Fellow nurses...does this make sense?

[desert_MP]

The following pertains to a student nurse who is a personal friend of mine. Said person was in clinical and got to follow a patient for the day. This patient was intubated and being moved to interventional radiology for a procedure. In IR the patient's assigned nurse asked the student if they would like to insert the foley catheter before the case. As the student nurse had checked off this skill in lab they figured it would be a great opportunity. In the end all the student nurse was able to do was setup the sterile field and the nurse inserted the foley for the sake of time. (we've all been there)

At the post-clinical meeting the student nurse said they got to do a foley. That's when things turned for the worse. It's my understanding that at this school of nursing the student is not allowed to do any nursing skills without the instructor present. Their justification is that the instructors license is in jeopardy if the student messes up. I can't find ANY literature to back that claim up. The Illinois nurse practice act, from my interpretation, reads like their is protection for nurses and instructors in the event a student messes up. Can anyone find something different?

It's my opinion that this school is not utilizing best practice in effort to enable their students to learn with the few opportunities they can get. What are they trying to say? 1.) That they don't trust their own lab instructors who check the students off on clinical skills? 2.) They don't trust the staff nurse who is overlooking the student?

The nursing school I went to promoted all hands on! If I was trained in the skill and had a RN with me then dig in! The opportunities for IVs, foleys, etc are few and far between. I say take them!

Anyways, I'm baffled by the school's punishment of this student. As a professional I'm embarrassed by the outright lies of the clinical instructor. The instructor went to the administration and said that the student verbatim said they INSERTED the foley even when questioned and told that they were not allowed.

I won't list what the punishment was for privacy of the student but the fact that the clinical instructor went to such great lengths to lie and write up a sworn statement boggles my mind. Are clinical instructors so eager to eat their young? Did the student do anything wrong? I'm thinking of telling them they are going to the wrong nursing school!

[txnurse2014]

the student said he was the only free to push the med.which i dont see as an excuse for possible get kicked out of nursing school.the student was wrong but was let to graduate.

[sjalv]

In my program, we can do any skill we have been checked off on as long as we are supervised by a nurse. It doesn't have to be our clinical instructor. That being said, it doesn't matter what my or anyone else's program allows. If the student wasn't supposed to cath a patient without her instructor present, that's all there is to it. The time for challenging a policy like this is not after an infraction has occurred.

[eroc]

If it was school policy…why was the student so eager to state she got to do foley at post-conference? Apparently, she would not have been so eager to tell everyone, if she knew it was against school policy.

Looking back, I know almost everyone one of my clinical instructors, in nursing school, had very limited skills and should not be 'instructing' anyone. I even know a past co-worker that got FIRED for negligence….and now her new job is a clinical instructor.

Point is, being a instructor does not mean you should be.

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

When I went to school we were only allowed to do invasive procedures with the instructor present, even if we did those procedures on a daily basis as a PCT. We were told to make sure that we did not mix up our roles when we were in school versus at work. The instructor was VERY clear about this. She repeated it often. If she was not able to be there then the only thing we were allowed to do was OBSERVE the staff nurse do the procedure. As far as her being responsible for what we did as students, we were told this as well.

[dah doh, BSN, RN]

In nursing school, we were allowed to pass meds and do procedures with the clinical instructor or the assigned nurse if the nurse was willing to supervise. Vital signs and hygiene were independent after our first quarter sign offs. Of course that was quite a while ago.

Currently I work ICU. We have students a lot since we are a teaching hospital. The clinical instructors for all the nursing schools that come to our unit do NOT supervise their students for anything in our unit! The clinical instructor will come by and discuss the patient and ask what the student has done. The nursing student ALWAYS does anything the nurse allows with the assigned nurse only! I'm not sure how it is on med-surg though.

As for the OP, it sounds like there is more to the story than is stated.

[elkpark]

Looking back, I know almost everyone one of my clinical instructors, in nursing school, had very limited skills and should not be 'instructing' anyone. I even know a past co-worker that got FIRED for negligence….and now her new job is a clinical instructor.

Point is, being a instructor does not mean you should be.

While your point may be true, what does it have to do with whether or not a student violated the school's policy on performing invasive procedures in clinical? Are you suggesting that a lack of clinical expertise on the part of the instructor makes that okay?

[desert_MP, BSN, RN]

I'm sorry I haven't responded in forever (i'm the op) but I ran into this student a few weeks ago and they are doing well. The student is in a different nursing program and has had no issues. The clinical instructor she was having issues with resigned when she did not get the promotion she had been vying for. Granted this is coming from that student so it's hearsay. I agree with a lot of what you have all said--nursing school is designed to be difficult. I went into it with a head start as I had completed my military time just prior so the mind games and fast changing schedules were more like a joy ride. I explained to the student that you just have to do everything by the book. Say yes ma'm yes sir. Keep your head up and eyes forward. And most of all, just relax. You're not going to die because you failed a care plan.