WOW, the other day we had a new group of students in our facility, and I am still in SHOCK over what their instructor let them get away with! First of all, they were constantly sitting in the nurses' station, taking up most of the chairs. When I was a student, we NEVER sat in the nurse's station!!!
If that wasn't bad enough, THIS just shocked me, too! A student who moaned and groaned last week "I'm BORED" would NOT do a major dressing change on one of our patients, saying "I DONT HAVE TIME"....OMG----she was writing a CARE PLAN while sitting at the nurse's station----MUST BE NICE!!! We were NOT allowed to write care plans while at clinicals---they were on our OWN TIME!!!:angryfire I thought she'd be THRILLED to get this major wound experience, ESPECIALLY because she had complained of BOREDOM last week!
I swear, if we had said "I"M BORED" at my school, our instructor probably would've sent us home, OR said "FIND something to do!!!" Even if it was to go sit with a lonely patient, and we have PLENTY of those!!!
What happened to being DRILLED on meds/ recent labs/ pathophys/ having to explain EVERYTHING that's going on with their patient? Nope, their instructor was hiding in a break room somewhere......MUST BE NICE!!!!:angryfire
Yes, I've spoken to the "higher ups".....maybe something will change, but who knows!
People do learn from careplans, they learn what to look for, they learn how to find information in the chart, they learn lots of things. I think the issue at hand is people having a problem with people sitting down. Just because people define one thing more important than another, or they learn differently, doesn't mean one person isn't learning. Don't get me wrong, clinicals is all about hands on time, but as stated before, sometimes there is really nothing to do. Although some schools are 6 hours long for clinicals mine arent. The first rotation of clinicals is 8 hours long, and after that you do usually two or three 12 hour shifts a week for all the other semesters. So assuming that students are there for 6 hours and are "wasting" time for care plans is unfair for all the schools. If nurses expect the students to be busy for 12 hours straight, then that's just being silly.
When I was a student, most of the other students in the clinical were sitting around on their butts or pretending to read the chart after they did what they were assigned for the day. Try to rationalize it all you want, but we were students once too and know that sitting around is sitting around. I was in the exact same situation, but made the most of the little time I had actually being around patients. There is never nothing to do, unless there is only one patient in the whole unit. Ask your teacher if you can assess other patients. Learn the differences in breath sounds. Learn the differences in heart sounds. Ask the nurses if there are any interesting or different in a patient that you could look at. The most important thing you do as a nurse is do assessments. Observe patient education so you can learn to do it yourself. The more involved you become, the more you discover there is to do. Talk to your patient. Learn how to therapeutically communicate. Watch dressing changes if you can't do them so you can learn terms for what is going on in the wound. What irritates me to no end is when the students come into the ICU and sit around because they have nothing to do. They can see more in our unit than anywhere else in the hospital, but they don't take advantage of the opportunity. I had 12 hour clinicals and only sat down for lunch and to try to read the progress notes and orders and get the info I needed for my care plan. That takes maybe 30 minutes. The rest of the time should be spent in patient care somehow. Believe me, you will be grateful when you start as a nurse and they throw you in the deep end in head first.
I am a student and have one more year of school left.
If I am doing my clinical at your hospital and YOU see ME doing something stupid - (like taking up a chair when someone else needs it) - PLEASE TELL ME! I feel like I am dazed and confused most of the time, and I would certainly want to know if I was annoying someone or developing bad habits!
You should try not to be so judgemental. It depends on both the nursing instructor and the facility sometimes. I had a nursing instructor who wouldnt LET us do anything, I also had an instructor who wanted our careplans done by lunch time. I went to a few different facilities where the nurses were less than helpful, wouldnt let us near their patients and made our rotations miserable. Now that I am an RN, I try to embrace the students, and I certainly appreciate what they bring to the unit, some students are very shy and need to be brought out of their shell. Being "drilled" and running a nursing school like a military unit is a thing of the past, and should be, nurses are supposed to be kind and nurturing. Why not try and extended some positive energy?
woah! we were NEVER aloud to do that???? we were like soldiers :chuckle...we never stopped nor were aloud to stop.... and care plans there ...we'd probably be SENT home indefinetely!!! that's crazy
I see the same thing, students sitting around talking. I was a student at that nursing school last year and I have actually started pulling students in with me to help me do assessments, dressing changes, IV starts, etc.. They only watch but I figure the more exposure the better. I have spoken to their instructors and informed them of what I am doing and they are all for it. I wish nurses would have done the same thing when I was in school.
OK - I don't know which nursing school this was, but I just graduated and was never sitting behind the nurses station. We were grilled about every single detail regarding our patient and if we weren't busy caring for our patient directly, we were required to answer any call lights and offer our assistance to the RNs (and we were happy to do so by the way). I can't imagine not doing everything to increase your experience level.
