Great Clinical Instructor

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 6, 2007

Don't forget to be sure to give her terrific faculty evaluations -- or whatever your school calls them. Nurses (and students) so often forget to do that sort of thing well. They'll buy a present, but forget that the person they want to thank has a career that needs to be supported. By giving your instructor a great course eval, it will help her in a professional way that is important for her success, job securtiy, promotion, etc. It only takes a few minutes to give that kind of input to her supervisors and it provides a meaningful and lasting benefit that can improve the quality of her career and personal life.

As for a physical token of your appreciation ... I would stay away from knick-knacks and other things that are of not much practical use (unless you know for a fact that she has a collection or special affection for a certain type of item). Teachers (and other career women) collect lots of that kind of stuff over the years and after a while, it just becomes more clutter than needs to be disposed of.

If she is a clinical instructor, she is probably grossly underpaid and could probably use a gift that would give her (or help her pay for) something she might struggle to afford. For example -- a gift certificate to a book store, or a spa -- or even a general gift card -- along with a nice note and a few flowers, a candle, a gourmet treat, or something like that. The "little something" is pretty and brings an immediate smile to her face ... and the gift card lets her buy something she needs or wants, but may have trouble affording.

Kiringat · Nov 6, 2007

My clinical group this time around has a couple of sewing machine skilled people in it, so we're giving our instructor a really great custom lab coat at the end of the semester. It'll have her name embroidered on it and everything. We know she needs a new one, and a good quality lab coat can get pretty expensive.

APBT mom, LPN, RN · Nov 6, 2007

We had one instructor that was doing a double clinical rotation Mon-Thurs from 11-10 just because she didn't want us to have a sub/part time instructor that we weren't familiar with. All she would talk about was how she used to love and sit at Starbucks before class to get organized. On the last day we got her a nice card and a $20 gift certificate to Starbucks and she said that it was the best thing any clinical group had given her because it was something she could actually use. So I would see what she likes by asking her what she does for relaxation or fun and then go from there so you know what you get she will enjoy.

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Nov 6, 2007

Don't forget to be sure to give her terrific faculty evaluations -- or whatever your school calls them. Nurses (and students) so often forget to do that sort of thing well. They'll buy a present, but forget that the person they want to thank has a career that needs to be supported. By giving your instructor a great course eval, it will help her in a professional way that is important for her success, job securtiy, promotion, etc. It only takes a few minutes to give that kind of input to her supervisors and it provides a meaningful and lasting benefit that can improve the quality of her career and personal life.
As for a physical token of your appreciation ... I would stay away from knick-knacks and other things that are of not much practical use (unless you know for a fact that she has a collection or special affection for a certain type of item). Teachers (and other career women) collect lots of that kind of stuff over the years and after a while, it just becomes more clutter than needs to be disposed of.
If she is a clinical instructor, she is probably grossly underpaid and could probably use a gift that would give her (or help her pay for) something she might struggle to afford. For example -- a gift certificate to a book store, or a spa -- or even a general gift card -- along with a nice note and a few flowers, a candle, a gourmet treat, or something like that. The "little something" is pretty and brings an immediate smile to her face ... and the gift card lets her buy something she needs or wants, but may have trouble affording.

:yeahthat:

The only thing I'll add is to emphasized how important a nice note or card which everyone has signed would be. Let her know in words as well as actions how much you all appreciate her. That's something she can look at and read at times when she really needs some encouragement.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Nov 6, 2007

We gave out CIs gift cards to restaurants.

I love the idea of a lab coat though...that is really special.