I totally get it now. As a student, I thought it would be great having students around, but after last week, I don't think I even wan to take students EVER!
Granted, I've been on the floor around 9 months, and shouldn't even take students, the students are assigned to individual pts and not the nurse.
I had a LPN in a LPN-RN program. Within 5 mins, she shares that she has been a nurse for 20 years and doesn't see the point of being here. She helped me do a dressing change on a pt with an stage 4 ulcer on the coccyx. While lifting her, I tell her not to pull on the bottom, but from the shoulders and knees, she scoffs and continues. I ask her to step away. Pt was on tube feeding and I had paused it before starting the dressing change, but I had also spiked a bag of antibiotics and wanted to be sure it was running before I continued and asked her to turn the pole towards me so I can be sure. She presses buttons on the feeding pump and IV pump and the tells me the feeding is off. Im in the middle of the dressing change and say, I need to see it (the iv pump and now feeding pump) and asks again for her to turn the pole and she insists that it is off. I stop in the middle of my dressing change and go to look at the pump. Take her aside and tell her not to come back in my pts room.
This isn't the first time have worked with students like this. I once had a guy nurse that just knew EVERYTHING there was to know about nursing. It was painful talking to him.
I just can't believe how obnoxious some of these students are. I totally get why so many nurses can't stand taking students. We do have awesome students every now and then, but it seems most of them take up space and talk all day.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
remember ....YOU too was once a student! Good luck in your future!
Yep, we were students once, and we remember it. However, students haven't yet been nurses. It's an eye opening experience the first time you, as a nurse, have a student assigned to one of your patients.
As a student, I sincerely apologize for this persons actions and for the others you have encountered in the past. I can understand how frustrating that would be. Working with practicing nurses is a privilege and I truly appreciate the staff who work with us and take the time to teach us and explain things. Clinical is a valuable learning experience and nobody should feel that they are above anything. Again, so sorry for this persons actions and thank you for taking students. I know you've had bad experiences in the past but I guarantee there are students who have learned from you and appreciate you taking the time to teach them!
I am a nursing instructor so I get it. I am afraid to ask what school for reasons I would rather not post on here...... but I would like to know at the same time. This is a big reason why I hate teaching. All it takes is one and WE are stuck with this person for months and months. It reflects on me as an instructor, but some of them are just jerky people. I mean this person was an LPN for 20 years, so she is an adult and it's not like we can simply snap fingers and say "behave like a professional". Also, with lawsuits it is hard to withdraw a student for objective things like behavior unless it is violent or explicitly unsafe. Not turning a pump when asked is insubordination, but my hands are tied on the punishment to a student due to that type of behavior. It isn't like it was, even a few yrs ago. Students are seen as customers, and also provide income to the school. So withdrawing them, ends the income. If the instructor is "mean" we are told it is poor customer service. I worry about the future of nursing!!
I really wonder what the motivation was to go for her RN with an attitude like that.
Also, I'm sorry. I'm starting to feel like respectful students are not the norm. I understand that this student was not "traditional" but I don't think that is any kind of justification for being so damned ignorant. Just know, that as a student, I do my best to do anything I can to not get in the way, to not make anyone's day longer or give them anymore work and to do anything I can to help, even if it's just getting an extra blanket or running interference on a needy patient for my nurse (even though I doubt any of that really makes up for the time). I try. Many of us do. I'll try to remember this when I start working but now even I'm scared to take students when I become an experienced RN.
I am a nursing instructor so I get it. I am afraid to ask what school for reasons I would rather not post on here...... but I would like to know at the same time. This is a big reason why I hate teaching. All it takes is one and WE are stuck with this person for months and months. It reflects on me as an instructor, but some of them are just jerky people. I mean this person was an LPN for 20 years, so she is an adult and it's not like we can simply snap fingers and say "behave like a professional". Also, with lawsuits it is hard to withdraw a student for objective things like behavior unless it is violent or explicitly unsafe. Not turning a pump when asked is insubordination, but my hands are tied on the punishment to a student due to that type of behavior. It isn't like it was, even a few yrs ago. Students are seen as customers, and also provide income to the school. So withdrawing them, ends the income. If the instructor is "mean" we are told it is poor customer service. I worry about the future of nursing!!
