NEED SOME ADVICE!!

Nursing Students Male Students

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Ok, here is the jist. I am in my final semester of my BSN program working in my practicum portion, we are required 320hrs before graduation. I was assigned a nurse who is 24yo, and I am 36, while this was no issue to me and I thought everything was great......well about 9 12hr shifts into working with this particular person she out of the blue tells my overall professor that I am "not knowledgeable about my meds and/or Im incompetent"?? I was shocked when I had to meet with them(not her) and hear this from them, as she never once said a single word to me and it was all smiles and "hey, good job"?? So during the meeting I sorta vented a little to my professor and asked her to email that preceptor and let her know I wanted to sit down and discuss a few things with her. I guess the professor added some of my thoughts while I was venting and all of a sudden there were "more concerns that this preceptor had".....haha. Then Im back in a meeting with the overall practicum professor and another professor(the preceptor who made the accussations I have never seen since her initial complaint) because more issues came up yada yada yada. Now it was that I intimidate other staff nurses or something to that effect and I leave the floor to go smoke for 20-30 4 or 5 times a shift! I have been Army for the past 18yrs active duty.......and I would never ever ever "leave my post without proper relief and/or permission", I asked her every single time and she smiled and said oh sure we arent doing anything anyway(all the while she is on facebook and/or yahoo or shopping...which is against policy).....and the hospital said it was in everyones best interest that I not return....They "had an investigation"....to "collect the facts"....Its funny I was never asked about anything or my side of the story?? And that I had been conducting complete care, and charting on 3 of 4 of her pts every night I worked with her. To include all meds, she never stepped in the room once!! and I was working on a critical care step down so they have alot of hardcore narcs that could be fatal.....as I am incompetent and have no knowledge of my meds.......yet she felt comfy enough to treat her pts?? Ok, enough rambling...Any advice?? Should I seek legal help?? As all of this now has my school staff looking badly on me and seems like everything I say or do is held against me, meaning taken out of context and spun in a different negative light?? THANK YOU!!

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Hi, previous Army here..... Are you able to be switched to another preceptor? As far as your preceptor goes, if she had a problem with you smoking, her, in the role as preceptor, should have been able to tell you what acceptable smoke breaks are. If she is not able to mentor/manage a nursing student, then she has no business being in that role.

The school works for you and needs to place you elsewhere. It appears for what ever reason, the both of you are not a match. The school of course will take the hospital's side, if they did not, they would lose valuable slots.

Bottom line is, they need to place you somewhere else.

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Thanks for the reply. I was unable to get another preceptor for about 3 weeks, which has set me back even further. I have another assignment at a diff facility and was supossed to start today, but my BLS lapsed so they wouldn't let me attend. I sent my preceptor my tenative date for completion of BLS and a quick response of I understand BLS is important for healthcare providers etc etc, but my current assignment is in a hospice setting and they are DNR patients so I dont see what the problem would be for one day of work before I get my renewal(with the hospice facilities permission etc). Instead of focusing on helping she focuses on just that half of a sentence and replies with that me not thinking it is a huge issue is an issue in itself and went on about professionalism etc etc. All of the staff at this school seem to wear blinders, if they can't see it there is no problem......then they over react when small things come up instead of being proactive?? I mean seriously, what gives???

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Well from what you've posted, there seems to be a fundamental difference in personalities; and that's O.K. For some reason the preceptor doesn't feel comfortable communicating/working with you.

If there is ever an issue between two people, it is best to address it through a superior who will arbitrate the situation. So you shouldn't get offended that you heard it from your professor first. People tend not to address issue directly at the person for several reasons. For example, they don't want to insult or offend the person, or create tension or hardship.

You could have a quick sit-down with the person with the kind of "hey, we might not be the greatest partners, but if we communicate- we can get through this" kind of attitude. But as the previous poster said, at this point it looks best just to separate and start anew. Just view this as an opportunity to analyze yourself on how you can improve, and you'll come out of it better.

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Just a heads up... I know of no facilities that will allow you to be in a working or student role without a BLS because a family member can turn on a dime and change their POA to state that you HAVE to full code their 98year old uncle who has dementia, CHF, PVD and no QOL because that is what they want.

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Thanks for the reply. I was unable to get another preceptor for about 3 weeks, which has set me back even further. I have another assignment at a diff facility and was supossed to start today, but my BLS lapsed so they wouldn't let me attend. I sent my preceptor my tenative date for completion of BLS and a quick response of I understand BLS is important for healthcare providers etc etc, but my current assignment is in a hospice setting and they are DNR patients so I dont see what the problem would be for one day of work before I get my renewal(with the hospice facilities permission etc). Instead of focusing on helping she focuses on just that half of a sentence and replies with that me not thinking it is a huge issue is an issue in itself and went on about professionalism etc etc. All of the staff at this school seem to wear blinders, if they can't see it there is no problem......then they over react when small things come up instead of being proactive?? I mean seriously, what gives???

And they have the appropriate response too. No hospital knows you from any other Joe, and you're asking them to take a bet that you are going to pass BLS after letting it lapse? Hospitals shouldnt have to take wagers on whether you complete training.

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