I Feel Done

[i♥words]

I notice that so many of us have the same problems with instructors and clinicals, and I wonder why.

I'm just so exhausted from the politics of it all. It seems like instructors sit up on thrones and cast disapproving gazes at us all. The good ones are few and far between.

I'm tired of hearing one thing from one instructor and hearing something entirely different from another.

I'm tired of playing mind games, trying to figure out if my instructors are in their good moods before approaching them. Oh, you don't remember the classification of this med? Let's talk about it for 10 or 15 minutes. Are you telling me you came unprepared to clinical? You're dismissed!

I'm tired of instructors changing their minds all the time. You can only give meds when I'm with you. Why are you waiting for me? Give meds with your nurse!

I'm upset that nursing school is turning me into something I'm not: loud, aggressive, and out for myself.

I really do not like nursing school. At all.

I do love what I'm learning, though, and I love my patients. And I've put too much time and money into this to quit now. *sigh*

Thanks for letting me vent. Feel free to add your own.

[ShesAcuteNurse, ADN, LPN]

I am feeling the same way and I am almost done with my program. The clinical instructors all seem to have that certain "quality" . I try to ignore them but sometimes you can't and sometimes you have to grit your teeth and smile when all you want to do is jump out of the nearest window. ...

[nursinghopeful2013]

They def have the game face on lol I am sure they have there reason I am just not sure what that is

[i♥words]

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

I told my son I was jumping through hoops. I watched as I could literally see him think about me doing a jump through a hoop, as he asked how big they were.

Him: How do you jump through hoops?

Me: However they want me to.

Hope that made you crack a smile :)

Love it!!

I don't get your point. That nursing school is difficult? What were you expecting? Maybe you can learn from the experience and develop a thick skin because you are going to need it when you get lit up by a doctor and other nurses. I have been a nurse since 06 and I am telling you there is no time to sit around feel bad for yourself. You may "be tired" of hearing different things from different people, but you better learn to succeed no matter what is happening. You control your actions and responses to situations. You don't like something? Tell someone. You think nursing instructors are in "thrones"? Why because they expect you to do homework be on time? You will have bosses in "thrones" and you better learn to deal with situations that are good and "bad". I get you are venting..now..get back to the books.

Well I get your point. Nursing school is definitely a learning experience for me, and I'm not talking about textbook knowledge. I admit I have very little experience dealing with people, especially people I don't particularly care for. I'm not thick-skinned and I do tend to feel sorry for myself. So I'm not so great at letting things go and realizing that I can only control me and not the rest of the world. I'm learning though!

[Old Soul]

To the OP, hang in there. We all go through ups and downs while in school. The same as anything else, there are some nursing instructors that are good at their trade, and some that are not. You are learning either way. You may not realize it, but you are learning to deal with conflict and difficult situations. This will only benefit you when you start working and find co-workers that you don't love. Eventually you will look back on school and smile, and think about how glad you are to be done!

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

Instructors/professors (and their methodologies) are variables.

Nursing school is a crap shoot in that respect, just as it is in the real work environment and life in general.

Your best hope for success = preparation + decent odds (odds being the Human Equivalent-- instructors, or bosses, or coworkers etc.,). Unfortunately, no amount of preparation can make up for being on the losing end of crappy odds.

We haven't yet figured out a way to standardize success, dammit.

[krisiepoo]

I totally feel your pain... I'm in my last semester and have had 6 different cilnical instructors which can be very frustrating and for me the first 3 were brand new instructors and had a really hard time getting it together... luckily what you describe is mostly spelled out for us because they make a list of what we can/can't do and make sure our nurses know this.

It's a crapshoot, but it helps you know that when you're a nurse, you'll be able to roll with the punches a lot easier.

[beshacohen]

I just try to remind myself that I am working under the instructor's license. She does not want to get in trouble for something I do. She is every bit as vulnerable in the situation as I am.

I had an fill-in instructor contradict something my regular instructor said to me just this week. She even said, "There is no way Instructor #1 said that." Well, I know Instructor #1 said it. I was there and I heard it. So what. I didn't dwell on it. What's the point? Being right doesn't get you through clinicals. The goal is not to be right. The goal is to graduate.

Maintaining anger equals letting someone live rent-free in your head. Let go of your anger and expel those freeloaders. You don't need them.

[NurseDirtyBird]

Nursing school sucks. For everybody. There are pretty much no exceptions. It's a couple years of your life, and then you're a nurse and you're done. Just suck it up, leave the politics and crap alone, as that's in every single nursing program ever, unless something really egregious is going on, and get it over with. You'll be finished and a nurse and then you get to struggle with work environments and fellow nurses. Good luck!

[i♥words]

Maintaining anger equals letting someone live rent-free in your head. Let go of your anger and expel those freeloaders. You don't need them.

I need to frame this and put it above my desk. :) Thanks for the advice!

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I understand where you're coming from but I really love nursing school.

Don't get me wrong, it's stressful and exhausting, but I love the work. I have a clinical instructor this semester that everyone said was evil and horrible. I think she's fantastic! She is caring, supportive and wants to help us learn. But her last group totally took her the wrong way.

The key is that, as with anything in life, nursing school is temporary. You will come out the other end and be better off for it. Hang in there!

[Dranger]

You aren't alone, I am gutting out a few years of bedside nursing and moving on to APRN or something else. The stress both physically and mentally isn't worth the mediocre pay. If you hate school you will hate working too, it doesn't get better.

[pookyp, LPN]

I don't get your point. OP explained what she meant by the throne statement and it had nothing to do with getting homework done on time and everything to do with them saying they want it one way and then ten minutes later saying they want it done a different way. And yeah let's just "tell someone" when we don't like how an instructor is, I'm sure that works out in the students favor most of the time. And if you "got that they were venting" you wouldn't have posted such a mean, not helpful and pointless reply.[/quote']

Exactly. Geez.