Nursing instructor in the wrong

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.

How do you handle it when you hear/see the nursing instructor telling a student the wrong thing?

I have become the evil RN on her high-horse because I saw an instructor helping a student draw medicine up out of a glass amp with a regular needle. I spoke up (very professionally) by saying something like "Oh, here, let me get you a filtered needle for that!" She was fairly snotty and said that she doesn't ever use a filtered needle so I said, "Yeh but its the correct way, please don't use that on a patient."

Never intended to embarass her. I have heard her say several questionable things in the past related to meds (timing, indications, etc) but never corrected her or contradicted her except to call her out on the need to wear a mask when administering SL prograf (but that was just her and I in private)

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How do you handle it when you hear/see the nursing instructor telling a student the wrong thing?

I have become the evil RN on her high-horse because I saw an instructor helping a student draw medicine up out of a glass amp with a regular needle. I spoke up (very professionally) by saying something like "Oh, here, let me get you a filtered needle for that!" She was fairly snotty and said that she doesn't ever use a filtered needle so I said, "Yeh but its the correct way, please don't use that on a patient."

Never intended to embarass her. I have heard her say several questionable things in the past related to meds (timing, indications, etc) but never corrected her or contradicted her except to call her out on the need to wear a mask when administering SL prograf (but that was just her and I in private)

Never mind....I incorrectly assumed you're a student...I would just always address any issues you have with what she is doing, in private and certainly not in front of her students; if at all possible.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Cardiac Cath Lab.

I recommend that you should take your concerns to your manager and let him/her deal with the school directly. For many reasons, it sounds like that person should NOT be teaching students!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Peds, Ortho, LTC and MORE.

Good for you for being a patient advocate. You handled the situation very well, by saying that you would get a fliter needle for her. Her response was reinforcing an incorrect way of preparing medications from a glass ampule.

If you see her instructing a student again without using a filter needle, then you must once again stop both her and the student, and report this to the school of nursing- Dean of the Nursing Program. I would also inform the charge nurse and the unit director of what you have seen and what you did to correct the situation.

Hopefully the student will remember your statement and follow the correct and approved way to prepare/draw up medications from glass ampules in the future.

Again thank you for being a great patient advocate.

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Specializes in LDRP, Wound Care, SANE, CLNC.

I had an insturctor like that. Sure wish someone would have spoke to her about the crap she was telling me to do.

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Specializes in LTC.

I HAVE an instructor like that! We have gone to our lead instructor with our complaints (sleeping on the beds at the nursing home rotations to having to have a STUDENT teach many times because she didnt know how) and when that didnt work we went to the lead for all campuses. Well, THAT didnt even work! She is always giving us wrong information in class and has an answer for everything. I have had to relay the correct info to peers. I dont understand how these types of people can keep going on. If they dont know the correct way/answer say so then look it up and send it to your students. I wish I knew what else to do... Does the BON get involved if they were to "find" out? We have a 85% failing rate right now in the class because we are not being taught, we are being read to! Only our lab instructor actually SHOWS us anything! Ugggg, I am in need of some valuable information if anyone has any!

For those that may say that I am complaining because I am failing, Im not. I am actually leading the class at the moment. I just feel for the others that could have done so much better had they had the chance.:crying2:

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.
I HAVE an instructor like that! We have gone to our lead instructor with our complaints (sleeping on the beds at the nursing home rotations to having to have a STUDENT teach many times because she didnt know how) and when that didnt work we went to the lead for all campuses. Well, THAT didnt even work! She is always giving us wrong information in class and has an answer for everything. I have had to relay the correct info to peers. I dont understand how these types of people can keep going on. If they dont know the correct way/answer say so then look it up and send it to your students. I wish I knew what else to do... Does the BON get involved if they were to "find" out? We have a 85% failing rate right now in the class because we are not being taught, we are being read to! Only our lab instructor actually SHOWS us anything! Ugggg, I am in need of some valuable information if anyone has any!

