Tough Clinical Instructor

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I have been placed at a hospital with ANOTHER tough clinical instructor - I haven't met her yet, but apparently she does it military style. My previous instructor was quite hard too, and although i learned a lot and worked my butt off to impress & please her, I found the semester VERY stressful. Grrr... i'm on an acute surgical ward this time.

Right now, i'm in my 2nd year, 5th semester out of 10.

Can anyone offer me advice on how to deal with this? I get stressed out really easily and seem to work less well when someone is YELLING at me.

THanks for reading.

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Well first of all I wish you luck with your semester. The only advice I can give you is to just remain calm to the best of your abilities. Usually if instructors like that see that they get to you, it only makes it worse. And just try and stay positive. Try to find SOMETHING positive about the experience.

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

Stop stressing ahead of time, and wait to actually meet her. What does military style mean? By the book and high expectations? Doesn't have to mean yelling.

Go in with a good attitude, expect the best and study for yourself, not to "please" the instructor. I wasn't expecting to be pleased by my students, I expected their work to show they had studied and prepared well for the day.

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dear corinna,i experience that every time you stress about something and make a big deal out of it ,it is big. i think we are in the same level of nursing school i am also 2 year and 5th sem. i hear lot's of this story from my classmate but i never (thanks god) had a problem with my tutor. just try to make sure what are you doing, do not feel hesitate whenever you want to do any procedure and always remember we are there to learn.

i remember i had a clinical instructor from other countries which i did not understand even a word that comes from her mouth because of her deep accent and every morning i had a pain in the neck to walk to that ward, so everyone have different problem we need to learn how to deal with it.

take it easy and be positive with the head upppp.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

To the OP please take a breath and relax, its usually never as bad as you think its going to be. My next tip is to stop trying to impress your instructors, just do your best to study and be prepared for class but otherwise don't worry about trying to impress them (because most professors hate suck ups.) Good luck!

!Chris :specs:

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My instructor this semester is ex-military and has a reputation for being incredibly strict. I have had a great semester with her. Once as she was sure I had the skill down, she gave me the freedom to do it on my own is the program allowed it. Otherwise I could do it with the nurse. If she had a problem with any of us, I never knew because she kept it private between her and the student. I wish all of the instructors were more like this.

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thanks guys for all of your encouraging words!

my previous instructor also had a very strong Korean accent, making it just that much harder to understand her.

and in terms of "military style", i meant that she would call you out in front of everyone (includ other students & nurses), if you didn't know, for example, the indication, action, or side effect of a drug from memory or how to hang an IV bag, even if it was the first time you did it in real, non-simulated life.

but of course, you are expected to be prepared and know this stuff prior to coming on the floor - which was basically the only way you could avoid being grilled by her. but she was always so serious and barely ever lauged or smile. she was also rude to the RN's on the floor and questioned their motives.

i feel much more accomplished as a nurse because of her strict instruction style, which will probably make it easier for me to deal with the lady i have now. I will just have to wait it out and see how bad this new instructor really is...i'm meeting her in less in 3 hours and *crossing* my fingers...

Corinna

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Specializes in LTC.
thanks guys for all of your positive feedback!

my previous instructor also had a very strong Korean accent, making it just that much harder to understand her.

i feel much more accomplished as a nurse because of her strict instruction style, which will probably make it easier for me to deal with the lady i have now.

i'm meeting her in less in 3 hours and *crossing* my fingers...

Corinna

I've heard the same about two of my clinical instructors... and they both turned out to be angels. The instructor that I didn't hear anything about, turned out to be a night mare !

Don't go by what you here all the time. Maybe the students gave the instructor a reason to be strict?

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i hope things went well for you. what you "hear" is not always reality. make the best of your situation. i went from having sweet caring instructors for 3 rotations to someone with their own "personal problems". i went into it with a good attitude and at least i had 4 weeks that were good, and only 4 that were a nightmare with her.

stay positive and cheerful even though at times it may be hard. good luck to you!!

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Just wanted to say that I can understand your stress. Tonight is my pinning ceremony-ASN. Three of the four semesters I had our "tough" instructor. Previous military nure with no family/heart/or compassion; alot of sarcasm/bitterness/and negative reinforcement though. You can and will make it through-try to keep a positive attitude and not worry that much about it. The more you worry the worse it will be. There were times when I was soo nervous I couldn't tell you what a aspirin was for!!! Looking back on it now I wonder why I let her get me so worked up. It seems silly now, but I actually appreciate most of what she tried to teach me. (She didn't really teach- just scared you to death so you read/reasearched that much harder). Best of luck to you- there is light at the end of the tunnel...

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
thanks guys for all of your encouraging words!

my previous instructor also had a very strong korean accent, making it just that much harder to understand her.

and in terms of "military style", i meant that she would call you out in front of everyone (includ other students & nurses), if you didn't know, for example, the indication, action, or side effect of a drug from memory or how to hang an iv bag, even if it was the first time you did it in real, non-simulated life.

but of course, you are expected to be prepared and know this stuff prior to coming on the floor - which was basically the only way you could avoid being grilled by her. but she was always so serious and barely ever lauged or smile. she was also rude to the rn's on the floor and questioned their motives.

i feel much more accomplished as a nurse because of her strict instruction style, which will probably make it easier for me to deal with the lady i have now. i will just have to wait it out and see how bad this new instructor really is...i'm meeting her in less in 3 hours and *crossing* my fingers...

corinna

can some of that be attributed to her because english was not her primary language and because america was not her primary culture? i've lived around asians a good deal of my adult life. what i might think translates as aggressiveness to me as an american is directness in their culture or their struggle with our language. their tone of voice and facial expressions are different because they were around a different culture. they do not show open emotion in public as readily as we do and it unnerves some americans who believe some asians can be heartless. as far as knowing the indication, action, or side effect of a drug, how to hang an iv bag or being expected to be prepared and know this stuff prior to coming on the floor, well, that is universally expected of all nursing students by all nursing instructors.

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For sure...

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