Never wanna take students again.

[remotefuse]

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.

Rant over.

[ambr46]

And thats totally your opinion, may or may not happen.

It will happen.

[DeLana_RN, BSN, RN]

Just to add one more comment...

When I worked med/surg-PCU years ago, I welcomed students - they eased my workload (8 patients!) and were under the supervision of their clinical instructor when giving meds.

Now, however, my workload is still very intense (just in a different way) and having a student may result in my having to stay another hour just to finish my charting. So I consider it a burden.

Also, students can certainly tell when they're not welcome (I used to be one!) and this is not fair to either them or the nurses they are assigned to.

[kdkout, BSN, RN]

It's not that some nurses dont want to take students, but that "taking a student" adds one more thing to the LONGGGGGG list of things you already have to do that day....and you truly dont have the time. You'd be surprised at how often many nurses are asked to precept for students, new staff, etc. It gets exhausting & is more time-consuming. At previous job, I was more apt to take a student if I knew that the clinical instructor was actually able to help do some of the teaching, assuming she/he knew what she was talking about & was a good instructor. (That's another topic). Some dump the student off and leave & nobody sees them again.

All we ask from students is the same that we ask from new hires....be professional and open to learning. Come prepared, know something about the area, learn about your patient, ask pertinent questions, wear appropriate clothes.

In other words - dont sit down in the chair and fall asleep. Dont stand there chewing gum or eating in the patients room. GET OFF YOUR PHONE. Dont stand there all day half asleep saying nothing with zero interest in what's going on - it's insulting. Even if you have no desire to work in that area, you can still learn a thing or two.

[Shagce1]

Also, students can certainly tell when they're not welcome (I used to be one!) and this is not fair to either them or the nurses they are assigned to.

Totally agree with this....as a student we know we can be a burden. But it feels like crap to have the eye rolls, snarky comments and sighs when we walk on the unit in the morning. Like we are deaf, dumb, and blind and don't comprehend the behaviors of the nursing staff.

[kdkout, BSN, RN]

Also, students can certainly tell when they're not welcome (I used to be one!) and this is not fair to either them or the nurses they are assigned to.

Totally agree with this....as a student we know we can be a burden. But it feels like crap to have the eye rolls, snarky comments and sighs when we walk on the unit in the morning. Like we are deaf, dumb, and blind and don't comprehend the behaviors of the nursing staff.

This - yes, I agree too.

Once when the Charge RN was making assignments and told a seasoned nurse "you have a student" this nurse went on and on about how much she "didnt want a student" & why ....right in front of the entire class at the nurse's station. So embarrassing and totally unprofessional! I remember standing there in stunned silence that my coworker actually did this. I felt so bad for the students & mumbled an apology. Wish I would've handled it differently now. Some people are just jerks. This coworker was/is VERY Type A, near retirement age and never could handle anything that "deferred with the plan."

All the students learned that day was "How Never to Act Once When You are a Nurse."

[kdkout, BSN, RN]

Totally agree with this....as a student we know we can be a burden. But it feels like crap to have the eye rolls, snarky comments and sighs when we walk on the unit in the morning. Like we are deaf, dumb, and blind and don't comprehend the behaviors of the nursing staff.

This - yes, I agree too.

Once when the Charge RN was making assignments and told a seasoned nurse "you have a student" this nurse went on and on about how much she "didnt want a student" & why ....right in front of the entire class at the nurse's station. So embarrassing and totally unprofessional! I remember standing there in stunned silence that my coworker actually did this. I felt so bad for the students & mumbled an apology. Wish I would've handled it differently now. Some people are just jerks. This coworker was/is VERY Type A, near retirement age and never could handle anything that "deferred with the plan."

All the students learned that day was "How Never to Act Once When You are a Nurse."

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Not to be pedantic, but even the refusal to turn the pump off while repositioning a pt is dangerous. It raises the very real risk of aspiration. In some pts, that's a bad, bad risk. One that wouldn't exist if the preceptee could just accept guidance.

I was in an ADN RN program, and had an LPN classmate that was only getting her RN so she could take a position as an MDS coordinator. It was abundantly clear that she thought the whole process was bullcrap. I can only imagine how the floor nurses must have felt being a preceptor or the floor nurse she followed.

Where does it say the student refused to turn the pump off??

I've read all the replies to my post, and if these two things (turning a patient "incorrectly" to prevent dehiscence?--since when were stage 4's sutured?--and not turning a pump around) would cause an inexperienced nurse to tell a bridge program student of 20 years experience to "step away" and not re-enter her patients' rooms...well, methinks we got some ego issues going on from BOTH sides. I mean, seriously, play out the entire exchange in your head like a movie. It's ridiculous.

By the way, OP, were the pumps set correctly when you dropped everything to recheck?

[Lame]

As a new grad who is currently working as a cna, I've had student nurses shadow me a couple times and it is hard work! It definitely made me appreciate how hard nurses have worked to teach me in clinical! The first time I had a student shadow me, he asked me why I wasn't rinsing out urinals after emptying them LOL.

Your student was completely out of line. Most students are more than grateful for the learning opportunity. In your case, the student seemed arrogant and had the attitude of "I've been doing this for years so I know better." Not safe.

[NOADLS]

Students are high maintenance. I don't blame anyone that doesn't want to take students.

Easiest solution is to work a shift other than day shift and avoid the whole mess.

A more intricate solution is to pile work onto the student.

[eieiyo]

New grads can be just as bad. And they work boxnightift. I had a new nurse who decided to change a very brittle diabetics insulin doses. I knew because he told me. I immediately told the doctor and DON.

[JNes]

Wow. I'm so sorry about that. I would love to work under an experienced RN. I'm still working on getting into nursing school first..lol

[Lauraingalls, BSN, RN]

Students are high maintenance. I don't blame anyone that doesn't want to take students.

Easiest solution is to work a shift other than day shift and avoid the whole mess.

A more intricate solution is to pile work onto the student.

Nope! We just finished night clinicals!!! Sorry I get it that you don't want students. The new way of doing things is having the clinical instructor drop you off and come back to check on you. When your students are spread between 4 units and 6 floors, that is the way it is.

I know it is a pain and trust me I am so glad to be done with clinicals. I begin my preceptorship in Jan.