How some of your classmates got this far? I swear, I do on a daily basis in clinical. It is getting to the point that I really just want to call these people on this sh!t.
We have been in our psych clinical now since early January. Our teacher is FANTASTIC. In the morning she divides us up into 2 groups and on this unit there are 2 sub-units. Half of the group goes to listen to report on one side and the other students listen on the other and the teacher goes with one of the groups and the other sits with another nurse from that unit. Make sense? EVERY single morning, this one girls asks, "Where is Mrs. X?" Duh! Where the hell do you think she is when we do this?
Then same girl who happens to be a long-term diabetic, is asked a very basic diabetes question about a patient that has majorly fluctuating glucose levels. The teacher looks to her and asks, "If his glucose is all over the place like this what happens to him and what would be a good treatment plan for him?" She said, and I kid you not, "Um, his kidneys would go bad." She didn't even know what a good treatment for him would be. Two of us were immediately thinking an insulin pump.
We have been reviewing our patients' meds during post-conference every clinical day and the teacher keeps telling us to just give the brand names of drugs. We all go around the room giving the drug name and why it is given/what type of med it is. We generally talk about the same 10 drugs - some psych drugs, some general meds. Even after 6 weeks of doing this, she still does the generic name and has NO clue what the drugs are used for. Seriously, we talk about Geodon, Haldol, Tegretol for nearly every single patient as we go around the room and she still doesn't get it. We are taking pharm at the same time and still doesn't know what Lasix is or why it is used. I can totally understand not knowing the unusual stuff but we have a drug book sitting right there. Most of us go over our meds as soon as we get there because we know this drug review is coming but she is clueless!!!!
OMG!! So sorry to rant but this girl just frustrates the heck out of me!!!! There are actually two girls in this clinical that are like this and I look at them and can't help but wonder how in the world they got this far into the program or how they are going to make it in the real, working world.
Specializes in Aged Care, Midwifery, Palliative Care.
Like in the last week of our studies on liver, pancreas and diabetes we are doing a case study on someone with pancreatitis and a girl in our class asks 'so can't they just whip it out, what is the pancreas for anyway?' looks at me and instructor who have our mouths open and kind of gobsmacked and she says 'or is this something I should know by now'
Begining of 3rd year and a classmate asked me the other day what was Lasix, I explained it to her as being a diuretic and what the rationale for using it would be and she said 'oh don't you mean its an antidiuretic'... OK please go look it up.
I know there are a heap of things I don't know yet and some I have probably forgotten until I come across it again but these are both things we should've known by now especially as we had just finished studying one and the other is a constant medication on the wards we are on.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Reopening after removing a couple of posts.
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I understand the OP's frustration. One of the criteria for nursing success is the ability to process information effectively and learn quickly. Passing NCLEX won't magically change anyone's brain... they pretty much are the same as they were as a student. Nurses who aren't able to process all the information quickly become overwhelmed in the clinical environment.
From a learning standpoint, school is only the 'thin end of the wedge' for a nursing career. The clinical environment changes rapidly, with new technology & information that has to be absorbed on a continuous basis. Nurses who are unable to absorb new concepts as rapidly as they need to will put a strain on their co-workers and be unable to function independently to deliver safe patient care.
As an educator, I expect (hope) that everyone can learn from their experience.. at least after having done something a time or two. But reality has shown me that there are a few people who just can't do this. No matter how many times they have done something, each time is a brand new day. Like a goldfish continually 'discovering' that castle in his bowl. They may make it through the educational process and receive a license, but I wouldn't want them taking care of me or my family.
Question - as a profession, which is more important: taking care of our colleagues or taking care of our patients? I vote patients.
in our program, we are taught that a nurse who knows it all is a dangerous nurse. my program puts out nurses that are in high respect in our community and not once have i heard from in instructor that nurses who are not 100% informed scare them but the ones who think they are. i think a nurse who is more unsure of themselves will be more prudent in the areas that matter, like administering meds and such... the know-it-all-nurse (who willmake a mistake at some point in their lifetime) will most likely not be accountable for their own mistakes so they can protect their egos.
if they have made it this far then they are qualified even if they are unsure of some things. they made it this far because they have been doing everything then needed to do to get that far and i don't find their lack of information that alarming... thats why they are in school.
i thank god i am in a program where we actually support each other as nurses should. we don't berate each other when we are weak in some areas but help each other because we are a family.
its one thing to support each other, but another to carry someone. not everyone is suited to be a nurse. you have to be able to build each week on what you learned. of course its ok to ask again if it just didn't stick or you forgot. but if the basics are not sticking, you may need to rethink what you are studying.
btw, i don't believe the op ever berated anyone for asking, just was asking and/or venting. and there are some people that somehow make it and i'm not sure how they do it. luck? believe me when you work with someone like this or have someone like this taking care of you, you will understand the concern.
OMG!!! Same student I was talking about in the OP STILL cannot get it. I just don't get it. We have been talking about Protonix and Geodon every week since January. She still cannot pronounce it nor does she know what it is used for. Nearly every psych pt we discuss is on this drug too so when we go around the room of 8 students, each of us reading "geodon" and what it is used for, she STILL cannot get it.
Even after a few of us firmly told her that the teacher wants the trade name she gives the generic name. Y'all, we have done it this way for months!!!! :bangshead: I just don't get it.
Today, the teacher had us stay late but gave us a good lunch break. She said, "We'll go to the group session at one. Be back here by ten of one." I swear, this girl asked, "So what time is ten of one? Is that one:ten?" Seriously? How is she making it through classes?
She didn't even know what a good treatment for him would be. Two of us were immediately thinking an insulin pump. 
please go look it up.
They may make it through the educational process and receive a license, but I wouldn't want them taking care of me or my family. 
R. S.
42 Posts
Your welcome.