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.

now that the semester's over and i've passed the awful ci and will not ever be tortured by her again.

1. when i gave the right answer about the drug, she'd turn her head to the side look at me and go "and?" and what? it's such and such drug, i gave you the pertinent lab info or vs info, the interactions with pt's other drug, common side effects, the route, dose, what it's used for, etc? what else do you want- the chemical name, please tell me i don't read minds?

2. i asked her 5 clinicals in a row to help me with the documentation, as the nurses didn't really like us writing in their paperwork. each time i got told we'll go over it in post-conference. then on the 3rd to the last clinical she threatened to fail me for my documentation.

3. when i was giving meds via peg for the first time, i talked myself through it (coma patient) whispering out loud. she screamed at me for not knowing each and every step without doing that, saying it was unprofessional. duh?? and screeching in the patient's room is????

*just a few examples off the top of my head.

hard instructors are one thing. i don't mind instructors who expect a lot. what i mind are instructors who's moods change from hour to hour. who show up late to clinicals every day but 3, but send messages telling the clinical group go out on the floor without her (which we have been told in the past by our lead instructors that we are never allowed to be on the floor without a ci).

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

Cursedandblessed, I would report that. Students are not to be unsupervised at any time. They don't have a license to perform under.

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.

LivtoLearn:

It's true, life is like a box of chocolates; and some are nasty, but most are great!

You are the best kind of instructor, teaching not only skills, but responsibility for the world around us, too.

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her contract wasn't renewed.

while i did go to the floor, i didn't do anything except for going over paperwork, or going into the patient's room and introducing myself, and asking them if they needed anything. i'm always a cover my own (well you know).

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:twocents:

I know exactly what type of instructor you are talking about. They have been around for 30+ years. Yes, they are tough, scary, intimidating, etc. but I learned from them and ultimately had alot of respect for them. They were the ones who cried at our graduation because they were proud of us. They taught me survival skills so that here I am, 34 years later, a nurse who continues to go at my job everyday with determination and resolve. Hang in there and you too will survive

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
her contract wasn't renewed.

while i did go to the floor, i didn't do anything except for going over paperwork, or going into the patient's room and introducing myself, and asking them if they needed anything. i'm always a cover my own (well you know).

and if the patient to whom you introduced yourself had a seizure? then what.......:o

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
:twocents:

I know exactly what type of instructor you are talking about. They have been around for 30+ years. Yes, they are tough, scary, intimidating, etc. but I learned from them and ultimately had alot of respect for them. They were the ones who cried at our graduation because they were proud of us. They taught me survival skills so that here I am, 34 years later, a nurse who continues to go at my job everyday with determination and resolve. Hang in there and you too will survive

And they were around 50 years ago, too. There are those who are invested in their work to get students prepared for their careers, and those who are sadistic tough..........

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I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to repsond to my thread! I just finished this semester with flying colors!!! All of your encouraging words and nursing expertise helped me get through this semester, not to mention, the "tough" clinical instructor I unfortunately made the mistake of talking badly about!

The instructor I was assigned to wasn't so bad after all. She was assertive, very very knowledgable, and made you do a lot of homework, which may have caused past students to negatively gossip about her and portray her as "mean" and also why I came to believe that she was just another "tough" clinical instructor I feel sooo much more confident because of this instructor's clinical knowledge, expertise, and persistent need for us to work hard and study. If it wasn't for all of your replies/responses within this form, I would not have read "between the lines" and noticed how much she wanted us to learn and understand.

All of you sound like very compassionate nurses. I will never hesitate to ask another question on this forum. Best of luck to all of you in your nursing careers!! :wink2::up:

Corinna

Vancouver, BC

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cursedandblessed: that is exactly the type of clinical instructor I had! One girl got to do EVERYTHING, the rest of the group introduced themselves to the patient, then spent the rest of the time doing paperwork.

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