I need some honest opinions from people outside my circle, as all of my fellow students share my same opinion and all the faculty blow sunshine up my you know what, when I even hint that the situation isn't right. So here is the deal...
Me: Adult senior student in BSN program at local university
Preceived problem/issue: Clinical assignments
History:
Fall semester junior year - 10 wks clinical mostly focused on CNA duties w/some assessment
Spring semester junior year- 7 wks med/surg where I passed meds 3 times, then 7 wks mental health where I observed patients (not shadowing nurses) in different settings (eating disorders, adolescence, geriatrics, etc)
Fall semester 2011 -
14 wks med/surg at a nursing home, where I (a BSN student) shadow an LPN whose primary duties is to administer medications to 30-45 patients in their 8 hours shift.
*LPN's, please don't be offended or turn this thread into an arguement of LPN's vs BSN"s. I fully appreciate that I can learn a lot from an LPN and these people bust their A** all day, every day. My issue is that my university placed me in a clinical situation where I am shadowing a nurse who 98 % of the time is handing out PO meds to long term residents, who are primarily stable (because they take 17 meds 3 times a day...OMG).
Community clinical-public health nursing- 7 wks at a local health dept whose budget has been desimated, so we spend our time watching CD's, observing employees in the Lead Poisoning program, or shadowing health inspectors. One was lucky enough to do an at home visit w/an actual nurse meeting w/an at risk mother.
My feelings- I am ANGRY. My primary complaint is that I feel like I am paying a ton of money to learn how to do everyone elses job. My mental health clinical taught me the job of behavioral health specialist (the counselors), my current med/surg clinical is teaching me what it is like to be a full-time CNA (as when I am done assessing and medicating my patient I answer call lights all day, as there are never enough CNA's to help the residents and my community clinical, where I am learning the jobs of health inspector and other misc health dept personnel.
The final thing I will say is I appreciate that all of these people are part of the health care team and I need to have an understanding of what they do, but I have a finite amount of time to learn NURSING, and it feels like I am learning anything but. While I think every student nurse would do well to be exposed to a nursing home setting, I am spending the greatest chunk of my clinical experience there, while my classmates in other clinical groups are one on one w/ICU nurses, in IV clinics, and in hospitals with acute patients, experiencing hospital nursing.
Am I wrong? Should I believe my instructors who give me the party line of "it's a good opportunity to learn____" fill in the blank. I feel like the clinical portion of this nursing program is substandard and I keep getting sunshine in an attempt to deflect the fact that I am in fact right. Please tell me what you think, as I am about to lose it!
Specializes in General surgery ,Vascular, Orthopedic.
Ok I really think this post have officially gotten off topic. It shouldn't matter if the OP used OMG or whatever other slang that was use this is her post she can phrase it however she wants...the point of the post was to vent her frustration on her clinical rotation and she wanted input on how other people rotations was and if she had a right to worry. Now all of this talk about her getting a "big head" because she is a student RN BSN is simply people jumping to conclusions and assuming that she is looking "down" on people(in my opinion of course)this is a public forum what's wrong with complaining. When you respond to her post in disagreement are you not expressing some form of complaint. Instead of assuming maybe we should try and see it in her eyes and vice versa.My point is I do not agree with this form of bickering. Take it for what it is and move on...unless you are actually in the same situation she is in you shouldn't expect to fully understand her point but the least one can do is try
Ok I really think this post have officially gotten off topic. It shouldn't matter if the OP used OMG or whatever other slang that was use this is her post she can phrase it however she wants...the point of the post was to vent her frustration on her clinical rotation and she wanted input on how other people rotations was and if she had a right to worry. Now all of this talk about her getting a "big head" because she is a student RN BSN is simply people jumping to conclusions and assuming that she is looking "down" on people(in my opinion of course)this is a public forum what's wrong with complaining. When you respond to her post in disagreement are you not expressing some form of complaint. Instead of assuming maybe we should try and see it in her eyes and vice versa.My point is I do not agree with this form of bickering. Take it for what it is and move on...unless you are actually in the same situation she is in you shouldn't expect to fully understand her point but the least one can do is try
I agree. It's a tough situation. And frustrating. But soon, it will all be over, and we can say we survived.
no, the clinicals aren't for the student to supervise the lpn. they are not qualified to do that. it isn't in the student's scope of practice to observe the lpn to verify she is doing things correctly. the lpn should let the student pass the meds, and quiz the student on their action/se, etc, as the clinical instructor should be doing. like i said before, i, as an lpn and a bsn student, i don't know anymore now after completing my ms clinicals than i did when i started clinicals. doing vs, giving showers, making beds.....i already know how to do that. we already know how to do that. we are paying money to learn, not do cna work just to get our required clinical hours in. i can tell you right now, if my clinicals continue like this i won't learn anything! and neither will the op. i don't know about you, but i would like to learn to be a bsn and pass my boards on the first try. failure isn't an option. the school has a duty to teach and the students have a responsibility to learn. if you pay money for a good or service, do you not expect it to be what you paid for? because the school's accredidation is based on nclex pass rates. and if student's don't pass, guess who's out of business?
this. this is what we are trying to say. this.
we are unhappy with our clinical experiences. we have that right to be unhappy. we also have to right to complain about it. the end.
