If you could have an open, honest conversation with your instructors - classroom or clinical - what would you tell them?
Here are some of my thoughts:
(1) Please make sure that everyone follows the rules & meets the requirements. Don't let some students make their own rules while others work hard to follow every rule! While there are always times exceptions must be made, the same students are often getting away with everything.
(2) When I'm in clinical, please just step back and allow me to do the task I have to do. Don't stand over me asking questions! Your running commentary makes me a nervous wreck. As long as I'm doing my task correctly, observe & keep quiet! If I do something wrong, please explain it to me and give my another opportunity to prove I can do it.
(3) Please ensure your expectations are clear and consistant. If you want our weekly patient write-ups a certain way, tell us. Don't change your expectations without letting us know!! The bottom line: most of us are working so hard to do our best! Tell us what you want from us and we'll always do what we can to get a good grade!
I would like to ask why you made a big deal about the awesome advantage we'd be at for graduating weeks ahead of our job competitors when you didn't bother to prepare our paperwork when we graduated? All of our competitors have received their ATTs and have started to take and pass the NCLEX and get licensed. So thanks! I'm still waiting
That is SO true. We had an RNP clinical instructor giving us 50s and 60s when previously we had been A students. Some of us even had other instructors proofread our papers because we knew she was going to be 'meticulous,' still got slammed. The two other clinical instructors were easy graders. SO NOT FAIR!
I am so very thankful that clinicals are finally done for the semester, You made them a living hell. You act all nicey nice (the no question is a dumb question type) until we have a question and then you turn into someone else and bug out your eyes. For this I have dubbed thee "Dragonlady". Also, do NOT yell at me in front of the patients. You wait until we are in private quearters before correcting what I am doing wrong. SOOO not professional!!
So fair thee well, Dragonlady. I am truly surprised you got asked back as a clinical instructor for next semester. I feel sorry for you next victims. Obviously my on-campus clinical instructor had nothing to do with that as she has had to tell you off on several occastions.
Sincerely, Me
PS Nobody gives a flying f*** about your $100,000 additional to your house so your in-laws can move in or your puppy. Please shut up about them!!
Thank you. You have been a source of information and a fantastic sounding board. Thanks for not telling me right off the bat that because I get sick looking at still pictures of stage IV pressure ulcers that I would never make it as a nurse. Thanks for recognizing that in person I am able to compartmentalize and get the job done. Thanks for being supportive, for setting a fantastic example of what nurses should be like. Thanks for being responsible women and admitting when you're late on something, or things are a little frazzled. Thanks for admitting that your human. Thanks for showing emotion. Thanks for writing to me personally when you felt I needed encouragement. I can only hope one day to be the kind of women you two are.
To my clinical instructor:
Thank you for assigning me all of the hard patients. Thanks for hearing me out when I spoke to you about your tendency to rush to judgement. Thanks for knocking me on things that I didn't think about that would hurt me in the long run. Thanks for your personal conversation when you told me that I am obviously a leader. Thanks for being meticulous about sterile procedures and keeping us honest. Thanks for stepping outside your box and learning from us too. Thanks for passing on what my patients said about me after I was gone. Thank you for your confidence in me.
To my 1st clinical instructor: I'm glad that you decided to give me a good evaluation but it woud have been better if you hadn't rushed to judgement about me to start with. I didn't change during my clinical experience only your perception of me changed. You should listen more closely when we're asking you questions and please don't just walk off. Also if we ask you if we're on the right track with our careplan and you look it over and say yes then you shouldn't grade it as poor a few weeks later when you finally get around to grading it. Also if you would grade and return care plans promptly so we would know what to change on the next ones then they would improve and progress the way they are suppose to. Don't return them all a week after clinicals with you are finished. Please learn our names, and what we are really like. You are messing with our futures when you give us evaluations that have no real basis.
To my second: Your were awesome! A real teacher, I learned a ton! Hope I can be like you one day.
To my community health professor: Your ass should have been fired years ago. You just can't teach all that well. You have never provided much direction on our assignments and we get dinged because we didn't do it right. You and that other clinical instructor should just go back to your cushy government to do what you do best: Nothing at all! I resent the fact that for the grant you wanted to keep going, you made us students do all the scut work, and then you yell at us when we don't do it right. I resent the fact that I as a tax payer have to pay your salary at that government job. I disagree with all of your opinions on sex education and talking to adolescents. I mean "read your children's diaries"?! WTH.
I want nothing to do with public health and community health nursing after this rotten experience.
"This is Med Surg 2, you know what to do," does not count as orientation. We don't even know where the bathrooms are, let alone the charting system at this hospital. also, I have never worked with a pt with a 1 day PO hip replacement. "Take him for a walk" is not sufficient instruction. Thank goodness there was a tech there that taught me the ropes even though it took him more time. I could have hurt this guy because I had no idea the safe way to get him out of bed.
i don't know if i'm going to be able to handle this. Most of this thread has almost literally scared the crap out of me. i haven't started nursing school yet (september 4, 2012 is d-day) and i was already nervous about it.... note to self: get off allnurses.com until after i see what my instructors are like!!!!
AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP
631 Posts
I would like to ask why you made a big deal about the awesome advantage we'd be at for graduating weeks ahead of our job competitors when you didn't bother to prepare our paperwork when we graduated? All of our competitors have received their ATTs and have started to take and pass the NCLEX and get licensed. So thanks! I'm still waiting