How NOT To Be An Annoying Nursing Student

Nurses General Nursing

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I Received my preceptor assignment today and I graduate in two months. I'm so excited I can not stand it!! For you experienced nurses out there... Can you complete this sentence for me. It really annoys me when my nursing student does ____________________. I just want to get the most out of my precepting experience without being a drag. Thanks.

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

"I switched to psych so I wouldn't have to do that ever again and now I have to do it?"

"May I have a new patient? ___ seems weird and scares me."

Late again because "I couldn't find the right building. They shouldn't all look alike."

"I talked to___ for five minutes then she wandered away. Am I done now?"

"____ just puked and it went on my shoes. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with puke here."

"Whatta mean I gotta walk ___ ALL the way to ___ building? It's sooooo far away." (It's three buildings away.)

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

My Pet peeves.... I hate it when students:

Take up staff space in the break room and our limited fridge space as well. Staff should never have to find an alternative space to eat their lunch because students are taking up space around the table. Nor should they have to deal with not being able to store their lunch appropriately.

Sit and watch me chart like a bump on a log all shift long.

Long onto my computer (or any other nurse's computer) instead of finding one that isn't occupied. Doing homework at my work station. I have work to do. If you want to start on that stuff, fine. Go find an open space.

Asking me to teach them the software. A clarification question is okay. If you didn't go to the orientation to learn the general gist of it though, I certainly don't have time to teach that to you.

Follow me like a puppy, asking no questions, making no observations and lifting a finger only if told

Talk to me but not the patient.

Pretend they don't know how to take vitals (yep, this is done)

Resist helping with patients that aren't "theirs"

Move slowly. If I am hoofing it down the hall and your assignment is to stick with me, STICK WITH ME. It is your job to keep up, not mine to slow down. There's a reason I am moving fast and it all has to do with time management or a potentially volatile situation. If I lose you, its your job to come find me again. My work load is the same with or without you. Therefore you have to take responsibility for your own learning situation. Don't expect me to come find you.''

Choose the patient going to dialysis. You are only here for six hours. If you pick the patient who will be gone four of those, I am not going to think much of you and I AM going to send you back to your instructor to help you pick someone else, unless the instructor wanted you to follow the patient to dialysis.

Okay let's take a step back.

Where are nursing students to take their lunch break if not in the staff break room? Where are they to put their lunch that needs to stay cold?

Remember your first day at your job? Nursing students feel like that all the time. They don't remember codes to doors always, don't know where we keep supplies, don't know how to answer the phone, have never talked to a doctor about a patient. Let us all have compassion for new staff members and nursing students. Yes they should be excited, yes they should keep up when you're walking fast but some things are understandable.

Okay let's take a step back.

Where are nursing students to take their lunch break if not in the staff break room? Where are they to put their lunch that needs to stay cold?

ice packs in the bag and go to the cafeteria - that's what we were told! (I'm a new grad so this isn't "old" for me)

ice packs in the bag and go to the cafeteria - that's what we were told! (I'm a new grad so this isn't "old" for me)

Remember these are college students...I had a mini fridge freezer that was about the size of an iPhone so ice packs were a no go. But my mini fridge was a decent size so I would make tuna salad, buy yogurts, etc.

Not trying to argue, just think about putting yourself in the students positions. They see a fridge. They put their lunch in there. How are they to know they are violating the "secret code" of your floor. And then you are silently seething and being resentful of something the person doesn't even know is wrong!!!

If your floor has these rules/expectations please have your manager talk to the school beforehand and make a list of rules for them to follow. Let them know "the staff fridge is already packed so we ask nursing students bring items that don't need to be refrigerated or use ice packs. We also ask that due to the size of the break room students take their break in our cafeteria. Additionally the cafeteria has great food if students wish to purchase a lunch there."

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

No sighing; eye rolling; "I already seen that" when offered to see/help with a procedure. No hogging the desk and computer., esp. when staff need to be there. No saying that it's so much harder to be a nursing student now. No congregating in the staff lounge, making it impossible for staff to sit down for lunch/break. No showing up unprepared.

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
Remember these are college students...I had a mini fridge freezer that was about the size of an iPhone so ice packs were a no go. But my mini fridge was a decent size so I would make tuna salad, buy yogurts, etc.

Not trying to argue, just think about putting yourself in the students positions. They see a fridge. They put their lunch in there. How are they to know they are violating the "secret code" of your floor. And then you are silently seething and being resentful of something the person doesn't even know is wrong!!!

If your floor has these rules/expectations please have your manager talk to the school beforehand and make a list of rules for them to follow. Let them know "the staff fridge is already packed so we ask nursing students bring items that don't need to be refrigerated or use ice packs. We also ask that due to the size of the break room students take their break in our cafeteria. Additionally the cafeteria has great food if students wish to purchase a lunch there."

No secret code on my floor I'm afraid. They ARE told. They also have a very large conference room on the very same floor that they can use to both have their lunch and do post conference in.

No secret code on my floor I'm afraid. They ARE told. They also have a very large conference room on the very same floor that they can use to both have their lunch and do post conference in.

That is one thing. But many posters are complaining that students do these things but they aren't told not to do those things. That secret resentment is no good for anyone.

The nursing instructor is the one who should be stressing the common courtesies involved in clinicals. If not, then you're own good manners and common sense should come into play:

*Do not take up the space that an employee has claimed to do their work.

*Do not hog the computer. If you must use a computer at the nurse's station and a working employee needs it, save your work and find another one.

*Do not hog the breakroom.

*Do not take so much as a doughnut hole, if it was not offered to you.

*Do not slink off with a chart without asking if you may take it and do not go far with it... you must give it up if a working employee needs it.

*Do not hover at the nurse's station... ask the nurse if s/he needs help, ask the PCT's if they need help, ask your fellow students if they need help, check in on the pt's, tidy a room, replenish supplies... there are a hundred things you can be doing!

*If you have a question, absolutely ask it, but don't do it while your nurse is trying to count narcs or is concentrating hard on something. Have the courtesy to let them think. If it's an emergency... well, that's different.

To the OP: just the fact that you're worried about being annoying leads me to believe you're not the kind of student who does all of these things people are talking about.

It seems that most everything boils down to this: nurses can't stand a student who acts like a know it all!

To get the most out of your preceptorship, make a list of the things you haven't gotten to do or need the most practice with, and make sure to let everyone around you know. I precepted nights in the Neuro ICU so I always introduced myself to everyone and asked them to PLEASE grab me if I was around and they were going to do something. I was so verbal about it (and was usually one of the only students around) that several times they would phone down from the CVICU or med/surg ICU because they had something to "show" me.

Offer to help other nurses even for more mundane things, like turning a patient or moving them. You'll see a bunch of different techniques, and get to listen to how nurses talk to their patients and how they phrase certain questions...something that, as a new nurse, I wish I was better at!

Don't be scared, bite off a little more than you think you can chew. You'll surprise yourself, and you want to learn as much as you can while you're still a student and have someone right there to help you. Trust me, you'll be on your own before you know it!

Specializes in ICU.

The only time a student has ever annoyed me to the point where I had to actually ask them to find something else to do was with an extremely sick ICU patient (ie., norad, vaso, adrenaline, dialysis, plus a newly discovered GI bleed) and they continuously were asking me questions about stupid crap like their nursing exams, and yammering non stop about their boy drama etc. Totally inappropriate. Honestly, I was so busy and the student had the potential to help me out big time and learn some pretty "cool" stuff, but instead she talked continuously and every time I turned she was in my way. If a patient's critical, get your hands dirty and help me!

Otherwise I normally love students. I've never had one really give me attitude, but I went to the same university as most of my students and they know better than to think they are about basic nursing care.

Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I've not had any trouble with nursing students. Med students, on the other hand...

Normally, I love having med students in the OR with me. They are SO EAGER to learn.

But sometimes I get ones that aren't so eager.

After 15 minutes of holding retractors, the neck rolling starts, the constant shifting from one foot to the other starts, and the sighs begin.

I am confident that those med students don't fare well during evaluations!

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