Ok I really think this post have officially gotten off topic. It shouldn't matter if the OP used OMG or whatever other slang that was use this is her post she can phrase it however she wants...the point of the post was to vent her frustration on her clinical rotation and she wanted input on how other people rotations was and if she had a right to worry. Now all of this talk about her getting a "big head" because she is a student RN BSN is simply people jumping to conclusions and assuming that she is looking "down" on people(in my opinion of course)this is a public forum what's wrong with complaining. When you respond to her post in disagreement are you not expressing some form of complaint. Instead of assuming maybe we should try and see it in her eyes and vice versa.My point is I do not agree with this form of bickering. Take it for what it is and move on...unless you are actually in the same situation she is in you shouldn't expect to fully understand her point but the least one can do is try
Because it is a public forum we all are free to express our opinion. ... . She asked for honest answer and that what i see ppl doing here , at least i did in my opinion . You don't agree with the way ppl are expressing themselves ,you call that bickering... i don't . She has the right to vent in her frustration but it is best that she or anyone doing so keep in mind that addressing people on a public forum can be done in a sensitive manner not to offend the readers .Talking about an LPN working 98% passing meds sound to me as if she considering that to be retard or being less of a nurse .That how i took it and was glad to read one of her update giving more respect and realizing that LPN do more than what she first thought , her language was much better this time .While you are asking everyone to try and see things in her view ,i like to add that she or anyone else on these forum need to be aware that not only their view count . But words & statement used can be offensive for some of the fellow nurses especially when it being addressed in a condescending manner .
because it is a public forum we all are free to express our opinion. ... . she asked for honest answer and that what i see ppl doing here at least i did in my opinion . you don't agree with the way ppl are expressing themselves ,you call that bickering... i don't . she has the right to vent in her frustration but it is best that she or anyone doing so keep in mind that addressing people on a public forum can be done in a sensitive manner not to offend the readers .talking about an lpn working 98% passing meds [b']sound to me as if she considering that to be retard[/b] or being less of a nurse .that how i took it and was glad to read one of her update giving more respect and realizing that lpn do more than what she first thought , her language was much better this time .while you are asking everyone to try and see things in her view ,i like to add that she or anyone else on these forum need to be aware that not only their view count . but words & statement used can be offensive for some of the fellow nurses especially when it being addressed in a condescending manner .
so now she's saying lpns are retards? sounds like someone is rather defensive without cause.
and by the way? we are expressing our opinions of our crappy clinicals on a public forum.
Honestly I don't think having a crappy clinical will really hurt you that much in the long run. Noone expects you to be a super nurse when you graduate but to be a safe entry level nurse.
If you have the thirst to learn then you will learn. It just may not be a clinicals
Our class was split into four different clinical sites (all LTC). We all had the same course outline with the same supposed learning outcomes. We all paid the exaxt same amount of money to attend clinical and all had to put in the same amount of hours.
However, the learning outcomes were so different! I was very fortunate with my clinical site as we were able to give the most meds, do injections and simple dressing changes, we were able to shadow the floor nurse as well as a wound care nurse. We were exposed to NG tubes and colotomies. This was a total hands on learning environment!!
The other sites mainly focused on personal care. One site wasn't allowed to give injections or perform simple dressing changes. The one site was mostly textbook learning!! Hellooooo... we had enough of that in all of our theory classes! Clinical is the time to apply the theory learned!
Anyway, there were so many inconsistantsies between the sites (course outline only required three nursing care plans be completed, the one site had to do one/two a week). I feel bad for my classmates that paid the same amount of money as I did and were basically shortchanged.
Our class was split into four different clinical sites (all LTC). We all had the same course outline with the same supposed learning outcomes. We all paid the exaxt same amount of money to attend clinical and all had to put in the same amount of hours.
However, the learning outcomes were so different! I was very fortunate with my clinical site as we were able to give the most meds, do injections and simple dressing changes, we were able to shadow the floor nurse as well as a wound care nurse. We were exposed to NG tubes and colotomies. This was a total hands on learning environment!!
The other sites mainly focused on personal care. One site wasn't allowed to give injections or perform simple dressing changes. The one site was mostly textbook learning!! Hellooooo... we had enough of that in all of our theory classes! Clinical is the time to apply the theory learned!
Anyway, there were so many inconsistantsies between the sites (course outline only required three nursing care plans be completed, the one site had to do one/two a week). I feel bad for my classmates that paid the same amount of money as I did and were basically shortchanged.
That sounds exactly like my school. We have 4 clinical groups and all four groups are doing things that are completely different. My group is the one that is focused on CNA type things. Not a surprise considering I just discovered today that our clinical instructor has only been licensed for 3 years.
