Help - Need to speak with instructor maturely!

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So, tomorrow I'm having a meeting with my instructor. I'm 26 and currently in the LPN program and I have been accepted to the RN program starting this summer. I have a problem with getting emotional about things that I'm passionate about - usually only when confronted or when I have to "argue" my point. That's what I'm worried about when I meet with my instructor.

I'm meeting with her about the clinical schedule. Here's the deal. There are 24 students in my class. Last semester, there were 3 different clinical sites that we rotated to - each person only visited 2 sites since there wasn't enough time to visit all 3. We didn't have clinicals for the first 8 weeks of the semester so for the last 8 weeks we were at one clinical site for 4 weeks and another clinical site for 4 weeks. The clinical sites available were 2 different hospitals (on med/surg floor) and a nursing home. I was lucky enough that I didn't go to the nursing home at all - I ended up spending 4 weeks at hospital A and 4 weeks at hospital B. I've been a CNA/MA at various nursing homes since I was 16 so nursing homes aren't new at all for me.

When we started the current semester, the clinical schedule was completely different. There are 3 different OB sites, a nursing home, and 2 different hospitals (still med/surg). We also each get our own out-experiences. Everyone also spends the last 4 weeks of the semester in one of three different nursing homes, this is when we practice delegation and management skills. The thing is, I feel a little gypped. My first 2 out-experiences were canceled - because we had a snow day and other students weren't having clinical, I didn't get my outs because it wasn't "fair". I only have a total of 4 days of med/surg clinical this semester - I was supposed to have 6, but she had to change them. At first, I wasn't upset because I figured that the students who spent time in the nursing home last semester would be getting more of the med/surg experience this semester. Not so. There are several students who were in BOTH of my clinical groups last semester (they didn't go to the nursing home either) who are getting 3 times the med/surg clinical I'm getting this semester. Also, the OB clinicals aren't made equal either. Two of the hospitals rarely have any labor/delivery and the other hospital has labor/delivery coming out the wazoo. The school keeps talking about how they try to make everything "fair" but it's not. And not to mention that the same handful of students get to do all the skills - the instructors "pick a number" and whichever student picks the closest gets to do that skill - whether it's to take out a foley, remove an NG, put in an NG, whatever. Only it's always the same students - and out of those students, the only male student in our class gets to do more than anyone else.

I just need help when I speak with my instructor. I feel that my education has been somewhat compromised because of how things are done. I need an action plan of what to say when I go in to talk with her or I might start hyperventilating, crying, or maybe just pass out. I don't want to sound petty, immature, or argumentative either - I know that it sounds like I'm saying, "It's just not FAIR!" and stomping my foot on the ground. I'm not, really. I just want to know WHY. Is it something I'm doing? Did I do something wrong? It can't be my grades or my performance - last semester I was told by the very instructor I'm speaking with tomorrow that I'm "a joy to have" in clinical and that I'm "so smart!". And I understand that we all have clinical experiences that we don't like - just why (especially when the school is so concerned with fairness) are they not equal? Why was my OB experience dull as dishwater (no moms, a few babies, didn't even have a patient to care for most of the time) when other people actually witnessed 7 births in one day? And the school KNEW that the one hospital had tons of births and the others had none, so they can't say that it's just how it happened - they were warning the students that they'd be busy at the one hospital. Why was it "fair" for my 2 outs to be canceled (even though they didn't fall on the snow day) when others get all of their outs? I just don't get it. I'm just very frustrated.

Thanks for listening and thanks in advance for any advice!

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Wow.. I honestly cannot believe the way your program has clinical days and sites set up... in my program, everyone has the same amount of clinical days and same amount of clinical days at specific clinical sites... Its all equal, as it should be. I wouldn't approach your instructor in a way that makes her feel like you are treated unfairly, or jealous so to speak.. this may do more harm than good. I would go more with an approach that expresses concern about the lack of experienc you are getting. Let them know that you feel like you aren't getting the most out of this experience as you would like.

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Wow.. I honestly cannot believe the way your program has clinical days and sites set up... in my program, everyone has the same amount of clinical days and same amount of clinical days at specific clinical sites... Its all equal, as it should be. I wouldn't approach your instructor in a way that makes her feel like you are treated unfairly, or jealous so to speak.. this may do more harm than good. I would go more with an approach that expresses concern about the lack of experienc you are getting. Let them know that you feel like you aren't getting the most out of this experience as you would like.

Thanks! That's what I thought too.

