This is like going to war...

Nursing Students General Students

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okay, i have been reading posts today and i have to say o...m...g....!!! :igtsyt:

you can be mad at this post and say:

-i'm just a student

-wait til i'm in the trenches

-i just don't know what it's like

-etc., etc., etc.

but the negativity towards students and new nurses, or anyone who doesn't side with an experienced nurse is just outrageous! :eek:

nursing school is not going to be easy, this i know...but i keep reading where experienced nurses who are teaching new nurses are so mean and miserable. how they just feel that teaching is such a burden, student nurses are nothing but problems, and they don't bring anything to the table. oooooommmmgggg!!!

the judgment and generalizations towards different groups of people are just sad and disappointing. deal with each person, student, or new nurse individually. we all have faults, problems, and burdens..no one is an exception.:uhoh3:

i sincerely hope, that whoever i am put under to learn truly has the will and patience to teach someone else. i would hope and pray i get someone who really does want to teach and lead. :bowingpur

at times i have seen some more seasoned, patient, and positive responses, and i try to learn and absorb what i can from them, because some of you guys give very good advice and insight. on the other hand, i have also seen the opposite.:chair:

i knew nursing was hard but i didn't realize there was so much internal conflict among nurses. lord help us all! i'm going to see a therapist before my clinicals. :grn:

Specializes in Med-Surg Nursing.

And it seems to me that there is an overabundance of hand slappy type posts from student nurses admonishing us old timers for daring to vent about our jobs or telling them to come back in a year and see if they have changed their mind?

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Specializes in PACU, OR.

:igtsyt:

The judgment and generalizations towards different groups of people are just sad and disappointing. Deal with each person, student, or new nurse individually. We all have faults, problems, and burdens..no one is an exception.:uhoh3:

I sincerely hope, that whoever I am put under to learn truly has the will and patience to teach someone else. I would hope and pray I get someone who really does want to teach and lead. :bowingpur

At times I have seen some more seasoned, patient, and positive responses, and I try to learn and absorb what I can from them, because some of you guys give very good advice and insight. On the other hand, I have also seen the opposite.:chair:

I knew nursing was hard but I didn't realize there was so much internal conflict among nurses. Lord help us ALL! I'm going to see a therapist BEFORE my clinicals. :grn:

OP sweetie, you said it all in this part of your post. All of us are different-"it takes all kinds" etc etc.

My (equally senior) colleague and I have done our fair share of mentoring and can say with pride that many of our preceptees have gone on to run PACUs in other hospitals! Of course, if a junior makes a really glaring mistake due to laziness or carelessness I reserve the right-in fact it is my duty!-to give her hell about it!

Sometimes the worst kind of fire-breathing dragons are the ones you learn the most from. Yes, I know we old girls might occasionally seem like something out of Men in Black, but then nursing is a bit like another planet isn't it?

Don't be scared, I think you have sufficient steel in your nether regions....

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

I had a very good nursing school experience eons ago. From what I've read in recent years, schools have changed a great deal; much stricter standards and a wait list of years to get in. Instructors that treat students very poorly. The REALITY of becoming a nurse was an eye-opener to say the least. Many of us have incredibly stressful jobs(my stress is due to excessive mandatory extra shifts due to sick calls and the violence of our patients). Many of us can't find "something easier or less stressful"--especially in this economy. Many of us use this forum to vent our frustrations because we DON'T have free speech in the workplace. It's my sincere hope that nursing changes for the better in the coming years. I wish the students all the best.

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Interesting comparison! So, you've been to war?

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Ok, gotta jump in here.....

Don't take it personally. You have to look at it from the side of the nurse on the floor. The job is a "hit the floor at 7 am and run like mad for at least the first 6 hours" and you really don't see a breather until about 2:00 in the afternoon. WIth 6 patients, all needing meds, all needing assessments, the occassional dressing change and new orders to tend too, sometimes having a student tagging along is just that "one more thing" that adds to the whole stress. I've always tried to treat my students well and teach along the way, but the life on the floor is pretty damn stressful in the morning.

Hence why I left floor nursing....

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The association with war was probably a bad comparison. Reading something posted by a grumpy nurse is not exactly the same as realising that big boom that just happened was a dude in a taxi blowing himself up. If you want to discuss the issue at hand, fine; however, throwing in war comments and comments about therapy before going to the "warzone" as a student add nothing productive to the discussion at hand.

Clearly, you are new, have no experience and so on, as you have already stated. Nursing is no different than any other human experience. You have good ones, bad ones, and everything in-between. In addition, I find it interesting that you would take comments made on a public forum to heart. Wait for your clinical rotations and make up your mind in a couple of years.

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War, builds camaraderie like nothing else can.

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Specializes in DOU.

I don't think you should think of nursing school as war. It's more like boot camp.

Also, I graduated nursing school a little more than 1.5 years ago. The staff nurses during my clinicals were mostly indifferent, and sometimes helpful. The only one that was actually MEAN was a charge nurse I didn't have to really deal with at all, and she didn't even single me out personally, but was ranting at nursing students in general.

If I were you, I would be more worried about getting good instructors. They are the ones that can make your life a living hell, and you are stuck with them the whole semester. Staff nurses - well, even if you DO get a mean one, it's only for a single day, and I agree that they may have a lot to teach.

BTW - I love having students, so long as they really want to be there.

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I love students, but to be completely honest (which some discourage cuz *gasp* it may make nursing look less than angelic!) I would never choose to precept. ONLY because I am extremely "OCD" with my work at the hospital and I don't feel I would be a good instructor and I need my stuff done on time or I get stressed! This doesn't mean that I dislike having students on the floor, I love helping them out whiel they are working with someone else! :)

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Specializes in CTICU/CVICU.
No, I think I will stay right here, thanks though :p

And you should. One main purpose of forums is to learn from each other. I'm a nursing student so I go to the nursing student forum a lot but I almost never post there. Why? Because most of my questions or concerns, only experienced nurses..those who have gone through what I'm looking to go through...can answer them. That's like asking another single person a question about marriage...or someone who has never had kids a question about parenthood.

I am sure NO ONE on this forum has just stuck to one forum :uhoh3: (just student or just one specific specialty, etc.). How about we all just try to be less negative and in the meantime ignore those that are.

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Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.

Pay less attention to the drama queens here and more attention to school.

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As a student nurse, I would hope you are TEACHABLE when you are assigned to a preceptor.

It's nothing more frustrating than having a nursing student or a fresh new grad come out of nursing school thinking they know EVERYTHING and don't ask questions because they know it all. Those are the most dangerous in my opinion.

And another thing, please don't come in saying things like "but we learned it this way in nursing school". Nursing school is like NCLEX land, everything is PERFECT. In the real world of nursing, you will soon come to see that things are way less than perfect.

I work in the ER and we get nursing students all the time. The ER is a beast in itself, and we have alot of frequent flyers that come in for their weekly shot of Dilaudid, or is ETOH w/d. If you see a nurse being firm with these patients, please don't say things like "when I become a nurse I will never treat my patients like that", because you do not know the entire story.

With that being said, please take advantage of your clinicals and seek out every learning opportunity that you can. Ask questions! And navigate towards the nurses who love to teach. I love to teach, but I do not have enough time under my belt to train a new grad properly. However, I don't mind answering questions when I can.

Good luck!

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