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 say to Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown, "God bless you for having faith in me to finish!"
To Mrs. Smith who made my life a living hell and I didn't know until the DAY BEFORE graduation if she was going to pass me on my clinicals..................:PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
and YES I'm a darn good ICU nurse!!!! (in spite of you)
Okay, Okay, I guess I do have something positive to say after all.
To the instructor who would not allow us to put medication administrations on our careplans in the interventions section, but non-pharmaceutical nursing interventions with the page to back them up- THANK YOU! Because of that I learned to brainstorm for other things I could do for a pt in pain or with a fever, etc, instead of just throwing a medication at them.
Even the day it was my first week with med-surg adults and you gave me a pt with gigantic wounds with q shift packing and multiple co-morbidities and over 30 meds, I got through it even though I could have made a sailor blush with the things I said when I got in the car after that shift. I think I would find that pt to be moderate acuity now, but sure as heck intimidated me back then.
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
I wanted to add something.
Thanks for having us team lead. You thought team leading would gain us leadership experience and I don't really think it did or that it helped at all. The student's who were shy were still shy after team leading. The team leaders didn't learn a thing because we were busy doing your job. Maybe I"m wrong and I did learn something but as I remember it now I remember other students getting to do cool procedures while I walked around with a clip board. All it did was get me out of some work and that meant I wasn't on the floor working and learning which is what I came to school for. Team leaders only ****** off the other student's anyway.
1. quiz is not quizz. don't write it on the board please. don't you notice when you come back later that we have corrected your spelling?
2. when someone asks a question it is not appropriate to say " do your homework" when we all know it is because you don't know the answer. can you not hear the snickers coming from the classroom? we are on to you.
3. we are working under your license, remember? don't you want good nurses in the field you profess to love so much? so then how the heck are you passing them when its a month to graduation and they don't know how to hang an iv med on a pump when we have had a year to practice, constantly ask stupid questions in clinical about what is dyspnea or oliguria, and copy thier assessments on the computer from what was documented before them? and then those same students miss clinicals at least once in every rotation which only lasts 3 weeks or come in 3 days a week stinking like booze with tremors. stop passing people because you don't want to make yourself look mean. they could kill someone.
1. "Mrs. Smith"...just because you have made the choice to work a full-time nursing job, teach nursing school, and work on your Masters degree at the same time, doesn't give you a "pass" for coming to class unprepared and being in a foul mood all of the time and taking it out on the students. You keep lecturing us about us keeping our priorities straight and not over-committing ourselves...please lead by example.
2. Read the book before you make out an exam. After all, you require us to read it...if you don't mention it in lecture and it's not in the exam, don't expect us to know it becaues 4 textbooks ago, it was something that was in there. God forbid if you actually have to make up a new test question.
3. If you aren't going to teach class that day, exercise the call tree to let us know...some students are on very tight budgets and it hurts when we drive an hour to school only to find out you didn't show up. You get paid for NOT showing up...we don't.
4. Stop playing favorites. Many of us have better grades than your "pets" and the rest of us do notice it.
5. When we come to you for assistance with our studies, "I don't know what to tell you" or "I'm sure you'll be fine on the next exam" is NOT considered help.
6. Keep a note of what you tell students in lecture...we DO record you. So if we insist that you didn't mention something in class when you swear you did....keep in mind that chances are, we have already reviewed our recording prior to making that statement.
"Kim;" thank you for for being you. Even though you were working on your CNP at the same time you were my CI-- you always encouraged me to learn and do my best. You were my 2nd clinical instructor and more than a year later I know I can call/email you for anything. You are a true mentor.
"Eileen;" thank you for being your goofy self. You taught me compassion and how to laugh at myself. Even though you'd stress often, your kindness seeped through your pores and you ALWAYS smiled. I sure do miss you when I transitioned through 2nd year.
"T;" You are simply amazing. I can't believe how tough and smart you are. Your CCU experience has made you hard, but it's what makes you who are. Thank you for allowing me to think for myself and aiding in developing my critical thinking skills. I'm so very happy that I had you.
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
Thank you for that look on your face when during 3rd semester I asked you, So we can give meds without you? We just give meds willy nilly?" LOL We are still laughing today! :chuckle
I see you when you purposely do not call on me in class. Do you think I don't already know that you can't stand me for some odd reason. I'm not as dumb as you think.
Thankyou for making us think and rethink things again; for chasing you down in clinicals and finally finding you in a pt' room that was not even one of our pt. Because of you and they way you take such good care of patients, I know what kind of nurse I want to be. THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!
I would say: " Do you remember-- what it was like to be a student? To stay up all night studying and then barely pass? To go to bed at 3 am and get up at 5 am? To be so sleep deprived that you fantasize about sleep? To kind of forget what your family and friends look like?"
Also... "Are we reading the same text book you are because some of these test questions are out of the blue?" And (to one particular teacher) "Do you stay awake at night thinking of ways to make my life a living hell? Are you always this unhappy or do you just hate us?"
But also there are some teachers I respect so much and have learned so much from them that "thank you" is not enough! :bowingpur
blueheaven
832 Posts
I would say to Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Brown, "God bless you for having faith in me to finish!"
To Mrs. Smith who made my life a living hell and I didn't know until the DAY BEFORE graduation if she was going to pass me on my clinicals..................:PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
and YES I'm a darn good ICU nurse!!!! (in spite of you)