How to survive clinical instructor from hell?

[Hellostudentnurssee]

There was talk of this difficult clinical instructor from months ago - she (allegedly) was verbally abusive with her students. She failed one student because her english wasn't "Americanized English". One teacher found out and demanded to bring the student back and she was in trouble for failing the student because of that reason. You try not to feed into the hype but you're very cautious. Student who have had her have advised us to be SUBMISSIVE as possible yet confident. I grew up with a family of nurses and believe me, when I say I'm very "humbled". I am very aware that I really don't know as much as nurses and I have great respect for the nurses that come before me, especially the older nurses. My own mother is a nurse and has even instilled in me to really value and respect older nurses.

When I met my instructor she seems to have "calm down" but I did sense she is someone who gets an ego trip by tearing others down. I've had to change my approach and can't really be myself just to adjust to surviving with her. My previous clinical instructor (during evaluation) encouraged me to be more "myself" and said from her point of view, she could tell i was a confident person but was purposely shy. She was a great/real teacher and I simply told her it was just to "protect" myself, especially toward those "ego tripping teachers" (like the one I have now). Anyhoo, I'm very open to any kind of criticism. As I got to know her, I liked how this instructor didn't sugarcoat things and kept it "real world". However, my current cohort is in between some nasty political wars with schools. We were originally students of "nursing school a" that worked together with "nursing school b". Nursing school B cut ties off with nursing school A and now we're current students of 'school b". We feel like second class citizens and like we're all in high school again. During lab, we went through case studies. My goal was to be as calm as possible, get the work done as right as I can. Once she came in, her comments became more dry, sarcastic, and just crude. I love criticism but I don't like catty criticism. Her face was right in my face and I noticed how she STUDIED it as she was trying to tear me down but I didn't let my guard down. We were working in teams and that's how I approached my case study. I didn't "boss" my other nurses - we worked together and when I wasn't sure with something, I clarified with them. In the end, I was very disappointed in myself and how I didn't do well. I didn't take what she said personally and kept going on throughout the day fine. But when I got home, I started to feel so RESENTFUL and angry. In my gut, I felt that she did more than "criticize" me. I hate that she even tried to attempt at knocking my confidence and tear me down. When she made comments about what I did "wrong", I felt she exaggerated on certain parts and looking back, I calmly and sweetly explained to her my reasonings behind it. (For example: pt had pain on leg. I was feeling her leg lightly for an assessment and she claimed I was rubbing her leg). She also called me out on how I over-depended on my secondary nurses because I didn't know what I was doing. My classmates were supportive and got my back and she made it seem like I let them do my work. At the end of it, she called me out on my pants (they didn't hit the floor but they were wide). I simply said that they were "petite" and she spent 10 minutes on the "science " of what "petite" is. (Unfortunately, it was one of those pants that you had to tie around the waist and you need a big belly to even keep it up).

I WANT TO QUIT NURSING BECAUSE OF THIS CRAZY INSTRUCTOR. I HAVE ANOTHER MONTH OF HER BS - HOW DO I SURVIVE?

[SleeplessNVa]

you'll be fine....just keep telling yourself that. remember that the first step to improved wellbeing is being able to recognize a problem. those that don't think they have a problem can't/won't change.

my friend told me (pre-nursing school) to be prepared. she said "nursing school is full of bitter old women who like to throw their weight around." i remember not fully understanding this comment at the time, but i now get it entirely. this same friend is now a happy and well adjusted nurse that i would (and have) trusted my children's care to.

you can get through this one day at a time. the great thing about nursing school is that we have each other. i know that without my classmates (friends now really), i'd be sunk.

on a side note, i met with my ci yesterday for 2 hours to "go over my care plan." i have to redo the entire thing, when i'd rather be studying for 4 upcoming exams (or planning thanksgiving, which will probably be delivery pizza at this point). my last ci liked my care plan so much that she asked for a copy to share with future students.

try to savor the time away and don't stress over the things you can't do anything about. find something to help you through this. i am swimming (in my spare time ha) more than usual and i talk it out with my friends. just sharing on this site is cathartic, don't you think? i also try to find support in my patients when i am in clinical. your patients need you, but you need them too, or you wouldn't be doing this. they can bolster your confidence. when my ci isn't looking, i try to share caring moments with them and that makes me feel better.

keep on hanging in there, you are soooooo close now! :)

[RNfaith331]

I just found out I didn't pass the ICU Clinical portion even though I was holding a good grade in the theory. I have been through a the semester from hell with my clinical instructor. I was feeling so beaten down. No matter how much I prepared it was never good enough. When I asked other students about their experiences, no one was going through this kind of scrutiny. Keep trying to have a positive attitude, but it's hard seeing the rest of my cohort go on to finish this program. I have to wait until next year to restart the program at the ICU clinical rotations. I am going to try to audit a couple of classes to keep current on pharm, patho etc... Any advise out there how to handle difficult clinical instructors and how anyone has dealt with this situation?

[DreamyEyes]

My advice: Try to stay off her radar, agree with everything she says, and keep in mind you probably won't ever have to deal with her again once school is over.

I'm dealing with a clinical instructor right now who I'm pretty sure is bi-polar. She's made almost everyone in our program cry (including me). I have learned to ignore it, and after December I won't ever have to deal with her again! Counting down the days.

Good luck, and you're not alone!