Some people just don't get it. They see what they want to see, they hear what they want to hear, and they can't look beyond their own presumptions. There is no point in trying to have an open exchange with people like that, as it is just an exercise in futility.
Never in a million years did I expect this post to turn into an arguement over letters after one's name! I am sorry to see where this post has gone.
I said I was a BSN student so that readers could understand what type of program I am in and infer a general level of tuition I am paying; no more, no less!
I said I am shadowing an LPN who passes meds 98% of the time, because THAT IS WHAT SHE DOES. Did I ever say she was incapable of more? NO! The LPN's I am shadowing have somewhere between 30-45 residents they have to care for and medicate in an 8 hour shift. One resident had 17 medications for their 8 am med pass, now multiply that by 30 or 45 residents, and don't forget 12 pm med pass. By virtue of simple math, almost all of their time is spent dispensing PO meds.
I made the comments about what I have seen during my time there to demonstrate what type of facility I am at and to describe the environment I was placed in to "learn". I was taught in class that YOU NEVER pull meds and then hold them to give at a later time. I was taught in class that you take a glucose reading BEFORE giving an insulin injection. I was taught in class that urine on the skin leads to skin breakdown, which can lead to decubitus ulcers. I assumed that almost all other nursing students had been taught the same thing, which is why I mentioned those incidents.
During my time there I have seen great, hard working LPN's and CNA's, and I've also seen crapy, lazy LPN's and CNA's. Just as there are humble BSN nurses, there are also arrogant, big headed BSN nurses. There is no black and white; there are good and bad people EVERYWHERE. That isn't a really hard concept to get a hold of.
I did not realize that (for some people) I had to spell out every single thought, idea, or incident and then explain my intent behind each remark, but none the less, there it is.
I thank those of you here at the end who spoke up in my defense. I tried to make in abundantly clear from the beginning that I was not trying to insult or degrade anyone. All I wanted was to get a sense of what my fellow nursing students thought and were experiencing. Thanks again!
evry person that u trained with is showing you something that u need to know because as a nurse u will have to do all of those duties- i personally think that anyone who is considering becoming a nurse should be made to work as a cna for 3 to 6 mths before being able to begin the semester of nursing school; i can tell you that if u r feeling that way right now, u should go ahead and change your major. Good Luck to u !!
Specializes in General surgery ,Vascular, Orthopedic.
Because it is a public forum we all are free to express our opinion. ... . She asked for honest answer and that what i see ppl doing here at least i did in my opinion . You don't agree with the way ppl are expressing themselves ,you call that bickering... i don't . She has the right to vent in her frustration but it is best that she or anyone doing so keep in mind that addressing people on a public forum can be done in a sensitive manner not to offend the readers .Talking about an LPN working 98% passing meds sound to me as if she considering that to be retard or being less of a nurse .That how i took it and was glad to read one of her update giving more respect and realizing that LPN do more than what she first thought , her language was much better this time .While you are asking everyone to try and see things in her view ,i like to add that she or anyone else on these forum need to be aware that not only their view count . But words & statement used can be offensive for some of the fellow nurses especially when it being addressed in a condescending manner .[/quote']
I am talking about bickering that involves issues that the op did not address as the MAIN point of her post. I say it once more as long as you are adhering to allnurses rules who CARES if she uses OMG in her post, honestly, who?? She is not in a professional setting. And not only should we see things in her view I also said that she should see things in other people's way (that's why I said vice versa). I'm neutral in the situation I see the OP point and I can see other's point. I feel like I've been misunderstood by what I meant with the previous post, and I won't be back to respond to anyone's reply ( not like anyone cares if I'm back or not though lol) because I'm done with particular thread :) Best wishes Fannie's Mom you're almost there!!
You are only crazy if you let it bug you. I am currently in school attending clinical s same as you and it no longer drives me crazy all the BS because I know this is the pretend world where every thing is perfect.Keep in mind the goal of getting the degree with the knowledge you will be able to obtain a job while most college grads cannot.I know for a fact that 90% of what I learn in school will be irrelevant once I start a job in the real world which is when you will receive your real education.Compartmentalize my friend, get the degree, pass the boards then get paid while you begin the education that matters.
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Hellooooo... we had enough of that in all of our theory classes! Clinical is the time to apply the theory learned! 
bleubutterfli
8 Posts
Ok I really think this post have officially gotten off topic. It shouldn't matter if the OP used OMG or whatever other slang that was use this is her post she can phrase it however she wants...the point of the post was to vent her frustration on her clinical rotation and she wanted input on how other people rotations was and if she had a right to worry. Now all of this talk about her getting a "big head" because she is a student RN BSN is simply people jumping to conclusions and assuming that she is looking "down" on people(in my opinion of course)this is a public forum what's wrong with complaining. When you respond to her post in disagreement are you not expressing some form of complaint. Instead of assuming maybe we should try and see it in her eyes and vice versa.My point is I do not agree with this form of bickering. Take it for what it is and move on...unless you are actually in the same situation she is in you shouldn't expect to fully understand her point but the least one can do is try