Unprofessional Clinical Educator.. What would you do?

[hama1111]

I’ve been a RN for a year in the ICU. Our clinical educator is a woman in her 60’s who generally seems to be well liked and gets along with everyone, although being the clinical educator she can be seen as annoying sometimes - I suppose that comes with the job. But she doesn’t seem to like me.

There have been two occasions where she has inappropriately approached me about an unrelated topic while I’m doing my morning assessment on a patient. The first time she was in a panic asking me if my BLS had expired because she didn’t have it on file, in a patient’s doorway. Today she came up behind me while I was suctioning a vented patient and asked me, “What the hell happened to you yesterday?” in regards to me not showing up to an optional class I had forgotten about. She was almost sort of grilling me and told me myself and another person hadn’t shown and she was livid. 

I think this is inappropriate and I’m almost tempted to speak up because this is the second time she’s done something similar, but curious to know everyone’s thoughts.

Thank you!

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

3 hours ago, hama1111 said:

I just mentioned her age so as to describe her. She’s a seasoned nurse who has been an educator and a nurse for a long time. 

I hear you.

I interpreted it to mean that there might be a perceived power differential due to her seniority that might make it more difficult to confront the issue. It looked like some commenters were looking for ageism where there wasn't any.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

1 hour ago, londonflo said:

When the Holter was read it was determined the patient was dead when it was applied. The person who applied the Holter, who had documented the teaching and evaluation of learning was a son of the DON. Of course he was fired.....You may think this is an urban legend but it is the truth!

Holy crow! Did he think the patient was sleeping? That is incredible. Wow. 

[JKL33]

1 hour ago, Jedrnurse said:

It looked like some commenters were looking for ageism where there wasn't any.

I was the first to mention that it was irrelevant. I'm not sensitive about it and am not near the age mentioned. I simply stated a fact.

But, in response to your comment above I will point out that the OP's explanation doesn't exactly make sense:
 

Quote

 

5 hours ago, hama1111 said:

I just mentioned her age so as to describe her. She’s a seasoned nurse who has been an educator and a nurse for a long time. 

 

The person could be a 60 yo experienced and seasoned nurse and educator, or a 60yo nurse who has never really been expert at anything but is currently working as an educator (not that unlikely). IOW, the fact that she's 60 actually says nothing about her nursing experience, educator experience or overall competence.

The OP had their reason for what they wrote and I have my reason for what I wrote, which was much more a friendly by-they-way, and not a flaming pitchfork.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

8 hours ago, Emergent said:

Probably because she is a mean, old biddy who reminds her of bossy Aunt Bertha. She probably has chin hairs too, and a cheap dye job on her hair, plus saggy upper arms. ?

Quit talking about me ?

Actually, the age means nothing. But perhaps this is the case of the mean old biter nurse 

[Davey Do]

1 hour ago, JKL33 said:

I was the first to mention that it was irrelevant... I simply stated a fact.

Au contraire mon frère!

The statement is an opinion and not a fact. The opinion has a debatable premise for which others and I have pointed out that seasoned employees often believe they are allowed leeway to act or speak inappropriately merely due to their seniority.

Case in point: One seasoned employee at Wrongway used profanity in speaking to me and I requested that she not. Her reply was, "Oh, I've been here so long, everybody's use to me!"

I stated that profanity is inappropriate in professional situations, and I again requested that she cease. I added that if she continued, we could meet with our supervisors, she could say to them what she said to me, and allow them to determine if the interaction was appropriate.

I never again heard that employee use profanity in my presence.

[JKL33]

37 minutes ago, Davey Do said:

Au contraire mon frère!

The statement is an opinion and not a fact. The opinion has a debatable premise for which others and I have pointed out that seasoned employees often believe they are allowed leeway to act or speak inappropriately merely due to their seniority.

I see what you mean. I will restate.

My opinion is that all of that is irrelevant because a 22, 30, 35, 40, 45, 55, 60 or 70 year old (and every age in between) may also speak inappropriately at a patient's doorway for some other reason--whatever reason; any reason. Maybe they're just a know-it-all, maybe they don't like the person to whom they're speaking, maybe they think they're funny, maybe they're actually panicked thinking the world actually could end if they can't find a piece of paper....I mean, the reasons that people do inappropriate things could be endless.

The situation, as reported, is that some employee came to a patient's doorway/bedside while the nurse was interacting with said patient, and began what some would call an inappropriate (or inappropriately-timed) dialogue. Reality is that this scenario just as well could've occurred with a 22 year old on his first day of being IN CHARGE the day after finishing "residency."

Being 60 years old still doesn't describe why the person acted that way (reference the portion of your quote that I've bolded). The age doesn't prove the motivation or intent.

On a certain occasion I had worked very hard to care for a certain critically ill patient while, in an unusual twist, the rest of the department was having a much easier day than usual but chose not to offer much help. After I was done with that and my patient was admitted, a certain nurse who (IMVHO) was possibly the least-knowledgeable person I have ever worked with, came up to me and told me that while working alone on my little critical care project, I hadn't filled out a certain paper (which was an auditing tool related to the provision of critical care). S/he explained that s/he wanted to educate me on why that paper was so important, and that it was their duty to do so because they were the "[xyz] Champion." Mercifully (for that person), I had no words. But my point in telling this story is that s/he was not 22 years old and not 60 years old. S/he could easily have been either or anything in between. Weirdness of this type knows no age bounds.

My opinion is, therefore, that the age of the OP's educator is quite irrelevant in terms of what that piece of information might add to the reporting of the scenario. My original reply is the same no matter what age the person is, because it is simply just the behavior itself that I find inappropriate.

[Davey Do]

5 minutes ago, JKL33 said:

I see what you mean. I will restate.

I truly enjoy our discourses, JKL!

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

2 hours ago, JKL33 said:

I was the first to mention that it was irrelevant. I'm not sensitive about it and am not near the age mentioned. I simply stated a fact.

Okay.

However you weren't the only respondent to tease out that part of the post, making me think that folks were assuming ageism at play. My original comment mentioned how I thought the person's age could be a factor in the way the nurse could/would/should respond to the behavior, and that that might be the reason age was brought up. OP said that was not the case.

I stand corrected.

[Kitiger, RN]

4 hours ago, londonflo said:

This is totally off the subject here, but we had a patient put on a Holter monitor while in the hospital. The individual who was was to place the monitor gave the teaching instructions and documented the patient understood. (I am old...this is before we had the ability to tele monitor all rooms). RN went in shortly and the patient was dead. Code called. unsuccessful. When the Holter was read it was determined the patient was dead when it was applied. The person who applied the Holter, who had documented the teaching and evaluation of learning was a son of the DON. Of course he was fired.....You may think this is an urban legend but it is the truth!

?

I heard a podiatrist who was seeing patients in a nursing home, tell how he had come done foot care (trimmed the toenails) on a patient who had the sheet up over her face. He said when he came out and got her chart, he realized that she was deceased. 

He pointed out that he didn't charge her for the care . . .

[JKL33]

I think it would be funny (but also inappropriate) if this educator were somewhere posting about how the 23ish-year-old (who is a nice young gal whom others seem to like) blew off class and also let his/her BLS lapse on the very first go-round.

Because all those young-uns are unprofessional and don't follow-through on their responsibilities. As everybody knows. /s

I like to make observations as much as the next person and use various extraneous clues trying to figure out what makes a person tick, but it's dangerous territory...

[caliotter3]

I forgot the topic of the thread. Wonder if my age has anything to do with that or if it’s all this discourse about age.

[hama1111, RN]

1 hour ago, caliotter3 said:

I forgot the topic of the thread. Wonder if my age has anything to do with that or if it’s all this discourse about age.

?