clinicals, why are the nurses such *******.

hikernurse · Jun 30, 2009

I know you said you love to teach, but it doesn't appear that way. I have a question; aren't SNs just supposed to watch, learn, jot questions down as they come, do something when asked to do it, then ask questions at end of shift, or am I totally off? I am quite surprised at the responses of the RNs and just trying to understand why a student would get in their way since the SN cannot do anything without their direction, right?

Hopefully I can shed some light. I'm a mom with several children. A lot of what I do is to help my children become independent. That means I do a fair amount of teaching through my day at home. Although it might seem like my job would be easier with several extra hands, it isn't. I still need to oversee things, teach my children how and why we do things and bear responsiblility for their actions. Cooking supper is a lot easier and more efficient when I can do it alone. I teach my children because it's important they learn, although it takes me a lot longer. It's the same at work. I genuinely like having students, but it does add extra work to a day that is already busy.

When we have students we aren't given a lighter assignment (at least everywhere I've worked). Instead of going through my day as I normally do, I need to do a lot of explaining, demonstrating and knowing that tasks will take a lot longer with someone who is still learning. If I am doing a dressing change that would normally take me ten minutes, having a student help--something I encourage, it's important to get as much experience as you can--will take closer to half an hour by the time I explain all the why's, hows, and let the student do as much as possible.

It's time well-spent, don't get me wrong, some days just don't have the extra time. Before I can let a student do any tasks, I need to know the student is able to do them; we get students from several different schools and it's impossible to know what each student is prepared to do. The student nurse may be working under her instructor's license, but the patient is still under mine and I worked too hard to do anything to jeopardize that.

Don't feel the nurses are being hard on you, we realize clinicals are a great learning opportunity, but it does change the flow of our shifts. Some nurses are natural born teachers and others are not and you will probably run into both kinds. If nothing else, it will be a good opportunity to work with all kinds of people...a good skill nurses need :rolleyes: .

And just as students can't choose what days they have clinicals, nurses have no control over that, either. Some days run at breakneck speed and I don't have time to explain everything I do. I make an effort to connect by the end of the shift to answer questions and go over the day, but sometimes even that is impossible. A bad clinical day may be more related to the acuity of the assignment than the nurse--and on those days, the nurse likely goes home wishing she could have done a better job with her student.

nursewannab10 · Jun 30, 2009

Hikernurse- I really hope that I have a nurse like you when I start my clinicals! No one said that it was easy for a nurse to take on their usual work load and have a NS clinging to their hip during each and every shift. But...... I can't help but to get upset when people make it seems likes it's the NS intention to make their lives miserable!! People have been very defensive on here and taking it out on the students isn't right! They are getting mad at the wrong people, when in reality, they need to speak to their supervisor if it's TOO MUCH for them. All we want is to be given the opportunity of being an RN just like you guys!!

JBGC4 · Jun 30, 2009

Hopefully I can shed some light. I'm a mom with several children. A lot of what I do is to help my children become independent. That means I do a fair amount of teaching through my day at home. Although it might seem like my job would be easier with several extra hands, it isn't. I still need to oversee things, teach my children how and why we do things and bear responsiblility for their actions. Cooking supper is a lot easier and more efficient when I can do it alone. I teach my children because it's important they learn, although it takes me a lot longer. It's the same at work. I genuinely like having students, but it does add extra work to a day that is already busy.
When we have students we aren't given a lighter assignment (at least everywhere I've worked). Instead of going through my day as I normally do, I need to do a lot of explaining, demonstrating and knowing that tasks will take a lot longer with someone who is still learning. If I am doing a dressing change that would normally take me ten minutes, having a student help--something I encourage, it's important to get as much experience as you can--will take closer to half an hour by the time I explain all the why's, hows, and let the student do as much as possible.
It's time well-spent, don't get me wrong, some days just don't have the extra time. Before I can let a student do any tasks, I need to know the student is able to do them; we get students from several different schools and it's impossible to know what each student is prepared to do. The student nurse may be working under her instructor's license, but the patient is still under mine and I worked too hard to do anything to jeopardize that.
Don't feel the nurses are being hard on you, we realize clinicals are a great learning opportunity, but it does change the flow of our shifts. Some nurses are natural born teachers and others are not and you will probably run into both kinds. If nothing else, it will be a good opportunity to work with all kinds of people...a good skill nurses need .
And just as students can't choose what days they have clinicals, nurses have no control over that, either. Some days run at breakneck speed and I don't have time to explain everything I do. I make an effort to connect by the end of the shift to answer questions and go over the day, but sometimes even that is impossible. A bad clinical day may be more related to the acuity of the assignment than the nurse--and on those days, the nurse likely goes home wishing she could have done a better job with her student.

I thought this was the best explained answer so far. The comparison you made w/ your children is something I get, lol. And, I'm glad you made it and here is why.

I have been checking this thread, like I'm sure most others have, quite often. I was feeling discouraged, not helped until I read your post. I haven't started my clinicals so I have nothing to complain about, but have heard of SN venting about this subject many times, other than this thread. It made me nervous. Then, to come on this thread and read the posts that the nurses are making almost enforces my fears. I read a lot of posts by nurses that seemed more like slap in the faces, than to "educate" SN about what goes on w/ their days. I will say that I felt some comments, made by nurses AND SN's are snotty. Again, not helpful. Sure, I never thought about the "other side" of things. Like the extra work it takes for a nurse, I guess I just always figured that teaching can be part of the job and that sometimes, we don't like everything about our jobs. I also always thought that Nursing, no matter where you are at on that journey was a family- Kinda like "We stick together," sorta thing. Like the way nurses differentiate themselves from physicians. What a wake-up call I am having!!! LMAO!

But again. Thank You for taking the time to post what you did. I will keep in mind when I do clinicals that teaching can certainly be fustrating, just w/ your little comparison about cooking dinner w/ your children;). I'll try to look at it from the Nurses point of view and grow from that, and hope he or she will do the same for me.

liladybug526, RN · Jun 30, 2009

I think this thread was started so that nursing students could unload some of the stress that they feel when they get home after their clinicals. We try so hard to do well in school, to keep an open mind, to ask questions when we have doubts, and we hope we can learn as much as possible so that when the patients lives are in "our" hands, we will provide safe, effective care.

The best place to get advice is from people who have been there and know what it is like to feel unsure of yourself and eager to please those around you. It is up to the nurse to decide how she/he responds to a nursing student. I have met many nurses who are very kind, they take the time to explain what they can (even though they are incredeably busy), and I really appreciate it and have a great admiration for those nurses.Those nurses will always be remembered fondly by me. Just taking a few minutes here and there, may have made a difference in my life. Years from now when I am a seasoned nurse I hope to do the same for them.

There is another kind of nurse who is just so nasty, you have to wonder how they treat their patients, or for that matter their own family. How can people not realize that we are all someone's mother, daughter, sister, etc.. We all have feelings and feeling get hurt. I think the most important thing for us students to remember when we feel down is that there are a lot more helpful nurses out there than rude ones (Thank GOD) :yeah:

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