Issues with a Clinical Instructor

Nursing Students General Students

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Hello all.

Here's the deal. I just started my first semester of nursing school. It's the summer term so everything is a lot shorter but we still have to get the same amount of information in - standard summer term scenario. I just finished my third week and we only have two weeks until we start clinicals.

I'm exceptionally nervous about my instructor. Firstly let me say, he's a really nice guy. He seems more than willing to help; the problem - he doesn't seem to know... anything. He's an older gentleman who's been a psych nurse for twenty-something-odd years and has never taught nursing from what I understand. I am NOT trying to discredit his credentials. He's an RN, MSN, et cetera, and I'm sure he's very smart. But this is not his thing; this isn't what he's used to. I understand that a response might be to empathize and understand he is new at this, and he's trying his best. I get it, I really do. But respectfully, I don't care. This is my education at stake. Any questions that surface he seems unable to answer. In lab he points us in the direction of the other groups and instructs us to watch them or ask the other instructors.

Again, let me re-emphasize, I understand that he's new to this. And it's probably as difficult for him as it is for us to try and figure out what's going on. But I feel my education will suffer. I want an instructor that can teach me, not one that's learning with me. I'm paying out-of-pocket for this so it's quite frustrating. I also didn't want to go above his head because that seems exceedingly disrespectful because he's not actually breaking any rules or doing anything wrong, there is nothing for them to talk with him about, this just isn't what he does. Furthermore, what could they say? The other students in our group have mentioned something to the department head and the response they were give was 'that's who they chose, I don't pick the instructors so we just have to work with what we've got'.

I guess I don't have a questions, and I don't really know what kind of responses I'm seeking, I guess I'm just venting. I'm just very ambitious and want to be the best nurse I can be. :down:

Specializes in Med/Surg, Oncology, Epic CT.

Have you approached him one and one? Maybe set up an appointment with him and sit down and tell him about your struggles and what you need clarified. If you already attempted that and it is textbook knowledge you need for tests, I say, just dive in and get your answers that way. If it's skills that you need help with, I am sure you have other classes with other MSN's who are teaching them, correct? See if you can get their input.

Those were the things I attempted when I could not be on the same page with one my teachers.

Also, do you have a separate teacher for clinicals? Or is it the same gentleman that is also teaching class?

Just trying to clarify so I can further help you to a solution, if I can. I know all too well the struggles of first semester. (I was on there a year ago.)

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

Try to imagine that you are very lucky to have this instructor at this time in your nursing school experience. Learn what you can from him and truly enjoy that he is a "really nice guy", who "seems more than willing to help". You may find yourself wishing he was your instructor again depending on your experience with future clinical instructors. Be careful what you wish for.

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Specializes in Tele, Interventional Pain Management, OR.

Even though you are "paying out-of-pocket" for nursing school, keep in mind that you are a student and not a customer.

There's not a "satisfaction guaranteed" policy for an educational program. You'll have amazing experiences (few), typical/run-of-the-mill experiences (most), and awful experiences (very, very few, in my lengthy college experience!).

As a nursing student who has recently finished her first semester and just begun her second, I can tell you that it's way too soon to feel like you have the ability to ascertain what your instructor knows. Just take what you can from your clinicals and do your best. Do what must be done to progress in your program.

Personally, I was AMAZED by how much I learned in my fundamentals class/clinicals. My clinical instructor had a lot on her plate, shepherding 10 green nursing students through med pass and etc. on a busy urban med surg floor. She sometimes referred our skills questions to the course's lead facilitator and didn't always magically appear the very moment I needed her in a patient's room. But she tried hard, and we tried hard, and we all made it through.

Good luck! Keep an open mind, take each clinical day as it comes, and you will be fine.

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schools are businesses and the student is certainly a customer...

Even though you are "paying out-of-pocket" for nursing school, keep in mind that you are a student and not a customer.

There's not a "satisfaction guaranteed" policy for an educational program. You'll have amazing experiences (few), typical/run-of-the-mill experiences (most), and awful experiences (very, very few, in my lengthy college experience!).

As a nursing student who has recently finished her first semester and just begun her second, I can tell you that it's way too soon to feel like you have the ability to ascertain what your instructor knows. Just take what you can from your clinicals and do your best. Do what must be done to progress in your program.

Personally, I was AMAZED by how much I learned in my fundamentals class/clinicals. My clinical instructor had a lot on her plate, shepherding 10 green nursing students through med pass and etc. on a busy urban med surg floor. She sometimes referred our skills questions to the course's lead facilitator and didn't always magically appear the very moment I needed her in a patient's room. But she tried hard, and we tried hard, and we all made it through.

Good luck! Keep an open mind, take each clinical day as it comes, and you will be fine.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Welcome to nursing school. My advice is to learn how to be your own teacher in addition to what you learn from the faculty and from other students.

I went to one of the top nursing schools in the country, and my lecturers were a few academics/ex-administrators who were using glass jars for IV solutions (cleaned between patients) when they last worked in direct patient care, a few OB nurses, a semi-retired psych nurse, and a still-practicing NP who is where we learned most of what we needed. They mean well, teaching typically pays worse than what they would make outside of academia, it's often something nurses do just before retirement as a way to 'give back'.

It's reassuring to hear however that he owns up to not knowing something, the last thing you want is an instructor who just compensates with misinformation.

Even with the best teachers you're not going to know everything when you graduate, in fact you'll be surprised with how little you know (some say nursing school only teaches you what you don't know), so learning how to continually educate yourself is the most important thing you'll get out of school. Having a teacher who doesn't know it all (or even most of it) only ensures that you'll learn how to learn independently.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

Sorry to say this OP but you seem like a know it all type. We all have at least one in class. I have a feeling you'd have a problem no matter who the instructor was.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.

So basically all pay "out of pocket" students should have experienced clinical instructors, while new instructors should be reserved for the other 2% of students who aren't paying anything?

Maybe I misread your first post, but it seems like you have only had lab and no any actual clinicals? I have had instructors that were all over it in lab--they knew every procedure, they were very smart, and they were able to pass large amounts of knowledge on to students. Then came clinical and it turned out to be a total train wreck. The opposite was also true--an instructor who was a terrible lecturer, and was one of the best clinical instructors we had. Not that you can't be concerned, but give the guy a chance!

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
It's reassuring to hear however that he owns up to not knowing something, the last thing you want is an instructor who just compensates with misinformation.

I had an instructor that had an answer for every single student question. Never even blinked. Made it seem like she was 100% certain. Well, it turned out a number of her answers were wrong. Sometimes she would tell us later something to the effect of "I realized later that I didn't make a very clear distinction between A and B" (umm, no you were just plain wrong…just admit it); usually, however, we, the students, would discover the error when we were studying the info later. In other words, I would appreciate and instructor that would occasionally say "I don't know right off, but we can check on that."

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Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.

Op, you may be judging too early. You have yet to begin clinicals and you claim that you feel that the instructor is not up to your standards. As a fundamentals student, what are you looking for him to teach you? You're not even in med surg yet so if he's able to teach you communications, patient safety, medication administration, patient rights, nursing processes/assessment, then that is enough. While it would be nice if he could teach you more stuff like Foley, chest tube care, iv, those things are generally taught in med surg so it is not within his contract towards a out of pocket student (or any student). In other words he doesn't even have to teach you those things.

If you are judging him based on those criteria, then in my opinion you will appear to be an over achiever who has a sense of entitlement and likes to complain. But to give you the benefit of the doubt, can you state what was he unable to answer to your satisfaction in particular? If you asked him something about fundamentals and he didn't know the answer consistently then I can understand your frustration.

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Specializes in PICU.

One thing that struck me is that the actual clinical has not begun per your post. In the first clinical, one of the most important things is learning to walk into a patient's room and introduce yourself, your role, and what you are going to be doing. Second is making a med pass on one day. Plus, learning how to read a medical chart, find the diagnosis, interpreting lab values for your patient.

I understand your angst about wanting to make the most of your clinical so just take a deep breath and listen to what is actually required of you during this first clinical. It will be the first of many. You will have great clinical instructors and others not so great, it is just the way it goes.

I too paid out of pocket for school which was super expensive and am still paying off the loans, but that really doesn't make a difference for a clinical. Everyone in school wants to make sure the money your are paying you are getting a return.

Don't always take at face value what your other nursing students have to say about an instructor as it is too subjective, wait and see how it goes.

Deep breath.. you are now embarking upon a wonderful adventure into an awesome career. Every instructor no mater how "good" or "bad" they are will teach you something to carry forth.

Good Luck

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Op, you may be judging too early. You have yet to begin clinicals and you claim that you feel that the instructor is not up to your standards. As a fundamentals student, what are you looking for him to teach you? You're not even in med surg yet so if he's able to teach you communications, patient safety, medication administration, patient rights, nursing processes/assessment, then that is enough. While it would be nice if he could teach you more stuff like Foley, chest tube care, iv, those things are generally taught in med surg so it is not within his contract towards a out of pocket student (or any student). In other words he doesn't even have to teach you those things.

If you are judging him based on those criteria, then in my opinion you will appear to be an over achiever who has a sense of entitlement and likes to complain. But to give you the benefit of the doubt, can you state what was he unable to answer to your satisfaction in particular? If you asked him something about fundamentals and he didn't know the answer consistently then I can understand your frustration.

We still have 12-hour labs in place of our clinical days until we start clincals on the fifth week. I don't know why some are getting so offended when I've done everything in my power to be as understanding at possible in my post. And while I am taking in what most of you are saying (and I get it), you're instantly assuming that my perception is invalid because I'm a brand new student. I'm nervous based on what I've seen in lab, and have a right to be. And you all are right, it may turn out that I love the guy as an instructor; I just came to express my current feelings and opinion.

One thing that struck me is that the actual clinical has not begun per your post. In the first clinical, one of the most important things is learning to walk into a patient's room and introduce yourself, your role, and what you are going to be doing. Second is making a med pass on one day. Plus, learning how to read a medical chart, find the diagnosis, interpreting lab values for your patient.

I understand your angst about wanting to make the most of your clinical so just take a deep breath and listen to what is actually required of you during this first clinical. It will be the first of many. You will have great clinical instructors and others not so great, it is just the way it goes.

I too paid out of pocket for school which was super expensive and am still paying off the loans, but that really doesn't make a difference for a clinical. Everyone in school wants to make sure the money your are paying you are getting a return.

Don't always take at face value what your other nursing students have to say about an instructor as it is too subjective, wait and see how it goes.

Deep breath.. you are now embarking upon a wonderful adventure into an awesome career. Every instructor no mater how "good" or "bad" they are will teach you something to carry forth.

Good Luck

I appreciate your unbiased and encouraging post.

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Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.
We still have 12-hour labs in place of our clinical days until we start clincals on the fifth week. I don't know why some are getting so offended when I've done everything in my power to be as understanding at possible in my post. And while I am taking in what most of you are saying (and I get it), you're instantly assuming that my perception is invalid because I'm a brand new student. I'm nervous based on what I've seen in lab, and have a right to be. And you all are right, it may turn out that I love the guy as an instructor; I just came to express my current feelings and opinion.

I appreciate your unbiased and encouraging post.

I think you may be confused with the word offended, because I can assure you that I am not your instructor so I was not offended.

And op I did not instantly assume that your perception as a new student to be invalid, I was merely pointing out the common curriculum of a fundamentals class. This was to outline the difference between the materials taught in fundamentals and med surg clinicals.

Furthermore, as stated by me and quoted by you, I gave you the benefit of the doubt and agreed that if you're instructor was lacking in fundamentals knowledge then it is a detriment to your education. However we need to have both sides of the story so I asked you to provide some specific cases in which your instructor was lacking in FUNDAMENTALS knowledge. (Caps mean emphasis, not screaming over the internet, as many people assume that). We don't have the details to determine whether he is incompetent per your standards or incompetent regarding fundamentals knowledge.

I understand that you came here to express your opinions and to vent but at the same time this is a public forum in which other people can and will display their opinions and advice.

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