What to do about a bad instructor?

[luv4nursing]

Hello,

Im currently in an LPN program, Im more than halfway done with the program. Im a good student and have had no problems maintaining a high average so far. Its hard work and time consuming but Ive got it down pat what I have to do now, or at least I thought I did.

We have a teacher in her early 50s who I believe is menopausal and strongly believe she is most likely bipoloar or has some kind of chemical imbalance. We used to joke about it but I really think she is. Right now she teaches us one day a week for class and I can put up with her craziness for one day, but now we are getting her for the next 6 weeks of clinicals and thats 3 more days a week. This means we will have to put up with what is basically verbal abuse 4 days a week now.

This woman is hot and cold. She will be nice and smiling one minute and the next minute u could say something or ask something she doesnt like and she will GO OFF on you and belittle u in front of the whole class. She has brought several students to tears or made them so mad they want to quit and thats just from FILLING in for another teacher in clinicals. Imagine having her for the full rotation. She will scream at students at the top of her lungs in the hospital in front of patients an also on the floor to where u could hear her at the other end of the floor. Even a patient said the other day to a student she was yelling at "There is something wrong with that lady." The way she treats the students is completely uncalled for. Weve had other strict instructors but they are constructive in their criticism and never belittle us or scream at us. They are fair. And if they have a problem it would be addressed privately and not yelled across the hospital floor. I could give u more specific examples of her behavior but this is getting to long. But trust me, its very bad. I can put up with strict, but not psycho.

Ok, now the problem is nobody wants to do anything about it bc they are afraid that it will only become worse if we got her in trouble and she is tenured(sp) so we know shes not getting fired. And even if she did it would only mess up our anicipated graduation bc there is no one to fill the position. They cant even get subs. There are so many politics at our school nothing would probably done and the students who complained would be identified by name and she would make their life that much worse for it. Also u cannot confront her about her behavior or thats grounds for her to throw the biggest fit ever. She is also known to get students kicked out of the program. So basically everyone hates her but is afraid of getting kicked out for causing controversy, or she would make it so bad for them they would quit.

I am dreading the next 6 weeks of school and dont know if I will be able to make it through if this is how she continues to treat us students. Does anyone have any suggestions on what can be done? Im so stressed over this.

[z's playa]

I would confront her .....but that's just me. I would never put up with that...from anyone.

Maybe you'll be surprised and get an apology and an improvement.

Maybe

[dustydog]

I would confront her too. As soon as she started a screaming fit, my hand would be up and I'd tell her to "Stop". Tell her you are there to learn, not to be humiliated. Have a witness and write the matter up and give it to her bosses. Don't let her craziness get in the way of your goals. No one deserves to be treated this way. Unfortunately it probably won't stop until you stand up to her. Good luck.

[IMustBeCrazy]

Have someone in your rotation carry a cassette recorder. When she has one of her fits, hit record and hold it up so she can see.

Guarantee that will work!

Edited to add: They can't impact your graduation date btw if they fire her or if she leaves. It would be a huge breach of contract (which is what you and the university agreed to when you signed up for class). So, don't even worry about it or let administration scare you with that tactic. I guarantee you they would find someone to replace her, even if it's the dean of the nursing program!

IMBC

[catrn10]

She sounds oddly familiar to me. I had several instructors behave in such a manner. None taught for more an a couple of semesters as the College I attended had little tolerance for such behavior. I favor the tape recorder, only I would take a copy to the Dean of Nursing.

[jude11142]

Have someone in your rotation carry a cassette recorder. When she has one of her fits, hit record and hold it up so she can see.

Guarantee that will work!

Edited to add: They can't impact your graduation date btw if they fire her or if she leaves. It would be a huge breach of contract (which is what you and the university agreed to when you signed up for class). So, don't even worry about it or let administration scare you with that tactic. I guarantee you they would find someone to replace her, even if it's the dean of the nursing program!

IMBC

Wow, sounds like an instructor that I had. I thought that your advice (to tape her)was a great idea, but a word of caution here. Without getting into all the details(I know that I posted my situation awhile ago), I was having serious problems with this one instructor. I went to the Asst Director and I got no support at all. I was near graduation(6wks), and this instuctor was trying to fail me without fault. My grades were very good, my clinical skills up to that point were all "above avg"(noted on previous reviews), but I was still worried because she actually told me "you will never be a nurse"......I'd love to get into the details but way too long. Bottom line, I didn't tape her during clinicals but at one of my meetings with her and asst director, I did state, "I should tape record what she says to me" and that did it. The next day, was a clinical day at the VA hospital. Before we got into our preconference, I was asked quite nicely by this instructor to go into an office there. Here, I thought maybe we can work this out. Big surprise, there was the head nurse of that unit. She asked me to sit, and my instructor has this smirk on her face, then the head nurse says to me, "I have been informed that you may be tape recording in this facility and that is illegal first off and unethical, we will not tolerate this"....I was humiliated, tried to explain things but she wasn't interested. I was told that this was not a good way to start my nsg career and if she decided to let me finish out the rotation there, she was going to let everyone know that they should be on the lookout because I may be taping converstations.....Let me tell you, I never felt so low-down in my entire life. I felt so beat on by this instuctor and now I had this nurse thinking who knows what about me. I worked in the OR for almost 12 yrs prior to this as a scrub tech and never was written up for anything. I never invaded anyones privacy, I never was disrespectful to anyone. This situation got out of hand and this instructor gets away with this abuse. Even to this day, she is still there and we get students from that school where I work and I hear the same stories about her. I'm happy that I finished and she did not succeed in finding a way to fail me. I feel that I got the last laugh here because I am a nurse and I love my job.

I learned that if you have a child and they keep complaining that a certain teacher "hates them"....take it serious. With my kids, I would say, "ofcourse they don't hate you"...blah blah blah....well now.....I learned that if a teacher can abuse a grown woman, they can certainly do so with a child.

As for taping this instructor be careful. I don't think I would of ended up taping mine, I just was at the last straw and so frustrated. I hope that you can resolve this matter. If I was as assertive as I am now, I would of confronted her. Others here have suggested confronting her, and I would agree with that rather than taping her. People who abuse others generally seek out those who they feel they can get away with it with.

Good luck,

JUDE

[IMustBeCrazy]

First of all, sorry for jude's situation. The problem however was not you taping it was your statement:

I didn't tape her during clinicals but at one of my meetings with her and asst director, I did state, "I should tape record what she says to me" and that did it.

Never a need to threaten. What I am suggesting to the OP is not to surreptitiously record. When someone is YELLING in front of others, there is absolutely NO expectation of privacy, her motive is bully behavior and intimidation, which is WHY SHE IS YELLING! If other classmates can hear the abuse, there is no reason you should not record it since it is not privileged or confidential communication.

Let them bring it on if they attempt to bully/harrass you. Explain to them politely that you are happy to have your attorney iron things out it if they persist in harassing you. In the meantime, yes, you better be 100% accurate on everything you do, because you will be under the microscope.

[NTPinky]

Many professors seem to think that they're better than their students simply because they have more advanced degrees. If she ever disrespects you, just let her know that she cannot speak to you that way. But stay calm, and don't use any swear words. Be stern, but don't lose your cool. In my experience, these kinds of bullies end up cowering in a corner when the one being bullied stands up to them.

Good luck!

[NurseFirst]

unless you know the laws in your state. In my state, California, it is illegal to record someone without their permission. This came to light recently when someone close to Bush recorded conversations he had with the President and they made it into the news recently.

Tape recording over the phone is also illegal in many states, as some may remember the trouble Linda Tripp got into when recording conversations with Monica Lewinsky.

I would be *very* careful.

NurseFirst

[spaniel]

The big word you used was "tenure". This is very unfortunate.While certainly I agree with other posters re the non-acceptance of bullying, I would tackle the issue as a group. One proactive way would be to write a group letter to the dean and ask for an apointment. Ask the Dean if the professor can obtain an "assistant" to mediate the issue. My gist here is to get a calm,colletected,well-thought out dialogue with the dean. If your scholl has an ombudsman, use him/her as well. I'm against the tape recording, though I must admit that I "personally" like the idea. My point is that this might have you or the group appear devious or impulsive. You want to appear to be the calm ones. I'd contact the dean as a group. You might want to let the dean be aware that you have secured legal advice ( and do so).

[spaniel]

Late at night here- so sorry for the typos.!!

[grinnurse, RN]

If I have learned nothing else in Nursing School it has been Hippa and chain of command. If everyone in the group feels the same way, as a group you should start with the instructor first and give her/him a chance to redeem themselves. If that doesn't work go to the next person over her/him-maybe the head sophomore/freshman instructor. Then if that still doesn't work, keep going up the ladder until you get the results you are looking for with the Deen. You also have the option of sending it to the president of the school. I feel sorry for you b/c you are paying hard earned money to be treated this way. I think alot of times the instructors forget who are actually paying their salary and that is the students!! I think alot of the nursing instructors are the ones that couldn't get along in the hospital setting where you have to have a certain amount of control so that's why they become instructors LOL. We have a couple of those instructors too.........must be everywhere. Or you have the kind of instructor that just picks on one person b/c of personality differences. Good Luck and just keep marking those days off your calendar!!

This too shall pass.

Grinnurse