I was yelled at by my nurse yesterday

pghnurse527 · Apr 14, 2012

That was extremely unprofessional and inappropriate of the RN to yell at you like that. I agree with whoever said she should be reported, at least to your instructor so they do not give another student to her.

I want to say good job for being a patient advocate; you thought something was wrong and you made sure it was heard. However, sats in the high 80s are rarely concerning. The nurse should have simply said to you 'the sa02 is acceptable for this patient, if it drops below X number we will start getting concerned'. As others have said, the distended abdomen was expected for the type of surgery he had. Sometimes as students we jump straight to 'I learned this was bad!' rather than stepping back and looking at the entire patient.

My take away for you for clinical would be to familiarize yourself with each of your patients' baselines. This is critical to do as a nurse because all patients do not necessarily have a BP of 120/80 or a heart rate of 60-100. If your patient's HR is normally in the 50s and shoots to the high 90s that is concerning. If you weren't aware that their baseline was 50 and saw the 90s you might assume it was WNL.

RNbethy · Apr 14, 2012

As a student, I am still learning my boundaries. I got yelled at (I mean REALLY yelled at, in front of about 5 other staff members no less) by the nurse I was working with yesterday at my hospital. Myself, red faced and wanting to hide in a hole for a week, stood there and listened to my nurse tell me I ask too many questions. And you know what? She is right. I think I will allow myself mental "question coupons", three per clinical day. Unless something is REALLY pressing, of course. An embarrassing lesson learned- but very appreciated.

Asking questions shows that you are curious about the profession, which is a good thing! In my opinion, if you really care about nursing and becoming an excellent nurse, you have to ask questions.... So I don't think you should limit your questions, just choose a good time to ask them.

It's also part of the nurse's scope to mentor students, so this incident is very disappointing... (and sadly more common than it should be!)

snazzy-jazzy, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2012

This is why when I am charting an abnormal vital, I will frequently make a comment that says "RN notified" to go along with it. Advice passed down to me. Trust your gut!

And thankyou for passing it down to us. I have also been in that situation over a temp, even when we were turning the Pt I mentioned again how he even felt hot with that temp and she said 'oh yeah its these pressure mattresses, they don't let the air flow' then when she was charting a procedure he had done and included his vitals, she flew at me over the temp and said I never told her...

HM-8404, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2012

I am not a nurse, a prospective nursing student. In my experience as a Navy Corpsman I have noticed one thing, women tend to yell at or berate another woman much quicker than men will do that to another man. Perhaps the reason is most women will take it and just complain to others later, where if a man did it to another man there is a chance he will get hit in the mouth. I have been told women are the worst coworkers another woman can have.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2012

excuse me, a peripheral o2 sat of

here's a quick and dirty summary. i also recommend you check out this website: oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve for more info on the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve.

oxygen saturation to pao2 relationship

non-shifted oxygen saturation

100%: 90 mmhg pao2

90%: 60 mmhg pao2

60%: 30 mmhg pao2

50%: 27 mmhg pao2

mnemonic:

30-60%

60-90%

40-75%

guest042302019, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2012

Can almost never ask too many or stupid questions. Even the simplist tasks can be daunting once in the moment. This person isn't a good match or teacher, or she had a bad day. Good luck.

HealthKibitz · Apr 16, 2012

Well, I think I see where the problem was - you got to her when you asked if maybe she should "discuss his med options" with him. I'm not saying this was not a good thing for you to do - what I am saying is that apparently she felt very threatened by that. A "student" nurse "suggesting" that she discuss his med options with him? Hey - I agree totally with you, but I would be that was what set her off. You were probably okay up until then. :-))))

mcneillmama3, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2012

Yes the only dumb question is the question not asked that kills a patient. There is a right way and wrong way to speak to a coworker or nursing students and that nurse's behavior was uncalled for and unprofessional. My motto is praise in public and criticize in private. If a coworker ever did that to me, I would be having a pow wow with them, mark my words.

acerbia · Apr 17, 2012

I always ask questions, especially as a student. I try to prepare myself as best as I can, but if I forget something (even if it was simple), I STILL ask. I know this is part of how I learn, and I also know how frustrating it can be at times. That being said, if I know I'm likely to have several questions in a row, I will preface with "I have a few questions about ____. Do you have a minute to talk with me?" If there are other students hanging around to ask questions, I will make sure I go last because I guarantee I'll have more to say than them.

It was not right for your nurse to yell at you like that, publicly or not. It's just disrespectful and unprofessional. A simple "I'm sorry, I'm really busy right now and I don't have time to talk" is enough to get the point across without sounding like a jerk. People are stressed, especially nurses, but yelling at others isn't going to decrease anyone's stress level.

My advice is to try and prepare yourself as best as you can, and jot down any questions you have. Tell your professors how you learn (e.g., visual, kinesthetic, etc.) and see what they can do to help you. That's what they are there for!

If you could re-do this clinical experience, you could have written those questions down, brought them to the nurse, and ask if she'd have a minute to talk. Her reaction would point you where to go for answers if she didn't have time.

This was a great learning experience for you, so don't view it with shame or embarrassment. View it as one less social hurdle you'll have to tackle as your education continues. Don't limit yourself to only asking a few questions or none at all. This is your education that you are paying for - don't anyone get in the way

pattilb · Apr 18, 2012

As a student, I am still learning my boundaries. I got yelled at (I mean REALLY yelled at, in front of about 5 other staff members no less) by the nurse I was working with yesterday at my hospital. Myself, red faced and wanting to hide in a hole for a week, stood there and listened to my nurse tell me I ask too many questions. And you know what? She is right. I think I will allow myself mental "question coupons", three per clinical day. Unless something is REALLY pressing, of course. An embarrassing lesson learned- but very appreciated.

That nurse was very unprofessional. If she thought you were asking too many questions ,she should had told you that she will answere all your questions when you both had a break .Asking questions is the only way to learn.Plus the other students might had wanted to ask the same question/questions you were asking ,but afraid to. Shame on that nurse.She does not need to be precepting students who is trying to learn. PB

Findoo · Apr 18, 2012

Hi!

I am on the same boat. On my first clinical placement at a hospital, I got yelled at on the first day of my clinical (in front of 5 RNs) for not knowing the abbreviation of "Tablet" at my clinical which looked like "T" with a dot on it. When I asked a nurse on my floor, she got really angry and said "What do you guys learn at school. If you don't know this, then you shouldn't be here......................." I didn't say anything to her but next day, I went to my theory class and asked about 90% people in my class. No one knew that a T with a dot is an abbreviation for a tablet.

Since I got yelled at on the first day of my clinical, the rest of my clinical days on that floor, I did not ask any thing. I just did my assignments and finished the day. Google really helped me in that semester because most other RNs on that floor were not nice either.

I guess that they forget that they were students too!