Strange Nursing Student

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I previously posted this in the Men and Nursing forum, but was told it was in the wrong place. So I'll try again.

I am a nurse at a large medical center in Raleigh-Durham, NC. Every Thursday and Friday, a group of students from a local community college come to my unit for clinicals. Overall, the students are wonderful and we are grateful for their help during their clinical time. However, there is one student who greatly stands out from the rest. To put it bluntly, he is downright strange. He spent 10 weeks on my unit over the summer, during which time no one ever saw him display any kind of emotion, empathy, or anything towards his patients, other students, or nurses on the unit. He walks around like he is in a daze, often idly pacing up and down the unit for no apparent reason. I've witnessed him go into patient rooms without even introducing himself, and do shoddy assessments in which he appeared uneasy about touching the patient. I've seen him practically beg other students to help his patients with their ADLs, as he was too embarrassed. In addition, he has made several nurses on the unit uncomfortable with his cold stares, and occasionally strange comments. For example, one morning he walked into the break room, which was full of women, and muttered "yeast infection" and turned bright red from trying to withhold his laughter. That was just strange and inappropriate!!

I've talked to his clinical instructor about this guy's obvious lack of social skills, empathy, and behavior that is almost antisocial in nature. But what worries me most is, how come any school would allow such an inept person to be in the nursing program in the first place. I don't think that he could possibly ever make a good nurse, unless perhaps he was in a clinical setting that required minimal social skills, such as the OR where patients are under anesthesia.

Anyway, sorry for the rant here ... my question for the board is, what do y'all think of this situation? Am I overreacting? Or is there cause for my concern?

Thanks for your time.

I agree w/those who regret nursing schools that base entry requirements on academics. I think interviews are a must. Not everyone who is brilliant needs to be in contact with humans who are suffering. This guy, if he is as bad as you say, has no place in bedside nursing. It's sad.

You actually bring up a great point. He has no place in BEDSIDE nursing. There are lots of various nursing careers out there but we all have to go through the same clinicals anyway.

A 50 y/o friend of mine just finished nursing school a few months ago. She didn't care for school, absolutely hated clinicals, but she went back to work for her old company doing research. Before school she was a tech, after school she's a supervisor. She still works with rats and does all the same stuff as before but now she tripled her income.

Edit to add... wouldn't you have to have a bizarre personality to torture little rats all day long? LOL

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
my question for the board is, what do y'all think of this situation? Am I overreacting? Or is there cause for my concern?

He is an odd one, isn't he? No, you're not over-reacting, but you have done as much as someone in your situation can do. I would keep reporting his odd behavior or failure to do his assigned student work to his instructor. As long as he remains in the nursing program and shows up on your unit you'll just have to put up with him. There must be some reason the school keeps him on that you are not aware of and will probably never know about.

I wonder what made this guy choose nursing ? very strange indeed. it does seem like he has some type of autism or just might be downright weird.

I'm not a nurse yet, but I would be careful if you do press the issue. you never know if this guy is harmelss or not. He might totally go off, you never know.

When I was in my counseling program i had a professor who implied that counseling was not for me. To make a long story short, it wasn't. It was boring and I didn't feel like I was helping anyone. Had I figured that out before i wouldn't have wasted 2 yrs and $$ on a masters degree, SO if he figures out that 'nursing' is not for him, it may be a blessing for him and he can move on. It sounds like he is very early in his program so he still may not make it to the actual employment world. Very strange, be careful , and keep us informed !

Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

I hope you don't feel overly flamed for my response to your similar post on another thread. You were quite a bit more desciptive, here, and I can imagine I would be pretty concerned, as well. In the previous context, I thought you might mean to imply that men in general tend to be emotionally distant or otherwise unsuited to be nurses, but I apologize for reading more into your statement than you apparently intended.

I think anyone who cares about our profession must recognize the need to police ourselves. If we "mind our own business" to the point of overlooking unsafe or unethical behaviors, we do a disservice to nursing and to our patients. I think you were quite right to bring your concerns to the attention of your instructor.

At the same time, there is a risk in being overly concerned with another's fitness to be a nurse. I would argue that merely finding someone "strange" is not, in itself, a basis to question their practice. I have a casual acquaintance I worked with for a time who was, by many people's standards, a bit odd. He was, and is, rather reserved and quiet. A nurse I work with described him as having a "flat affect," and while I couldn't disagree with her, I would also add that he was very bright, hard-working, scrupulously honest, and generally a decent guy. His was not what I would call an ideal personality for a bedside nurse, but since graduating he has been very successful in an ICU setting. He may not be the most personable nurse around, but his technical skills are excellent and I can't imagine anyone faulting his work ethic or dedication. When I last spoke to him, he was planning to go on to become a CRNA, and I don't doubt his ability to do so. I think it would have been a shame for nursing to lose this person, simply because he wasn't the most charming conversationalist.

But the situation you describe is clearly different. Neglecting a patient is a very serious shortcoming. Like others, I'm surprised your instructors haven't taken more direct action. I don't feel able to advise whether you should take your concerns to a higher authority, but I would recommend discretion. It may be that corrective actions are in progress that you aren't aware of. In any case, it sounds like you have discharged your duty by reporting your concerns to the proper authority. It would, of course, be comforting to know what is being done about it, but in most cases it would be inappropriate for your instructor to share that information with you.

I wonder what made this guy choose nursing ? very strange indeed. it does seem like he has some type of autism or just might be downright weird.

I should have mentioned this before. One day I did ask him why he chose to go into nursing. His response ... "because when I was majoring in chemistry the classes were too hard." Nothing about wanting to help people, or any of the typical reasons we usually hear.

