Is this common???

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I had my first clinical rotation yesterday. To say that I am green is a gross understatement. I have never worked in a hospital and I have only been a patient a couple of times, so my only learning has been through school. We were assigned to a nurse; she gave us each one client to take care of for the day. As I said before, I have no hands on experience, only what I have learned in school. So... in my little mind I thought I would pass meds, give/help with hygiene, do an assessment, go over the clients chart and read the labs, etc. Instead I was confronted with a group of openly hostile women who did NOTHING to guide, encourage, or assist us. When my nurse (she is actually a final year nursing student) finally came into the patients room (two of us where giving the patient a bed-bath...she wanted it done quickly because she was cold), the nurse was completely annoyed, grabbed the patient by the shoulder and hip (96 yr old with tissuepaper for skin):no:, flipped her over and harshly told me to wash her "what not's". And let me say this... I was not avoiding her "what Not's" we were simply taking our time, talking softly to the client to help keep her calm and comfortable.... and I thought that that was the LAST area that you should clean. The nurse also proceeded to say "Let me show you how this is done" She grabbed a PILE of washclothes, wetted them, piled them on the bedside table (water going everywhere), pump soap all over them, and told me to use those. She was arrogant, rude, and biligerant to the client I was supposed to take care of. And to make matters worse.... when she did the charting... she changed all of the times and falsified information.

OH MAN.... I could go on and on about the things she did the entire 12 hour shift. The bedbath was only a small thing.

I am blown away by this. This has been my greatest fear. I can handle anything a client can give me... but this nurse was a nightmare. Let me also add... I am a 40 year old woman and am not easily intimidated, but I will stress myself into an early grave if I have to deal with such unethical behavior... or hated by everyone I work with because I do not think that this should be tolerated AT ALL.

At this moment I feel like I have to choice but to go to someone (perhaps our clinical instructor) and tell them what the day was like. I am horrified that this freak is allowed to be a nurse.

Please....oh great and wise nurses.... give me your thoughts. Is this what nursing is really like?

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

I am not a seasoned nurse by any means, I just passed my boards in Jan. So that means I am a recent student and I too was a non traditional student in my mid 30s.

Playing devils advocate here, you say your nurse was actually a student herself in her last year. It is spring, she was probably stressed about having to take boards here soon and passing her finals. Not the best person to assign you to that is for sure.

Here is how I handled staff nurses who did not seem happy to see me. 1st I would introduce myself and tell them what I could and could not do alone~~~so many nursing students from so many different schools go to hospitals now for clinicals that the nurses may get confused on what schools can do what.

When I was told by the staff nurses "we do this--or we do that" and it was against what I was taught in school I would smile and say "Oh I am sure once I am a nurse I will learn the tricks of the trade, but now I am a student and ya know how that goes we are supposed to do it by the book"

Another tip is find a friend in your clinical group, then pair up with them to do the 2 people jobs like baths. The staff nurse was probably irritated that she had to help with a bath, as most of the hospitals I did clinicals in, if a student was assisgned to a patient then that patient did not get a CNA that day.

If it just gets to be too much you can always camp out in your patients room, give them an extra long back rub, take them for a walk in the halls, etc etc etc. Keep yourself very busy and out of firing range.

As far as her changing the times, there is nothing you can do about that. You did it right. She made the mistake, who knows what her reason for changing the times is, but as long as you have a hard copy on your clipboard "bath at 0800" "tylenol at 1000 pain level 7/10" etc etc etc. then put a check mark to verify you charted in the recored I wouldnt worry about it. Just keep all your papers in a binder. Not names of course, just dates and initials and room numbers. I kept all my paper due to a nazzi clinical instructor who seemed to either loose or change things too.

Best of luck~~one of the great things about clinicals is you will see all sorts of nursing styles and you will learn early on what kind of nurse you want to be and what kind you dont. The key is to just remember that 5 years from now!!

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Specializes in NICU.

Well I'm sorry you had to witness this. There are people everywhere in every profession that just don't belong. She must be one of them. She sounds like a hateful, uncaring nurse. I'm sorry but not every nurse is like this. There are many nurses that are caring and gentle. You sound like you'll be a great nurse. Do not let this discourage you. You'll probably meet a few great nurses while you're in school as well. Take this as a learning experience of how NOT to treat your patients.

Tiger

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I would definitely discuss your experience with your clinical instructor.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

They have a nursing student in charge of other nursing students? That sounds highly irregular.

