I have read many posts on here about nurses putting up with long hours, lack of appreciation, no raises, disrespectful treatment by administration, infighting, and all those other negatives that some people associate with the nursing profession. I personally know of nurses who are great at advocating for their patients and standing up to hardheaded doctors in order to enforce patient rights, but they won't stand up for themselves when they have a problem with management. Instead, they will complain to co-workers in the breakroom.
Does anyone think that nursing school sets us up for this kind of treatment? We are taught from day one that we are advocates for our patients, but many students wouldn't dare voice a difference of opinion or stand up for themselves to instructors who let personality differences get in the way of the learning experience. Students are just expected to take it, go with the flow, don't stand out as being different or difficult. As a result, they complain to others and let resentment simmer instead of addressing the problem.
I'm not saying nursing school is a horrible experience or that instructors aren't valuable--I have a lot of respect for the tough job that instructors have. It just seems like we're asking for problems when we expose students to years of "don't rock the boat" and then send them out into the wonderful world of nursing to fend for themselves.
It has always been imprinted in my head that we nurses are the only source of patient protection, since we take care of him in an intimate manner.
Thus, they always told us that we are also thus, entrusted with guarding his all safety and privacy and security - whichever may interfere with our primary goal - patient care.
LPN school was far worse than college. We had some wonderful nurses but lousy human beings torture us. Is it revenge for what they went through?
You know its bad when hospital staff comment on it. But you know with any luck its only for one out four semesters and its what 13 weeks out of your life.
Just remember the world changes. My most evil (and I don't use that word lightly) has been through three teaching jobs in the last five years and is now working casual.
The mighty do fall but we don't often get to see it.
There is one very importent point that we should all remember. If we think that the way we are treated in school is so wrong, then when some of us ultimately find ourselves in positions of power (academically speaking) then we must resist the temptation to put others through what we endured. Rather, we should instead vow to treat students all the better and to foster an enviroment of learning, rather than fear. Unfortunately, the "fraternity" syndrome tends to take over where each generation in essence says to the next "I went through HeXX and so will you."
Medical school has it's own version of this nonsense. Why are interns/residents still required to work eighty or even hundred hour plus weeks despite numerous studies indicating that this exponentally increases the odds of Dr error (to say nothing of the health and lives of the student Dr's). In a profession which stakes itself upon logic the simple answer is because "that's the way it's always been."
I think there are a combination of factors at play here.
First, of course, is the historical aspect - nurses were not only female in a patriarchal world, but nursing was closely associated with both religious orders and the military, so obedience was not only expected but demanded.
Second, there is a persistant belief that nursing is a 'calling' - this is evident not only among the patient population (if I had a dollar for every patient who told me I was a 'born nurse'...) but also among nurses themselves. On this board there have been many threads were the ideal of nursing has been espoused - for example, nurses are not seen as being 'good', 'worthy' or 'proper' nurses if they are interested only or primarily in money, regardless of how well they perform their job.
This spills over into areas like unionism - many nurses seem to see campaigning for more money or better conditions as distasteful, however they feel about it on a personal level. Nurses in general also believe that they have a duty to their patient which outweighs duty to themselves/colleagues/potential patients - this is why withdrawal of labour is such a contentious issue. I have heard nurses support medical withdrawal of labour (for better conditions) but state that they could never leave their patients.
Third, I think you're right - as medical students learn they have to robustly defend the positions they take, and can disagree with their instructors without fear of penalty (with exceptions, to be sure); nursing education has less tolerance for dissent, and nursing culture in general reflects this.
I believe the biggest contributing factor is gender - girls are taught to take criticism personally, to be compliant, and to get their way covertly. Boys are taught that criticism is about how they behave, not who they are, and to be overt in their demands. Despite the growing gender balance in medicine and nursing, the dominant culture seems to mould the entrants, rather than be changed. Women who become doctors often take on these traditionally masculine qualities, many male nurses work within the dominant paradigm.
C'mon...just accept that you are an angel called to these selfless duties, give, and ask for not. Don't worry your pretty little head....know your role and be subserviant to all around you and you should do just fine....make no waves....it tarnishes your halo and makes you unworthy of this mission you were called upon.....%^%*^(&&++*)__)*)^%^$ Phenergan paleeeeze.
