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).

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

"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."

"Perhaps she did"??? You have other priorities? Somebody just told me that there is a provision made for people who do the minimum and can't prioritize to perform at a higher level. This is called "minimum wage."

Get with the program, or you won't be in it long, whether or not you have another instructor. Believe me, you're on the bubble now...

[IdrilRN, BSN, RN]

Not going to sugar coat it but you are lucky not to be kicked out of the nursing program for doing a tube feeding with a nurses aid, or nurse like person. In other words not with your instructor. There are rules for a reason. We are dealing with human lives here. And yes we are all human and make mistakes, but what you've described are very simple things to follow. Perhaps being a nurse just isn't right for you.

[Nogoodmood]

No I'm not stretching out too thin. A lot of my extracurricular activities has to do either with my future nursing career, or if not my xtra curriculars, it's my job that I have to work at to make money. I handled this load easily during my previous semesters in nursing school. Oh well, looks like I'm going to axe some of these extracurriculars after this semester. =(

[loriangel14, RN]

And start using your ears to listen to what instructions you are getting so you can do as you are told.

[Nogoodmood]

Really? Because there are other students in other clinical groups who have followed their nurse aides, and have done medication injections on patients, without their clinical instructor's presence in the room. The only reason I was found out about the infraction, was because i wrote about it in my assignment. I did learn from this experience, however, it's too bad others in my class never faced the consequences of doing medicine injection without their clinical instructor. Thank God my new clinical instructor is a decent person whom I respect. Unlike my previous instructor who was and still is anal retentive.

[Nogoodmood]

And stop using your keyboard to sound like a "I'm holier than thou" person. Do you never make any mistakes in clinic? If not, please go to your local university and donate your genes. Researchers are looking for a "perfect person" to clone and do research on.

[Nogoodmood]

Hey Racer15. thanks for the better feedback without all the harsh criticism these other students tend to dish out to one another. Yeah, I acknowledge that nursing school is harsh in many areas and in many curriculums. I'm just toughing it out right now. I have a new study plan, and I am praying real hard that it works out for my future exams I take in a couple of weeks. For now, I have a new instructor for my rotation. I feel much better, but I will find out next week. Good luck to you for your remaining nursing school career!

[kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN]

Thank God my new clinical instructor is a decent person whom I respect. Unlike my previous instructor who was and still is anal retentive.

Ok bottom line, learn to accept from criticism for things that YOU did wrong. You don't like verbal instructions? Too bad, not for you to decide. Other people being harsh? No they're being empathetic and trying to get you to understand you didn't follow instructions. Who cares if you volunteer at the hospital you're doing clinical, are you going to "accidentally chart under your work login" because you simply forgot? Oops I suppose? And maybe other people are getting to do things because they don't give off this "I should be teaching this section since I volunteer here and don't like my teacher for holding me accountable" attitude. Some teachers let students who prove to be competent...do things with their nurses, aides, etc.

[rubato, ASN, RN]

Nogoodmood, no one here is acting holier than thou. Yes, we make mistakes in clinicals. Everyone does. That's why we're in school, to learn.

However, you aren't holding yourself accountable for your mistakes. That's the difference between you and me. I make a mistake, it's because "I" didn't listen, or "I" didn't follow instructions, or "I" went too fast. You keep blaming your instructor. IT'S NOT HER FAULT, it's yours!

The fact that other people are giving injections with aides is terrifying. Aides aren't allowed to give injections, and there's a good reason for it. They haven't had the training to know the pharmacology of the drugs, or why we give them IM vs. subQ. And, they certainly aren't teachers.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

The thing about nursing school is you are at their mercy whether they suck or not. So you just have to put your head down, follow their rules no matter how ludicrous they may be, and know that every instructor has their favorites who can do no wrong. Knowing that and keeping your head down will get you through.

[Jennybrie]

looks like I'm going to axe some of these extracurriculars after this semester. =(

I'm glad that you are able to recognize that you need to make some changes in your schedule to be successful in nursing school. Good luck to you and I hope you realize that most of the comments people have given you on this site are not meant to belittle you or make you feel like a horrible person from your mistakes. The comments are to help you realize what you are doing from a perspective that is not biased and therefore nonjudgmental. Above all don't take anything too personal and grow a thick skin in school before dealing with the public at large as a professional nurse .

[charli_appleRN]

I'd advise you to stop worrying about what other students are doing and concentrate on what you're told to do. Have you witnessed any procedures your classmates have done to see how good they were at it?? I'm sure your instructor has. If you dont demonstrate that you can follow the simple rules, you may never be allowed to do anything without the instructor breathing down your neck. Trust and believe your new clinical instructor is well aware of your history and she's watching you like a hawk......even if she does it with a smile.

With the mistakes you've made, you should start going to open lab RELIGIOUSLY. That's the quickest way to get out of the dog house.