This semester of nursing school not going well for me - unbelievable

[Nogoodmood]

I am just shocked at how my 2nd semester is going for me. It's rough.

Last semester, when I first started my nursing school program, I did pretty well in my classes. I either got B's or A's on my exams, paper, project, depending on the class. I also had a fun time with my group at the basic clinicals.

This semester, however, is turning out to be a complete nightmare. I really mean it.

My clinical instructor is a mean young lady. She is very nit-picky about having us following the rules. I once showed up to clinic with our other uniform, rather than the clinical scrubs, and she marked me down on that. It was a mistake, but an honest mistake, as I volunteer at the hospital where I have my clinicals.

I also parked on the wrong floor in the parking structure. This too made the instructor disappointed, although on days I volunteer, I am allowed to park on any floor. That didn't cut the slack with my clinical instructor. No where in our course syllabus does it state that we have to park on certain floors in the parking structure.

At midterm evaluation, she literally forced me to sign some kind of stupid contract with all of my infractions, stating that I will not make any more mistakes. I looked it over, and it had all the dates of infractions, incorrectly printed on the form!

Another issue is my lecture course exams. I passed my first exam for the lecture portion of this class. However, the second exam was a complete disaster, as I failed the 2nd exam by four points. I have never dreamed of this kind of nasty/awful scenarios happening in nursing school.

Lastly, I had clinicals last week. I had the chance to do gastric tube feeding on one of my two patients. During the first day of last week's clinical session, I watched the nurse aid in charge of my patient, do all the procedures for the gastric tube feeding. These procedures were measuring out 280 cc of Jevity in a large plastic container, aspirating the gastric tube for any residual fluid, pouring the supplement from measuring container into the feeding bag (looks like a large IV bag), and then flushing the gastric tube with regular water, prior to feeding. The second day, the nurse aid did the same feeding, but felt that I could try the gastric tube feeding procedure myself. So she walked me step-by-step through the procedure. Opening the can of supplement, pouring it into the container to measure out the exact CC's, aspirating the gastric tube, etc.

It was a nerve-wracking at first, but I was very happy to do this gastric tube feeding procedure for my patient. After the procedure, I thanked the nurse aid for assisting me and teaching me in a very nice fashion.

Unlike the fashion my clinical instructor uses when she's teaching me a technique during clinicals (i.e. raising her voice, asking me "I already told you this this and this....")

To make a long story short, all students have a writing assignment after each clinical session block to reflect on what you did during clinicals.

I wrote about how exciting and happy I was during last week's clinical session session, because I got to do gastric tube feeding for one of my patients.

I got my assignment back with her comments, except that the comments weren't nice comments.

She was upset with me for doing the gastric tube feeding because she wasn't there in the room.

I mean seriously, I have classmates in other clinical groups who get to follow their nurse aids and give injections to their patients, as long as the nurse aid or a nurse-related employee is at their side while doing the procedure.

Getting back to my mean clinical instructor, she said via email that I don't follow her instructions, and hints of wanting to fail me for clinical.

I am sick to my stomach right now, and don't feel motivated to even study for upcoming exams and quizes.

I also have group project coming up in a week, and I also don't feel like doing any work for the group project.

I worked so hard to get into nursing school, worked hard during my first semester to get great grades.

Now this semester, seemed like the whole world turned upside on me, my exam performance is not that great, and my clinical instructor is being a d-bag on me.

I don't know what to expect in the coming weeks. For now, I am just working on a paper for my second class. My second nursing class is fine, because I am getting an A in that class.

It's just this clinical class that's being a tough road block for me (both exams and the clinical instructor).

[loriangel14, RN]

No no no, listen lori. I did not intentionally wear my polo uniform because I wanted to. It's just that I volunteer at the hospital after I do my clinicals on certain days. The polo uniform I wear is also a uniform of the nursing school. This is the "other" uniform we wear to other clinical sites, in placement of our clinical scrubs. So it's not like I forgot my clinical scrubs that day.

I do understand that I am not supposed to do any "skills" without the instructor there. However, she treated this incident as if I performed unsupervised brain surgery with a nurse aid, on my patient! LOOL!

You still wore the wrong uniform.

If you understand that you are not supposed to do any skills without your instructor then why did you? It doesn't matter what skill it was, you still broke the rules. When you get out there on your own with a license no one is going to buy excuses for breaking the rules. The point is you deliberately ignored the rules and that will get you in big trouble eventually.Best you learn to do as you are told now.

[Kleobee]

I've been having trouble with my first semester, and I'm hoping that it gets better. There's just so many assignments, group presentations and exams that I feel totally overwhelmed. This week I have two midterms and a paper due, Next week I have a paper, a group presentation, a math test and a midterm. I don't feel like I have enough time in a day, plus, I'm not sure how everyone else is doing in the program, but I have an average of 70% and I'm worried that if this workload continues into next semester and the following years that I may not make it.

[loriangel14, RN]

That sounds like a typical work load.

[PinkCupcake]

I'm sorry you feel the way you do but the rules are the rule whether they are written or verbal. Our program has unwritten rules as well like at the hospital we have to park behind the white line, meet at such and such location so we can arrive on our clinical floor as a group. They don't have the time to print every little rule there is and each facility is different and it's OUR responsibility to know what they are.

As nursing students we are held to a much higher level than most other degree programs are, like it or not. A large part of it is following the rules. you knew you shouldn't have done the feeding without her watching and seem to be upset with her because she made such a big deal about it. My instructor would have killed me or anyone else in our group if something like that happened. You also are making excuses that maybe she did give you rules verbally but then you make the excuse that you are too busy and don't have a voice recorder with you. You need to pay attention to what is being said regardless of how busy you are.

What happens when you are a nurse and a doctor gives you a verbal order for a handful of medications? Not following the rules and not paying attention to what you are told could cost a patient their life. The instructor is nit picky for a very good reason.

Apologize, learn from this and move on knowing you'll do better. :)

[rubato, ASN, RN]

Thanks for the response. I usually prefer to have the instruction written down in the syllabus, not verbal instructions. Verbal instructions are not hard to follow. It's just that this clinical instructor's excuse is always "I have already told you this...." Did she mention certain instructions to me in the past when the semester started? Perhaps she did. However, I have other jobs outside of school, and extracurricular activities that I also do. It's not like I carry a voice recorder with me to record all her verbal instructions. The great part is that I have moved to another clinical section at another hospital. So no more of this instructor constantly breathing down my back.

I am pretty sure that your social life isn't germane to your clinical instructor. I would be kicked out of my program in a heartbeat if I gave injections with an aid or did anything at all without my instructor's permission. It's also not up to your instructor to make sure it's written down for you because you prefer it that way. Oh, and just so you know, if my instructor ever once told me to do something, I am supposed to know it backwards and forwards and know to do it every week, even if she never says it again. This is life in nursing school. Buckle down and do it right, or suffer the consequences. And, while you think NG feeding isn't that big a deal, you could seriously hurt someone by following what the aid tells you. You need an instructor to "teach" it to you or, at the very least, a nurse.

[tortorRN]

First of all, the instructor is allowing you to practice under her license. Of COURSE she wants to be there for the first times you do your skills just to make sure you can do it on your own thereafter. If you still can't grasp this concept... Flip flop roles. Pretend you are in the instructors shoes and your student just pulled all the crap you listed... What would you do?

Also your program should have a nursing handbook with rules of the program. Ours is about a good 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Read it. All rules about what you can do and can't do are in there. Such as you can't give meds without the instructor present... Etc.

Can't believe you said the comment about the verbal rules. I would cringe if I had a co-worker who refuses to take verbal orders seriously. I am deaf and a cochlear implant user, and this means I have to work twice as hard to hear at a normal level... Yet you choose to tune out more often than do while your instructor is saying some very important things.

Okay, now that we have criticized your mistakes... I do hope you take them seriously and make some changes in how handle situations and attitude regardless if you have a different instructor. Please turn on your ears too... You don't want to miss something that could potentially fail you!!

[loriangel14, RN]

"I have other jobs outside of school, and extracurricular activities that I also do."

Wow. Good to see where your priorities lie.

If you can't follow verbal orders you are going have a hard time being a nurse. What will your excuse be when a doctor gives you a verbal order and you "forget"?

[OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN]

Wow..Well I usually side with students because I don't like the way a lot of students get treated but.... really? I know some stuff may be petty but what makes you think you don't ahve to follow the rules that everyone else has to? I mean really I would never show up out of our required uniform and be like well geeeezz whats the problem? This is basic stuff. Geezz, I even remember one time I was worried I didn't have one, of our two, name-tags and was worried the whole time.. Everyone has to follow the rules, same thing as when you're working-anywhere..

[AOx1]

If my students park in the wrong area, our entire group could be banned from the facility. If they don't wear the correct uniform, their presence will be questioned on the floor. Clinical sites are very strict and very hard to come by. Rules are set by the facility and we follow them or lose the privilege of going to the clinical site. Honestly, with repeated infractions, I would also have placed you on contract. If you want to continue in the program, I would plan to demonstrate some new techniques for remembering and following the rules.

[HH_RN13, ASN, RN]

So being a nursing student myself I was trying really hard to understand why u feel the instructor was picking on u and all I got is that u failed to follow the rules time after time. If anyone in my nursing program was to do ng feeding without the instructor present (for the first time) we would've been kicked out for unsafe practice. I don't know what kind of school u go to but mine has all the rules and consequences and etc in a student handbook. And if one instructor has something to add a verbal rule is just as good for us as a written one.

It feels like there's a huge problem with some people of the younger generation. The problem is they don't have basic respect for the teachers at all. Those r people who try to give u knowledge and prevent u from making a mistake. If something would've went wrong with that ng feed I bet u ur behind would be on the line not the aides.

Just a little advice, u gotta change ur attitude because u won't survive long in nursing school thinking and acting this way and if u do I sure wouldn't want u to be my nurse if following rules and listening rnt ur most favorite things to do

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

I can understand why you feel like you are being treated unfairly. I'm pretty much done with school now, and every single semester, I could point out to you a student, that for whatever reason, was just given a hard time by the instructor for no apparent reason. I could do something wrong and my instructor wouldn't even comment, but if that student she had singled out did the same thing..oh boy, watch out. Example: I'm a vet tech. Wearing gloves for injections, blood draws, etc, doesn't happen in that field, there's no real need. So it's been a challenge for me to remember to glove up for injections as I am so used to not doing it. I gave an insulin injection without wearing gloves, my instructor was watching, never said a word, and I got a satisfactory for the day. The student she had issues with? Would have been given an automatic unsatisfactory for the day.

HOWEVER, that's just life. It's not always fair, and sometimes you have to bust your butt to please an instructor, where other students get away with murder. You did not wear the right uniform. I would have been sent home and forced to repeat the clinical day in my program. You performed a procedure without an instructor present...I would have been torn apart for that. Even in my last semester with passing meds, something I've done a thousand times, I had to double check with my instructor before I could give them alone. As someone else pointed out, you are practicing under her license, it's her job that's at stake if you do something wrong, and it's also possible that the clinical site would stop allowing students from your school to go there. Recognize that you've made some mistakes, own up to them, and use this as a lesson to do better in the future.

Nursing school is rough at times, and it can seem overwhelming! At the beginning of this semester, I didn't see how I was going to be able to do it. We had two and a half months of class, with 10 exams, four pharm assignments, a nursing portfolio, a health fair, and a few other minor assignments. But I did it because what other choice did I have?? If you're having trouble, go to your instructor, sit down, review your exams with them, see what they suggest you do differently. I did horrible on my first two exams last semester (before nursing school, I was a generally straight A student, got a bachelors degree with a 3.8 GPA), and I was convinced I was going to flunk out. I sat down with my theory instructor, looked at what I was doing wrong, made a plan, and here I am now, graduating in December. You'll be fine, just know when to admit you were wrong, even when you're right

[Jennybrie]

However, I have other jobs outside of school, and extracurricular activities that I also do.

It sounds like you're stretching out too thin. In nursing school you make sacrifices to get through a very tough and demanding program. I don't mean to sound harsh but if you value your social life and other jobs over school then you won't make it through the demands of nursing school. Many people when they enter realize that this isn't like any other program and you don't have the extra time for extracurricular activities. If you are unable to follow verbal instructions and keep your life organized then you will not be able to stay organized through school. Make a list of what is important to you and if nursing school isn't number one on the list, don't push yourself through a program that you're not 100% dedicated to.