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Discussion

lack of respect for students

Hey all,

Havent been here in a while. Ive just started my internship year for nursing so im staff but unregistered meaning ive to wear my student uniform. In the last two weeks theres been four separate incidences where people have ignored me, looked down on me, abused me or failed to tell me vital info about MY patients. One was from a care attendant in giving one to one care for a patient who can be aggressive/very confused/wander. The family had come in and i needed to get my backrounds done so i asked the C/A to get me the hoist so i could adjust someone in the bed and she didnt, i asked her again and still nothing so i went off down the corridoor to get it and brought it back and she stood there looking at me with her arms folded and a face that could kill. i had to go and do something else and was talking to an RN who was somewhat supervising me for the day and she went down and asked why the C/A wasnt helping me and she then went to help, well stood on the opposite side of the bed while i got the hoist and sling out and explained to patient what i was going to do. She didnt move and i said right if you want to help me move him to put the sling in and still nothing. A load of mumbling later i hear sliding sheet so i was very frustrated at this stage an siad go get one then NOW. ten minutes later she comes back with one and then we get him sorted. And she goes and plonks her ass back on the chair reading a newspaper. Very very annoyed that night but ive since spoken to the ward manager about it.

Another day the Registrar gave out to me becuase i hadnt given a 2oclock dose to a patient and it was half two even tho i wasnt over that ward i was helping out becuase the RN there was on lunch, and one patient was vomiting all over the place. She then looked at me and said who is your supervisor as if it was all my fault that she hadnt passed the message on in the first place, if it was so urgent she would have. eventually she did it herself.

With another patient who had a PEG i was going to flush the meds down the PEG and family were there after bringing in food for him. He was due a supplement that he could take orally or out through the PEG so i said to him i will wait to put it down the PEG so he'd have appetite for the food instead and i got a patronising response of "Oh well done".

It just makes me so angry that these people have no respect for internship year student nurses, they wont talk to you about anything, look at you like youve twenty heads if you ask them to chart something, review somebody etc. I know i have to be more assertive but my confidence is knocked now and i dont know how to regain it. Has anyone else had these experienes and what have you done about it.

Thanks!

Featured Replies

I've had the same issue with a lack of respect to student nurses. At my last clinical the tech treated me so badly. She never communicated with me, did not allow me to do my job, She basically did everything, and I told her I need to get my total experience.

She also told another tech" I need to go to school to become a nurse, because these students are clueless"

She was constantly talking about us students and sneering at us.

I don't know why some of them act like that. Any one that knows me, knows that I'm one of the nicest people they'd ever meet.

I never look down on techs or anyone in that matter. I don't know if they feel threathen or what ?

I used to work as a tech in the hospital, and know whats its like to be around student nurses. I can sympathy with them, but I never made their life a living hell.

So my advice is to hang in there, be more assertive, and kill them with kindness( they hate that).

I don't know why some of them act like that. Any one that knows me, knows that I'm one of the nicest people they'd ever meet.

I never look down on techs or anyone in that matter. I don't know if they feel threathen or what ?

Some of them probably feel resentful that at this stage, they may know more than the novice nursing students but the nursing students are going on to bigger and better things. Or that the students are in their way/messing up their routine. In clinicals I definitely encountered some lazy and rude techs, but there were others who were amazing and sometimes taught me more than the RNs.

It's definitely hard dealing with this type of personality and disrespect. I'm not good at being assertive but it sounds like you are on the right track by alerting supervisors about the blatant lack of cooperation.

