How do Nursing Instructors deal with this? Clinical site RNs don't want us around

[chicagrl]

Hi

I am a first year student. We have clinical once per week and have just started interacting with patients. Today we gave or helped with bed baths. The problem I see so far is that the nurses are definitely not friendly...in fact none of them seem to want us around. We are mostly in the way. I feel that this is an issue my school should deal with, at least our instructor. She finally admitted today that none of the nurses are very friendly. I am not sure what type of relationship she has with them but it does not seem like much of one.

Has this happened to you and how did you deal with it. We were supposed to sit in on report this morning and got "shooed away" literally. "shoo" We ended up talking with the PCT and eventually gave a bed bath . Our clinical instructor came to check up on us and then later told us all the things we "should" have done etc. It just seems like we need to shadow more but our instructor says we will only learn from "DOING" I agree but i had never even seen a heart monitor or leg compression boots until today ...as i was helping a pt get clean.

Any insight would be great . every one in my group is already counting down the clinical days.....we only go once per week ...until DECEMBER . It is obviously our instructors job to teach us - plus we have a skills check off session each week before clinical. It just seems to be very "incongruent"....

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I just wish there was a way for the two groups to mesh better, so that the overworked nurses could get some relief, and the "lost" students could acquire some much needed learning.

I think some of the problem is having fresh students trying to mesh with fresh RN's every week. When I did my RN program in the 80's we were assigned to a floor for 2-3 month stretches, and clinicals weeks were 1 day of prep and 4 of being on the floor. By the end of the two years we knew most of the day nurses and half the night staff by name, as well as the docs, and their quirks. The RNs seemed to take an interest in how their favorite student was coming along, and there was some jockeying to get the favored students to choose their externship on their floor. It was an honor to be chosen to preceptor during the externship for 6 weeks, and some lifelong friendships developed.

We also had an instructor on the floor whenever the students were there, and he/she was the one responsible for student teaching and supervision. The staff nurses were welcome to volunteer to supervise a procedure, and we were thrilled when one of them chose us for a teaching session. It seems more effective for the instructor who knows the students and their teaching needs to be in charge, instead of a staff nurse who has only a vague idea of each students' background.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

It'd be great to have that much clinical time.

[PeaceonearthRN]

I just happened to be reading and this post caught my attention!

I absolutely love helping nursing students! The most important and most endearing relationships can happen as a student. I feel it is my duty as a nurse to always remember what it felt like to be a student, to have anxiety about how a student is received and how much we can all learn from each other!

I have had students now for two semesters; I am quick to take them under my wing, answer as many questions as I can and find out the ones I do not know.

The only way anyone can learn is if they are comfortable and feel accepted! Everything else comes with time!

Many blessings to ANYONE who is learning. We learn every day; we are just not labeled 'students' anymore! :)

[Blove86]

I guess I got a pretty good deal this semester. Our class instructor is also our clinical instructor, which is a blessing and a curse depending on what kind of student you are. fortunately for me, we get along well with one another, plus I am very professional and pretty prepared 90% of the time. So it works out, plus while she doesnt currently work at the facility she worked their for like over a decade, so she knows docs, nurses, administration, etc. So, she already knows alot of people, which helps ALOT. Last semester, was a different case. Me and my group only met like 2-3 nurses we REALLY liked, everyone else, unit secretaries, CNA's, and tech's were pretty stand offish, yet we still gave them cards, candy, and treats at the end, over much debate of course!!! But sometimes, crappy clinicals just comes with the class, gotta keep on. But of course, not nurse has ever been blantantly disrespectful to me, which is a plus because I take that kind of thing VERY unpleasant lol.

[MissBrahmsRN]

i have noticed that every unit has a different feel to it depending on the people who work there, like every other job out there, the team can be great, together, and accomplish amazing things. or the team can be crabby & hateful & everyone hates coming to work. this filters down to anyone (students, physicians, pharmacists, patient families, patients, anyone who come around during the day)

case in point: i spent Level 1 & Level 2 clinicals in the same hospital on the same floor in two units next door to each other. Both are fairly high acuity units, usually running at 95-100% capacity all the time.

Level 1: the CNAs greet us with a smile. they know their job & do it well. they immediately teach us how to do a great bed bath & then take a long break while we are happily busy. the nurses are busy with 6 patients but are happy to have us. our instructor comes early each day and explains that we can give meds & do vitals, bed baths, etc. we each ask our nurse what we can do for them to lighten the load. i notice later on a break that everyone is happy & joking in the breakroom. someone's having a party at their house on sat and there's a potluck sign-up. i noticed these sorts of behaviors everyday i was in clinical. the nurses gather each morning as the charge gives out assignments, high-five & start the day. my nurse & i one day (6th week of clinical) have 4 walkie-talkies & one patient who is MD ordered not to be disturbed except for meds at 0900 & vitals only. she (my RN for the day) immediately says, "well, we have to help someone else, we're on a team you know." we go & find two nurses who have an emergency happening with a patient & offer to handle pain meds & vitals for some of their easier patients. the nurses are grateful & my instructor and i handle the meds & i do the vitals. Two weeks later the same RN & I worked together, we got overloaded (2 unexpected blood transfusions at once plus a seizure) and other less busy RNs immediately jumped in to help. the teamwork was incredible, most of the RNs have been on that unit for years, the charge nurse offers me a job on the spot my last day of clinical.