Oh no. I've never thought of it this way.
The "customer is always right" mentality that is pervasive in industries that it has no business, er, pervading, has to end. I come from retail and that is one area that really needs to start pushing back against this mentality.
As a nurse that is transitioning from LPN to RN, personally I try and maintain the highest level of professionalism I can. For several reasons, my reputation is on the line so I better respect the staff that allows me to help care for their patient, it's an enormous amount of work for any nurse Lpn or RN to have a student following them-teaching a student is a monumental task! I usually do not disclose the fact I am an LPN, but if asked I am truthful. I also am looked at by my fellow peers and nursing faculty with a higher standard, it inspires me to learn everything I can, fill in my gaps of knowledge and become a top notch RN. I am truly sorry you had a rough experience with a student! #RN May 2016!
Wow. That sucks. I'm sooo grateful for my experience this semester (Fundamentals). My clinical group of 8 students was pretty awesome. I think because a) we are assigned to a patient and expect our INSTRUCTOR to teach us, not the nurses.
B) our nurses have absolutely no hesitations about teaching us anyway. Some more than others.
C) we all realize that being a student can slow down your care, so we make it a point to be available to take care of basic tasks, call lights, am care, getting drinks, assisting with incontinent patients. If I am going to be taking up your time on one end, I'll do what I can to free up time for you somewhere else.
She sounds like an arrogant know it all, and that's not the standard for most LPN to RN students.
Although I agree that the student did not behave professionally, lets not bash the general nursing student population. In my program , clinical instructors gather feedback from the clinical staff about the students. Negative and positive reports are noted and any need for improvement will be implemented. I also work in the hospital setting and we get bad/good set of students , often with the bad set of students there was also a bad clinical instructor. If a student behaves inappropriately then they should be reported to the clinical instructor to correct the students behavior.
Really troublesome for me to see this. As a student (I am now an RN) I could never get a nurse that was willing to have me and this is a huge problem in nursing. Its students like you describe that ruin it for the other students, who yes they know nothing, but they need to learn the skills somewhere...
OP, don't let a bad experience with one student sour you for the whole bunch. This student way overstepped their bounds (whether they are a nurse 20 years or not, they are a STUDENT in this scenario) and I truly hope you spoke to their instructor. I know that with my students I often cannot be in six places at once (although I keep a pulse on what is going on at all times). If one of my students ever behaved so inappropriately I hope that the primary nurse or other staff member would approach me with their concern and I would speak with the student in an appropriate fashion.
but I would like to know at the same time. This is a big reason why I hate teaching. All it takes is one 
and WE are stuck with this person for months and months. It reflects on me as an instructor, but some of them are just jerky people. I mean this person was an LPN for 20 years, so she is an adult and it's not like we can simply snap fingers and say "behave like a professional". Also, with lawsuits it is hard to withdraw a student for objective things like behavior unless it is violent or explicitly unsafe. Not turning a pump when asked is insubordination, but my hands are tied on the punishment to a student due to that type of behavior. It isn't like it was, even a few yrs ago. Students are seen as customers, and also provide income to the school. So withdrawing them, ends the income. If the instructor is "mean" we are told it is poor customer service. I worry about the future of nursing!!.thumb.gif.9c97ffa9443a5f22ff38e1eac832292c.gif){kind=avatar}
Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN
6 Articles; 12,057 Posts
Yep, we were students once, and we remember it. However, students haven't yet been nurses. It's an eye opening experience the first time you, as a nurse, have a student assigned to one of your patients.
And we didn't even make it past page 2.
So, OP, was anything done about the situation?