Rude/ Inconsiderate nurses during clinicals

lovenotwar14 · Nov 9, 2013

Kill em with kindness

danceyrun · Nov 9, 2013

I always introduce myself to the nurse. This time around the nurse just said "hi" and didn't tell me her name or anything. I had to surreptitiously look at her ID badge.

I don't understand what is wrong with this. "Hi I'm danceyrun, I will be helping you care for pt X today" "ok hi"...??? What am I missing? Just because she wasn't over the moon doesn't mean she was being rude or mean to you. I mean this in the nicest way possible: you have come off as very defensive and if that's the attitude you have then the rest of nursing school and your career as a nurse are both going to be really hard! Yes it also stinks she didn't approach you when she thinks you did something incorrectly but she may not have had the time right then to sit there and give you a lesson (especially if she felt you were being defensive)- that's what your instructor is for. I'm sorry that you had a bad day and I think the best advice would be to recheck your attitude and remember the nurses are not there to try to make your experience miserable. They are just trying to do their jobs.

Futterwacken · Nov 9, 2013

Op, not to say that they're no rude nurses out there, but come back and read your post after you've worked as a nurse for at least 2 years- hopefully in a teaching hospital...

PurpleLover · Nov 9, 2013

I have not had this situation occur. If I do, I will back off and give the nurse their space and assume they have a valid reason for not wanting me in the room. If the situation persists, I would ask the nurse if I had done something to insult/upset them. If that did not remedy it, I would suck it up and move along and remember never to be that way if I ever encounter nursing students.

SubSippi · Nov 9, 2013

My clinical instructor always emphasized to us that we were guests in that hospital, that the hospital was not obligated to let us come and do clinicals there, and that we should act accordingly. Be grateful for the time and experience that you are getting, and try not to focus so much on what you feel like you're missing out on.

I felt like I got to do quite a bit in clinicals, but actually working as a nurse has so much more to it that you could start all the IVs, hand all the antibiotics, start every foley, and give every since IM injection in the hospital for months and it wouldn't make much of a difference once you start your first job.

Also, I kind of wish I had spent more time learning from nursing assistants while I was in clinicals. When I was in school, there were always so many students around that we always had a partner to do tasks involving patient care. Now that I'm on my own, I'm not really used to doing those sorts of things by myself and I feel really awkward and clumsy doing things like getting a patient on and off a bed pan. Sometimes I can delegate those tasks, but sometimes I can't and there's hardly ever anyone hanging around with nothing to do who can come help...if I had learned more tricks from the CNAs I could be saving myself a lot of time right now. So anyway the point is if you can't find your nurse, find a CNA and ask them to teach you some stuff. They could ALWAYS use a helping hand (while RNs are more often to view students as a burden) and you'll learn a lot that will help you during your nursing career.

ComeTogether, LPN · Nov 9, 2013

For a student, you don't seem like you want to learn much. These lovely nurses are giving you advice. If I were you, I'd take it.

JesusKeepMe · Nov 9, 2013

Try to look at the clinical situation from your preceptors pointnof view. You awake at 0500, clock in at 0645, then get to the unit to see fresh new faces...cool. You see the census, you hear you may get slammed with admits today also...oookkkaayyy. It's gonna be a busy day. You just know you get a student today, you had no prior knowledge of this, you didn't take a preceptor class, nor do you get paid extra for precepting. You get a student, plus you have 6 pts. The nurse is attempting to teach you while also providing excellent care to his/her pts without getting too far behind. It's like double duty for these already crazy busy nurses.

What I found worked for me during clinicals where I felt the nurse didn't want to be bothered with me, is making myself available to all the nurses, as well as the CNA's. I introduced myself to my nurse, expressed my desire to learn as much as possible and complete task she felt comfortable with me completing as these are NOT my pts, and she/he is held liable for MY care. If my nurse disappeared, I helped nurse aids with bedpans, handing out trays, getting pts water, anything to show Im willing to do whatever I can to help out. If another nurses was doing something I had never seen, I would ask my nurse if I could go with another nurse to view the procedure. Taking the initiative went along way, and made my day go faster while making the nurse/CNA's appreciate me being there to help instead of looking like a sour puss and taking up space.

Now it's never right to be rude to anyone, but maybe the nurses are so busy or "in the zone" that they look mean, or they forget about their students...it happens. They're most times unaware that you're coming and get thrown into the situation.

