The vast majority of nursing students are respectful and professional people who are motivated to learn, do their best to care for their assigned patients, and are a joy to teach. Occasionally, however, there is the student from Hades who consumes a disproportionate amount of an instructor's time and energy. Nurses Announcements Archive Article
Melissa was the type of student that educators dread. She did not take responsibility for her choices, always had an excuse for her inappropriate actions, was manipulative, dramatic, and histrionic, and sincerely believed that the clearly-stated rules should apply to everyone but her. It didn't take long for a troubling pattern of behavior to surface.
On the first day of clinical orientation, Melissa was a "no show." She claimed she never received the e-mail memo detailing the instructions for the first clinical day. On the second day of clinical, she was 10 minutes late to the clinical site and "forgot" to remove her nose stud jewelry. During the third clinical day, Melissa was found texting on her smart phone, rather than taking care of her assigned patient. When quizzed by the instructor at the medication cart later that day, Melissa was unable to give the safe dosages, reasons, possible side effects, and precautions for her assigned patient's medications. Fed up, the instructor sent the wayward student home. To make matters worse, her clinical paperwork was shoddy in quality and often turned in late. By the fourth clinical day, Melissa had been suspended from the nursing program for numerous violations of school policy.
Clearly, Melissa did not put forth the necessary effort to learn, nor did she conform to the rules of the program. The sad result was an enormous waste of taxpayer money and inefficient use of scarce educational resources. Her seat in the nursing program and the opportunity for a marvelous career and brighter future, which another applicant could have used, was squandered. Melissa's disruptive behavior deprived the other students in the clinical group of positive learning experiences. Even worse, her lack of preparation and lackadaisical attitude made her unsafe to care for vulnerable patients on the unit. Melissa was ultimately dismissed from the nursing program, but only after a long arduous appeals process during which she tearfully accused the instructor of being "mean," "a terrible teacher," and "always picking on me."
Dealing with manipulative, careless, and recalcitrant students like Melissa can be wearisome and demoralizing, especially for a novice instructor.
Thankfully, the vast majority of nursing students are respectful and professional people who are motivated to learn, do their best to care for their assigned patients, and are a joy to teach. Occasionally, however, there is that one student from Hades who consumes a disproportionate amount of an instructor's time and energy, is disruptive, and wields considerable negative influence within the clinical group or classroom.
What have been your experiences in dealing with "problem" students such as Melissa? What strategies have you found to be most effective?