I am having such a hard time with dealing with some of the attitudes of some of the RN's on staff at some clinical sites. I do not understand how nurses who have been through the same thing we have been through, can be just so unbelievably rude to students on the floor. I keep saying to myself "They used to be students too!"
Today for example, our instructor went over a head to toe assessment on a newborn. There was this awful RN that came into the room a few minutes after our instructor left. She started complaining about how the students the instructor "pulled at the baby for 20 minutes and couldn't even give the vitals they recorded?" Another student and I were standing right behind her.
We have had a few run in's with this nurse throughout our L&D class. She has ALWAYS been just so rude. I had the newborn's vitals written down waiting for her to come in so I could tell her. After that comment, there was no way I was going to help her do her job.
It is like a fight between the staff and the students these days. They don't want us there yet, we are the ones that save them so much time by doing the rounds to take care of vitals, med administration, and comfort measures.
Some of the RN staff nurses we have ran into will just flat out ignore us if we ask them a question. Some have gone so far as to intentionally knock into us walking down the hallway. We have even seen a few incidences where the staff RN's will be sitting behind the nurses station in groups talking about the students and even so far as to the way their hair looks or if they are fat.
HOW ARE THESE PEOPLE NURSES?!?!
I am not understanding how people like this still have a job. We are taught to accept people and you have to in order to help them. You are SUPPOSED to have compassion and empathy and certainly be considerate of other people. These are all aspects of being a nurse. I have been making mental notes on what kind of nurse I will never be thanks to them.
How do you deal with this kind of behavior? Our class and everyone in it has been nothing short of considerate, polite, and professional. Even when they act like this.
But how do you go about handling something like this without jeopardizing your own future? We have spoken up once and we ended up losing the clinical site for our school by doing so because the chief nurse was just as bad as the rest of them. So now, we just do not say anything.
Do not get me wrong, we run across some amazing nurses that are really helpful and we learn so much from them but the bad ones seem to outweigh the good ones. I just do not understand how someone like these nurses could manage to still have a job by acting this way. Is this what I have to look forward to when I graduate? At the very least, I can guarantee that when I do graduate, I will never treat onsite students this way.
Mercy Me! Who exactly is running the show on this unit? Seems like there is a general lack of leadership - on both sides (unit & school).
First of all - the hospital/provider is ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE for the care of the patients... no matter how many students are there or what those students are doing. This is an immutable fact of life. The physician who wants to speak t0 the NURSE who is assigned to his/her patient is well aware of that fact. Any clinical instructor who jumps in and tries to influence this process is just asking for trouble. That clinical instructor should have made sure that the assigned nurse was aware of everything that is going on with the patient.
Secondly - dealing with behavioral issues such as inability of staff to 'get along' with students - is the responsibility of the nurse manager. He/she is responsible for ensuring that the interests and priorities of the organization are supported. I have never encountered any organization that did not have patient care as the highest priority - other things, such as supporting clinical training sites, are lesser priorities. If the manager is not aware of this situation (war between students & staff) , it is your clinical instructor's responsibility to do so. It is completely unethical for her to place personal job security at a higher priority than her primary responsibility - facilitating the education of her students. This sets a great example for her students, right?
I can guran-dang-tee you that if the leaders of the school and hospital are aware of this situation, they will fix it if they even have a modicum of professional integrity. The 'fix' will likely involve setting very clear behavioral expectations to enforce civility as well as concrete actions if the expectations are violated.
My hero worship of nurses started to diminish in nursing school and went totally out the window in clinicals. We had a classroom instructor who told us the saying, "nurses eat their young," was only a myth, then proceeded to chew us up and spit us out before we were even scheduled for clinicals.
Because clinical sites are few and far between (not too many places are willing to host students who are expected to make money- and time-consuming mistakes), your instructor is likely trying to make the most out of the limited resources available.
Not many nurses enjoy having students around, as others have already pointed out. Also as previously mentioned, nurses are a group of people. And in any group of people, there are bound to be a few a-holes hanging around. It sounds like you found a nest, OP. I know it's hard, you're already under stress from school, and dealing with this nest of vipers probably makes you nauseous, but you have to suck it up for now. You're there for weeks, and then you never have to see them again. Those people are stuck in their own little world of negativity and they can have it. You'll be free soon enough. Chalk it up to a disillusioning experience, and like you said, don't become one of THOSE nurses.
As I am a new grad, it was not long ago that I was doing clinicals so I remember how it feels. I definitely had days where I worked with some really rude nurses. However, as frustrating as that may be remember that your number one priority is always the patient. Dont let your negative feelings or desire for revenge harm the patient. There are ways to address the issue without involving the patients.
