User720

I asked the other girls if they got calls, and a couple are legitimately not passing. She never called them.

OMG!! I started avoided my instructor with some success, and the girls have reported her behaviors to the dean. Now, she's calling me at home to rip into me. I got a 94 on a cardiac test, and she called me to tell me why I got a question wrong. "You're too black and white." "You don't read carefully enough." "I wouldn't have chosen that answer. " "It's obvious, and you are way off. " It took over 20 minutes for me to get a word in, so I could thank her for her useful criticism and get off the phone. I tried saying things like, "I'm doing really well, and I'm not concerned about the points." It didn't matter. She kept interrupting me and finding new ways to try to feel superior. She tells me that she thinks I'm brilliant. I guess that's why she spends so much time trying to point out my flaws.I can't even avoid her calls because the number that I'm screening is the generic school number.

These are all good ideas. I'll let the others know to document their experiences too.

Congratulations! It all comes down to limitations. Know your limit for time, energy, and stress. Manage your time well, prioritize your efforts, and make sure you have a good support system in place. Nursing school is frustrating, and it requires a lot of coping and adjusting. You will take tests where there are 2 right answers, but one answer is most right. You will have patients that will break your heart. Don't become a cyclic student that crams and slacks. Take your class notes and look them over a couple times after class. Look up anything that you don't understand. Take online quizzes about the topic you study to get used to the tests. Nursing is about having good instincts. Train yourself on normal values, so you don't have to look them up. It'll cut way back on how much time you need to research your patients. Also, invest in a solid foundation. Don't rush through the basics, or you'll be trying to relearn them in med-surg. Most importantly, buy an NCLEX book right away. If you can score well on the practice tests, you'll score well your exams. Good luck!

I'm an A student, and I used to love clinical. I really like patient care, and the girls I work with are great. These days I dread going to clinic. My clinical instructor is inconsistent, unprofessional, grabby, and emotionally labile. My cohorts are getting sick, and one girl developed an ulcer. All of us are having sleep disturbance because of our instructor. I wish I could say that our instructor is difficult because her standards are high, but there is very little consistency or rationale for a lot of the things she has us do. For instance, she reprimanded me for toileting a patient that was not mine. Also, for putting a wrapped piece of candy on a med cart because a patient (not in a precaution room) gave it to me, and I didn't want to eat it or throw it away in front of him. She also told me not to put normal saline flushes in my pocket. The following day, she grabbed some flushes, and put them in her pocket. She made me get a clean basin for the commode because the basin in the room was resting on the floor. She made me throw away an entire roll of new tape because I laid it on a counter in the patient bathroom. It was not wet or dirty. When anyone asks questions, she reprimands them for not already knowing the answer. Hours later, she'll remove you from the patient room and ask again why you asked the question. I am the only student who asks her questions. When people need to know something, they ask me to ask her. We have the night shift, and we are supposed to leave by 10. She's had me stay until 11 to clean vomit off the floor. I am not the only girl that doesn't leave on time. Her worst trait is that she goes around the unit telling the other nurses that they aren't doing things correctly. She regularly gets into conflicts with them, and she will take me out of a patient's room to discuss the conflict she created. She swears me to secrecy, and I feel sorry for her because she is obviously very lonely and insecure. I never tell anyone the long meandering stories about her childhood, or the constant consults we have over the conflicts that I am forever smoothing out. She is the perfect combination of needy and insensitive. She can't seem to get along with floor nurses, school faculty, or students. She puts colleagues on high alert by hovering and criticizing, then becomes paranoid that they will try to get her fired. No one can figure out her priorities. What's good one day is bad the next. The other girls resent her for being hypercritical, taking things out of their hands, barking orders, punishing people for asking questions, not allowing patients to refuse care, and embarrassing them in front of people. Sometimes, my instructor will irritate me because she has neither the social savvy to get things done, nor does she have the emotional fortitude to stand by her judgments. I've tried to use my personal relationship with her to discuss (very delicately) how she treats people, but I think she needs professional help. I just want to be a student, and I'm exhausted from dealing with her. Are there any nursing instructors with advice on how to handle this? I'm not afraid of failing. I'm doing very well. I'm just concerned about my patients, my friends, and the relationship that our school has with our facility.