I'm in my 2nd quarter of nursing and in only just 4 weeks of clinicals my instructor gave me 3 clinical warnings.
The 1st one was reasonable because I didn't have my hair up nor had a pen and didn't bring my papers to orientation.
The 2nd one was because I forgot to do the Pathophysiology assignment for my patient (last quarter my clinical instructor didn't require it to be done on the day of care for your patient until turning in the assignment, only your plan of care for your patient and face sheet, but was reasonable because she said I was the only one that didn't do that).
But I don't agree with this recent clinical warning she gave me today which was because I didn't know how to give an IV bolus to my patient which was Pantoprazole (Protonix).
We have 2 times in successfully passing medications to our patients the whole day in clinical (which is 9 hours) and today was my first schedule to give out meds. to my patient with a pass or fail mark. I administered 2 medications today: Insulin and Pantoprazole. She passed me when I gave insulin SUBQ in the abdomen in my patient but didn't pass me when I gave Pantoprazole IV (I froze in the part where I had to disconnect the IV from my patient, I paused because I didn't want to hurt the patient and didn't know which port to disconnect it from which made me and my patient nervous/scared so my clinical instructor grabbed the medications out of my hand and administered them herself).
After that she told me to go talk to her post-conference alone and that's when she said she was going to give me another clinical warning because I didn't know what to do (even though I have 1 more chance to give meds. with a pass/fail grade in 4 weeks from now and that's why I pleaded with her to give me 1 more chance since my next/last chance in giving out meds. to redeem myself is in 4 weeks from now but she said that it was my responsibility to practice this/be prepared in knowing what I should do when my schedule for passing out meds. was today so I asked her if I can object to this clinical warning and she told me that I can see the head instructor of my clinical class and talk with both of them about it).
So my question is, is my clinical instructor set out to fail me from the course because in the first 2 weeks that I had her, I had already gotten 2 clinical warnings?
Is she biased towards me because of that?
I asked her if the others passed giving out meds. so far and she had said yes (but I think she's being a little more hard on me although she could've sent me home for not bringing my Patho sheet from the 2nd clinical warning).
It's too late now to withdraw from the class because last day from dropping classes was this week on Monday so is that why she's being more hard on me or am I just being paranoid)?
Any comments/advices/constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! I really can't sleep/study and I've been crying/worried since this evening today because I feel like this clinical warning is the last straw (in the 2nd clinical warning I already had a 10% reduction in my grade so I'm scared/worried that for this 3rd one she's going to do another -10% reduction in my grade again which I don't think is fair).
As long as the person I am talking with is receptive, I talk about the love of God with them. And most people I have talked with has wanted to hear what I had to say. For example, a student began having difficulties in her life, and she knew that I was a Christian, so she came to me and asked me about the love of God. In my previous comment, I did say that I talked with people about Jesus, but, now that I think about it, many people I spoke with came to me themselves and asked me about God, or asked me for a Bible. Even my friend was wondering why people were asking for a Bible from me. People are desperate to hear what the Bible says; of how much they are worth. The price God set on us was the highest price that could be set. God paid everything in order to save us. And people want to hear this message of how Jesus died for them.
If a patient is in that much spiritual distress, we call in the hospital chaplain. They're the ones who are trained to answer questions like that. Not nurses. We can pray with the patients - as long as the nurse doesn't lead the prayer - and we can sit and listen to the patient.
OR, by discussing religion as it appears that you are with patients, you are not only risking your place in your nursing program but your school's ability to place students at that hospital. It only takes one complaint from a patient and the school suddenly finds themselves being told "nope, you cannot place students here." And that happens, how long do you think you'll be in that program? You wouldn't be dismissed because of your religion, you'd be dismissed for showing a shocking lack of ethics and boundaries.
Even now you're forcing religion on people here. On these boards there are atheists, Wiccans, Jews, Muslims, just to name a few. And none of those groups believe that Jesus died for them. You try proselytizing to them - as you are here - and you'll get responses like the ones that you're getting now.
By talking with patients and classmates about your particular brand of religion, you are also making the topic about you. I did have a case study all worked up with three different options, but I don't feel like retyping it. In short, the three options were one, coordinate getting the chaplain or the patient's religious leader in; two, sit there and preach about Christianity and give the patient a Bible; and three, let the patient direct the conversation and offer silent support. One and three are actions that are acceptable in any environment. Option two is not.
People understand that religion is a touchy subject. People also understand that there are those who are so endowed with feelings of whatever that they simply have to share. The hard part is learning that there is a time and place for it, and while being a nursing student or nurse is very much not the time, and healthcare facilities not the place.
Nursing school is hard. Actual nursing is even harder ~ (in more ways than one), but mostly in the sense that your responsibility to be accountable for your actions become ratcheted up by 1000%.