For those that may say that I am complaining because I am failing, Im not. I am actually leading the class at the moment. I just feel for the others that could have done so much better had they had the chance.:crying2:

Thats as tough situation. Did you go to the Dean? My advice is to start documenting every occurence and someone to get in touch with the BON as soon as possible. Where are the nurses on the floor when she's sleeping in a room? The nurse manager at the nursing home? That reminds me of my time working at a mental institution. The night charge nurse over the whole hospital was addicted to oxycontin and would alternate between stumbling into the walls (literally) and falling asleep mid sentence. The lead nurses on the units covered for her and refused to notify administration until one night she hit a mobile home with her car. Yes, you read that correctly. She ran into an occupied trailer and then tried to insist she was able to work.

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How do you handle it when you hear/see the nursing instructor telling a student the wrong thing?

I have become the evil RN on her high-horse because I saw an instructor helping a student draw medicine up out of a glass amp with a regular needle. I spoke up (very professionally) by saying something like "Oh, here, let me get you a filtered needle for that!" She was fairly snotty and said that she doesn't ever use a filtered needle so I said, "Yeh but its the correct way, please don't use that on a patient."

Never intended to embarass her. I have heard her say several questionable things in the past related to meds (timing, indications, etc) but never corrected her or contradicted her except to call her out on the need to wear a mask when administering SL prograf (but that was just her and I in private)

Why must a filtered needle be used? I am assuming it's to filter any glass out, before injection?

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Specializes in LTC.

A letter was written tot he head of nursing for our campuses and instead of going ot her it went to the head of ALL the schools. The person that wrote the letter was questioned by the head of nursing and was spoken down to tremendously. She went back and said that everything was fine and it was all a misunderstanding. Some things would be fixed but even in the letter it stated that it wouldnt be until next year when it would be implemented. So, if someone sent something to the BON, can it be done annonomously? Would that person be singled out in having to prove everything? I have one semester left and I graduate. I want things to change but not if it means that I am relieved of my student "status". I am all for being and advocate but my family comes first. I mean that persons family would come first ;)

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.
Why must a filtered needle be used? I am assuming it's to filter any glass out, before injection?

Cracking open an ampule spews microscopic particles of glass. Injecting without a filtered needle has been proven to cause inflammatory reactions, phlebitis, and granuloma formation in animals.

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Specializes in NICU.
Why must a filtered needle be used? I am assuming it's to filter any glass out, before injection?

Yep. You may not be able to see the glass fragments that can fall into the med after you break the ampoule, but they can definitely do damage if you inject them into a patient. You draw up the dose through a filter needle then switch it out for a regular needle, blunt cannula (for needleless systems), etc.

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.
A letter was written tot he head of nursing for our campuses and instead of going ot her it went to the head of ALL the schools. The person that wrote the letter was questioned by the head of nursing and was spoken down to tremendously. She went back and said that everything was fine and it was all a misunderstanding. Some things would be fixed but even in the letter it stated that it wouldnt be until next year when it would be implemented. So, if someone sent something to the BON, can it be done annonomously? Would that person be singled out in having to prove everything? I have one semester left and I graduate. I want things to change but not if it means that I am relieved of my student "status". I am all for being and advocate but my family comes first. I mean that persons family would come first ;)

One would think you'd have to have a compelling reason to kick someone out of nursing school, especially if you were suddenly under scrutiny for possible issues in your program. HOWEVER as a nurse that will not relinquish her license until it is pried from her cold, dead hand...I can understand the concerns of that student. I'm sure that they could be reported anonymously, there should be information on where to send complaints on the state BON site. If this person has previously brought up issues it could possibly be evident that they were the person to complain, especially because I would recommend that you explain in any correspondance with the BON what was done (the letter), what was said (by the head of nursing) and that is likely to come up in any investigation. I'd like to say you wouldn't get any repercussions by being a whistle blower but you probably know as well as I do that there are injustices in the world

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