Mean nursing instructors

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Has anyone failed nursing on here and felt it was the attitude of the nursing staff. I have never failed classes, but I have failed clinicals twice and I felt like I was treated unfairly. Any suggestions?:rolleyes:

I'm sorry. I don't see anything wrong with what the instructor did.

Instructor's have the right to give a make up exam in any format - at least at my school they do. They typically don't, but they can. And each instructor is allowed to address each student as they see fit.

If the instructor did something unfair to YOU - which you still haven't divulged - then I would see your program director. Otherwise, stay out of it.

Unless there is a specific situation that applied to you, this is really all just gossip, and gossip is unprofessional. I feel like professionalism is important, even if you are just a student. Of course there will be bad instructors--not every teacher is a good one, unfortunately. If you personally have a bad experience with a teacher, I would talk to the teacher herself/himself about the situation. Show them that you are a professional--ask for advice, ask what you could do better next time (even if you think you were in the right, it's at least worth finding out their perspective about the situation). Even if they're a horrible instructor, if you talk to them honestly and professionally, they will have more respect for you than if you gossip about them amongst your classmates. And you never know...even if they're a horrible teacher, they may have connections that could help you one day. Don't burn bridges, be professional, move on.

I'm starting nursing school in August. We have 2 instructors. I know one of them but the other one, not so much. I was talking to a student who just graduated from the program last month and she was telling me that unless I wanted to get on instructor #2's bad side, that I shouldn't ever email her, call her, ask her questions, or bother her in any way. All inquiries should be directed to instructor #1. The other one sounds like a real gem, huh?

Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

When I failed I first blamed my instructor because at one point she told me I should not be a nurse. She made clinicals very hard for me and nothing was good enough. In looking back at it, it really was my fault, I was not doing what was needed or expected. I passed the 2nd time through when I readjusted my own attitude.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
When I failed I first blamed my instructor because at one point she told me I should not be a nurse. She made clinicals very hard for me and nothing was good enough. In looking back at it, it really was my fault, I was not doing what was needed or expected. I passed the 2nd time through when I readjusted my own attitude.

Wow ... someone actually capable of learning and growing as the result of doing some honest reflection and soul-searching. That's terrific. I'd hire someone with that ability and attitude any day over people who always blame others for their poor performance.

I notice that this thread was from 2008. I wonder why the OP never told us why she was failed or gave us any more information.

I just try and keep my mouth shut and get my work done. This negates the 'mean instructor' thing, at least in my experience.

One student in my clinicals is so clumsy and slow I don't know whether to laugh or to just feel sorry for her. She struggles with literally everything. The clinical instructor has a very obvious bulls eye on this student and is brutally tough on her. Its cut throat but your caring for peoples lives.

I do get frustrated and lose sleep over missing test questions that contradict the book and having the instructor refuse to discuss it, that's the worst part of nursing school IMO.

I've seen too much defense of nurse instructors in this thread. Bullying behavior is more than merely unpleasant. It's unsafe. It severely harms the learning process.

As far as complaining to higher-ups, what good does that do when they are often part of the problem, and bullying is so difficult to prove. The culprits easily conceal their wrongdoings.

See Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 40: Behaviors that undermine a culture of safety. See Robert Sapolsky's research that proved how stress, which includes stress from being bullied, suppresses neuronal development. Instructors and clinicians who are toxic to students literally stupefy their students and then bully them further for the poor performance that was caused by the hostile instructors and clinicians.

There is lots more out there about bullying and unprofessional behaviors in nursing. It's a widespread problem that has been around for a very long time and is known by most people who are familiar with nursing.

Wow, I have to completely agree with the post above me. It's not okay and it doesn't help anyone learn better in an enviroment were you are scared to ask questions for fear of standing out and making things worse. IK have always respected authority figures but I am still in awe of the whole dynamics that is nusing school. Never has anything shaken my confidence or made me feel like a 5 year old child like the fun I am experiencing now. This whole semester I have just quietly kept my mouth zipped tight even when I know something is completely wrong or unfair because no matter how black and white we are wrong and they will always be right, and it seems to even attempt in a friendly way to question them you are setting yourself up for hell. It is bullying and there isn't anything that I have found that you can do other then trying to blend in as much as possible.

Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

I have learned the most from the instructors that have been the toughest on me.

In my experience, my clinical instructors really lean on their students to see who cracks and who rises above. If you crack under a little pressure, what are the chances you'll be able to be an effective nurse? All the knowledge in the world won't help you to keep a cool head.

In the real world you won't be able to choose your colleagues. You might have to work with someone who makes you miserable or stresses you out. You can't let that affect the quality of care you give your patients.

I just finished 4 weeks with a woman who I thought was an absolute harridan at the outset. I decided after the first week that I had stood up to meaner people and she certainly wasn't going to be the one to get the best of me. This woman cracked two of my classmates on the floor. But now she and I can banter like old hands because she leaned on me and I didn't bend. I took her criticism and her ribbing and her sarcasm and I never let it get to me. I feel like I learned something incredibly important that had nothing to do with textbook knowledge.

So if you have a nursing instructor who is particularly hard on you, take a step back and try to look at yourself objectively. You might be surprised by what you see.

I have learned the most from the instructors that have been the toughest on me.

In my experience, my clinical instructors really lean on their students to see who cracks and who rises above. If you crack under a little pressure, what are the chances you'll be able to be an effective nurse? All the knowledge in the world won't help you to keep a cool head.

In the real world you won't be able to choose your colleagues. You might have to work with someone who makes you miserable or stresses you out. You can't let that affect the quality of care you give your patients.

I just finished 4 weeks with a woman who I thought was an absolute harridan at the outset. I decided after the first week that I had stood up to meaner people and she certainly wasn't going to be the one to get the best of me. This woman cracked two of my classmates on the floor. But now she and I can banter like old hands because she leaned on me and I didn't bend. I took her criticism and her ribbing and her sarcasm and I never let it get to me. I feel like I learned something incredibly important that had nothing to do with textbook knowledge.

So if you have a nursing instructor who is particularly hard on you, take a step back and try to look at yourself objectively. You might be surprised by what you see.

There is a huge difference between being an instructor being tough on a student and creating an enviroment where students become so intimidated by their instructors that they cannot even ask simple questions. I don't know that you were replying to my post at all but I just wanted to be clear that I am not in the least a weak or unassertive person. I have worked already in many high stress and high pressure jobs quite successfully and from my experience I don't think being able to handle those situations is something you cna be taught, you just either can or cannot function well under stress. So this being said, I still don't find there to be any benefit of creating this sort of learning enviroment.

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