I start clinicals on monday, my friend warned me about the instructor, advice please

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I start clinicals on monday, my friend warned me about the instructor I am going to have because she was with her last semester.

She is telling me about how bad she is, that she is very tough and I am gonna have a bad time and a bad experience.

She had very bad marks in clinicals, just 5 out of 10 and she is a very good student in general.

I am a little nervous cause is my first time in a hospital and this bad experience my friend had is putting me thinking too much about it.

Anyway I am a guy and I have very good marks in general if that changes anything.

Any advice is welcome, thank you very much and sorry for my english I am not from USA.

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Wait until you meet your instructor and form your own opinion of them. I've had some instructors that other students have hated, but I have really enjoyed them and I was able to learn something from them. I really suggest you keep an open mind.

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I would suck up to your instructor. AGREE with everything they say, even if its not true. DO everything they tell you. Always have a smile on your face. Buy your instructor a cup of coffee in the morning..

Agree with everything? If a detect something that is not right and I say it, it can turn against me I know it, but i dont know if i am going to be capable of shut my mouth...

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Well then there can be a problem.. Sometimes you have to pick and choose your battles.

But I think you are right with what you said, i will follow your advice and if i see something wrong i will try just to keep it to myself while i am learning, thank you very much for the advice

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Agree with everything? If a detect something that is not right and I say it, it can turn against me I know it, but i dont know if i am going to be capable of shut my mouth...

You better take a quick course in shutting your mouth. Oftentimes, a person can't even figure out what they said that was wrong. Your friend was trying to do you a favor. Don't say anything out of line. Don't repeat anything to your peers in the clinical group. Don't ask for trouble. Lay low and pray often.

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.

I had a friend tell me the same thing. She was one semester ahead of me, and swore up and down that this instructor had it out for her, was mean and unfair, etc.

That instructor turned out to be one of the best I had in the entire program. She was strict, she expected us to act like adults, and to take responsibility for our own learning. She didn't just hand out answers, but would expect you to do your best to figure it out on your own first, and then step in or explain if you still needed help. This made a lot of students feel like she was mean, but the fact was, it made the info stick so much better! She also never let us attempt a skill until she had us verbally walk her through it before going into the patient's room, including going over every single med in great detail. You had to stay on your toes in clinic and it wasn't easy. All of the students who later failed out of clinical had a different, more lenient instructor that semester, and that wasn't coincidence. She prepared us more thoroughly. She 100% made me a better nurse.

All that to say, give your instructor the benefit of the doubt. Form your own opinions. And do your best to get the most out of your semester.

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I had a friend tell me the same thing. She was one semester ahead of me, and swore up and down that this instructor had it out for her, was mean and unfair, etc.

That instructor turned out to be one of the best I had in the entire program. She was strict, she expected us to act like adults, and to take responsibility for our own learning. She didn't just hand out answers, but would expect you to do your best to figure it out on your own first, and then step in or explain if you still needed help. This made a lot of students feel like she was mean, but the fact was, it made the info stick so much better! She also never let us attempt a skill until she had us verbally walk her through it before going into the patient's room, including going over every single med in great detail. You had to stay on your toes in clinic and it wasn't easy. All of the students who later failed out of clinical had a different, more lenient instructor that semester, and that wasn't coincidence. She prepared us more thoroughly. She 100% made me a better nurse.

All that to say, give your instructor the benefit of the doubt. Form your own opinions. And do your best to get the most out of your semester.

Thank you so much for writing your experience here, it was an open eye read, it help me, thanks.

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Specializes in Hospice.

And be careful with the sucking up thing. That tactic is frequently way more obvious than we think ... it can easily backfire if tried on the wrong person.

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Specializes in Nephrology Home Therapies, Wound Care, Foot Care..
I would suck up to your instructor. AGREE with everything they say, even if its not true. DO everything they tell you. Always have a smile on your face. Buy your instructor a cup of coffee in the morning..

Best advice you're going to get, but also be very very prepared.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Best advice you're going to get, but also be very very prepared.

Especially for her/him to see right through it.

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Specializes in Critical care.
I had a friend tell me the same thing. She was one semester ahead of me, and swore up and down that this instructor had it out for her, was mean and unfair, etc.

That instructor turned out to be one of the best I had in the entire program. She was strict, she expected us to act like adults, and to take responsibility for our own learning. She didn't just hand out answers, but would expect you to do your best to figure it out on your own first, and then step in or explain if you still needed help. This made a lot of students feel like she was mean, but the fact was, it made the info stick so much better! She also never let us attempt a skill until she had us verbally walk her through it before going into the patient's room, including going over every single med in great detail. You had to stay on your toes in clinic and it wasn't easy. All of the students who later failed out of clinical had a different, more lenient instructor that semester, and that wasn't coincidence. She prepared us more thoroughly. She 100% made me a better nurse.

All that to say, give your instructor the benefit of the doubt. Form your own opinions. And do your best to get the most out of your semester.

Yes!! I wish I could like this 100 times! This was exactly what I was going to say! I had this same experience and at the end of clinical we all loved that instructor. I went into my next clinical so much better prepared. Have an open mind, be prepared, and expect to work your hiney off :)

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I would suck up to your instructor. AGREE with everything they say, even if its not true. DO everything they tell you. Always have a smile on your face. Buy your instructor a cup of coffee in the morning..

As someone who has been a clinical instructor at various times over the years, I disagree 100% with this. Bringing coffee for the instructor is an obvious attempt at manipulation that will hurt you more than help you with any sensible instructor, as is "sucking up" generally. I agree with Edina and others here that you should take your friend's comments with a grain of salt, wait to have your own experience of the instructor, and form your own opinion. I also agree with others that the "hard," "tough" instructors I had in school were the instructors from whom I learned the most. Easy, friendly instructors are not really doing you any favors.

IMO, your best bet for establishing a good relationship with your clinical instructor is to come to clinical prepared and informed, work hard, and make an effort to seek out new learning opportunities and knowledge. Give 110% in clinical, and never be the student who is sitting around because "there's nothing to do" or "I did everything you told me to."

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