Peds clinical today- just need to rant

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I had a 1 mo. old with RSV so the room is on both contact and droplet precautions. Obviously, I suited up each and every time I went in there but what made me angry was that both my instructor and the respiratory therapist were going in there w/ out any sort of precautions..handling the baby..inches from her face and she's coughing and sneezing.and THEN going into other patients rooms. Even a room with preemies that were just turfed out of the NICU b/c they were doing well..just needed to gain weight and NICU needed beds. We all know how long RSV can survive on skin. ARGH. Obviously hand washing is necessary but the precations are there for a REASON! No gloves, no gowns, no masks,...nothing!

Then another nurse on the floor goes postal on my instructor..who literally defends herself by saying she's an ER nurse and is used to being immune???? The other nurse is saying" It isn't about YOUR immunity! I have kids who AREN'T sick...and I don't want them getting sick! So stay out of my patients rooms...." So our instructor pulls us ALL off the floor and sends us home early....saying that the "environment is not condusive to learning here today".

Amazing.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

Your instructor and the RT were both wrong. They should have suited up, and your instructor's rationale to the floor nurse just appalls me. She could obviously carried germs to the other kiddos and should have known better.

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instructor is immune

what about the needs of the children?

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Oh, boy! Better be careful around this one. If they can ever figure out how to make instructors out of robots or androids things would be so much better.

Did any of the other students talk about possibly reporting the clinical instructor to your dean? Anybody brave enough to do that?

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Hooray for the staff members who called the instructor on her faulty practice. Perhaps she wasn't as diplmomatically as she should have been, but at least she didn't let the instructor continue to put patients at risk. I am happy to see you realize that your instructor was in the wrong in this case.

I agree with the above post. Is someone reporting this instructor to her supervisor at the school? Where I work, the staff nurse would be calling me (the hospital employee who coordinates the school schedules) and reporting it. I would be calling the instructor -- and if not satisfied with the instructor's response, calling the Dean.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Then another nurse on the floor goes postal on my instructor..who literally defends herself by saying she's an ER nurse and is used to being immune???? The other nurse is saying" It isn't about YOUR immunity! I have kids who AREN'T sick...and I don't want them getting sick! So stay out of my patients rooms...." So our instructor pulls us ALL off the floor and sends us home early....saying that the "environment is not condusive to learning here today".

Amazing.

Clearly, it was your instructor who created the "environment" that was "not conducive to learning." Sheesh!

Thank goodness the staff nurse stood up to her before she infected the entire floor.

Please consider speaking to your department head or nursing chair about this experience. It is important to do so for a few reasons:

1. Your instructor put patients at risk.

2. Your instructor wasted valuable clinical time, which I'm sure is limited to begin with.

3. Your instructor may have jeopardized your school's relationship with the hospital hosting your clinical. Her incompetent practice and bad attitude may lead nursing administration and hospital leadership to decide that providing clinical experience for students from your school is too risky, both in terms of legal implications and reputation for quality of care.

I wish you well in the remainder of your rotation.

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

Umm...has anyone noticed how some instructors believe they are above mere mortals? Germs do not care about your status, they infect and live on whoever they wish. Too bad more people don't realize that.

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I'm almost positive that the staff nurse reported her. She was very, very upset and rightfully so. I know she got on the phone with the RT office so I can only imagine she got on the phone about our instructor. As for my group we were completely in shock that she sent us home b/c of something she did. I was very upset b/c that was my patient and I wasn't even able to finish up the things I was supposed to do for her that I had told the parents I was going to do. It wasn't like "finish up and then we are leaving" it was " we are leaving NOW so pack up your stuff and report off".

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

You know, as I was just reading your very last post I was thinking that perhaps your instructor was told to send you guys home by whoever she was talking with on the phone and at that point she knew, or was told, that she was in deep trouble. I was having difficulty trying to understand how an experienced nurse could just yank her students off a unit and send them home as you described it in the first post because it was certainly irresponsible if not close to patient abandonment by the instructor. I'll bet you are going to hear more about this lady in the days to come. I don't think this story has reached it's end yet. You have got to keep us updated.

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Specializes in OBGYN, Neonatal.

Wow I'm with the above posters, that is just very unsafe behavior. I'm so glad that the staff at least made note of this - it is their patients lives that are affected and we all know how important infection control is.

Yikes!

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As a mom of a preemie that got very sick w/RSV at 6mos of age... I am appalled and infuriated at your instructor's behavior. :angryfire I hope she's in deep doo-doo... keep us posted.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I know this is a really old post but this is a tricky area for a student and I think there is a right way to handle this and a wrong way to handle this. If you wish to directly confront your instructor on this issue I urge you to do so with caution because in reality this professor is more likely to get defensive and probably not admit that what she did was a mistake (just based upon her reactions to other staff who confronted her.) What I would do is take down the date and time and at the end of the semester when instructor evaluations come out then you write very clearly what happened (without violating HIPPA of course) and why you believe its unsafe practice. I say this because evaluations are usually done after the semester is done and the professor in question can no longer punish you in any way for what you have said on their evaluation. I think this way you are able to report what was done to the best of your abilities and you will not be punished for what was said. If the school decides to do nothing about it then fine there is nothing you can do but at least you tried and that's the best you can do. Like I said before I know this thread is really old but the advice given on this thread can be used by other students in similar situations.

!Chris :specs:

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