Strange Nursing Student

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I previously posted this in the Men and Nursing forum, but was told it was in the wrong place. So I'll try again.

I am a nurse at a large medical center in Raleigh-Durham, NC. Every Thursday and Friday, a group of students from a local community college come to my unit for clinicals. Overall, the students are wonderful and we are grateful for their help during their clinical time. However, there is one student who greatly stands out from the rest. To put it bluntly, he is downright strange. He spent 10 weeks on my unit over the summer, during which time no one ever saw him display any kind of emotion, empathy, or anything towards his patients, other students, or nurses on the unit. He walks around like he is in a daze, often idly pacing up and down the unit for no apparent reason. I've witnessed him go into patient rooms without even introducing himself, and do shoddy assessments in which he appeared uneasy about touching the patient. I've seen him practically beg other students to help his patients with their ADLs, as he was too embarrassed. In addition, he has made several nurses on the unit uncomfortable with his cold stares, and occasionally strange comments. For example, one morning he walked into the break room, which was full of women, and muttered "yeast infection" and turned bright red from trying to withhold his laughter. That was just strange and inappropriate!!

I've talked to his clinical instructor about this guy's obvious lack of social skills, empathy, and behavior that is almost antisocial in nature. But what worries me most is, how come any school would allow such an inept person to be in the nursing program in the first place. I don't think that he could possibly ever make a good nurse, unless perhaps he was in a clinical setting that required minimal social skills, such as the OR where patients are under anesthesia.

Anyway, sorry for the rant here ... my question for the board is, what do y'all think of this situation? Am I overreacting? Or is there cause for my concern?

Thanks for your time.

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
some people just take everything to heart *sigh*

Not I...I find a way to laugh at myself each day. If you can do this, no harm in laughing at others every now and then...we all have our quirks!

This WAS meant as a light hearted thread so let's keep it that way!

I think it's more serious than that.
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good golly on the guy who was molesting patients. how very sickening. i hope he went to prison !

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Specializes in home & public health, med-surg, hospice.
I think it's more serious than that.

I think she's thinkin' of the WACKO thread. Some kind of back and forth goin' on over there between one of th' posters.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

ohhhhh I was thinking of THIS th read lol.

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:angryfire

In the '90's I was part time faculty in a BSN program. One year we had a "different" student. She was female, in her late 30's, seemed to have no friends, few social skills and didn't seem to be able to bond with anybody. She also had dyslexia and ADD, and had gone to great lengths to have special accomodations made for her. She had her tests read to her, had a proctor and a special room, her written assignments were done by someone else (paid for by the University). Clinicals with this woman were a nightmare!

I had her on a woman's unit once and she "misread" the accucheck, giving an inaccurate dose of insulin. Charting was a nightmare as well because I had to check and make sure she wrote the correct numbers. I didn't think she needed to stay in the nursing program and talked to the level coordinator often about her. The "Americans with Disabilities Act" kept coming up as the rationale for keeping her. The student herself had memorized whole paragraphs of the ADA and often this was the only conversation she'd have with me. If I asked a question about a patient situation often the first thing she'd say was "Remember I get extra time to answer because the ADA says so".

She had a 3.9 GPA; again, she has all these accomodations and such for her written and test work. How much accomodation am I supposed to give her when we are talking about taking care of people? I just could not justify keeping her in clinical and thought I could have failed her for this situation, especially because she was not even remotely remorseful about it. My common sense was telling me that if she could not read numbers accurately she had NO BUSINESS working with them!!! The level coordinator of the program and even the Dean said we had no choice but to keep her. She got a "D" in my clinical and we all had to go to the University Court because she protested that!

I understand people have rights. I also believe the patient has the right to be cared for by a nurse that has been deemed competent by her instructors. I made a lot of noise over this person (who also got into Sigma Theta Tau because of her GPA). My faculty friends said to let it rest. However they were Community Health, Psych, and other instructors who weren't on a Med Surg floor, weren't responsible for her meds, read her papers written by someone else, and were more often interested in the theory behind the practice than the practice itself.

Needless to say this woman is no longer working as a nurse. She was fired from several jobs for errors directly related to her dyslexia and ADD. Our state spent thousands of dollars subsidizing her education and her special needs. Deans and directors spent countless hours with attorneys and special needs people to accomodate her and prevent lawsuits. In addition because of her, other people with similar disabilities were given the opportunity to apply for and be accepted to nursing school. In this day and age where so many people are so eager for just a few nursing school slots, we should not have to put up with incompetence. I think working with this student is why I decided not to pursue education on anything more than a part time level.

Wow... how do the rights of one "handicapped" woman who can NOT do a safe job as a nurse mean more than those of the thousands of people she would treat in her lifetime? I used to teach special ed, and I thoroughly believe in the whole anti-discrimination thing, but if a disability prevents someone from being an effective nurse, then the line must be drawn! What's next, someone with Down's Syndrome insisting to be given the chance to go through med school and write out prescriptions in crayon? Or how about a blind schoolbus driver? After all, a sighted person could tell them where to stop and turn, right? Why should their disability prevent them from doing the job they want to do? This is ridiculous.

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good golly on the guy who was molesting patients. how very sickening. i hope he went to prison !

Yes he is serving time in a state prision.

He was mister popularity in school. A bit of a clown. Evidently had enough charm to charm the an unamious vote for class president for the full time he was in school. (all though I did not see the charm and I abstained from voting as I was a new comer. If I had voted it would not have been for him)

His wife is now left to raise 3 children on her own.

The hospital and school where and are both very quiet on the subject of this person. TOO embarrasing. It is a shame that embarrasment clouds doing what is right and discussing this openly.

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Wow... how do the rights of one "handicapped" woman who can NOT do a safe job as a nurse mean more than those of the thousands of people she would treat in her lifetime? I used to teach special ed, and I thoroughly believe in the whole anti-discrimination thing, but if a disability prevents someone from being an effective nurse, then the line must be drawn! What's next, someone with Down's Syndrome insisting to be given the chance to go through med school and write out prescriptions in crayon? Or how about a blind schoolbus driver? After all, a sighted person could tell them where to stop and turn, right? Why should their disability prevent them from doing the job they want to do? This is ridiculous.

I understand. I had to defend male collegues in the military (non nursing, non medical enviorment) who had to deal with females who would falsely claim discriminination, sexual harrasment, even rape, and one fisty black female who liked to use the race card. These were woman who used the system. They effectively bully the men to allow them to get away with things no soldier (correction no adult) should ever be allowed to get away with.

Because I was a female and I worked closely with these men and women I knew better and was their best defense. Needless to say the men came to rely on me to clearify when a female soldier stated that she had certain limitations based on being female. Mind you I am and was then very much a girly girl myself.

People who use the system in this way are bullies. I have every sympathy for those with disablilities and agree they should have a fair chance.

At the same time common sense dictates that a patient's safty and life takes presidence over the right of any individual to practice in a profession that puts someone else in danger as a result of the diabled persons actions.

Schools and employers who allow themselves to be bullied are in a bind yes. AND they are shameful when they do not do the right thing for fear of a law suit.

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