OP, if you haven't turned a blind eye to all of the responses coming your way, you'll come to realize that your post SHOULD read: "I keep getting clinical warnings, any suggestion?......"
You'll be blamed for a lot of things as a nurse, if you ever make it past nursing school. You won't be at fault for 99.42% of them (hopefully!)。
Nursing school is much, MUCH more than the data retention of disease process and the science that goes with it.
There is an ART to nursing as well. The art is exhibited in the beauty of masterfully handling all the baggage that your patient will thrust in your face when he/she is the most vulnerable. That, my dear student OP, requires the mentality of someone who does not place the blame on the clinical instructor, but upon themselves to do better, next time.
I teach clinicals on occasion and we don't do a demerit system so it's hard for me to know..... But it seems like with your programs system it is fair..... I personally believe that should have been a valuable teaching moment.... Handling Ivs and Iv pumps are often overwhelming the 1st few times . Hang in there!
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
I don't know that the OP will read this, but I think the first two warnings were deserved and the last one wasn't. I wish clinical instructors would walk you through a procedure the first time you do it. I wish they made you feel like it was okay not to be confident, that's why you're there. I wish we had more opportunities to learn in nursing school, rather than to simply prove what we already know. I don't think researching how to handle IV bolus is the same as actually doing it.
I wish the instructor would have given some verbal direction instead of snatching the materials and doing it herself. The same exact thing happened to me today, not IV bolus, but another skill. Was I prepared? Well, no. Not like a nurse is prepared. I was prepared as a student, with my hair up, my notebook, stethoscope, drug book, pen and my positive attitude. I was prepared to try and to be guided. It would have helped me tremendously to have gone through the procedure. But she cut me off. Essentially she punished me for not knowing, by taking away the learning experience. That really doesn't make a lot of sense.
I think that a lot of nurses support this kind of method because it is how they were taught.
But it's time to move on from what doesn't work.
I do understand the concerns about patients' perceiving the student as not being confident. But I think patients can be informed, you have a student nurse today, who will be doing some procedures with assistance. You will have twice as many people to care for you, but some things will take longer. Patients can say no. If they say yes, they understand. There is a student. She will be supervised on every task she is not sure about. There will be teaching. There will be a person without confidence, and one person with confidence. They can handle it.
We students want to learn. We don't want to graduate nursing school not knowing things.
Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.
I don't know that the OP will read this, but I think the first two warnings were deserved and the last one wasn't. I wish clinical instructors would walk you through a procedure the first time you do it. I wish they made you feel like it was okay not to be confident, that's why you're there. I wish we had more opportunities to learn in nursing school, rather than to simply prove what we already know. I don't think researching how to handle IV bolus is the same as actually doing it.
I wish the instructor would have given some verbal direction instead of snatching the materials and doing it herself. The same exact thing happened to me today, not IV bolus, but another skill. Was I prepared? Well, no. Not like a nurse is prepared. I was prepared as a student, with my hair up, my notebook, stethoscope, drug book, pen and my positive attitude. I was prepared to try and to be guided. It would have helped me tremendously to have gone through the procedure. But she cut me off. Essentially she punished me for not knowing, by taking away the learning experience. That really doesn't make a lot of sense.
I think that a lot of nurses support this kind of method because it is how they were taught.
But it's time to move on from what doesn't work.
I do understand the concerns about patients' perceiving the student as not being confident. But I think patients can be informed, you have a student nurse today, who will be doing some procedures with assistance. You will have twice as many people to care for you, but some things will take longer. Patients can say no. If they say yes, they understand. There is a student. She will be supervised on every task she is not sure about. There will be teaching. There will be a person without confidence, and one person with confidence. They can handle it.
We students want to learn. We don't want to graduate nursing school not knowing things.
Once again, the student was going to WING it. That is DANGEROUS. The patient was also aware the patient was going to wing it, so the patient was uncomfortable. The instructor taking over was completely warranted. If I had a student who was going to wing a procedure on me and he instructor still allowed the student to practice on me, I would refuse it.
It's one thing of the student spoke up before going into the room about not knowing. If the student had done that, a prudent instructor would walk the student through it or show the student and narrate the steps while doing it. In this scenario, Based on the information that the op has given us, the student never spoke up, not even after freezing. That is a warranted clinical warning for sure.
I am not so much referring to the clinics instructor as much as I am the way people react on here.
I knew you weren't referring to the clinical instructor. OP came here asking for advice and opinions. OP wasn't prepared, deserved the warnings, and was told this by the majority of posters. That doesn't make it NETY.
I teach clinicals on occasion and we don't do a demerit system so it's hard for me to know..... But it seems like with your programs system it is fair..... I personally believe that should have been a valuable teaching moment.... Handling Ivs and Iv pumps are often overwhelming the 1st few times . Hang in there!
