Do RNs get extra pay for working with students?

[johndough]

I am not sure if it is true or not, but I heard that RNs get a little extra pay when they work on a day where nursing students are present. If the charge RN assigned a student to an RN, then they get the extra pay.

I am talking about college nursing students not training a new employee.

It just came on top of my head because I have been assigned to lousy RNs during my clinical rotations and it feels like they should be more engaged with students

[Libby1987]

Were you too not a nursing student once? Who taught you? Yes you are busy we as students get that. I'm so tired of hearing about how terrible it is to have to have us nursing students on your shift! We are there to learn and we are eager to learn just like you were when you were a student! Every day nurses are complaining about being short handed. Quit acting like having an extra person there to teach is such a big deal. It does not take that much effort to explain what your doing whe your doing it!

Other than pre arranged senior practicum I was never assigned to burden a staff nurse.

Like others I was assigned to a single patient and instructed by my clinical instructor.

The only students I have had assigned to me are 3rd year med students to expose them to my area of healthcare and I have been well compensated for extra time.

This topic reminds me of the overcrowded classroom.. Weren't you ever a kid once?

[Cohiba]

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/why-are-the-1004415.html

[wanderlust99]

No extra pay. In my nursing school, we were assigned a group of patients but the nursing instructor was on the floor to teach us. We would essentially take over med administration and the nursing instructor was by our side. We didn't really interact with the nurse assigned to the patient.

Last semester we had a preceptorship and had to complete so many hours with one nurse who was asked permission to precept a student.

[86711lh]

On my floor yes we did & our nurse manager would send us an email before the semester started asking us if we wanted to have a student, we never got assigned otherwise.

I personally don't mind having a student as long as they are a good student & by good student I mean someone who actually wants to learn and participate in aspect of the care. During my assignment as a traveler I got stuck with students a couple of times & the floor I was on was extremely busy (5:1 ratio) & the students were pretty much a waste of space, they did NOTHING but pester you and ask meaningless questions. I remember one student who continued to keep asking me to print her out some info on my patient (which she was doing nothing for not even vital signs), and I told her I would when I got a chance (which would be never) but she just wouldn't stop asking. All these students did was lounge around in the backroom, which annoyed everyone because the room is already small to begin with.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I know when I was a nursing student the RN I was assigned to & the ones on the floor loved me because I helped her out a lot by getting in & doing what I could do as a nursing student, even something as simple as answering call lights, & not just on her patients but everyones on the floor. The whole point of clinical is to get exposure to what its like to really be a nurse, because what they teach you in school is not REAL LIFE & until you have a taste of it, you will be in for a rude awakening once you land a real job. And not to mention, if you like the particular floor you are on & you want to get a job, you better treat everyday that you are there like a working interview, because we watch you & we know who is trying to get a job & we give feedback to our manager about who she should hire (& yes she listens to us).

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Were you too not a nursing student once? Who taught you? Yes you are busy we as students get that. I'm so tired of hearing about how terrible it is to have to have us nursing students on your shift! We are there to learn and we are eager to learn just like you were when you were a student! Every day nurses are complaining about being short handed. Quit acting like having an extra person there to teach is such a big deal. It does not take that much effort to explain what your doing whe your doing it!

It is this attitude of entitlement which explains why many nurses do not like having students assigned to THEM when it should be students assigned to a PATIENT with their clinical instructor close at hand.

You are not a nurse, so you do not have the slightest idea whether or not having a student present is a "big deal" or not.

Finally, who taught me? NOT the nurse, whose responsibility is to his or her patient, but my CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR, who actually gets paid to do so.

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

Were you too not a nursing student once? Who taught you? Yes you are busy we as students get that. I'm so tired of hearing about how terrible it is to have to have us nursing students on your shift! We are there to learn and we are eager to learn just like you were when you were a student! Every day nurses are complaining about being short handed. Quit acting like having an extra person there to teach is such a big deal. It does not take that much effort to explain what your doing whe your doing it!

Yes, many times nurses are shorthanded. Having a nursing student does not alleviate the problem, rather can contribute to it. You see, the nursing student is not covered by the hospital, any error, omission, mistake you make will fall on the nurse. When having a nursing student everything takes longer because we are teaching you what we are doing, why we are doing it, and anything else.

A nursing student cannot do things independently, you are not a hospital employee, therefore only adding to the tasks a nurse must do. I think you are perceiving that a nursing student is there to help the nurse, when that isn't the case. As a student you are there to learn, master skills, become familiar with disease process, medication administration, critical thinking, and basic skills. We all were students and remember vividly the enormous process it took to learn everything. This extra person you are referring too is a big deal. It is because in the end all the responsibility falls on the nurse.

It isn't that nurses don't want to teach, we teach all day long, but day after day, year after year of always having students can get wearisome. Sometimes a nurse just wants to be with their assigned patients, not have to worry about another person, their feelings, experience, participation, etc.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

We did occasionally get students, but not often (ICU). I was okay with it most of the time IF a)their instructor didn't pull a disappearing act on us and b)if this was a consideration with regard to patient assignments.

I didn't use students to do work I didn't want to do. I tried to make sure they got to do and see interesting things.

But having a student makes everything take longer to do. It's MUCH quicker to just do it yourself. If you are already overburdened or have a patient who is not stable, it can be a big imposition even if they are polite and eager to learn.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Were you too not a nursing student once? Who taught you? Yes you are busy we as students get that. I'm so tired of hearing about how terrible it is to have to have us nursing students on your shift! We are there to learn and we are eager to learn just like you were when you were a student! Every day nurses are complaining about being short handed. Quit acting like having an extra person there to teach is such a big deal. It does not take that much effort to explain what your doing whe your doing it!

Oh my, oh my, oh my.

[DBK99]

Were you too not a nursing student once? Who taught you? Yes you are busy we as students get that. I'm so tired of hearing about how terrible it is to have to have us nursing students on your shift! We are there to learn and we are eager to learn just like you were when you were a student! Every day nurses are complaining about being short handed. Quit acting like having an extra person there to teach is such a big deal. It does not take that much effort to explain what your doing whe your doing it!

It may not take "effort" to explain every little thing I'm doing and why, but you better believe it takes too much time. And when all 6 of my busy med surg patients want something and they want it NOW, it's easier and faster for me to just do it myself. You know what response time affects? Patient satisfaction survey scores. You know what survey scores affect? Hospital reimbursement. You know what hospital reimbursement affects? My pay, my raises, my bonuses.

[Graduatenurse14]

In my hospital there is no extra pay for even precepting a student for the 5-week orientation time! We're in a union too!! When I was a teacher there is extra pay for having a student teacher which is similar to precepting that was negotiated by the union. I think that anyone who precepts should get extra pay for sure!!

[melizerd, ASN, RN]

We don't pay more for charge nursing or having nursing students with us.

I enjoy having students with me 99% of the time.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

As a nursing student what we could do on clinical rotation was very limited. I learned quickly to be helpful and do tasks that were offered. As a new nurse I perfectly understand the conflict. I think some nursing students think that some skills are "beneath them" but trust me nothing is. Nurses are not often asked if they want a student. If I am assigned to one I will be honest you can give vitamins, spike NS bags with me and prime tubing. Also we'll turn patients and change bedding. I can't get another license if the student harms the patient. Students forget you are under OUR license when you are on clinical. So yes we are going to watch you like hawks. My guess is when the OP has passed the NCLEX and has their first nursing job they will get exactly where we're coming from on this.