I don't usually post too much but this thread was really timely for me. I'm halfway thru my first semester. Throughout all the prerequisites and all, I've done fine academically. I enjoy it until I get to graded observational performance. I'm the oldest in my class have been around quite a while and have held all sorts of challenging jobs in my life. I'm not shy, not thin skinned but was just floored by the glee in which some of the teachers show in humiliating you for just the stupidist things. Don't get me wrong - I want the toughest instuctor there watching me to correct me when I'm doing something incorrectly. What I don't appreciate is the way they get all loud and turn it into a humiliation thing that you are just the dumbest person there is. It's so ironic that they stress all this stuff about communication in school but when you tell them that you are not quite understanding what they are wanting you to do then they smell blood and continue to let you twist in the wind instead of trying to calmly find the communication disconnect. For instance, my idea of moving a patient over closer to the side bed (when they are actually already there) is something different than what the intructor actually wants to you. Instead, I stood feeling the blood drain from my brain as she yelled out to my theory instructor in front of all there something to effect of why didn't I get this. To add insult to injury my theory instructor just echoed her disgust for all to hear. The clinical performance thing lasted about 40 minutes for me and my partner. This clinical skills labs seem to be turning out to what feel like hazing acts. I bit my lip but went home and cried for hours because every cell in my body told me that I would not be able to tolerate this abuse for two years only to suffer more of it out in the nursing culture. I don't feel picked on as this is her m.o., but I get so sick of being treated like I'm a child. I feel my self esteem sliding and am starting to reevaluate if this is right for me. I've done some teaching in my life. I know that fear and humiliation are not the way to get someone to learn. We are reminded of compassion and empathy for our patients but I see none of it in our instructors. So I'm thinking, down the road when we get to the really tough stuff - I'll be fried. I was expecting the course to be tough but I never figured on the denigration thing being so bad. Kudos to all you that have suffered and perservered. I may just have to find a path that will uplift me more than tear me down. I feel a little sad about it all because I felt I had a lot to offer and love to help others. I especially enjoy my younger classmates - they are so much fun. I may have overestimated my abilities to withstand this type of abuse and stress. Thank you for letting me let off some steam. God bless you all and thank you for becomeing good kind nurses inspite of it all.
when reading how some of today's instructors are treating their students, i equate the abuse to what i've experienced on the job itself from some nurse managers, a few patients, and many visitors in the hospitals today. sad...but in my experience since returning to nursing...ever so true.
i don't remember much abuse from instructors to students when i went through nursing school. i can only recall one instructor in particular who always seemed to be pmsing. when i reflect back on those times in my life, she is the one instructor who always comes to mind because she is the one instructor who made me face doctors who thought nurses were less than them. to this day, i'm grateful she did that because i've never feared a doctor, but always confronted them when they were out of line with me. :)
i believe if a person is a "shikhead" in their personal life, they are a "shikhead" in their professional life. they just don't care to treat people with respect. perhaps they act that way out of some inner anger they have, and since they cannot release it on the person making them angry, they take it "downline".
as an old seasoned nurse, my advice to those of you who are students or new nurses is to stand up for yourself based on your values and ethics that you believe in. if you don't tolerate abuse outside of work, then you should not tolerate abuse while at work. be true to yourselves no matter what. your life didn't begin in nursing school, or as a nurse, and it certainly won't end as a student nurse or new nurse. don't let the tail wag the dog here. stay in control of your own destiny. :)
I think one of the reasons that most students do not standup for themselves is age. I have noticed that the ones who do standup are the ones who are not young (over 25 or have another degree already). College is a scary place for you when you first get there and you are right in saying that we are taught to go with the flow.
I feel compelled to comment since there are numerous responses about uncaring instructors. I'm in my first semester and I think both my theory and clinical teachers are great. They are very supportive and will give 1 on 1 assistance if you ask. I hope I'm not in the minority, but it certainly appears so.
Jennifer...mine are all great too! One is a bit long-winded sometimes, but she is very kind and knows her stuff. She would do anything to help anyone out....they all would.
Thank you cheerfuldoer for your wisdom -- those are things I know but had somehow forgotten. I'm not sure how I had gotten lost in the fog. I'm sure next time I will be more ready to call a "time out" on their game and let them know right there that I won't tolerate it. I need to learn how to chill out enough to say what I'm going to say without loosin it. I've stood up for myself for so many years -- this experience reminded me that no matter what happens I need to do that no matter the consequences
You know, the more I read about the experience of the average nursing student, the more it reminds me of the military. They break you and reshape you into their mold. Nursing school (especially the first year) sounds an awful lot like boot camp...humiliation, lock-step conformity, etc.
In nursing school I was damned if I did and damned if I didn't. I did clinicals in a hospital where I went to school. There was the flowsheet to fill out. well If I didn't do it right it went against me, If I asked questions then I was asking too many questions. What is school for but to learn? I almost got kicked out of program over this crap. I suffered through, kept trying to improve. Finally one of my class mates told the intructor that I wasn't making any more mistakes than anyone else in the class. My grades were good. At tht time as an LPN I wouldn't have even gotten a job there. The hospital was cutting back on LPN staff.
I have had serious problems with PMS and depression to the point I couldn't function. Before I started school I started taking Zoloft, made a huge difference. I have often wondered if that had anything to do with them trying to weed me out of the program. Not that it matters because I'm a LPN today.
sad...but in my experience since returning to nursing...ever so true. 
when i reflect back on those times in my life, she is the one instructor who always comes to mind because she is the one instructor who made me face doctors who thought nurses were
Roy Fokker, BSN, RN
1 Article; 2,011 Posts
It has always been imprinted in my head that we nurses are the only source of patient protection, since we take care of him in an intimate manner.
Thus, they always told us that we are also thus, entrusted with guarding his all safety and privacy and security - whichever may interfere with our primary goal - patient care.