Some teachers require the care plans to be done at the hospital, and even the dosage calculations exams are done at the hospital. I think that is just silly. The care plans should be done at home and the dosage calculations exams at the school.
Wow! How bout that!! Yes, like everyone, I had some students in my class do that as well, but they were usually chastised for it. On another note: it was expected of us that if we were all caught up, and the nurses didn't need/want any help, then the CNAs ALWAYS need help!! I personally was always willing to help them do whatever...I think anyone (student, CNA, nurse, etc.) should do whatever they can to make everyone's job a little easier....teamwork, anyone??
I graduated over a year ago licenced for exactly one now!
I can say that I am proud of my school of graduation. Our instructors were tough! Especially those from the last semester. We were not allowed to sit on a med surg unit (too many things to do). We were tested over and over especially if we were on specialty unit.
They had to be tough;if any of us were to function in a hospital environment. It is not an easy job, and if one is asked to help with something, one must drop all paperwork, and do what is asked of them.
There was only one rotation that was quite boring, and that was the labor and delivery rotation. The doctor that had the mojority of the patients on the floor, did not allow students to take care of her patients, so many of us were forced to sit and study, or crowd the other rooms of those that did allow students.This L&D was the only one in the area, and that was really TOO BAD!
It is the instructors fault, for not checking in on her students. They must be trained to be proactive, and if they are not they must have a task or goal to complete during their clinical times...
Used to be nurses couldn't sit at the nursing station if MDs were there.
Hard to believe but at my first job many of the older RNs all stood when a doctor came into the station. When I asked why they told me that it was a sign of respect and indicated their willingness to "jump on it" if the doctor had a task for them.
Thank god that ridiculousness is behind us.
It doesn't bother me if students sit when appropriate - there are times when charting or other work activities require that. They're part of the unit and should be treated as such. I hold them to the same standards as any nurse. Unfortunately there sometimes is a whiff of "get that student off that chair so I can sit because I'm a real nurse" when nurses deal with students.
I'm sorry but I don't think it's a "whiff of get that student off of the chair because I'm a REAL nurse" that irks me. I just don't think it's right that 3 students are sitting in the chairs, doing NOTHING, no, not care plans or ANYTHING and I had to get on my knees to chart (easier on the back than standing) to chart on the computer and not one student would get up until after about 10 minutes I finally had to ask for a chair. When I was a student, I didn't need an instructor to tell me that the nurses should stand to chart!
I think this is a reflection of young up-and-coming students in general today..."generation X"??? overall....Jeez, I am so OLD!! But I think it's very true....the parents of the twenty somethings today were so worried about being their kid's friend and being guilty over the time they don't spend with the kids that they never taught any respect. It's just common courtesy to say "yes ma'am, no ma'am", to get up from a chair when an elder (literally or figuratively- as in position higher up on the ladder) needs a seat, and to let others go first. Heck, they taught that to my daughter when she was in the first grade!! I believe that this is a problem of a lackadaisical attitude in general, more prevalent among 18-25 year olds. I know it sounds crazy coming from a 30 year old, not that much older, but I definitely saw it in my school. A girl that I graduated with once made the comment to me, "are we the only ones who know what yes ma'am and no ma'am is??"
...we'd probably be SENT home indefinetely!!! that's crazy 
BlueEyedRN
171 Posts
When I was a student, most of the other students in the clinical were sitting around on their butts or pretending to read the chart after they did what they were assigned for the day. Try to rationalize it all you want, but we were students once too and know that sitting around is sitting around. I was in the exact same situation, but made the most of the little time I had actually being around patients. There is never nothing to do, unless there is only one patient in the whole unit. Ask your teacher if you can assess other patients. Learn the differences in breath sounds. Learn the differences in heart sounds. Ask the nurses if there are any interesting or different in a patient that you could look at. The most important thing you do as a nurse is do assessments. Observe patient education so you can learn to do it yourself. The more involved you become, the more you discover there is to do. Talk to your patient. Learn how to therapeutically communicate. Watch dressing changes if you can't do them so you can learn terms for what is going on in the wound. What irritates me to no end is when the students come into the ICU and sit around because they have nothing to do. They can see more in our unit than anywhere else in the hospital, but they don't take advantage of the opportunity. I had 12 hour clinicals and only sat down for lunch and to try to read the progress notes and orders and get the info I needed for my care plan. That takes maybe 30 minutes. The rest of the time should be spent in patient care somehow. Believe me, you will be grateful when you start as a nurse and they throw you in the deep end in head first.