How to deal with ****** hospital staff

Published

Hi all,

I've just been really stressed out lately and was wondering how you guys deal with ****** hospital staff. I am a 4th semester student and I encountered this other 4th semester student who happens to be a CNA at the hospital that I am doing clinicals in. However, she was trying to tell me how to do this and that which some of them were wrong such as putting a bedpan in, and I felt like she was kind of being competitive and degrading to me, making me feel like I don't know how to do these basic CNA skills. I just hated that. How do you guys deal with people like this? Not once did I hesitant to show her that I wasn't confident to do these skills but she was still very aggressive. Has anyone else felt like that or had a similar experience? Please share, I don't want to feel like I am alone in this.

Thanks so much!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Hi all,

I've just been really stressed out lately and was wondering how you guys deal with ****** hospital staff. I am a 4th semester student and I encountered this other 4th semester student who happens to be a CNA at the hospital that I am doing clinicals in. However, she was trying to tell me how to do this and that which some of them were wrong such as putting a bedpan in, and I felt like she was kind of being competitive and degrading to me, making me feel like I don't know how to do these basic CNA skills. I just hated that. How do you guys deal with people like this? Not once did I hesitant to show her that I wasn't confident to do these skills but she was still very aggressive. Has anyone else felt like that or had a similar experience? Please share, I don't want to feel like I am alone in this.

Thanks so much!

I think you need to remember you are a guest in the hospital. This other student may have been telling you how to do things but she wasn't in a student capacity at the time. She is an employee of the hospital and trying to help you do things the way they do them in that specific hospital.

It seems like you are perceiving things that may not actually be as they seem. Go in, remember you are a guest there, and be the best student you can be!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thanks for this perspective, Springchick1! I was a little irked by it, but you're absolutely right - I am a guess there and she wasn't in a student capacity. I know 4th is going to be a challenge for me, but I will no doubt be the best student I can be! Thanks for your support :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

That is very frustrating! I had a CNA at the facility follow me around and tell me how to do basic things at the last clinical facility I was at; and that was after we had both discussed our schooling plans and that I had already been a CNA for years. She also spoke to me as if she were speaking to a child. I wonder sometimes if they do this just to ensure that we know that they are not *just* CNAs. It's definitely hard to brush it off, but that's really all you can do I guess.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

You either misread her intentions or she truly was trying to act superior for whatever reason. I have seen this happen though.

I worked in LTC as a CNA before graduating and taking an RN position in the same facility. There was a pre nursing student on one of the units I worked (I float) who always talked about her graduation date and making sure everyone knew she was in school for nursing. I got along just fine with her, but she did rub some people the wrong way. And I am in a facility that gets a lot of CNA as well as nursing students for clinicals. She would treat them poorly and act superior when they were there and again make comments that ensured they knew she was in school for nursing. I, on the other hand, never really talked about being a nursing student because I felt it didn't effect my role as a CNA in the facility. If people asked me I would tell them but didn't go out of my way to talk about it. Boy was she a little purturbed when my scrub color changed on my first day of new grad orientation. lol

Anyway, some people have superiority complexes, some people don't feel like CNA is good enough once they become nursing students, and some who knows why they get rude. But in any case, just work your shift, nod your head, and do your best to get along with the CNAs who don't treat you nicely. They work there and you don't. They may just be showing you how that facility works. Maybe not. But they may also be close with management of their unit and the last thing you want is to ruin your chances of being hired in some places due to disagreement with staff CNAs at clinical. Just let it roll off your shoulder and do your best to not let it bother you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

You deal with it by completing the clinical to the best of your ability and moving on with your life.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

sound advice, mrsboots87! I sure would have loved to see that girls face when your scrub color changed ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Glad to know it wasn't just me @purple_roses. It's an unfortunate thing to experience, but everybody is so right about just brushing it off and moving on. I suppose people like that are going to exist everywhere. :sour:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I would just let is slide. Get through your clinicals and move on. Some things are not worth making a big deal over.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion