We took a stand against our Clinical Instructor...

[NightOwl0624]

>>> Sorry - this is a big vent and may be very long!!

Today we took a stand against our clinical instructor (and now I'm a little worried).

Our CI is new to the school and new to the hospital. She was a last minute replacement, but claims she has 10 years teaching experience. We are half way into our rotation.

The earliest she has arrived was 15 minutes late - and that was on the first day. Since then, she insisted that we start clinicals 1 hour early (which put a strain on some of our schedules), and has been at least 30 minutes late every day.

When she does show up, she only has a list of patients on the floor. She does not check with the head nurse about who is getting discharged. She does not check the medication chart about what kinds of meds (and what time) the patient will get. She brings in her list and randomly assigns us a patient... AFTER we have already been waiting up to 45 minutes for her to show up! We usually do not hit the floor for 2-2.5 hours after our clinical started. Sometimes we end up with nothing to do (due to discharges and no meds to pass). She told us to bring our books to study, and to hide in the conference room:banghead:

There are other frustrations - wasting time talking endlessly about herself, her family, every health problem she has ever had, etc, etc...

Although I would not say she is mean to us, she can be condescending to some of the patients (behind their backs), primarily the overweight or mentally impaired.

Our professors that teach the theory part of the class are aware of the problems (heard it from the grapevine, I guess), but can't do anything about it. They have been supportive of us, and have given us some advice.

The official school policy is that a student must wait 10 minutes for an instructor to show up. Our professor said that certainly after 20 minutes we can assume they will be absent.

So.. today, we waited 20 minutes, then as a group, got up and left. We all went home. I really wanted to talk to her first (as a group) and then leave tomorrow if she is late again, but I agreed to go with the majority.

Now I am really worried. This woman will be writing our evaluations. I know she will be angry, and have no idea what will happen tomorrow. I think we have enough documentation to put administration on our side, but this could get really ugly.

Anyone ever had anything like this happen to them???

[NurseJeanB]

Michigangirl,

I totally agree with wildchipmunk and could not have said it any better. I am so sorry you had such a horrible experience. Maybe you can have a recorder in your pocket during pre and post conference going forward. I hope your instructor behaves herself for the rest of the term, and does not take it out on you. I believe she got an earful from the DON.

Hang in there, and hugs,

Jean

[blackberry4eva]

well, the only thing i have to say is you are better off then me because we pray that our ci doesn't show up! i think she has bi-polar disorder and you just don't know what to expect when you come for clinical!

[DermNP2Be]

Lol! That was our nursing dx for our CI- Bipolar Disorder! We even came up with interventions, haha!

[Sis123]

Please, people; go to http://www.ratemyprofessor.com and put your own rating and comments and help out those who follow you. This website is about the only thing as far as a "consumer's report" for professors and college instructors!

Please DO IT!

[iwillbnrn1day]

ohh recorder would be a nice slap in the face:trout: :sofahider

[DermNP2Be]

Yes it would, but illegal.

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

well, the only thing i have to say is you are better off then me because we pray that our ci doesn't show up! i think she has bi-polar disorder and you just don't know what to expect when you come for clinical!

man, i bet there's a whole bunch of us who'd sign up for that club!! as if ns wasn't hard enough, to deal with this type of person far beats the stress of any test on any day. and it's especially frustrating when you're an adult (many years beyond 21) and are really and truly trying to learn and do a good job, rather than trying to be "wallpaper" as someone else mentioned in an effort to just get out of school as a gn with half your brain cells (and no stroke from the stress) and then finally learn the job.

[NightOwl0624]

I so totally agree! I don't know why people in general don't create paper trails- you see it on court shows everyday. I can't stress the importance of that enough!! Honestly, the opportunity to sign a written complaint should've been taken advantage of, but that's now water under the bridge. So far, you guys only have a little leg to stand on... now IMHO if you were brave enough to walk out, you need to be brave enough to file something written regarding what she said to you all. If you don't, you may find yourself wishing you had.

Yes, you are right. I just spent the last 2 hours typing all of my notes and documentation since the beginning (I started taking notes right away, and no one else has documented anything). Some of the group wants to back off, others want her fired by next week! I just want this rotation to end! I'm not much for confrontation. She seems like a nice enough person. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I have a feeling I will be meeting the dean very soon.

[Heloisea3]

Wow! I don't think my clinical group would have stuck together like that, and I don't know that I would have had the guts to do what you all did. Your instructor seems very unprofessional, but sometimes you get better results when you maintain professionalism yourself even with unprofessional people. I understand your frustration, but I think you all should have tried a little more diplomacy first and went up the chain of command by addressing her first, the clinical coordinator second, the dean third, etc., etc.. Afterall, this is what will be expected of you when you graduate. Sometimes people are not aware of how inconsiderate they are and how much they frustrate others until it is pointed out to them. Sometimes when you jump the gun and use extreme measures as a first resort instead of a last one, the situation escalates. I would be worried about the possibility of having her for another clinical/class or one of her friends. As a former teacher, I can tell you that some instructors stick together as much as students do, and they discuss everything, including "problem" students . As of now, though, I woud make sure to document everything, especially her threat. Do as others suggested by keeping a paper trail. Hopefully, your CI will calm down in a few days and realize that she instigated the problem. Anyway, I hope the rest of your semester goes well and that you have a great clinical instructor next semester. Good luck!!! :nuke:

[tanthalas]

Michigangirl, your clinical instructor seems like an absolute sweetheart, lol. Don't stop fighting - it's your education and your patient's care you're fighting for. I must say it's well worth the strugle.

[shock-me-sane]

I hate the way that nursing school is structured. But if I were you, I would let sleeping dogs lie. I had a horrible experience with a lecture instructor and a group project was threatened by her coming back and saying we were guilty of plagerism and we had better keep our mouths shut less the whole class suffer. We didn't plagerize, she had already graded our paper and because someone questioned it, she retaliated. The DON said it was up to her discretion.

I feel like I lost a lot of pride in myself, but because of the group I kissed a** and did what the instructer wanted. I ended up with a B in that course, my worst grade in NS. But I found that when it comes down to it instructors and DONs will defend their own despite the facts. Even the chair over the natural science department balked when confronted with the information, the cold hard facts that we had.

I guess I wasn't strong enough to stand up long enough to effect immediate change for the sake of the whole, but I am happy to know that this prof is no longer on tenure track and likely on her way out.

NS is a complicated game. I hate it and am glad to almost be done.

All the best to you. I don't envy your situation.

[justme1972]

I hope you actually SAW that policy in the student handbook....that myth has been going around at about every college in the country...and I have yet to see someone that has ever actually SEEN it in a college handbook....and that is where all of you can get into trouble.

You need to understand that clinical hours for a nursing program is regulated by the state...so if everyone leaves, you will have to make up the day. You WILL have to make up the day.

Personally, I think the action was childish and cowardly. The college has a process for complaints and your group, instead of utilitizing it, took the easy way out.

Very unprofessional....so is the CI, but two wrong's don't make a right.

Not every hospital is busy...your CI can do nothing about the discharges or the med passes....some days it's busy, some days it's not...she doesn't choose the hospital or the floor.

Be thankful that you don't have a mean CI.