Perfect way to express idea about the OP's question regarding the THIRD situation while offering encouragement to a nursing student. The OP owned up to first 2 situations and admitted it was their fault, so there is no need to address the first two as many have done. Thanks for being a light and encouragement to people. We were all there at once
I knew you weren't referring to the clinical instructor. OP came here asking for advice and opinions. OP wasn't prepared, deserved the warnings, and was told this by the majority of posters. That doesn't make it NETY.
The OP did not ask about "warnings" they asked about the last situation and that only. They owned up to the first 2 and to bring them up again to say she deserved them or such is unnecessary, she knows she deserved the first two. They only were asking about the last situation. It's simply my opinion that many of the responses on here could of been handled with a bit more understanding and grace. Nothing wrong with saying the third offense was warranted. To be quick to mention comment on a fault of someone without offering some advice or encouragement seems to be a bit harsh to me. We all have had moments in school where we were terrified and doubted ourself, felt stupid and needed encouragement. Once again this is simply my opinion. I have noticed in my career there are 2 very general philosophies of nurses. Those who believe nursing is like the marine core hell week and we should make it as tough as possible and drive people till they break, because after all if they can't make it in school they will never make it in the "real world". Secondly there are those with the heart of a teacher that will take patient safety serious yet offer encouragement to people as they struggle. Sometimes people need an "attaboy" you can do it. As a side not I'm not gonna call out individual posters and tell them that their post was rude or wrong. I believe I can state the atmosphere of a thread with out calling names, which I've noticed usually does nothing beneficial for anyone involved. Take care all, I truly believe this thread is filled with awesome nurses who have only the best of intentions, just may have different ways of expressing it. :)
Hey guys! Thank you so much for taking the time to read/reply back to my post and thank you all for the constructive criticism and support! I'm still here, I check this thread from time to time but I'm failing the class (the 3rd clinical warning did make a 10% reduction on my grade) and my clinical instructor said the only way I can pass clinicals is if I get high B's or A's on my care plans/assignments, no more clinical warnings, and I need to pass for this next medication administration in 3 weeks from now (I already made a schedule with my head instructor to practice during her office hours, she just found out that nobody wouldn't be in the school's clinical labs this quarter so she just posted her schedule on her office door this week so i'll be going there everyday from now on). Will update again sometime in the future, i'm still here! :)
Hey guys! Thank you so much for taking the time to read/reply back to my post and thank you all for the constructive criticism and support! I'm still here, I check this thread from time to time but I'm failing the class (the 3rd clinical warning did make a 10% reduction on my grade) and my clinical instructor said the only way I can pass clinicals is if I get high B's or A's on my care plans/assignments, no more clinical warnings, and I need to pass for this next medication administration in 3 weeks from now (I already made a schedule with my head instructor to practice during her office hours, she just found out that nobody wouldn't be in the school's clinical labs this quarter so she just posted her schedule on her office door this week so i'll be going there everyday from now on). Will update again sometime in the future, i'm still here! :)
Good for you for not giving up. You got this. School can be a bit like boot camp and I understand getting our defenses up initially but you did the right thing by taking the advice and finding out what to do to pass. You got this!
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Nonyvole, BSN, RN
420 Posts
If a patient is in that much spiritual distress, we call in the hospital chaplain. They're the ones who are trained to answer questions like that. Not nurses. We can pray with the patients - as long as the nurse doesn't lead the prayer - and we can sit and listen to the patient.
OR, by discussing religion as it appears that you are with patients, you are not only risking your place in your nursing program but your school's ability to place students at that hospital. It only takes one complaint from a patient and the school suddenly finds themselves being told "nope, you cannot place students here." And that happens, how long do you think you'll be in that program? You wouldn't be dismissed because of your religion, you'd be dismissed for showing a shocking lack of ethics and boundaries.
Even now you're forcing religion on people here. On these boards there are atheists, Wiccans, Jews, Muslims, just to name a few. And none of those groups believe that Jesus died for them. You try proselytizing to them - as you are here - and you'll get responses like the ones that you're getting now.
By talking with patients and classmates about your particular brand of religion, you are also making the topic about you. I did have a case study all worked up with three different options, but I don't feel like retyping it. In short, the three options were one, coordinate getting the chaplain or the patient's religious leader in; two, sit there and preach about Christianity and give the patient a Bible; and three, let the patient direct the conversation and offer silent support. One and three are actions that are acceptable in any environment. Option two is not.
People understand that religion is a touchy subject. People also understand that there are those who are so endowed with feelings of whatever that they simply have to share. The hard part is learning that there is a time and place for it, and while being a nursing student or nurse is very much not the time, and healthcare facilities not the place.