The person who mentioned "flat affect," that is exactly what I was trying to get across when describing this guy. That description fits him to a T. I just didn't think of those words earlier!

oh man that is bad. I seriously don't think he will make it out of school.

Specializes in ICU, step down, dialysis.

He sounds to me like he has Asperger's Syndrome...a condition my twin brother has. They have alot of autistic like symptoms. My brother used to have terrible social skills, and in school was just tormented by the kids for being different. He comes across when you first meet him as odd or strange, but now that we are both older, he really seems to have gotten much better. But he cannot hold down any more than a menial job, God love him. He can be absolutely brilliant in some areas, but social skills and gestures are lacking.

When we graduated from high school, he was "forced" to go into teaching by my mother, and he somehow made it through, but was quickly terminated after he graduated when he worked as a substitute. He had no business being a teacher, bless his heart. He never worked as a teacher again. He's perfectly happy doing his data entry position, and I am proud that he is able to work and live independently as he has done so for the past several years. But he really could never do anything like nursing or teaching.

I should have mentioned this before. One day I did ask him why he chose to go into nursing. His response ... "because when I was majoring in chemistry the classes were too hard." Nothing about wanting to help people, or any of the typical reasons we usually hear.

The person who mentioned "flat affect," that is exactly what I was trying to get across when describing this guy. That description fits him to a T. I just didn't think of those words earlier!

Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

Just a thought...was that nursing student exclusively home schooled as a kid? Honestly, I have never met a home-schooled student who was ever socially "normal". Not to say that they are not out in there and existing. I just personally have not met one.

TweetiePie,

Judging by your comment, you don't know many homeschoolers. As a homeschool graduate who is now a nursing student, I find your post insulting and unsubstantiated. Not only am I enjoying nursing school, but I socialize with fellow classmates and have made some good friends. I excel in the classroom by not only getting good grades, but also by interacting with my professors. Overall, I'm a pretty normal kid. I've met some other homeschool grads in nursing school and they are very outgoing socially, friendly, and just friends to have. :)

I was homeschooled, too, and I am often complimented by patients and their families on my bedside manner. I am reasonably comfortable in social situations. I do know a few homeschoolers who are socially awkward, though. I don't really think they're the majority and I do agree that you were overgeneralizing, TweetiePie.

I also think it sounds like this boy has asperger's. I am SHOCKED that his instructors haven't intervened earlier. I would have laid the SMACK DOWN over the bath issue! As a nurse on the floor I think all you can do is voice your concerns to the instructor. If the instructor is not appropriate you can voice your concerns about HER to the Director of Nursing at the school. Maybe, like others have suggested, he will do well in a research position (she says skeptically...)

Totally inappropriate. I would have failed clinicals if I had left any patient in urine.

People get written warnings for this in the real job world.

If I managed that unit, and this happened, I would actually bypass the instructor and go straight to the coordinator for clinicals. And, if improvement didn't show up really really fast, I'd just reuse to let the units patients be put at risk.

The student is working under the instructors license, the instructor surely should be supervising more carefully, as any issue he has can be a mark on her license, not his.

I'm sorry if her has some sort of mental handicap, but he is clearly not treating patients appropriately. :angryfire

Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
Anyway, sorry for the rant here ... my question for the board is, what do y'all think of this situation? Am I overreacting? Or is there cause for my concern?Thanks for your time.

I think you did the right thing to discuss your concerns with his nursing instructor. It is the instructor's responsibility to see that the student behaves appropriately. You did just fine, you reported it and now should just let it go. It is the instructors problem, do not make it yours any longer. Approaching him directly may only cause much bigger problems for you if he is strange and cold.

I do think several posters on here are cofusing me/you as I posted a thread about a strange graduate nurse. Boy oh boy did I get roasted for supposedly picking on the strange graduate nurse. I only asked for an opinion. I hope you have a better response.

TweetiePie,

Judging by your comment, you don't know many homeschoolers. As a homeschool graduate who is now a nursing student, I find your post insulting and unsubstantiated. Not only am I enjoying nursing school, but I socialize with fellow classmates and have made some good friends. I excel in the classroom by not only getting good grades, but also by interacting with my professors. Overall, I'm a pretty normal kid. I've met some other homeschool grads in nursing school and they are very outgoing socially, friendly, and just friends to have. :)

Here is a portion of my post that you are referring to...."Honestly, I have never met a home-schooled student who was ever socially "normal". Not to say that they are not out in there and existing. I just personally have not met one."

Maybe you should reread that post, but not read too deep into it.

FYI. I have known lots! 4 of my cousins from Nevada are/were home schooled (They are from 2 families). Years ago, I babysat for a family whose 2 children were homeschooled. I had neighbors down the street growing up who were homeschooled k-12. I went to elementary with a large number of home schooled children because (I cannot remember the actual reason behind this) a large influx of homeschooled children ended up in our class. No, none of them were related. Then this happened again in high school...a large influx of home schooled children starting attending. Then when I was taking some classes in college (before nursing school) a couple of our study partners had been home-schooled up until 12th grade.

So, as you can plainly see, I know LOTS of them! I also stated that just because I haven't met a socially "normal" homeschooler doesn't mean they are not out there. I wrote that in plain English and it's unfortunate you either did not see that or just chose to ignore it. I am not going to apologize for offending you...if you would have read the post in its entirety, then you would have understood where I was coming from.

It seems no matter how something is written, there is always someone claiming to be offended:uhoh3:

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