rude nurses

Nursing Students General Students

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OK I have had just about enough of rude nurses. I have just spent 7 weeks on my psych rotation and there are 2 nurses there that have made it clear that they do not want us there. One of them said, right in front of us "not of day shift" when we announced that we were there. and the other one literally told me that "she didn't have time to follow around the nursing students" and shooed me away with her hand when I told her that we were missing one of our classmates (on a psych unit). I wasn't asking her to find her I was just asking if anyone might happen to know if the classmate went somewhere.

I have told my instructor about one of the nurses and the instuctor took care of it as best she could but now I feel like I will sound like a whiner if I tell about the second nurse.

If a person hates to teach others and is so miserable then maybe they should get a new job. At what point as a student is it ok to stand up to the rude behavior and bring it to the rude nurses attention? I do not question if I am cut out to be a nurse but all the rude nurses that we are so dependant on as students is making want to pull my hair out.:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

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I ignore the rude ones and find nurses who enjoy teaching to follow around. I can't make anyone like teaching students, so I don't bother trying. I'd rather deal with someone who's glad to have me around.

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Specializes in Ortho, Stroke, Neuro, Gyn.

I am nowhere near where you are at, but I know how nurses can be. just like anyone else really. I work for the USPS and trust me, when you start there you are lucky if you can get the time from someone. I think everyone gets territorial and develops amnesia. I mean unless these ladies sprang from the womb fully-formed and licensed, then apparently at some point they were student nurses. However, they forget that part.

My only thoughts are, do you absolutely have to speak with these women? If you do, I would probably ask your instructor in a tactful way what you could do to improve your working relationship with these women. This way it wouldn't sound so much like whining, more like self-improvement. I'm pretty horrible at keeping my own cool, so this advice is probably lame. If it were me I'd probably have already managed to say something I'd regret. Gotta work on that.:trout:

Wendi

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

There are rude people in every profession. This is just a quirk of fate that you happened to find the two meanest working on the unit where you are doing your clinicals. Just stay out of there line of fire. People who act like this have self-esteem and control issues and are looking for any scapegoat who runs into their radar to pick on. Don't make yourself a willing target for them. They've already warned everyone of their bad nature, so just stay away from them. Your clinical instructor is your immediate supervisor anyway. Use her as your go between if you have any questions that have to be asked of these staff members.

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Specializes in Clinicals.

Wow, lucky you. Only two rude nurses at your clinical site. All of the nurses that we work with have an arrogant air about them and clearly are not thrilled about our presence. I stick close to the CNAs, they are much more helpful than the RNs. But this is only our first clinical so I can get away with very little RN contact. We are just learning the basics.

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Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

Not all RNs are as hateful as these two sound. I for one love having students with me for the day. I work in home health and when I have students, I just drive them around for the day. They do all the work with me coaching from the sidelines. If they mess up something, we discuss it in the car. I learn from them and they learn from me. None of us were born with stethoscopes hanging from around our necks and these nurses have shown you that they have little confidence in their own skills and can't teach a student. Steer clear, let your clinical instructor know what's happening and she can re-assign you to a kinder nurse who wants to teach. Hang in there. There are a few of us out there that LOVE students!

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thanks for all your thoughts! I have had many wonderful nurses that want to teach but it is the ones that are rude and arrogent that make me want to pull my hair out. fortunately next week is our last rotation on that floor, but I am sure those two nurses are not the only ones that I will run into this semester that forgot that they were once nursing students. I guess the only person I can change is myself so I better figure out how to do that. Sometimes I wonder why it is the one without the problem that needs to change...

oh yeah to underpaidrn thanks for being so nice to your student nurses they definately appreciate it!

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

Oh Yes, I so remember what a terrible burden we were as nursing students and the Psych nurses were some of the worst for me as well. It is way beyond my understanding and I really think behavior like that needs to be addressed by their own management. Unfortunately, I would bet there is a lot of unhappiness all around in those situations and adding nursing students into the mix is just one more straw on the almost broken camel's back. I have always worked nights, but would love to have some nursing students to precept. It would just be a better shift for students, I would think. But I know, staying up all night isn't great for most people either.

I'm sorry you are going through it. Nurses like that are plain miserable. They can't be very satisfied with their careers or their lives. I wonder what they were like when they were students? Perhaps this is revenge?

Use it as a lesson about how you don't want to be. Good luck to you!

;););)

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I would just casually ask a question, such as, "When you were in nursing school and rotating through clinicals, how would you have done -insert question-?, because I'm just learning and need encouragment." or you catch my drift. I have no tolerance for people like this, my first clinical is tuesday, and this is the part i'm dreading, so far the strategie i plan on going with is killing them with kindness, and just being my normal outgoing bubbly self.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.

Most of the nurses I have encountered have been helpful and kind (most of the time). The charge nurse on my Ob rotation is the BIGGEST B**** I have ever encountered! I smile to her, ask her how she is doing, etc... and she will look at me with this disgusted face or say something really inappropriate. The other day I was walking behind her heading into the same room as she was and she slammed the door in my face. I am tempted to say something to her on my last day of clinicals there, but I most likely won't. She probably has control issues or self-esteem issues because I have never met anyone who can be THAT mean in life.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.

I've been pretty lucky with the staff nurses on my med-surg rotations. I'm actually amazed that they put up with us at all. After all, if they'd wanted to be teachers they'd be working at a school. Instead they come to work and get stuck with us.

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

I just want to comment to remarks that have been made about nurses who have certain "looks" on their faces that might lead you to believe they are angry or disgusted with you. My sister and I both by genetics and probably from conditioning tend to get a look like a scowl when we are deep in thought. It happens to me a lot and I had to listen to people complain to my bosses about this again and again and get pulled into confrontational meetings about this one very single thing in the early days of my nursing career. The thing is that these people who complained never said anything to me nor did I say anything to them to indicate that I was mad or angry at them. They just went to the boss. They just didn't like the look on my face or were scared away by it. I also, as a rule, don't engage in chit chat or gossip while I am working which sometimes gives other people the impression that I am kind of aloof. I am totally focused on doing my job as a nurse. As a result, I now preface all my introductions to people with, "if I look like I am angry or scowling, do not take it personally. I am probably deep in thought. If I am upset with you about something, believe me, I will tell you with words, not looks. If you think I am upset with you about something--ask me. I will answer you and try to make sure I'm smiling while I'm doing it."

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