As far as the rest, she sounds like she lacks tact, class, and kindness. You run into boorish people in all walks of life. If you have questions about what is normal or acceptable in your program you should speak to your instructor.

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I had my first clinical rotation yesterday.

Clinical instructor should be responsible for setting expectations and guiding you through the shift. Staff nurse really shouldn't have much of a role other than to follow behind you to see that care & charting is accomplished as coordinated through the clinical instructor. Furthermore, the instructor should be countersigning everything that you do.

Instead I was confronted with a group of openly hostile women who did NOTHING to guide, encourage, or assist us.

That's par for the course... consider it a preview of things to come.

When my nurse (she is actually a final year nursing student) finally came into the patients room (two of us where giving the patient a bed-bath...she wanted it done quickly because she was cold), the nurse was completely annoyed, grabbed the patient by the shoulder and hip (96 yr old with tissuepaper for skin):no:, flipped her over and harshly told me to wash her "what not's".

Well, she sure showed you who's boss and... you'll probably see lots more of that sort of behavior in your career. Why is a student precepting another student? She's probably ****** that she's getting leaned on.

I do not think that this should be tolerated AT ALL.

Me either.

Please....oh great and wise nurses.... give me your thoughts. Is this what nursing is really like?

Yep, as a new nurse -either a new grad or new to the facility- more often than not, some self appointed 'super nurse' who generally is a lousy clinician to begin with and a jack ass for sure will invade your space. They are looking for a fight. Don't ask me why but, they are all about themselves. So, really, I would collaborate with the other student in the room, bring the observations to your clinical instructor. And it'll be hard on you, being the grown-up.

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Specializes in ER, Infusion therapy, Oncology.

I agree. Talk with your clinical instructor. You will find nurses who are kind and compassionate and those that are just the opposite. I am sorry you had to deal with the latter on your first rotation. Hang in there.

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Thank you for your comments. After a sleepless night, I telephoned the other nursing student that had to deal with this "nurse", we both agreed that we should meet with the clinical instructor and tell her about our experience. In hind sight I should have just done exactly what I knew was right.... the suggestion of "this is what my book says.." is a great one. I will use that. It was an overwhelming day. I have heard about the attitudes of some in regards to student nurses, but I was not expecting it from someone who was still a nursing student herself. And yeah.... I found it to be a bit odd that I was being "instructed/supervised" by someone that was only a couple semesters ahead of me. But truth be told... the others in our clinical had really positive experiences with their nurses.

We'll see how it goes next week:confused:

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Specializes in OB.

I agree with the others that you should definitely discuss this with your clinical instructor. This person should not be assigned students. If you want to sound particularly generous (or maybe snide) you could tell the instructor that "Perhaps being only a student herself she felt overwhelmed by the added responsibility or precepting a student. It may have been too much for her to deal with." If you are anywhere in the south you could precede it with the deadly "Bless her heart" ;) (Couldn't help myself there)

You will meet nurses like this along the way, but you will also meet the ones who enjoy mentoring students - they are out there!

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

This is NO surprise to me at all. I do question how a senior nursing student can be supervising anyone else, but again, nothing shocks me. I would speak about it to my clinical instructor, however, I would not (as sad as it sounds) take it further at this time until I have my own license in my hand to deal with behavior like this a bit more effectively.

As mentioned by an earlier poster, I would also state to those that are trying to change your habits now that I have to do it by the book while in class because I am being observed.

I must also say that, although that rough treatment is totally unacceptable, the real world of nursing also doesn't allow time for much conversation before, during and after patient care (you WILL see when you get there). What I have learned to do is to gently speak, move carefully, however quickly, to get the job done safely. And, we will usually have NO help at all and well over one or two patients that nursing students have. You have to learn how to train your eyes to spot certain things and quickly assess how to deal with it in order to maintain the patient's dignity and safety. I do not agree with the behavior of this nurse, but I can also sadly assure you that this, my friend, is the beginning.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Depends on that setting. Some facility just don't foster that "warm fuzzy" feeeling. I found when I was in clinicals, bigger facilities usually were more likely to have that attitude. Most of the "small town" hospitals I went to were very welcoming. But even then you would have a nurse or two that didn't want to be bothered. And most seem to respond better to "one on one" with the student, instead of having a whole little flock following them around. I actually was around a lot of great nurses, that took time to teach us when I was in school, and I try to do the same for new students at our facility.

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Not that the "attitude" makes any difference, but I'm just wondering if the "student" in charge is already an RN, working for a higher degree (wonder why she'd bother :chuckle ). Let us know how things go....

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