not appropriate and what she did to the patient with the peri incident goes beyond just bullying you. The patient had some rights to proper treatment here. This was a direct affront to the patient. I would certainly make an appointment to see your dean at the school with a very thorough write up of what your complaints are. Unfortunately it is probably too late to ask to change clinical groups. If it weren't for the peri incident, I would probably advise you to suck it up, as administration always backs the instructors, but in this case, a patient's psychological well being was compromised by the instructor. She has a few screws loose and is in need of some serious psychological help, away from the school environment. Good luck. I hope you are able to ride out this glitch in your schooling.

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

that instructor sounds like a crazy woman... she is going to far over the line.. she asked you to stick your face in someone's peri area??? ooh good heavens... disgusting... i'd write it all up to, what a fruit cake... tell me how things turn out...

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that instructor sounds like a crazy woman... she is going to far over the line.. she asked you to stick your face in someone's peri area??? ooh good heavens... disgusting... i'd write it all up to, what a fruit cake... tell me how things turn out...

there was still some distance between the periarea and my face I would say 8 inches...but the fact that she was bullying me by the bedside I did not like that at all...

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

However many inches your face was from the patient's peri area, that was still totally inappropriate. I think most of the clinical instructors I had (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) would have probably have failed her in clinical, for saying something about the patient having an odor, right there in front of the patient. I was taught that you never do or say anything that might embarrass or humiliate the patient, no matter what.

The issue, if there was one, could have been handled much differently. Any discussion of any odor should have taken place privately later, out of the patient's hearing.

I would put this incident first on my list.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

Good clinical instructors do not reprimand or belittle students in front of the patient. Period. :madface:

Sorry you had to go through that, but put yourself in the poor patient's place for a second -- you have two nurses discussing how badly you smell down there and one making the other smell you?!!

I'd have kicked you both out of the room and complained to the administrator about the scene, which was fully instigated by the CI. :angryfire

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Just an update! After my instructor's week of deliberation with so called 'nursing commitee', I passed! I believe in my heart that this particular instructor wanted me to fail. I did not give her the reason she was seeking. I worked hard (went to the nursing lab bi weekly and documented it well to show my perseverance), I did everything by the book and was on my toes all the time during clinical (well I had to anyway as she was watching me like a hawk - after putting me on a learning contract, I knew she was eagerly anticipating me to do a med error or miss an order or something like that ! haha to her) so basically I jumped hoops to please this horrible woman. I am so flat out broke right now as I couldn't work as I needed all my free time just to study but who cares I passed! At the end she had no evidence to present that I would be an unsafe, stupid and incompetent nurse. I did not have an incident report, were never late, had excellent paperwork. She had nothing on me. Amidst the ego crushing, shaming, bullying tactics and even embarrassing me in front of students and making me feel like the biggest incompetent ever; that there were times when I just wanted to give up and not show up and endure what I knew would be a heartbreaking day, I forced myself to get up from my bed and face her. My three months of pure hell is now over! And the reward is ever so sweet which is to continue on! I still cannot believe that a month ago this shrew confronted me and told me it would be better for me to withdraw from clinical and just redo it next year. I'm not wasting a year!! I'm so glad I did not take her advice. If there's something I learned from all this is that never give up in spite of adversities.

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Congratulations!

Your perseverance and professionalism have paid off. :yeah:

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Wow, kudos to you. I am so happy to hear that you made it through, it just show what a strong character you have. The best revenge is your success. Did you ever file your grievance? I'd hate to see her bully any more students.

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Specializes in ICU.
Just an update! After my instructor's week of deliberation with so called 'nursing commitee', I passed! I believe in my heart that this particular instructor wanted me to fail. I did not give her the reason she was seeking. I worked hard (went to the nursing lab bi weekly and documented it well to show my perseverance), I did everything by the book and was on my toes all the time during clinical

The sweetest revenge is to prove your critics wrong with your actions--congrats on passing and not letting this woman get the best of you. I think this woman still should be called on her own actions, for the sake of students who will have her in the future (and their pts!). Having passed, I think your grievance would have even more weight now--something to consider.

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Good for you!! Your perseverance is very inspirational. I have been lucky so far that my instructors have been conducive to learning. I couldn't imagine what I would do in your place though I can see a lot of passive aggressive behavior in my magic eightball...:up:

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