Clinical Instructors' Attitude Towards Students

nursenatalie, ADN, RN · Aug 25, 2004

I think the balance here is finding out what to be strict about and what to be lenient about. This allows the students to like you but also hits home the things that are most important (pt safety, etc.) Pick your battles, dont ream them out over not crossing their t's and dotting their i's.

chlyxenne · Aug 26, 2004

its something like this. Student X is a very good student, academically, expected to de well in the hospital. But then, with a preceptor looking strangely like teacher-expects-too-much-from-student, stuent X feels awkward about how she does things. Could this be the right thing, will i get a negative, i'll get embarrased if i dont do it right... in other words, the student is pressured, and being so, has the tendency to do some things the wrong way, of course, unintentionally.

Another situation: a preceptor graduated with flying colors, expecting students to be of same level, above average. One miss, student gets a pinch, physically.

On being lenient: for every mistake, the student is givent special attention so that she'll know what to do the second time around. Student doesnt get any better. Preceptor then gives demerits. ------ i think i am more in favor of this, that students get a room for improving themselves.

however, the case is not always the same.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Aug 26, 2004

The purpose of clinicals is to have a learning environment for the student. Being rude and overly strict to the student will not create a learning environment and does not set a positive role model. For the student who requires discipline the instructor still needs to act in a professional manner since you want to guide that student towards acceptable behavior while showing the rest of the class how to handle controversy, etc. But if the instructor is too aggressive or tyrannical the student's anxiety level rises and they are not able to take in new information. Just like what we learned in basic psych.

leiniar08 · Feb 4, 2006

im a student and i may say dat the best approach would be a not so strict one.. you see, it's really hard for us, students, to have very strict ci's because instead of concentrating on how we could do a skill right we end up worrying not to be scolded by those ci's who seem very delighted eating their students.. from my experience, i have a fair share with those kinds and i learned nothing because i cant enjoy what im doing with a ci like dat.. but when i came across ci's who were very nice, it gave me a feeling dat im going to be able to do great things, and i was right.. with her guidance and understanding that to my level i could commit mistakes, i learned skills by heart and couldn't forget constructive criticisms from such wonderful beings.. but then of course, it's not only being nice that counts, one should also be equipped with the knowledge and good experiences to share to their students in order to produce competent ones... u see, that's why teachers exist-- it's for them to guide us, to teach us the skill step by step (but not really spoon feeding)...

rpv_rn · Feb 4, 2006

I am currently having a research with regards to the best approach in teaching nursing students in the hospital. Here in the Philippines, some CI's can be very strict while others are lenient. My study is on the effect of such attitude on the competency of the students. Are they related or are they not?

Please define what you mean by "very strict" and "lenient."

mandana · Feb 4, 2006

I'm a student, I'm a strong student, A's and I practice my clinical skills extensively.Here's a quick rundown of the CI's I've had and how I felt about it. I've received great evaluations from all of them, but this is what my evaluation of them would be:

1. Very type A, very methodical, insisted on everything being done HER way and her way only. Watched everything like a hawk and made more than one person wail during clinicals. Her paperwork was extensive and she grilled us constantly. Impressions - I did fine with her, most others did not. I feel like I learned a lot from her, mostly how to meet expectations of others which is actually a valuable skill in this field.

2. Very lenient - no paperwork, not available to us at all. She was usually not even on the floor, so if we needed something we had to ask one of the nurses - this was a stress on the nurses and a stress on us. I liked this instructor personally, but felt abandoned by her.

3. My absolute favorite - super smart, super skilled, still worked as an RN a couple shifts a month, so she was very much rooted in the realities of nursing. Everyone adored her as an instructor. She was always available to us but did not hover, and when she was supervising a skill, our joke was that your patient would be hemorrhaging while you tried to insert an IV and she'd say, "Um, you might want to apply some pressure to that" in a completely calm voice. She never freaked about anything, BUT, if you weren't prepared or if you dropped the ball on something, she'd let you know - privately and professionally, but there was no mistaking that she was displeased. I miss her so much. I wish she was my CI throughout.

4. I just finished with the worst one yet. Very much wanted to have her fingers in everything, very much a hover-er, but it stressed her out so much that she came across as completely frazzled and inept. I'm so glad it was a short experience, we were 10 seconds away from majorly butting heads. She was confrontational with the nurses (which really sucked - she'd start this commotion with your nurse than split leaving a very unhappy RN to deal with), she always looked ruffled and frazzled and barked at everyone. Argh, it was miserable.

That's my 2 cents, hope it is worth something.

Amanda

Sainte · Feb 26, 2006

I am a nurse student and I, with a team of good nursing students of the same batch, are working on a study about clinical instructors and preceptors. We have learned through extensive related literature findings that both Ci and preceptor that establishing a good learning field with the students is very important. A good learning field includes a professional yet a friendly approach where strictness and liniency is at balance and moderation. Professional in a sense that clinical supervisor looks at to as much as possible the procedure done by the less experienced worker (the student nurse) and corrects mistakes and does appraisal in the proper place and time. Linient in such a way that the supervisor allows a communication pathway between her and the students to let suggestions, comments and points of improvement to come in.