Turned down a job! Am i crazy??

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Nov 16, 2011

Ok. I've been out of work for several years but i've had at least 5 years of medsurg experience in the past. I was offered a job yesterday to be a clinical nurse instructor for LPN students but i was shocked to find out that it starts right away giving me only a few days to prepare and that there is NO orientation for me. They basically just want me to dive right in. I know very well how hard it is to find a job in this tough economy and i am lucky to have been offered a position but the job just didn't sit right with me. I feel that if i am ill prepared, the one who's going to suffer are the students who are going to be assigned to me. Since i don't have any teaching experience, i was hoping i would get more support or at least some orientation from the school so i wouldn't feel so lost with the students. Are there any clinical instructors here who didn't receive any orientation when they started their job? Is this the norm??

No, this is by no means the norm and you were not "crazy" to turn this job offer down. There is a reason this job is still open, even in this bad economy. Any respectable nursing program would offer support, mentoring, and a plan of orientation for a new clinical instructor. It shows that this nursing program is very poorly organized and decisions are made hastily there, without much thought or planning. You were wise to turn down this clinical instructor position, because it most certainly would have turned out to be a horrible experience for you and an ordeal for the students.

lily1289 · Nov 16, 2011

Thanks for the reply! Those were my thoughts exactly. I thought it was a poorly run nursing program and i feel bad for the students there. They charged almost 30,000 in tuition for LPN students but they seem to be more intent on getting more students and hence make more money than chanelling some of their resources to make sure they have a very good nursing program. I was appalled when they suggested that if i accepted the position, i wouldn't have to do a "a lot of teaching" and to basically just let the students shadow the staff nurses during their clinicals. I would love to teach and i desperately need a job but i couldn't, in good conscience, accept this job.

RNqueens · Nov 20, 2011

I too accepted a job for instructing clinicals for LPN students. This job was suppose to start this weekend but, got delayed until after thanksgiving (which I am grateful for cause it gives me more time to prepare!). There has been no formal orientation I have been given evaluation materials and rules and regulations for clinical. I was able to get a brief orientation at the clinical site. I do feel that this school is its infancy stages as it was only up in running last year. Even though I expected a better orientation I took the job because I was not sure if this opportunity would come up again. I am utilizing teaching resources and books to help guide me (basically orientating myself). I am in my first quarter in an online post baccalaureate cert. in Nursing education and faculty role. I am going to do the best I can to give the students as my as a learning experience as I can. Clinical is 8 weeks I will reevaluate at the time if I want to continue at the facility.

This education board has been a great resource. Many of the contributors have great tips and strategies. Thanks!

lumbarpain, ADN, RN · Jan 13, 2012

If you DONT FEEL RIGHT then its wasnt for you, but sometimes we have a fear of things we arent comfortable with and this is normal....Nurses I believe are thrown into procedures or positions depending on their wits only. You should have given it a try however, at least you could just leave if you felt uneasy and it wasnt working. We all have to try in life, afterall you Did become a nurse!! did you have complete confidence taking your Boards? But you did it.....did you surprise yourself or expect that you were going to ace it? Dont fret about it.....if you feel you shouldve taken the job, then it will come around again. I am sure of it.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jan 23, 2012

Ok. I've been out of work for several years but i've had at least 5 years of medsurg experience in the past. I was offered a job yesterday to be a clinical nurse instructor for LPN students but i was shocked to find out that it starts right away giving me only a few days to prepare and that there is NO orientation for me. They basically just want me to dive right in. I know very well how hard it is to find a job in this tough economy and i am lucky to have been offered a position but the job just didn't sit right with me. I feel that if i am ill prepared, the one who's going to suffer are the students who are going to be assigned to me. Since i don't have any teaching experience, i was hoping i would get more support or at least some orientation from the school so i wouldn't feel so lost with the students. Are there any clinical instructors here who didn't receive any orientation when they started their job? Is this the norm??

THANK YOU for thinking about your students, more than yourself.

This speaks well about you as a person, and suggests to me that you are willing to be a dedicated educator, rather than a "talking head".