Through my clincals so i far I have ran in to wonder nurses and nurses who are burnt out and just going through the job. You will find this at all levels. In my personal clinicals so far for each nurse I ran into that didnt like students i get 12 that does so hang in there and learn all you can learn. :)
It sounds like your school needs to step up and back you up. It is unacceptable for nurses to treat students that way, regardless of if they want them there or not. No instructor should lose her position or clinical site for standing up for a student. This is something that needs to go higher than the manager and clinical instructor. I had a few nurses who treated me poorly in nursing school and I kept under the radar and did things their way while in school because ultimately it is their license on the line. However, I always wrote up an evaluation about them and made sure I put in how they acted and how it made me feel. I also always told the instructor. After that there isn't much you can do except try to keep going and realize that one bad clinical experience doesn't mean you shouldn't be a nurse or that you are a bad student. Keep your chin up. Good Luck :)
Get over it. The nurses are there to do their job - which is PATIENT CARE. They are not there to teach you. That is what your instructor is paid to do. Students are a HUGE inconvenience to staff. Your job is to stay out of their way, observe, and if you have questions ask your instructor. If you have such thin skin: get out of nursing NOW. This won't stop when you get your licence. "How are these people nurses"? They make patient care their priority, NOT befriending the students. THAT makes them nurses.
I was in LPN school, I never had a problem with rude nurses, I stayed out of the way and did as instructed.
As a LPN, I was like I'm totally going to teach, and work with all students then I got burned!
I had students tell me how to do my job, that they didn't want to watch or do something because they knew how or my favorite they were tired and didn't want to get up.
Or it's not there job it's mine or a Cna job because we got paid.
Another time the students were to do vital signs and of any problem to tell me or instructor, at lunch they handed me the list one persons BP was 260/ 140 really you didn't tell me sooner, I had already taken vitals and theirs were not correct, but should of gotten someone immediately.
Remember 8 am meds must be done by 9 am
There is anywhere from 14-20 patients in some cases. Time is of the essence.
I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but there is always 2 sides to a story.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I am having such a hard time with dealing with some of the attitudes of some of the RN's on staff at some clinical sites. I do not understand how nurses who have been through the same thing we have been through, can be just so unbelievably rude to students on the floor. I keep saying to myself "They used to be students too!"
Today for example, our instructor went over a head to toe assessment on a newborn. There was this awful RN that came into the room a few minutes after our instructor left. She started complaining about how the students the instructor "pulled at the baby for 20 minutes and couldn't even give the vitals they recorded?" Another student and I were standing right behind her.
We have had a few run In's with this nurse throughout our L&D class. She has ALWAYS been just so rude. I had the newborn vitals written down waiting for her to come in so I could tell her. After that comment, there was no way I was going to help her do her job.
It is like a fight between the staff and the students these days. They don't want us there yet, we are the ones that save them so much time by doing the rounds to take care of vitals, med administration, and comfort measures.
Some of the RN staff nurses we have ran into will just flat out ignore us if we ask them a question. Some have gone so far as to intentionally knock into us walking down the hallway. We have even seen a few incidences where the staff RN's will be sitting behind the nurses station in groups talking about the students and even so far as to the way their hair looks or if they are fat.
HOW ARE THESE PEOPLE NURSES?!?!
I am not understanding how people like this still have a job. We are taught to accept people and you have to in order to help them. You are SUPPOSED to have compassion and empathy and certainly be considerate of other people. These are all aspects of being a nurse. I have been making mental notes on what kind of nurse I will never be thanks to them.
How do you deal with this kind of behavior? Our class and everyone in it has been nothing short of considerate, polite, and professional. Even when they act like this.
But how do you go about handling something like this without jeopardizing your own future? We have spoken up once and we ended up losing the clinical site for our school by doing so because the chief nurse was just as bad as the rest of them. So now, we just do not say anything.
Do not get me wrong, we run across some amazing nurses that are really helpful and we learn so much from them but the bad ones seem to outweigh the good ones. I just do not understand how someone like these nurses could manage to still have a job by acting this way. Is this what I have to look forward to when I graduate? At the very least, I can guarantee that when I do graduate, I will never treat onsite students this way.
I think your program manager needs to speak with the facility about the treatment of the students IF they are truly knocking you into the walls. This is highly unprofessional behavior and would not be tolerated in most facilities. Physically assaulting anyone is against the law.
By the same token....So is withholding patient assessment data from the staff is unprofessional and can be considered criminal negligence for there is intent to withhold the information on purpose.
You are going to find the mean girls/guys wherever you go...whatever profession you pursue. But be clear....you are not "saving those nurses" behinds. It is difficult to understand as a student that the floor runs whether you're there or not....that in fact, having the students on the floor actually makes a complicated day.
This can be, at times, very frustrating and time consuming for the staff for assisting the student and answer questions is an added responsibility that is very time consuming....one that they nurses do not get paid for but will be yelled at for if they are late signing out that day. The staff is there for the patients and NOT the students. You are there to learn and not withhold patient assessment information from the staff.
Those nurses are not there to be your instructor and as a general rule will have their staffing trimmed just because the students are there "to help" when actually that just double the workload of the staff because whether you are there or not they are the ones responsible for your patients. Adversarial relationships seldom produce productive behaviors or produce productive results.
NUrses are faced with increasing pressure from administrations to do more with less AND teach nursing students??? When it is clearly your instructors job. There will always be negativity and if this particular unit has an abundance remember not to apply there after graduation....for it is clear the management supports the nurses in this behavior.
If you get the opportunity to do a paper about nursing relationships in the workplace do one on Workplace Violence and Lateral Workplace Violence as a means to educate others. In this situation your time is limited.....you will not be staying there for any length of time. Consider the source and move on.
Remember....."NO one can make you feel inferior without your permission" Eleanor Roosevelt
I still help all new students and appreciate the help, I do ally own vitals and compare.
I find it most fair to myself, pt and student
I will be a student again in january, it's ADN program not a bridge, so no one will know I'm a nurse, I plans to do as asked and try and stay out of the way.
This happens a lot...the way to handle it is to do your best, smile and make a note never to treat students like that when the tables are turned. It takes all kinds but there is no excuse for bad behavior. Good luck and remember you will be done before you know it...=0)
Sometimes it is difficult to accept that as student nurses, we are at the bottom of the totem pole in the perspective of licensed, experienced nurses and we assert ourselves in ways and situations when it is inappropriate. Sometimes our position is all too clear to licensed, experienced nurses. and they feel the need to remind us in some subtle or not so subtle ways when the mood strikes them.Big clashes tend to happen when the extremes of those two perspectives meet.
At one clinical observation experience I had, one scheduled activity was to rotate to different units and observe nurses in 3 our areas of interest. One of my classmates had great interest in ICU nursing and asked to be taken to the unit for one of her observations. When we got there, one nurse was very verbal about her irritation with having to have a student around. Our host was beyond embarrassed by the nurse's behavior and assured us that it would not be tolerated. She took steps to confront the nurse in this situation and challenge the behavior.
In other clinical experiences, I have observed students who aren't adequately prepared for patient care create more issues for the staff than they solve. I see it from both perspectives. As an employee (especially when you have the kind of autonomy and responsibility that working nurses have) you develop a routine that structures your day that lets you complete assigned tasks efficiently so that you have time and opportunity to address acute issues and challenges as they arise. It can be very irritating and sometimes anxiety producing for a nurse to have her routine interrupted or interfered with by well meaning students. Their lack of experience sometimes hinders them from even understanding why their helpful hands are hindrances to any semblance of predictability her day might have had because they represent another variable that she must monitor, manage, and be held accountable for.
HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD
9,051 Posts
Mercy Me! Who exactly is running the show on this unit? Seems like there is a general lack of leadership - on both sides (unit & school).
First of all - the hospital/provider is ALWAYS RESPONSIBLE for the care of the patients... no matter how many students are there or what those students are doing. This is an immutable fact of life. The physician who wants to speak t0 the NURSE who is assigned to his/her patient is well aware of that fact. Any clinical instructor who jumps in and tries to influence this process is just asking for trouble. That clinical instructor should have made sure that the assigned nurse was aware of everything that is going on with the patient.
Secondly - dealing with behavioral issues such as inability of staff to 'get along' with students - is the responsibility of the nurse manager. He/she is responsible for ensuring that the interests and priorities of the organization are supported. I have never encountered any organization that did not have patient care as the highest priority - other things, such as supporting clinical training sites, are lesser priorities. If the manager is not aware of this situation (war between students & staff) , it is your clinical instructor's responsibility to do so. It is completely unethical for her to place personal job security at a higher priority than her primary responsibility - facilitating the education of her students. This sets a great example for her students, right?
I can guran-dang-tee you that if the leaders of the school and hospital are aware of this situation, they will fix it if they even have a modicum of professional integrity. The 'fix' will likely involve setting very clear behavioral expectations to enforce civility as well as concrete actions if the expectations are violated.
Sheesh.