Evil instructor X2

AllyRN82, MSN, APRN · May 30, 2007

I wish I had some ideas for you. I'm so sorry you have to deal with that. I hope some good ideas surface here soon.

firstyearstudent · May 30, 2007

WOW! I can't believe they are making you take another clinical with this person. That's horrible!

On the other hand, if you were able to get the evaluation changed to pass, that shows me that the chair is aware that there are "issues" with the instructor...

I am getting the idea that instructors are in short supply and many school keep on some that are far less than ideal.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 30, 2007

It sounds like the Department Chairperson knows what this instructor is like because it's not the normal course of things for a Department Chairperson to change the grade that an instructor gives to a student. I would say that this puts you at a big advantage with this instructor's boss. It also makes me think that the Chairperson probably knows more than they are able to tell you about this instructor. Confidentiality, you know.

Keep in mind that an evaluation is just that, a decision that this instructor has made about you. In the working world, the good managers can't give a bad evaluation based upon nothing. They need documentation to back up poor performance. There is also the issue of one person's word against the other's word. That usually results in a wash. So, if you haven't been written up and officially counseled by this instructor, it's her word against yours, and it's subjective on her part.

Try to keep under the wire with her next in your next clinical block. Ask for specific examples when she seems to be making unfair and wrong critiques about you. If she goes one step further and writes it up, demand specific incidences and refuse to sign anything if you disagree with it because that is the surest way to the door for you. It is perfectly OK to disagree with an evaluation, particularly if you feel it might be due to a unexplained personal dislike of you. At the first sign of her getting nasty with you, report it to the Department Chairperson immediately. If her performance is being watched by her boss you want to make sure that her boss knows when she has crossed the line.

Being "incapable of making connections with patients" is not a reason to be terminated from a nursing program. That made me laugh. So did "all but rude". What in the blazes does that mean? You're either rude or your not. I would take that as a "not rude". Just a nasty way of not wanting to say you were doing OK in your interactions with patients. It sounds like she's playing word games. She's tweaking the words to make it sound like you're doing badly when that's really not what she's saying at all.

arual56 · May 30, 2007

It sounds like the Department Chairperson knows what this instructor is like because it's not the normal course of things for a Department Chairperson to change the grade that an instructor gives to a student. I would say that this puts you at a big advantage with this instructor's boss. It also makes me think that the Chairperson probably knows more than they are able to tell you about this instructor. Confidentiality, you know.
Keep in mind that an evaluation is just that, a decision that this instructor has made about you. In the working world, the good managers can't give a bad evaluation based upon nothing. They need documentation to back up poor performance. There is also the issue of one person's word against the other's word. That usually results in a wash. So, if you haven't been written up and officially counseled by this instructor, it's her word against yours, and it's subjective on her part.
Try to keep under the wire with her next in your next clinical block. Ask for specific examples when she seems to be making unfair and wrong critiques about you. If she goes one step further and writes it up, demand specific incidences and refuse to sign anything if you disagree with it because that is the surest way to the door for you. It is perfectly OK to disagree with an evaluation, particularly if you feel it might be due to a unexplained personal dislike of you. At the first sign of her getting nasty with you, report it to the Department Chairperson immediately. If her performance is being watched by her boss you want to make sure that her boss knows when she has crossed the line.
Being "incapable of making connections with patients" is not a reason to be terminated from a nursing program. That made me laugh. So did "all but rude". What in the blazes does that mean? You're either rude or your not. I would take that as a "not rude". Just a nasty way of not wanting to say you were doing OK in your interactions with patients. It sounds like she's playing word games. She's tweaking the words to make it sound like you're doing badly when that's really not what she's saying at all.

Thank you so much for your support and ideas. I couldn't believe how this instructor was trying to "spin things." I can't imagine what the school thought was going on when I went before the department chair and was able to provide them with written journals that I had been doing regarding my clinical experiences discounting what the instructor had claimed, and was able to tell the dept head, not only about my patient's medical condition, but also about their family members and dynamics. One I know that shocked them was the history of one male pt who had been married to his wife for 54 years. They had married when he was 17 and his wife was 16, and had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their two sons and one of their daughters. The other daughter had died earlier from CA. The look I got from the dept head was one that she obviously couldn't hide under the guise of professionalism. It just came as such a shock to me that this instructor was so incredibly hateful, and I still don't understand what I did to make her want to go off on me like that. But your support and guidance means more than you can know. Thanks.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 30, 2007

having an rn after one's name and the title of "instructor" doesn't mean that a person doesn't have psychological problems or just plain old bad behavior.

one of the things about being an instructor is that the instructor works autonomously. it is very likely that whoever supervises her has never really seen how she interacts on a regular basis with the students under her supervision. when i became a nursing supervisor i realized really quickly that my bosses had no idea what i was doing from minute to minute. for all they knew i could be sitting in a far corner of the facility reading the latest novel and merely responding to pages from the nursing staff as i got them. so, when these instructors get hired they need to be screened for their ethics and behavior. sometimes the people interviewing them aren't that good at it; sometimes these people are good at hiding their personality flaws.

what a great idea to journal! when i was in my bsn program and we were each being sent to different nursing facilities all the time, there was no way an instructor could be at each facility with us. we were all rns so that wasn't an issue. but, what we were doing and learning at the facilities was. we were required to keep a journal of our activities. for each clinical day i basically did something like write my objective and subjective experience for the day, whether i had achieved my objective(s) for the day and then wrote an analysis of what i had learned and any questions that had been formed about the experience in my mind. if i looked up something in relation to that, i would add an addendum to the journal entry to include that information. i kept it on an old floppy disc on my old apple ii computer. i would print each page out on a old matrix dot printer.

i would say that journaling is something you should continue to do. you probably tipped the chairperson off as to this instructor being a problem. stand your ground. don't let this instructor intimidate you. i would imagine that the chairperson has probably had a sit down with her to discuss a few things. the chairperson may also have figured out a way to follow up on the instructors behavior in the future. you may find she will have taken on a new attitude when you have your next contact with her. good luck!

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · May 31, 2007

We get a form EVERY week at post conference that details what we did ok or not ok during the last clinical....things like safe patient care, responsibility, flow of work, behavior, etc....then we sign it once we read it to indicate we agree...if something does not come through ok, then we talk to instructor and reagree to talk about it until we come to an understanding...that passes for my journal....