  • Experts

you definitely have to learn to be more assertive. i can tell from your post that you are kind of waffling and people who are lazy and looking to manipulate and take advantage of you pick up on that indecision and use it against you and to their advantage. unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about patients who get testy. they are, after all, not feeling well and i can forgive them because of that.

but the aide, for example, you said "she didnt move and i said right if you want to help me move him to put the sling in and still nothing." your words "if you want to help me" gave her the out she needed to not help. you need to be clear in giving instruction: help me. get up out of that chair, come over here and help me.

i ran into a fair amount of insubordination when i worked in nursing homes. i learned to deal with it over the years. kind of like dealing with very naughty children. some get that way because nurse after nurse have failed to deal with them and like little bully children they have become tyrants. it is easier to run and get a piece of equipment or do something yourself than wait for these difficult people to do what they have been told to do. however, the way they should be handled is this:

"i asked you to get xxx. next time i expect you to return quickly or i will report you to our manager."

continue to give this person directions and wait for results and follow up. report them/write them up when they don't do as they are instructed. eventually, they either start doing things correctly because they have been disciplined, they don't want to work with you anymore or they quit. it is stressful for awhile and a matter of who stands their ground the longest. you have the authority over them and the manager's support. know this person's job description and the rules, use them and put this person into the disciplinary process as fast and as much as possible.

i used these two books to help me. the first attempts dealing with these people is sometimes harder for you, but if you stand your ground and follow some of the suggestions they do work.

  • managing difficult people: a survival guide for handling any employee by marilyn pincus
  • working with difficult people by muriel solomon

Daytonite to the rescue once again ! I apply this when I go to clinicals next Semester !

  • Author

thanks everyone! experience teaches you a lot or thats what im gathering from here. Im feeling much more positive now about the whole thing and ive a few days off so ill be ok when i head back to the ward. I need to stand my ground a lot more and this has really opened my eyes.

  • Experts

Don't misunderstand. You have your work cut out for you. The first time I stood up to one of these aides I practiced what I was going to say. My heart was pounding and sweat was pouring down my back. The hardest thing was to keep my words short, my voice level and to the point. It was very easy for me to get mad and start yelling. Like little kids these people seem to know our weak points and they hone right in on them. It's a game to them to see what buttons they can push to make us break down. Our job is to remember that we are more educated, know behavioral theories and have authority on our side. Each encounter and confrontation gets easier, especially when you start to get results. Also, as you develop confidence in your job it shows as well.

I was interested in this post because I recently started my final semester preceptorship, I am supposed to work on the floor and act as the RN to an assignment of patients, but am also expected to wear my student uniform. I was trying to explain to my husband why that bothered me, and he didn't get it, but your post proves my point. People (patients, their families, and other employees) treat you differently if they think you are 'just a student', even if they don't realize they are doing it.

Also, I just wanted to agree with the poster who said that the tech was probably envious. I started working on a hospital floor with absolutely no experience in healthcare, and was learning everything I could from these other techs and clerks. Now two and a half years later, I am about to graduate, and interning on the same floor. It's a little weird to be telling the same people what I need them to do. Fortunately I have been able to do it so far without bruising any egos, but it is a delicate balancing act.

[/indent]I used these two books to help me. The first attempts dealing with these people is sometimes harder for you, but if you stand your ground and follow some of the suggestions they do work.

  • Managing Difficult People: A survival Guide for Handling Any Employee by Marilyn Pincus
  • Working With Difficult People by Muriel Solomon

Thank you for the book recommendations.

I got the least respect possible when I worked as a registrar and later as a tech. Being a student has been much better for me, as far as respect from staff goes.

When I was un-licensed personnel I got dealt so much crap from nurses, it was ridiculous. My motto for my career as a nurse will be to NEVER treat CNA's, clerks, housekeeping, anyone, the way I was treated when I first got started in the healthcare field.

I'll actually take some crap off of the techs I work with before I stoop to behaving like my job is the most important thing around and I require total obedience from my "subordinates".

"Subordinates" so cracks me up. At my hospital, we are told when we hire in that unless you are a Department Head, you have no subordinates. Wow, tell that to some of the people I worked with. :)

. My motto for my career as a nurse will be to NEVER treat CNA's, clerks, housekeeping, anyone, the way I was treated when I first got started in the healthcare field. :)

I hear you! My job description on my facebook page reads "Everyone else's B!tch"

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