From a student, to, hospital floor nurses...

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Sep 30, 2011

Frankly, my choice would be that the students just go someplace else and leave me be. Sorry, but you did say it was up to me, lol.

pockunit, ADN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

I'm sure your CI would appreciate it if you made it that easy to send you home for the day.

TeleRN311 · Sep 30, 2011

I will do my own vitals, my own code browns, and whatever else patient care needs done because it is my job. And you may need to take a look at how you come across because if it's the same way you come across here I'd prefer you not take my patients.

NrsCyn2011 · Sep 30, 2011

From student to student- glad you could vent. Now let's look at this situation from a different view. These nurses are sometimes overworked, overloaded, are human and also have their own problems to deal with aside from their patients and their families. If you expect to make it to the end of nursing school, dont take any of it personal. Find yourself a new nurse or just work quietly and you might actually be surprised at the results.

Remember, you don't have to be best friends but you do have to respect in order to be respected- and in all honesty, you may end up working with nurses who are not very personable on the floor when you are official. Does that mean you're going to quit? After all the studying, pulling all nighters, having no social life, having tense relationships, eating/sleeping/living the nursing books.

I think not. Bite the bullet and show them what you got.

Best of luck. Just don't forget where you came from when you become an official nurse, so that you don't make students feel the way you and many others do. :nurse:

mindlor · Sep 30, 2011

From student to student- glad you could vent. Now let's look at this situation from a different view. These nurses are sometimes overworked, overloaded, are human and also have their own problems to deal with aside from their patients and their families. If you expect to make it to the end of nursing school, dont take any of it personal. Find yourself a new nurse or just work quietly and you might actually be surprised at the results.
Remember, you don't have to be best friends but you do have to respect in order to be respected- and in all honesty, you may end up working with nurses who are not very personable on the floor when you are official. Does that mean you're going to quit? After all the studying, pulling all nighters, having no social life, having tense relationships, eating/sleeping/living the nursing books.
I think not. Bite the bullet and show them what you got.
Best of luck. Just don't forget where you came from when you become an official nurse, so that you don't make students feel the way you and many others do.

I promise you here and now that when I am official I will break my back to do all I can to help students.

Orange Tree · Sep 30, 2011

Students are always more work- even the very helpful ones. I try to make them feel welcome, but I usually don't have time to be as engaging as I would like to be. I was a student not so long ago, so I know it's easy to feel "ignored" when everyone seems too busy to bother with you.

I don't care if students help clean patients or take vitals. Those things are a lot less time consuming than "therapeutic communication". I'd rather have each student sit in a room with a patient (out of my way) and communicate their little therapeutic hearts out. So there!

MySonIsAdorable · Sep 30, 2011

I don't agree completely but I am glad that my instructors will pull me from a disruptive nurse. Because we are free labor, and EVERY nurse was in school at some point and maybe they forget that.

So possibly you need to assess what you are doing/saying before you do it and make sure that you are out of their way, do your best, be passionate about learning, and do not give them attitude because they are your superiors in several ways..and then hopefully they will want to teach you. If not then go to your instructors & they should help you. If not then ask yourself, "how bad do you want it"

Hopefully you don't take offense to this but I am just trying to help. You know there is a great thread about how to act at clinicals...and it really helped me!

ErinS, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2011

I understand where you are coming from, but I think you will surprised when you start working how difficult it is to have students. There is an interesting phenomena when you are a nurse. It is very difficult when you are first starting to manage your time with a student, and by the time you are good at managing your time, it has actually become difficult for you to describe to a student what you are doing, why, and how you decided it needed to be done in that order.

Of course, at the same time nurses are overworked, underpaid, facing increasing demands on their time, and deal with some truly obnoxious students. I really like having students with me, but I have had students that made me NEVER want another student! For yourself, as a student, be a professional. Don't let it worry you if the nurse you are following is not a professional. Do your best for the patients, and if your nurse is not terribly helpful, figure out other resources for learning. Remember, as a new nurse you will need these skills in accessing resources anyways.

nurseygurlie · Sep 30, 2011

I think you are failing to realize that the patient is the legal responsibility of the nurse. If the nurse needs to focus on the patient, or the other patients, or the tasks at hand, then teaching a student is going to be the least priority. I have spent many clinicals hanging back, going through charts or finding other things to get involved in because my nurse wasn't thrilled to have me or was too busy to deal with me. You can't take offense, you just need to find your own opportunities to learn. If it's really bad, talk to your clinical instructor and ask her if there is anything going on that you can see or participate in.

Students are a liability and clinical spots are not plentiful, we should be grateful for the chance to learn in the environment, rather than spiteful towards the people that work there.

brielle776 · Sep 30, 2011

I understand where you are coming from, but I think you will surprised when you start working how difficult it is to have students. There is an interesting phenomena when you are a nurse. It is very difficult when you are first starting to manage your time with a student, and by the time you are good at managing your time, it has actually become difficult for you to describe to a student what you are doing, why, and how you decided it needed to be done in that order.
Of course, at the same time nurses are overworked, underpaid, facing increasing demands on their time, and deal with some truly obnoxious students. I really like having students with me, but I have had students that made me NEVER want another student! For yourself, as a student, be a professional. Don't let it worry you if the nurse you are following is not a professional. Do your best for the patients, and if your nurse is not terribly helpful, figure out other resources for learning. Remember, as a new nurse you will need these skills in accessing resources anyways.

As I student I am asking why there are so many nurses that complain about being "underpaid". Can someone please describe whether by underpaid you mean not paid enough for the job your doing because it's stressful, tiring, and you have an overload of patients, or do you mean that you are just not paid enough at all like you are making under 20 an hour? You can't afford to feed your family or pay bills? Because when I hear so many nurses saying they are underpaid it really worries me, I have over 20,000 dollars in student loans and if I get out of school and can't pay them because I'm that underpaid I would just like to know now so I can prepare for that.

juliaann · Sep 30, 2011

As a fellow nursing student who has had the full range of positive to negative interactions with the staff nurses in clinicals, all I have to say is I've learned for me it's very important not to take it personally. You're there to learn, but if the nurse is too busy to hold your hand or just doesn't want a student, find other opportunities to make the best out of your time in the hospital! After taking care of my assigned patient/s and getting what I need for my care plan, I just find work...I ask the other nurses if there's anything I can help them with or observe. I ask the techs if there's anything I can help them with. I ask my clinical instructor to check me off on something or show me something new. I answer call bells. I clean. I read references. I listen every time anyone says anything, and I look up anything I don't know instead of wasting their time by asking. Learning really is what you make of it. It is not all about the staff nurses attitude. Some people are fantastic teachers. Some people have bad days. Some people are burned out. You can't let it make you bitter. Whatever. I'm there to learn, and I'm going to try my hardest to learn everything I can, even if no ones going to hold my hand.

And I'm going to help with vitals and code browns (and therapeutic communication) because I need the practice, not because I'm doing the nurse any favors.