From what I've heard from students from other schools, their clinical experience is much like yours. I understand that all patients are not created equal and there really isn't a way to tell what's going to happen from one hospital to the next, but seriously, this is ridiculous. It would have been better if they had given each person 1 week at the different OB sites - that way, the same people aren't getting all the experience while the rest of us are getting none. And people shouldn't be stuck at a nursing home forever or get all the med/surg experience either. Last semester, she should have divided it up more so that everyone had both hospitals and the nursing home. Again, it wouldn't be so frustrating if the school didn't keep reminding us of how FAIR they are about everything!

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I would state my concerns as neutrally as possible. Use a couple of examples. If there are a few skills that some of your classmates have had the opportunity to practice and you have not - I would state that "I have not had the opportunity to practice X, Y, Z. What can I do, as a student, to increase my opportunities to practice these skills?" As well as whatever else you feel you are missing out on. Place it on your shoulders, not coming at the instructor with accusations of them leaving you out. I think that is going to get you better results.

Good luck and remember, instructors are just ppl too :)

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Thanks for your replies.

I had my meeting this morning and it went fine, though not much was resolved. There are only 8 more weeks left in the semester - next week I have a couple out experiences, the week after is spring break so no clinical, the week after that we have a simulation lab on one day and I'm stuck at the nursing home the second day, the week after that is my 2nd week of med/surg this semester and the last 4 weeks are the management/delegation clinicals where everyone is in a nursing home. So, it was a little late this semester to change much - she couldn't change my sim. lab date so I could have med/surg on the other day because it would mess everything up and the last 4 weeks can not be changed, period - she explained that she put certain people in certain sites because certain people need "more" than others. I understand, but it still seems a little "off" - kinda like the saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" - the people who don't have decent grades, don't pay attention in class, and get med errors like no other get the better sites and more experience than those of us who study our butts off, get good grades, pay attention, and don't get med errors.

She told me it sounds like I need more of a challenge - well, yeah, since all we do in the nursing home is stand around...and at OB, I didn't once have my own patient, we had to share, and there wasn't much going anyway - just get your assessment done, pass your meds (maybe a senna if you're lucky), and that was it. She told me that I need to talk with my nursing home patients more. I would, I've tried, but all of the nursing home patients I've had either have severe Alzheimer's/dementia, or they sleep ALL THE TIME. I'm not going to frustrate an Alzheimer's patient and I'm not going to wake up someone who's sleeping. When I tried to explain how some people get all the skills, she said, "That's just the luck of the draw!" I told her that it's wrong for one person to get to do the same skill not once, not twice, but three times (!) when others haven't even gotten to do it once. I told her that the people who have already gotten to do skills should be taken out of the drawing and she said she'd think about it.

Anyway, thanks again for the replies. The meeting went ok - I didn't get upset, I was very poised and confident and she never once became irritated with me - it's just her responses that bother me.

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Are you at a proprietary school?

If you don't like what she said, go higher. All schools have their snags and things that don't work well, that's to be expected. But you in a mess there. Can you go to a different school?

If my teacher divided up skills by "pick a number" I would be ******.

Good luck to you. At least you're getting some experience advocating, even if it's for yourself.

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"Luck of the draw"? I just don't agree that LUCK should have anything to do with getting a well-rounded clinical experience!

I hope things work out for you. I'm glad your meeting at least went ok. When I have to confront people in an positions of authority I get very nervous too and my voice shakes and sometimes tears come to my eyes because I'm frustrated. It makes me crazy.

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Thanks, guys.

Yeah, my school does have the whole "chain of command" thing going, but here's the kicker: The dean of nursing has told my class several times that our instructor "babies" us and that that we have things "easy" compared to other students. I go to a community college and I take my classes on a different campus - not the big, huge, main campus - a smaller campus in a smaller town. Because my campus is so small, we only have 24 nursing students TOTAL and we have the SAME instructor for each and every nursing class. My instructor is great about most things - I know that she tries to be fair - but this year she's had more students than ever. Usually, she only has a max of 16. It's no excuse, and she did bring it on herself. As for going to another school, it's possible but I don't see the point. I've heard worse things from students from other nearby schools, and who's to say that it'll be any better?

I'm just hoping that next semester - in the RN program - will be better. I'm thinking about emailing the main instructor (who does the clinical scheduling) to ask if it would be possible for me to go to the busier hospital for OB rotation, since I was at a very slow hospital this semester. Is that unprofessional? I just don't want to get stuck somewhere boring again, especially since I want to be an OB nurse when I graduate.

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