Initial reaction to the idealism of nursing students.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

I currently work part-time in a university, and I have work-related access to the online portion of hybrid classes. Reviewing students' written work is part of my job. Recently, I was reviewing threaded discussions on ethics in clinical practice. The students are encouraged to reflect on their clinical experiences and connect them to ethical concepts.

My initial reaction to some of the discussions was irritation to their conclusions that the nurses they followed during clinical were unethical or unprofessional. Sometimes, I agreed with the students' conclusions, but other times, I was thinking, "Ohhhhh...you just wait!"

As bedside practicing nurses, how do you make that emotional and mental transition to instructor when you are fully aware of the students' idealism vs. the reality of nursing?

[llg, PhD, RN]

I limit my time having to deal with it by taking it in small bits rather than big, marathon sessions. Really. I can handle naivete in small doses, but after a while, it start to "get on my last nerve." So I try to manage my schedule so that I get a healthy dose of reality on a regular basis.

As I have gotten older -- working with experienced nurses as a Professional Development Specialist most of the time and with nursing students occasionally -- I have learned to accept the naive perspective as I would the views of a child. I respect children and wouldn't want to bruise them by being too harsh with them: but I still recognize that their actions and thoughts are those of children. I feel similarly about naive nursing students -- they are at an "immature" stage of their nursing development and have immature opinions shaped by ideals with little experiential influence. I wouldn't want to bruise them by being too harsh either.

So I tolerate them and try to gently help them move towards a more balanced, realistic view of the world without bruising them to much.