Level 2: the charge tells my instructor, "just come & pick patients for crying out loud." i give a bed bath (my 50th at least and the CNA yells at me for touching her patient this is after chatting with the instructor & happily agreeing to let students share her load.) later i see the charge yell at the other CNA for not having 18 baths done by 0930. (shift starts at 0700 one of the RNs sees us come in on first day and says very loudly, i kid you not, "oh my god here come the stupid students. and i bet they will want to do my job for me too." i introduce myself smiling, tell my assigned RN that i am level 2, can do IV stuff, take care of all meds, my instructor is here to help me, i am taking mr a in room 1, mrs b in room 2, mr c in room 3 and am prepared for them, hopefully i can help you some. my nurse disappears to break room & is annoyed 2 hours later when my instructor & i come to her because my patient is need of blood transfusion (just ordered) and neither of us has clearance to do that for this hospital. she says, "You said you were going to help me, not cop out." during breaks the back room is quiet & the nurses ***** about how they can't wait to get off for the day. (note: i realize everyone does this at every job but this was every day by 0800 seriously) my 8th week of clinical my nurse and i had an unexpected discharge & no new admit so we only had 4 patients, they all happened to be taken care of for the next couple of hours. i said, "you know, Jane is overloaded, her patient ended up back in the cardiac lab and then back up here then 2 transfusions, why don't i go over & see if there's anything i can do to help her." he said, (RN) "why would you do that? those are her patients, not mine. this is a dog-eat-dog world you know." and headed off to break. side note: i still went and helped her out with a set of vitals and an IV push med.

two different units. two very different feels and two different experiences. i am very independent on the unit, rarely need help and yet the RNs there were angry when i gave them a report at the end of the day. the charge nurse, the nursing manager for that unit, the mix of people who work there, make all the difference. i wouldn't work on that second unit if they offered me double...

[PeaceonearthRN]

Amen! Attitude is everything :) lucky for you that you had a great experience. I can appreciate ALL that you said. Team work is the only way to do nursing!

[suanna]

Lots of replys- so I don't know if you will ever read mine but.....

We had a simular problem on my floor. Let me give it to you from the RNs perspective. The instructor would round with the previous shift, evaluate the patients and assign students all without consulting the RN to whom the student would be assigned. She would then disappear for most of the day while the staff RNs were supposed to "educate" the students. I work critical care- there is a lot to know. If I have time I love to have students. I've been doing this for over 20years and have a lot to pass on before I die. Unfortunately, sometimes it is all I can do to keep up with my patient's care. Often, I feel the instructor dumped the work on me and left- leaving me and the student out in the cold. I would love to be included in the planning of the assignments of students for my unit. Some staff are better at teaching than others. We also can try to make out assignments to accomodate the students needs. It would be nice to know what skills are needed and what skills you already have down- All that involves including the person doing the teaching (me) in the assignment process. I know it's not your fault but if the university wants me to work for them they should pay me- if not my first responsibility is to my patients and my hospital.

[MissBrahmsRN]

suanna, i hear you! thankfully neither of my instructors just disappeared, that would drive me crazy as a student and as an RN, the clinical instructor is supposed to be there for his/her students! must be nice to take students to clinicals and then sit in the cafeteria and sip coffee...and get paid for it.

[poppalina]

Hi I work in a PACU and although not all the nurses love students. But a good nurse will always be willing to ans questions and teach you about the topic you are on. Otherwise I agree with the kill them with kindness and put on your poker face!

[kcochrane]

I see a big difference in how I'm treated as a RN student as opposed to a LPN student. It could because the CC I go to is highly regarded and maybe not even related to the level. Of course it has been 5 years, so maybe time has helped.

The last site I went to for my med/surg for RN actually has created a group of nurses who meet to find ways of improving the experiences of nursing students. They came to ask our opinion of how our experience was and how it could have been improved. Nice change from when I was there before.

When I worked days, I LOVED nursing students. The first few days was always a little harder because they were new to the floor, but after that, they were really a help. I think it is possible that some nurses just get tired of the questions and unprepared students, but I think that some nurses are just jerks and have forgotten where they came from.

[motivated2nurse]

Ive always been told that we the students are guest, but some of the nurses treat us as if we are in the way and some are glad to see us coming. I try to make the most of my experience. I let my instructor deal with the really bad stuff and I try to use humor with the evil nurses. I just try to do my best, unfortunately there will always be that mean nurse who seems as though she has never been in school. I