Poor treatment of students, by nurses

Nurseynurseyme · May 12, 2008

Sadly, I have to say that I, too, had horrible experiences with some of the hospital nurses during clinical rotations. I had one running away from me all day, walk away and ignore questions; by the end of the rotation I was so intimidated I was blinking back tears. This was the start of a second career and I was already insecure having never worked in medicine before. She made assumptions after misunderstanding statements I made, and she then ran around poisoning anyone else she could get hold of about me.

I had been an extern under her and ultimately she poisoned a clinical instructor who was employed at the hospital as well and she began to rip me up all the time and she tried to fail my clinical.

Because I am a good student, the school pulled me from her and gave me to another instructor in another hospital where I scored straight As and he went out of his way to tell me he thought I was fine, the hospital offered me a job, and I graduated at the top of my class.

There have been a number of other students who managed to rub someone the wrong way and got chewed up by the original hospital.

I have found a place where I am respected, my patients love me, I feel that I make a difference and I love my job.

I went on and just walked my BSN last Friday Summa Cum Laude.

Do not give up, just keep plugging away. There will be a place for you somewhere.

I understand how discouraging it can be to be treated poorly and feel intimidated by people who are supposed to be encouraging and teaching.

Just keep on foot in front of the other and don't stop trying!

lemonlimeEMT · May 12, 2008

I can normally shrug a lot of stuff off and not let anything bother me, but I have noticed more and more lately that the nurses on the units we go to are just plain nasty....nasty to us, nasty to each other, nasty to anyone and everyone. Why in the world does management put up with this behavior? I don't care if they are a warm body filling a position, I personally would not want to work on a unit with these types of people. I have always said this, no matter what type of job or profession it is, but if you aren't happy in what you do for a living then GET OUT and find something else to do. Miserable making 35.00/hour on a weekend shift? Go try working retail for 8.00/hour and then maybe you'll appreciate that HUGE paycheck you're getting.
Okay, thanks for letting me vent. lol

Unfortunately, nursing has the reputation of eating their own. I don't know if it is the stress of the job, the long hours, the tough skin you have to grow, or what, but nurses tend to be pretty brutual with each other and even worse on students. Now I know not all nurses out there are like this (thankfully), but too many are.

Really, it's up to us, the new nurses coming in to the field, to set the tone for change. Don't let yourself fall into that nasty attitude. Don't let yourself be petty and mean. When you see other nurses standing around, making rude jokes about their patients or co-workers, don't join in. Or better yet, say something.

*ac* · May 12, 2008

I just wanted to give the view from the other side.

I have only been here for 4 months, so I remember well what it's like to be a student.

I had NO IDEA how much more responsibility the nurse has than the student. I thought, wow, we are doing everything for the nurse, why isn't she grateful? Because the nurse is still ONE HUNDRED PERCENT responsible for the patient.

I have had students turn off IV pumps when getting a pt oob, and then restart the pump and reset the IV fluids to the wrong rate. Why did they do that? I don't know. But I feel like after a student has been in the room, I have to recheck everything to make sure all is OK. If it is not, I WILL BE THE ONE HELD RESPONSIBLE.

Also, please be aware, that if I have 4-5 patients, and it's a busy clinical day, I could have as many as 3 students. And they might have different instructors. It's not always clear to me what they can/can't do. And I always have the terror that they will go beyond what they know how to do when I'm not looking.

It may seem to students that they always have their instructors with them for important things, but it doesn't always seem that way to me.

Then, I am asked not to write my assessments until after the student writes his/hers, because the instructor doesn't want the student to be influenced by what I write. This can be frustrating if it's very late, or if I know that pt may need to go off the floor soon for a procedure and needs their paperwork done.

Also, students are invariably late with meds because they have to wait for their instructors. This makes me edgy, because I AM STILL ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RESPONSIBLE. Then, fairly frequently, the instructor will forget to document that a med was given. I've got to find her before she leaves (which is hours and hours before I do).

These are not huge deals, but they are flies in my ointment, and I've only been at this for four months and can't cope with too many flies in my ointment.

I will add that sometimes, if I see the same student I had last week, and I know I can trust them, I feel a huge relief to have them there because I know they will be helpful. But I only feel this way after I have seen them once or twice.

I try not to make students into a "gophers" but if you want to get on the good side of a nurse, I highly suggest being willing to just help, even if you don't feel like you are always doing "nursing" activities. BTW, you'd be surprised, maybe even shocked, at how many activities the nurse MUST do that aren't really "nursing".

Also, I'm not getting a "huge" paycheck. Even on a weekend night, I'm not getting $35.00.

libragirl924 · May 12, 2008

I get what you mean...I think that a lot of these nurses forget exactly what it's like to be "new" at something so very important and that being mean and nasty and pressuring us is going to help us become better nurses, when in reality they need to realize that they need to practice the same care with us and each other that we do with our patients...we'd never be able to treat them with as much disrespect and "meanness" as some of us are treated. Thankfully, most of the nurses I've encountered have been very nice and willing to help us, especially the more recent grads because they seem to remember that they were in our places at one time. There always seems to be one bad apple in the bunch that makes them all look bad, though--THOSE, unfortunately, are the ones we remember and we need to strive to not be like them in the future.

Sorry for the rant... :yawn:

yetanotheramanda · May 16, 2008

I don't want my floor nurse to be my teacher. I don't want him/her to be my best friend. I don't want her/him to hold my hand.