I know it flusters you, it flustered me as well, but try not to take it to heart, one day you'll be the busy nurse. Until then, get through clinicals by making yourself available, and with a smile :) You can do this.

auntdd · Nov 9, 2013

I like student nurses to an extent. I love teaching and nursing is my passion...who doesn't like to show off what they love? I'm not wanting to come across as taking a swipe at you; however you come off as entitled and bratty. As a student there are a lot of things you really don't know. Trust me, we all remember being a student. One of the biggest reasons you will get banned from a patient room has nothing to do with the reasons you are given. I'm not going to tell a student "Hey you can't go here because I'm going to break about 5 rules and I know you are going to tattle." I'm going to give you a short excuse or no reason at all. We have rules for a reason, should we break them?....no. What the student doesn't realize is that nursing isn't black and white. You are not taking care of a hypothetical person in a text book. The patient in room 209 can't be cared for "by the book". "Mrs 209" is going to fall into incoherent screaming when you stand over her with the pill cup and recite the pill names (like you are supposed to) She also happens to have forgot her name was ever Mrs. Doe...but smiles when you call her "honey bear" You know her life depends on taking that blood pressure pill and she won't suffer today if you can get her to take her vicoden. So yes you're going to break a few rules just for Mrs. 209. You go sit on her bed (against the rules) when she mistakes you for her daughter that never visits you don't correct her (against the rules) and you cheer her on as she swallows pills based on what color they are. Another reason I may exclude a student from a room? You spent 20 minutes ranting about your kid was throwing up that morning, or your cold. I'm thinking of ten serious infections you're going to give my patients.....or the asthma attack your perfume will give patient x. I'm being polite when I give you an excuse. The best thing you can do as a student is to keep idle chatter to a minimum, do not chew gum, don't complain. Don't mention bad experiences with another nurse or facility, because I will think you are going to bad mouth me too. One particular example of a student who made me not want to work with students for a while: I was at a mental health facility (a prn job I held for many years) I had a long term patient who believed we poisoned the "pink pills", unfortunately that "pink pill" was the exact drug he needed to reduce hallucinations....which by the way made this poor man suffer in extreme fear. Do you like to watch people suffer? Yeah me neither. As the med nurse my only job is to get people to take their meds. So I "broke a rule" and agreed with the patients delusion. When the patient refused the "pink ones" because I poisoned it" I told the patient "I only poison you on Mondays remember? It's safe to take it today." Which the patient took the meds resulting in a day he didn't have to suffer. The student went to the head of the hospital (who did not directly know the patient by the way) and complained that I told a delusional man I poisoned his medication....technically true....it was not the whole story and I got wrote up.

nurse3131, RN · Nov 9, 2013

It's funny how many of you talk like you never were students before.. but I think the instructors should be the ones who teach no the nurses on duty.

pookyp, LPN · Nov 9, 2013

You guys replying sure are on the defensive. Smh but some hit dogs will holler.

OP I've seen everything you've mentioned. So what I do now, is not bother my nurse. If she doesn't want to be bothered with me because 'she didn't know she was getting a student" and now is mad at me for the whole day, I just do patient care, do vitals, and shadow with my classmates nurse who doesn't mind having a student and let's us do skills and teaches as she's doing whatever she's doing. (My instructor doesn't mind and encourages this) The nurses I'm assigned to never introduce themselves to me either. I introduce myself, tell them what I can help them with, and look at their badge for their name. *shrug* I just laugh to myself and say 'grown people are really acting like this?" I just think to my self 1:15 pm must come. Cause that's when we report off and get outta there! Lol Yes, I've had nurses just leave and not say anything as I'm standing right next to them. I just follow them even though they seem annoyed. OH WELL! Lol Also if I'm doing my clinical paperwork I sometimes lose my nurse. So it's possible that you can lose them. Doesn't mean you don't want to learn and we're playing around that you didn't notice them leave. I've been told clinical you learn some, but you will learn more on the job. Just continue to be nice and smile. That's what I do. I kill em with kindness. Sometimes when you're so nice, they break and end up being a little nicer. Good luck.

vera4130 · Nov 9, 2013

How do you deal with rude/ inconsiderate nurses during clinical?
Things that really irritate me:
> not letting me see a specific patient without a good reason
I want to see *every* patient, not just the nice ones. If it's a danger to my safety or the patient's safety then I understand but some nurses don't give me a reason. The other day a nurse didn't let me see a patient because "she had a good relationship with him" and she spent most of the shift with him, leaving me out. I luckily just tagged along with a different nurse but I felt like she was rude and offered me a poor excuse.
EDIT: if the patient asks for no students then it's okay as well because of consent and such.

You have no idea why she didn't want you in that room, but you aren't entitled to see every patient. That patient could have some difficult family dynamics going on, or it could be an issue where risk management is involved. If I have a patient whose family is difficult, I prefer not to have students in the room.

If the nurses only have 2 patients then it sounds like you're in a critical care area, which can be an especially difficult place to have nursing students in.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Nov 9, 2013

You guys replying sure are on the defensive. Smh but some hit dogs will holler.

^Come back to this post when you get your first questioning by admin and a write up based on what a student nurse "saw" (aka seeing something that BENEFITS THE PT; not knowing the rationale behind it ) and then reporting it, causing an unnecessary questioning and/or write up, come back to this posts and MAYBE you will understand these posts-see previous poster before you. :yes: