Is your program this way?

OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2012

I would say our nursing instructors are intimidating but not quite how you state yours are. I have a friend in another program that is more like that. I think the way my instructors are is better to be honest. They are intimdating but not too the point that I'm scared to talk to them or ask questions but enough that I respect them and take stuff seriously. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, I don't know why its so widely excepted-this kind of behavior.

eleectrosaurus · Aug 1, 2012

tuck and roll, keep my head down and my mouth shut lol

ha too familiar, my school experience was pretty much the same. you already know 'don't be a target' probably the most important. what we did that helped was have information exchanges when we switched clinical sites. give the new clinical group all of our notes, study stuff, projects, and a pep-talk on the instructors quirks. the previous group would do the same for us coming in.

itsnowornever, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2012

Hi all,
Just wanted to ask this...in our program, the professors are very intimidating. I've had instructors whip meds right out of my hand-not because I made a mistake BUT because I wasnt' fast enough.
Others in this program have had instructors yell at them down the hallway in front of staff nurses and patients.
I know that nursing is STRESSFUL and that family members and patients can be crazy, nasty, and nuts at times (I've worked in a few hospital settings and have seen this)HOWEVER, instead of promoting learning they are creating a fearful environment.
I'd like to add here that I know that crazy, nutty sick ppl can be par for the course and I actually loooove my patients -even the cranky ones : ) and they like me and have made postive comments about me in front of my instructor...
However, its the whole experience that has me so stressed out and questioning everything.
One student put it best, "we are like abuse victims -we are not aloud to talk out of sheer fear"
There are students in my class on meds because of the stress.
Are other students experiencing the same situation? I don't really feel that I am learning but merely surviving.
Any advice (other than tuck and roll, keep my head down and my mouth shut LOL) would be appreciated as well.

I have to say that I have NEVER had this happen to me and I was far from the "tuck and roll" type of student. I was the one that was into other nurse's business, doing everything I could for everyone including my own responsibilities so I can get out there and learn. If someone dared to snatch something out of my hand because I was "too slow" I would go talk to the dean. Making you scared CAN cause you to make mistakes, sometimes dangerous ones! I would definitely talk to someone about this instructor. It could also be that because you are nervous, you are also taking it out of context (not saying you are, just another perspective). If the instructor didn't "snatch" perhaps she took to help. I have had difficulty with opening pill packages (they are stubborn things!) and had an instructor start taking them from me to help me open them because I was having a hard time (afraid of breaking the pills because they were coated). Have you directly confronted the instructor? Part of nursing is also being able to stand up for yourself (have you had those sexual harrassment questions yet? SO and SO wants sex in exchange for your requested time off, what do you?)...kinda the same thing. Bring up your concerns in a professional non-accusing manner and see what happens.

SC APRN, DNP, APRN, NP · Aug 1, 2012

I think some people treat others the way they were treated, even if they know its not productive or acceptable. A true leader does not need to use intimidation.

eleectrosaurus · Aug 1, 2012

... would go talk to the dean. ... I would definitely talk to someone about this instructor....Have you directly confronted the instructor?

Anyone who tried these approaches in my school was blackballed and harrased until they failed or quit. Previous students went to the dean, who stated that the nursing program is a separate entity and they run it how they please.

Procede with caution.

AMRC6713 · Aug 1, 2012

There is nothing wrong with being too slow with meds--there is less of a chance for a med error that way. That's not right, you need to talk to the program director about that. As a student, if it takes you an hour to get someone's meds together, that's better than administering the wrong med all together because you tried to speed it up. In time you'll gain speed.

fitzy5 · Aug 1, 2012

Itsnowornever,

There really is no one to talk to...our Dean comes into intimidate us prior to tests, I think she too enjoys torturing us.

Last semester after getting written up for not bringing my stethescope to open lab (which was MY fault, I own it) and having being yelled at by both my professors, the Dean requested my presence and then spent a good ten minutes screaming at me. UGH.

My professor is nice in comparision to others my fellow students have had, however she too is unapproachable.

I'm just stuck. UGH!

fitzy5 · Aug 1, 2012

That's EXACTLY how our program works...I am sooo not approaching anyone. Then I go from being the student to the trouble maker with a big fat target on me.

I just feel sooo stuck. And I really don't think I've learned very much. SIGH.

eleectrosaurus · Aug 1, 2012

Sounds SO familiar! Did we go to the same school? LOL, stay on top of your game, don't let them see you sweat. I know its hardly consolation now, but when your finished with them you'll be tough as nails and working circles around your fellow new grads.

Elladora · Aug 1, 2012

We had a few instructors like that. While I can honestly say I DID learn from them, I mostly learned things NOT to do.

As others have said, I would not try confronting the instructor. I've never, ever seen this work out well for the student.

Desert Rogue · Aug 1, 2012

A very wise instructor once told me that NO school of nursing is perfect - and I believe him. He left the university I attended and given some of the harsh comments that sprang from the lips of the BSN Program Director and were later reiterated by the SON Dean he didn't seek his escape a moment too soon. Nurses eat their young. They can be vicious and there are only two reasons for getting into teaching in the nursing field: you either are so passionate about it you want to instill that same excellence in the next generation of nurses OR you are burned-out, not cut out for direct patient care, and it's an easy paycheck.

I DID have disagreements in my program. I got summoned to the Deans office more than once and chewed on for helping classmates pass HESI. I was assured if they failed their retake, the blame would rest squarely on my shoulders and my shoulders alone. I would argue about arbitrary and legally unenforceable requirements sprung on students in the middle of a semester. I would question their willingness to set aside the BSN handbook and all of the requirements it contained for the sake of one or two students who failed multiple semesters or couldn't pass dosage exams, yet others were dismissed for less.

As long as you are doing the best you can to learn and show the nurse who's patient(s) you are assisting in the care of that you are serious in your desire to help - and learn, you should be in good hands. It won't happen overnight necessarily, but I had some REALLY strong floor nurses supporting and respecting me because I pushed myself and I tried. The effort was obvious. I sought out the hardest patients I could find to make myself learn more. More often than not I spent time working with the nurse than I did interacting with my clinical faculty. I was allowed to float to other units when the neediness of some other classmates would take hours and left me waiting for someone with a license to allow me to give my patients their medications. I got to learn more about Coumadin and how to balance INR numbers in therapy; I got to learn from specialized Infusion Therapy nurses watching and even assisting in establishing PICC lines.

I had to make a decision to NOT allow other things and people rob me of the joy I find in caring for others.

If your program has ONE instructor (a direct instructor or otherwise) you can talk to, learn from - make the effort. I was fortunate. Mine happened to have TWO world-class instructors and they don't know how very lucky they were to have such amazing nurses teaching us. I'll be completely honest - because of how I was introduced to them both, the manner in which we interacted was more based on mutual respect and even friendship than it was the formal instructor:student relationship, but it allowed me to ask them anything - to help me understand an idea, a concept, or reach for more than was being taught. And it helped.

Nursing school is only the beginning. That's the reality of the learning process. It's AFTER graduation and AFTER boards (I had 17 Select-All-That-Apply questions) that the REAL learning begins.

You are MORE than capable of seeing your dream become a reality. Don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise.