So I'm currently four months from graduating my RN program. For the most part things have gone reasonably well. I've had setbacks here and there, but up until this point I've enjoyed my clinical experiences and have gotten good feedback from my professors and clinical instructors.
Until this term. The past couple of months have really made me question whether nursing is for me - not because of the job, to be honest, but because of nurses. There's just been this overwhelming message that graduating from nursing school is tantamount to being given authority in a religious order. It's not just about being professional, doing your job well, performing good patient care, remaining committed to continuing education, etc. - it's about proving that you are a "good person" and have a "calling", which seems to be a subjective standard mostly based on whether or not particular people like you.
As a student, or heck, just as a person, we are all going to make mistakes. I'll certainly own that I still have lots of things to learn and there are always ways that I can improve. However, there's a difference between constructive criticism vs. failing a clinical day and being lectured on my lack of professionalism and compassion because I had a brief miscommunication with another nursing student (a remark that I intended to be encouraging was interpreted as me criticizing the other student for being lazy and not taking care of her patients - something I certainly never intended, and is patently absurd besides as that particular student is beyond excellent and to say something like that about her would only make sense if you were disconnected from reality).
If it was just a miscommunication or conflict here and there, I could roll with the punches - that's just life, stuff happens - but it's just one thing after another, and it's clear that only certain students are being called out for very small things while other students are given passes on much more serious misconduct. In addition, these issues are almost never addressed in a straightforward way, by an instructor taking a student aside to have a conversation and correct their conduct. Instead, there will be a vague group lecture with no names named, and you get informed a week later that you were the problem and that there are significant consequences for the perceived or actual mistakes you made.
I've seen similar issues in the nurses that we follow during our clinical rotations at multiple sites in a variety of units and specialties.
I spent over a decade in the military, and this kind of leadership is just baffling to me. I'm seriously starting to wonder if I'm cut out for a work environment where this kind of behavior and communication style seems so pervasive. Maybe it's just the seasonal affective disorder talking, but I'm starting to get really discouraged about my long term career prospects at this point.
Advice?
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So I'm currently four months from graduating my RN program. For the most part things have gone reasonably well. I've had setbacks here and there, but up until this point I've enjoyed my clinical experiences and have gotten good feedback from my professors and clinical instructors.
Until this term. The past couple of months have really made me question whether nursing is for me - not because of the job, to be honest, but because of nurses. There's just been this overwhelming message that graduating from nursing school is tantamount to being given authority in a religious order. It's not just about being professional, doing your job well, performing good patient care, remaining committed to continuing education, etc. - it's about proving that you are a "good person" and have a "calling", which seems to be a subjective standard mostly based on whether or not particular people like you.
As a student, or heck, just as a person, we are all going to make mistakes. I'll certainly own that I still have lots of things to learn and there are always ways that I can improve. However, there's a difference between constructive criticism vs. failing a clinical day and being lectured on my lack of professionalism and compassion because I had a brief miscommunication with another nursing student (a remark that I intended to be encouraging was interpreted as me criticizing the other student for being lazy and not taking care of her patients - something I certainly never intended, and is patently absurd besides as that particular student is beyond excellent and to say something like that about her would only make sense if you were disconnected from reality).
If it was just a miscommunication or conflict here and there, I could roll with the punches - that's just life, stuff happens - but it's just one thing after another, and it's clear that only certain students are being called out for very small things while other students are given passes on much more serious misconduct. In addition, these issues are almost never addressed in a straightforward way, by an instructor taking a student aside to have a conversation and correct their conduct. Instead, there will be a vague group lecture with no names named, and you get informed a week later that you were the problem and that there are significant consequences for the perceived or actual mistakes you made.
I've seen similar issues in the nurses that we follow during our clinical rotations at multiple sites in a variety of units and specialties.
I spent over a decade in the military, and this kind of leadership is just baffling to me. I'm seriously starting to wonder if I'm cut out for a work environment where this kind of behavior and communication style seems so pervasive. Maybe it's just the seasonal affective disorder talking, but I'm starting to get really discouraged about my long term career prospects at this point.
Advice?