Miscommunication on the med/surg floor as a student nurse

[ferlo]

Hello everyone! I just want to share a brief story about a time during clinical when my communication was not considered proficient enough to a past clinical instructor. I would love to know others' opinion on this as well. Basically, my instructor sort of made me feel stupid for appearing to be unable to comprehend a part of a report from another nurse, but who knows, maybe I really should have known better. The nurse I was getting a report from told me that the patient I was caring was placed on ECG, and due to the lack of my own experience and knowledge, I had no idea that it involved with leads attaching to the patient. The nurse explained that the patient will not be able to get up by herself because of it (and also because of her confusion). She also reported other information related to the patient, so I had to organize all the information in a way that will make sense to me so I will know what to do when providing the care. However, I asked the nurse to clarify about the ECG, because I will need to worry about the patient's bathing care too. She looked at me for a second, and explained that the patient will need to be given a bed bath instead of a shower. I did notice my instructor nearby at that time of the reporting, but I didn't realize I did anything wrong JUST YET. Later, she told me that I "lacked communication" or either there was a "language barrier" (yes, English is not my first language) because I had the reporting nurse repeat information about the ECG. I went home thinking over and over to myself, "But isn't it okay to have something clarified if I don't understand it? Because it's better to be safe than sorry?" I would appreciate feedback on whether or not this is considered bad communication!

[Sour Lemon]

It's fine to ask questions during report, although some people go ridiculously overboard. From the way you describe things, your interaction sounds fine. Your instructor was actually there, though. I wasn't.

In any case, she's the one grading you and her opinion is the only one you need to concern yourself with at this point.

[ferlo]

Thank you for your input! I was definitely aware that whether I pass or not is up to her, so I had no choice other than sucking up to her. I am indeed glad that my clinical with her has been done for a while now though

[marable]

If I had been the nurse giving you the report I would not have minded explaining to you about the ECG , leads, bathing , etc....It is ALWAYS better to ask about something if you are not sure ....Do you go the night before and review your patients ' chart , make a medication list etc?

[ferlo]

I would have definitely appreciate it if you were the nurse instead! I guess my instructor who was secretly observing just expected me to know my stuff beforehand and understand what was being said during a report with me just asking few to no questions. And no, not the night before because the way my nursing program works, clinical days usually go from 0630 to 1530, and it's once per week. My instructor assigns us different patients each week, so once I arrive at the clinical site early in the morning, she gives me and my classmates time to look over our patients' chart until 0800, and that's when I'll have to head over to the floor. In regards to medications, my instructor made us look up information about the scheduled medications before heading to the floor too so we know what the medications are for. I know I did have difficulty with prioritizing patient information that is important to take note of because sometimes, I rushed myself trying to understand EVERYTHING that's documented in the chart, and usually it just makes me end up feeling more clueless about what I should really focus on. Hope that sorta made sense...lol

[AnnieNP, MSN, NP]

I believe you should always ask questions if there is something you do not understand. As far as your instructor "secretly observing", that is part of an instructor's job. I hope you feel better with your future clinicals.