Most unforgettable nursing instructor

Published

Specializes in Psychiatry, Case Management, also OR/OB.

This is my first posting of a new thread. There have been some very interesting threads regarding ghost stories, best trauma, etc. I'm a Diploma grad from the 60's and MSN grad from 2004. I'd like to hear from you all about your most memorable nursing instructor/s from nursing school. I guess my most interesting instructor was Miss Arthur. She had been in the military in her younger days, also did Public Health before becoming an instructor. Back in the day, it was most unusual for instructors in hospital based programs to have advanced degrees, but she did. Anyway, she had sustained a terrible injury to her arm, that resulted in an amputation, This lady was the most phenomenal instructor. Her neuro exams were BRUTAL:crying2: !!! But I learned more from her than any of my other instructors. I'll never forget the day she came thru my OR suite for a mastectomy, and I held her hand as she went to sleep "I know you'll take good care of me."

Let's here from some of you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in OB.

Mine is Mrs S. She was all of 4 ft 11, but we were all terrified of her. My most memorable moment with her was when she pulled one of the guys in my class, 6 ft 300 lbs, down the hall by his collar to his pt's room because he did not know what IV fluid was hanging. I bet he allways knows what fluid is hanging now! She pushed us the hardest, expected the best from all of us and we leared how to be "real" nurses from her!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

At my school the theory instructors were different than the clinical instructors. My first clinical instructor was new at the school, and my group was her first clinical group. She was absolutely wonderful, and I went full circle with her. She was also my last clinical instructor before graduation and then she pinned me at my ceremony.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My psych instructor had a habit of talking about herself in the third person: "Sara says..." "Sara feels.." Etc. It would have been easier to adjust to if we hadn't had a classmate in our group with the same name!

**name changed to protect the.....whatever lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Teaching, HH, CM, QC, OB, LTC.

I had 2 great instuctors in my career!

The first was my NA instuctor when I was in HS. Mrs. JS. God Bless her where ever she is. I was sent to Voc Tech because I was not college material... Well she did not beleive this & she did not let me beleive it either.

Then when I was in my BSN program (eat *hi* & choke HS counselor) Ms. M the most real & teacher in the bunch. God bless her too!!!

Love this thread thanks for starting it!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have had quite a few horrible instructors! Ugh!

I will not forget my instructor who passed d/t breast cancer. She worked as long as she possibly could and always had encouraging things to say to her students, even while terribly sick. Her fight will be carried on by the students she touched.

I took her passing so hard, I almost failed out of school the next semester.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/warriorsinpink/quilt/index.asp?patchID=1003&ContainerID=65

Thanks Patty!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I had two awesome nursing instructors.

One was the cilnical and theory instructor that everyone groaned about having. She was one hard cookie! It was during her tutorship that many, many students failed or left on their own volition. She kept me on my toes and sweating. Eventually I found that I enjoyed the challenge of trying to be one step ahead of what she expected of me. As tough as she was she always treated me with dignity and respect. I learned soooo much from her...about Nursing AND about having to be tough and persistant.

The other was the kindest, most caring Nurse and instructor I've ever known! If we could clone her and populate our profession with her kind Nursing would be as wonderfully idealic as we all dreamed!

While Nurse #1 carved and polished my outsides, Nurse #2 preserved and filled my insides with the ingredients necessary to practice my art with an honest love and respect for myself and others.

Thank-you, Barb and Cindy!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatry, Case Management, also OR/OB.

These are great;) ;) ;) Give us some more!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

Without a doubt my most memorable instructor was Ms Aranda. She pushed us, she coddled us when needed, she believed in us. She took a geniune interest in her clinical groups and helped us find our "niche" in nursing. She'd send us off the floor for days in our areas of interest.

One of the reasons I applied to the floor where I'm working is because she still does clinicals on that floor. I've NEVER felt as supported and encouraged as I did with her...and continue to do with her :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i had 2 favourites, sean and dirk, who both taught different areas of out human scieces section.

sean used to get out interest by peppering his presentations with really revolting pictures of infections, worms etc. never will i forget the day we were all sitting in the lecture theatre, chatting and waiting for the lecture to start, and this eerie, grave silence crept over the group (this is 200 people, silence did not come easily). i looked up, and there's sean, standing silent, hands behind his back, and above his head, projected onto the wall, was a 4 metre high photo of a member with a huge syphillis chancre on it.

thanks to him, i still have a picture of a beaker of cholera poo imprinted in my brain, four years after that lesson.

dirk was brilliant because he was irish, so it was very easy to listen to him, and he had the most brilliant ways to explain complex things. he taught pharmacology and a bit of pathophysiology, and i doubt i'd have understood a single word if not for him.

his best story was when he was explaining the body's cellular response to interlopers. his example was a story entitled 'the beer fairy', and went something like 'i have this friend who doesn't drink, but whenever he's invited to a party, he always arrives with a carton of beer on his shoulder, earning him the title of 'beer fairy'. when people see him, they swarm on him, taking beers from his carton, until he's left empty-handed and everyone wanders off'.

apparently the body's immune response does the same thing, attacking until the bug is gone, and leaving the body's natural bits untouched.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Women's health & post-partum.

My most memorable instructor was the one who tried to get me thrown out of the program. Well, I was there the next semester and she wasn't! She was a heavy smoker (both her fingers and her upper lip were "nicotine-stained").

A few years later we were working at the same hospital; one morning she didn't show up for her shift. We learned later that she had died in a house fire caused by smoker's carelessness.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surge.

My most unforgettable clinical instructor was Amy. We were her first "real" clinical group. It was our first "real" clinical as well. She was so patient with us and tried to calm us down before procedures giving us encouragement. She had the best sense of humor as well. One time, while standing at the med cart before my first IV push, I was supposed to be figuring the math, and I told her I had absolutely no clue how to do it!! The look of fright on her face, then I busted out laughing and she almost wet her pants she was laughing so hard. She was tough on papers though but I felt prepared for the next level!! She was great.

My most unforgettable lecture instructor was Dr. Ray Huttel. Talk about striking fear in her students at the drop of a hat!! She always had the best lectures though. The room was totally silent when she was up and most of us were on the edge of our seats. She always made me want to learn more and strive to be the best and safest nurse that I could be. Even though she came across as being this really tough lady, she had a heart of gold and would always make time to help you with studying or whatever help you needed. These two instructors made nursing school so much better than what it could have been.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion