Is this common???

Dorito, ASN, RN · Apr 11, 2008

I had a bad experience when I went to my first clinical. I had been an LPN for over 15 years in an acute care facility. The primary nurse that was caring for the patient I had been assigned to was rude, obnoxious and treated me like crap. At the end of the day our instructor spoke with all the nursing staff who had students and mine complained I asked a bunch of questions. Imagine the shock on her face when she realized I had worked in a hospital for many years already. I told the nurse I was assigned to that the only thing harder than orienting a student was to be one and that she shouldn't jump to conclusions (or accusations) when she's assigned to precept. She was a different person after that day but I still remember the way I was treated. Best of luck. I know in the future you'll probably be a great resource for future students. (I also agree you need to talk to your instructor)

Becca608 · Apr 11, 2008

During my first clinical rotation we were in a LTC. One of the clients started choking and the LPN (who was looking distractedly out the window) told me and my clinical buddy to go get the other LPN so the patient could be suctioned out. She's in the middle of cleaning up a client, so my classmate stays to work on that while we grab the portable and head up to the cafeteria. LPN number 1 still staring out the window...

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2008

I'm sorry you had such a lousy experience. I agree that a conversation with your CI is warranted. As someone else has mentioned, at least you know what kind of nurse you do not want to be!

leslie :-D · Apr 11, 2008

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.
what did these "openly hostile women" do? and i think it would have been the primary nurse who would have been 'obligated' (if that's even the correct term) to assist you...no one else.
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), 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....
rather than "simply taking your time", it would have benefited the pt for both of you to move right along. also, i see nothing wrong w/a more advanced student to be supervising a bed bath.
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.
how was she "arrogant, rude, and belligerent" to the client? what did she say to her? if she was, that's reportible.
and to make matters worse.... when she did the charting... she changed all of the times and falsified information.
for example?
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.
wouldn't it make more sense to share the more major events, rather than the bedbath, if that was such 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.
"unethical behavior" such as???
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?

i'm sorry, but other than this nurse 'maybe' being a *****, i'm not seeing any evidence of wrongdoing. i mean, if she was rude to the pt, displayed 'unethical behavior', was truly a 'freak', bedbath being a small thing compared to other behaviors/actions she exhibited (but you not sharing them), i am trying to understand your side but cannot.

i do agree you should discuss this w/your ci...

but other than some possibly rude behavior to you, i'm not understanding where this nurse was so out of control.

and believe me, this will not be the last time you are treated with rudeness.

actually, it's pretty much the norm in nsg...

whether it is from coworkers, md's, pts/families.

you will learn as a nurse, to pick your battles carefully.

best of everything.

leslie

ecnav · Apr 11, 2008

i'm sorry, but other than this nurse 'maybe' being a *****, i'm not seeing any evidence of wrongdoing. i mean, if she was rude to the pt, displayed 'unethical behavior', was truly a 'freak', bedbath being a small thing compared to other behaviors/actions she exhibited (but you not sharing them), i am trying to understand your side but cannot.
i do agree you should discuss this w/your ci...
but other than some possibly rude behavior to you, i'm not understanding where this nurse was so out of control.
and believe me, this will not be the last time you are treated with rudeness.
actually, it's pretty much the norm in nsg...
whether it is from coworkers, md's, pts/families.
you will learn as a nurse, to pick your battles carefully.
best of everything.
leslie

r u for real leslie? :yawn:

leslie :-D · Apr 11, 2008

R u for real Leslie?

rather than presenting w/a dubious tone and vague question, why don't you share specific concerns?

leslie

chevyv, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2008

I'm in 3rd semester and I can't believe that you got stuck on your first day in a situation like that! With little to none for hands on care, for me it's a common sense approach that my students (if I were an instructor) should pair up and get used to doing hands on cares. As for the nursing student who was lousy, you would think she wouldn't give any mind to how long it took to accomplish your bed bath. At least she didn't have to do it. Connecting with your patient is important to developing good nursing skills (listening being so important as a nurse)

Next time your in clinical, let the nurse know what semester your in. I agree with other posts regarding the amount of nursing students they see in facilities. They never know from day to day what semester students they have. Be tough about what you can and can't do. During my 2nd semester, I had a rotation (1 day) in ICU, the nurse told me to go in and reset the IV pump according to the new orders. Beign only 2nd semester, we could not reset any IV without the RN present. She was very sarcastic and asked what could I do? I smiled (sweetly) and told her I was second semester and could not touch a pump without her being there. I also reminded her that it is her license......I stick with skills I'm allowed to do and do them by the book! If I cut corners, I know I'll be the one to get caught or worse give my patient sepsis.

Good luck in the future. Just remember back to this experience when its your turn to help a newbie out. At least we learn how not to be:wink2:

femsmahus · Apr 11, 2008

what did these "openly hostile women" do? and i think it would have been the primary nurse who would have been 'obligated' (if that's even the correct term) to assist you...no one else.

no eye-contact, walking down the hallway talking crap about other nursing students (loudly), in morning conference when students greeted them or asked good/intellegent questions they blatantly ignored them.the primary nurse that i was helping that day did not say one single word to me the entire day. when i went to the nurses station to ask her if there was anything else that i could be doing she wouldn't even look up at me (she was looking at someones wedding photos), and grunted some reply. this is a small hospital- 25 beds. these women had 3 patients each. it was not like they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off and just didn't have the time to, at the very minimum, acknowledge our presense.

how was she "arrogant, rude, and belligerent" to the client? what did she say to her? if she was, that's reportible.

similar behavior: making no eye-contact with the client, man-handling her, when she barked a command at her it was in an insensitive manner, etc. she was visably scaring this woman. she made "jokes" about my client and others and encouraged us repeatedly to break hospital rules when it suited her....in regards to direct client care.

for example?

charting things that were never done. documenting physical findings that she did not check. later in the day i learned that we were supposed to chart something every 2 hours and she charted only twice the entire day and put bogus times on the chart both times. please correct me if i am wrong, but in school they have taught us that this is a huge no-no.

wouldn't it make more sense to share the more major events, rather than the bedbath, if that was such a small thing?

she didn't do anything. she walked around eating, took a nap in an empty room, disappeared 30 minutes at a time, i didn't see her wash her hands one time the entire day, etc etc etc. the bed-bath incident was the last event of the day so it was on my mind the most. frankly, it was the totality of the days events that ended with the bed-bath that made me so upset. she did not provide any basic or advanced care for this woman. isn't that enough? i kid you not, this woman would have laid in the bed all day long without having assistance eating, repositioning, getting cleaned up, etc if i had not insisted on doing it. and even when i insisted she would sigh loudly and roll her eyes "fine~ if you really want to". well hell yes i want to... the woman is lying in there looking, smelling, and feeling like crap. i am supposed to be her advocate and have her best interest in mind.

i could care less if she was rude to me. i certainly have had enough life experience to know that there are people out there that are idiots, but i was not expecting such behavior on my first day in clinicals. please forgive me for being so naive, but i did not think that someone would be so blatant. i readily admit that she freaked me out...but not on a personal level. she freaked me out because she might take care of someone i love someday.... what a tragedy.

leslie :-D · Apr 11, 2008

with more examples, i do think that overall, this nurse is a flaming idiot.

i'm just recalling my time as a sn, w/many nurses treating us contemptibly.

i never gave it a 2nd thought, but that's me.

however, i do know exactly the type of nurse (and experience) you speak of, and they make me sick.

sadly, many nurses prechart and write things they never did.

you're going to find in the real world, there are (too) many nurses who act outside the expectations of professional conduct.

you truly wonder how (and why) nurse x ever chose this profession.

over the yrs, i have painfully learned what to fight for and what isn't worth fighting for.

unless there is blatant pt abuse/neglect or other provable violations, you will find there is little you can do to change such an environment.

admin cares only about the bottom line:

and nsg has been amidst a war w/lateral violence for yrs now.

nothing new is going on.

i would have intervened if i ever saw anyone rough-handling a pt...esp an elderly one.

but as for her mannerism, her napping, her falsifying documents...sadly, these reports to a higher up, often result in the reporting nurse getting in trouble...even fired.

i really am not trying to be a brat here, by questioning you.

reflection is a big part of the growing pains.

and, it's important for you to know the various 'norms' in nsg.

i'm sorry she was such an idiot.

she needs to leave nsg, along w/many others.

but from hereonin, please, don't expect a welcoming committee for students.

if nurses can chew up and spit out their own colleagues, they'll do the same for students and anyone else who crosses their path.

truly, wishing you the very best.

leslie

MedSurgeNewbie · Apr 12, 2008

Sorry you had to go through that, I had a few rotations that were like that, make note of the culture at all the places you visit and remeber that when you look to start a job.. I have never treated students like that never seen it on my floor..

pagandeva2000, LPN · Apr 12, 2008

I have to agree with Leslie. At least while you are in school, trying to obtain your license, there is not much more you can do other than speak to the clinical instructor, because, ultimately, this person (in addition to passing the lecture portion of your class) can make or break you. It is up to her to intervene, and again, I hate to say this, she may not, at least in the aggresive way that a student would like it to occur.

Unfortunately, school, just like the nursing career itself, is all a game for many reasons. It takes a great deal of time and connections for colleges to arrange clinical sites for nursing students. Too many complaints, no matter how legitimate, can cause a cancellation of the clinical rotation at that facility for that particular school, which will start that aggreviating process over again. I remember once, a clinical instructor in the RN program at my school discovered that the CNAs were forging vital signs (one of her nursing students told her about it). She checked for herself, saw it to be true and she went to the powers that be to report it. Next thing you know, our college ripped a new hole in this woman, not because of the discovery that impacted on patient safety, but that they were afraid that if she and those students raised too much sand, that they would lose the clinical site. The CI literally had egg in her face, and what she then did, was explain to the nursing students that this was the reason why vital signs (and other things) for critical, unstable patients should really be done by the licensed nurse, because she will have to intervene and treat. Taking the word of a CNA would not hold up in court. Again, let me repeat, I am not supporting the actions of nurses like this, or institutions with their hands literally tied...I just saw that this was part of the deal, and it angered me.

I assume that the OP wishes to complete this program and become an RN. What you might do is take this as a learning experience to know that this is the sort of nurse you do NOT wish to be, and keep hold of those standards when you receive your license. Also, when learning as a new grad in a new position, the first time practicing as a nurse, you will, sadly enough, see even more than this. And, you may have to count on these same horrible people to teach you, even if it is a haphazard, inaccurate demonstration. I am not saying that you should remain employed in a place like this, mind you...but you are seeing the beginnings of WHY many good, caring nurses leave the bedside. When you do earn your license, you will KNOW that based on this horrible woman, that you will practice with more professionalism and compassion, and you will also watch those that work below you, thus demanding the same from them. But, you won't get there unless you complete this program...other nsg. programs will have the same or worse clinical experiences.

I think that speaking to your clinical instructor will do at least two things; one, it will help you to get this off of your chest, and second, you can see where her head is...how supportive would she really be or how passive. She may have horror stories of her own...hence this is why she is a CI and not a bedside nurse anymore. I am sorry that you had such a harrowing experience, but again, I am not surprized at all.