Student nurse seeking support

[Nursing_rules]

Hi everyone.

A bit of a background on myself - I first did Biology at university then transferred to do the 4 year RN degree.

My experience with 1st year: most assignments were fairly easy, A average overall, the only stress was caused by my own lack of time management. Material straightforward.

My experience with 2nd year (now): love the science courses, love the abstract thinking, diagnosis, etc same good marks. I dislike clinical.

I dislike the clinical component for a variety of reasons, but mostly that I do not feel valued. I don't mean that I expected already overworked nurses to clap and hop up and down for having to 'mentor' a student. I just mean that I was hoping that all that fluff they fed us last year, such as nurses being respected, having autonomy, good assessment skills, their opinions being valued, etc were true.

During a semester at a huge teaching hospital, all I saw was nurses complaining and avoiding their work as much as possible. Passing the buck. At one point I was having lunch in the staff room and an RN inquired about my grades prior to this program and such. "If you had such good grades, why did you go to this program? If I had those grades no way would I go to university for 4 years so I could come out wiping poo". I just stared at her. Man oh man.

I don't feel nurses are valued...

[evolvingrn, BSN, RN]

That is a nurse who doesn't value herself, I find lots of value in what i do and 'wiping poo' is a very, very, small part of what i do. Clinicals and being a nurse are very different experiences. hang in there and take notes on the kind of nurse you want to be. Sure the day shift where i work is notorious for given suppositories RIGHT before their shift ends, or the pm shift has said 'oh i think her illeostomy is getting close to needing changed when it clearly failed " but for the most part my coworkers do their job and do it well. I try to help out when i can , and on my crazy days when i don't get quite everything done most cut me slack and help me out too. i can't control the attitude of others but I find that the better attitude i have and the more i value my coworkers, the more others return the favor. good luck.

[ernightlife]

That is a nurse who doesn't value herself, I find lots of value in what i do and 'wiping poo' is a very, very, small part of what i do.

That is exactly what I was going to post. The value of nursing is in the value you place on it. I did not particularly like clinicals but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a nurse (have been for 15 years now). Your independence will come as you learn the necessary skills. It takes a few years to put it all together.

Also, finding a place to work that you enjoy the people you work with and value what they do...they will in turn show value to what you have to offer.

Keep your chin up.

[Ackeem, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

An hospital cannot operate without nurses ( that's regarding the value of us) , regarding the poo statement, there are several specialties in nursing which don't include wiping poo. I think people tend to HIGH LIGHT the fact that nurses wipe poo and totally throw out the other important duties/care we perform.

[psysn]

It sounds like you're on an unhappy floor. So many of my classmates hated med-surg because the nurses there were miserable and overworked. I'm not going to go into my opinions of the rose-colored glasses nursing schools try to put on their students, but generally faculty isn't going to discuss the negatives, they focus on the positives. There are hospitals out there where the nurses are happy and have autonomy and respect. If you get to do a facility review at the end of your clinical rotation, be sure to let them know your experiences.

[BelleFleurRN]

I agree with snusnu. It sounds like you are just on a negative floor. My first med-surg rotation was on a floor just like this. When I was in this situation my classmates and I found ways to work together as a team to help each other and seek out learning opportunities to share.

My next rotation was on a floor where the staff really worked together as a cohesive team. This group had a really positive attitude, valued themselves and each other. It was my favorite clinical experience because of how great the environment on the floor was.

There will always be areas of the hospital that people are miserable because unfortunately there will always be negative people that "sour the milk" so to speak. Sometimes having clinical in this kind of environment is not such a bad thing. It is a learning experience just like everything else. You are learning how to communicate with difficult people, how to maintain a positive attitude for yourself and your patients, and what to look for when you are looking for a job when you graduate. All of which is very important.

Hang in there and to focus on what you can learn from the situation. Try not to let one experience on one floor color your entire view of the profession. Best of luck in school!!!:redbeathe

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

Yes I have been called a 'bum wiper' many times. I used to get annoyed and argue, now I just laugh and say something like 'Mate, you have NOOO idea what you are talking about with regards to my job!'

Nursing is very gruelling and task orientated but there is also lots you have to think about. The comment made to you sounds like one made in an offhand manner with no thought put behind it.

Yes we all whinge and complain on here but I bet every one of those 'whingers' on here knows their job inside and out. And sorry to this nurse commenting, we don't all wipe bums - I quite often work in psych, which can be very emotionally draining and is just as hard (in a different way) as the med/surg shifts I do.

Some days when I'm running round like a headless chook, I am just trying to get tasks done. Nursing IS task orientated, but you must think about why you are doing something, and why you are giving such and such a medication and calculating it, checking for allergies etc - so you ARE using your brain, though admittedly some shifts are more boring than others.

Nursing can be a curious mix I tell you, interesting or as boring as you want to make it, like any other job. Some jobs are interesting by nature, others aren't, nursing suits some people, not others.

I didn't feel valued during my clinicals, but I stuck it out, because when you become a practicing RN and find your niche, and find somewhere you like working you should start to enjoy your job. Then again, as I said, nursing is not for everyone.

Brush off these comments and give it a go for a year at least then decide from there. First and 2nd year clinicals always suck anyway, cos you don't know as much and are wandering around wondering 'What the hell am I doing this for and why the hell am I here!' But just try to ask tons of questions, study stuff you don't understand and learn, learn, learn as many clinical skills as you can.

It will stand you in good stead so mark this experience down to just having a crappy day!

ADDIT: Also forgot to say that NURSES ALONE run hospitals/facilities after hours, weekends, long weekends - not the doctors, managers (who always seem to go home early on Fridays), engineers, social workers, PTs, etc. WE are the ones running the show, making the decisions, doing the PT as well cos there's nobody else there, counselling people, organising how people get home after being discharged, and a million other things it seems.

Bum wipers? PISH I say to you ignoramuses out there! :)