I do however want to be treated like a human b

yetanotheramanda · May 16, 2008

I don't want my floor nurse to be my teacher. I don't want him/her to be my best friend. I don't want her/him to hold my hand.

I do, however want to see my floor nurse set a good example. I do expect to be treated like a human being. That (*gasp*) might mean answering my questions, not running the other way when s/he sees me, not making fun or my uniform, and other assorted behaviors that should have ended in junior high.

Those things are common decency. I don't care how overworked you are, everyone deserves to be treated well. That should go without saying when we are talking about the "caring" profession of nursing.

BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN · May 16, 2008

Unfortunately, nursing has the reputation of eating their own. I don't know if it is the stress of the job, the long hours, the tough skin you have to grow, or what, but nurses tend to be pretty brutual with each other and even worse on students.

I am in no way excluding myself in this stereotype below. I am a female, and am not perfect.

Sadly, I think a lot of it has to do with it being female dominated, and people with very strong egos and control issues. The issue of someone coming in with higher credentials who is younger and less experienced is very threatehning to many nurses. When a student or a new grad comes in and questions something a seasoned nurse says or does, it is a blow to the ego. When a student questions an instructor (and may very well be right in questioning), when a colleague suddenly becomes your supervisor, and now you have to listen to them (even thoguh you think you know more than them), when an younger instructor comes on a floor where an older nurse feels threatened, and tries to embarrass the instructor in front of her students, by 'showing her up' (happened to me), it's just pathetic and ridiculous.

catzy5 · May 16, 2008

I just wanted to give the view from the other side.
I have only been here for 4 months, so I remember well what it's like to be a student.
I had NO IDEA how much more responsibility the nurse has than the student. I thought, wow, we are doing everything for the nurse, why isn't she grateful? Because the nurse is still ONE HUNDRED PERCENT responsible for the patient.
I have had students turn off IV pumps when getting a pt oob, and then restart the pump and reset the IV fluids to the wrong rate. Why did they do that? I don't know. But I feel like after a student has been in the room, I have to recheck everything to make sure all is OK. If it is not, I WILL BE THE ONE HELD RESPONSIBLE.
Also, please be aware, that if I have 4-5 patients, and it's a busy clinical day, I could have as many as 3 students. And they might have different instructors. It's not always clear to me what they can/can't do. And I always have the terror that they will go beyond what they know how to do when I'm not looking.
It may seem to students that they always have their instructors with them for important things, but it doesn't always seem that way to me.
Then, I am asked not to write my assessments until after the student writes his/hers, because the instructor doesn't want the student to be influenced by what I write. This can be frustrating if it's very late, or if I know that pt may need to go off the floor soon for a procedure and needs their paperwork done.
Also, students are invariably late with meds because they have to wait for their instructors. This makes me edgy, because I AM STILL ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RESPONSIBLE. Then, fairly frequently, the instructor will forget to document that a med was given. I've got to find her before she leaves (which is hours and hours before I do).
These are not huge deals, but they are flies in my ointment, and I've only been at this for four months and can't cope with too many flies in my ointment.
I will add that sometimes, if I see the same student I had last week, and I know I can trust them, I feel a huge relief to have them there because I know they will be helpful. But I only feel this way after I have seen them once or twice.
I try not to make students into a "gophers" but if you want to get on the good side of a nurse, I highly suggest being willing to just help, even if you don't feel like you are always doing "nursing" activities. BTW, you'd be surprised, maybe even shocked, at how many activities the nurse MUST do that aren't really "nursing".
Also, I'm not getting a "huge" paycheck. Even on a weekend night, I'm not getting $35.00.

Thanks for your input from the floors poing of view I really respect that!

I have to say I have had a pretty good experience with my nurses thus far, some are obviously more "into" teaching then others and that's fine. I do what you said, I try to be as big of a support to my nurse body as I can and I have found they are all very reseptive to that, if I have any down time at all, I ask any nurse on the floor what I can do for them. Our hospital has no CNA's so anything you can do is always a help. Our instructor is not around much we rely on the RN's as our means of education, so I take every oppurtunitie for learning. I was really terrified of some of the "glaring" nurses but I agree they are responsible they don't know us and it must be hard having a stranger take over our load. It goes both ways for sure, respect on both sides, but you will find disrespect comes two ways too.

Thanks again for posting your point of view I will continue to take it into account on the floor!

KaroSnowQueen, RN · May 16, 2008

Just my two cents here. :twocents:

Some schools that brought nursing students in were great. The instructors would ask about the patients, and set up their clinicals so their students did dressings, meds, changed iv's, all the kind of stuff that help the students learn AND helps out the nurses on the floor. THOSE we were thrilled to get. :yeah:

Other instructors would assign a student to a nurse and say, "Follow her" and that's the end of it. With seven patients on a telemetry floor, multiple admits/discharges and the aides going home early for one reason or another, what we DIDN"T need was trying to keep up with our own work load (which was way too hard) and having to explain WHY things weren't being done "the nursing school way." These students did NOTHING on the floor, EVER the whole time they had clinicals on our floor, just trailed behind the nurses either silently or asking 17 questions a minute. What they DIDN'T learn I am afraid to know. Their instructor sat in the break room and talked with the RT or whoever else wandered in there. :banghead: :madface:

So it could be that the floor with the "bad" nurses on it had been burned one too many times by the "bad" instructors??? :confused: Just my point of view, having seen both sides of the coin. :nurse: :rolleyes: