What do I do after my clinical instructor told me I will never be a good nurse?

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I'm in my 2nd level at a community college. This is my 3rd clinical. I had no problem at all during my first 2 clinicals. The instructors told me I would be an excellent nurse and I always got a 4/4. However, in this clinical my instructor told me otherwise. I had put up a post before asking if I was sensitive in thinking my instructor was not fond of me, when I was putting 110% into my work trying to do my best. However, my instructor pulled me aside and told me I would never be a good nurse. I was just shocked. It was only my 3rd day at her clinical. I have about 8 more days left of clinicals. She told me this at the end of the clinical so when I went into my car, I just cried and cried. I have my nursing care plan due the coming week and I tried so hard, putting in extra things to show that I really want this. I don't know what to do..

Prove her wrong! Don't allow her or anyone else, for that matter, word curse you! What a horrible thing to say to someone.

Excellent advice! Don't let anyone ever rob you of your joy, or allow yourself to live under the power and effect of word curses.

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I had the same experience in school. I had one clinical instructor who told me that I was the brightest and quickest learner he had ever come across and that I would make an excellent nurse, and one instructor told me that I was "mentally slow". No joke. Your clinical instructor is an awful horrible useless instructor. Ignore her and know that she will not determine your future. It's hard to ignore it, I know. When you're in school you have few nursing role models and you depend on your clinical instructors to guide you and when one of them is so hurtful and frankly idiotic that she think she should even teach, it's confusing and you question whether you have what it takes. But ask yourself: Do I love nursing? Is it my passion? Do I enjoy learning? If your answers are yes, you will be a good nurse. Have faith. Don't be fake with you instructor, you don't have to be really nice to her. That will just **** her off because she said those things to put you down. Just continue to keep trying and call her out on her bs: when she puts you down just say, "Please tell me how to do it better. I am here to learn."

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As a clinical instructor, I think that was uncalled for, especially if you'd only had 3 days with them. Even if you were unsatisfactory in meeting the expectations, the prudent thing would be to have a constructive meeting with his/her boss to come up with a plan. That session would also allow you to voice your side of the story. With only 8 days left, I'm sure you probably made it through, but words can really sting. I've had good and horrible instructors in my Bachelor's program. One TRIED to fail me, but I persevered. I'm marked 28 wonderful and fulfilling years in nursing. Stay strong. Work WITH the instructor as much as possible. Best of luck.

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Specializes in OR; Telemetry; PACU.

Oh boy! I had one too. My instructor seemed to be "okay" but a little distant with me. I was not her favorite. She showed me my written review one day and it was excellent across the board (maybe midway through clinicals)...the very next week I had a BAD clinical day and it was due to crummy organizational skills. I was struggling a bit up to that point with organization (I didn't really "get it"), but that day was pretty rough. Clinical instructor blew a gasket right there and then. She was former military and she'd had enough apparently. She dressed me down, said I'd NEVER make it as a nurse and I went home in tears. Next clinical day she shows me the review with EVERYTHING scratched out that was positive and she had written everything I'd done wrong on that single day. She didn't get out a new sheet or put in the date in question with feedback...just scratched out the positive. :( WHOA!!! So now I had a second day of tears on the way home. So I made a "brain" to use in order to improve my organizational skills...used it for the rest of nursing school and when I started working. I was asked by instructors and managers and coworkers for copies of it. It would make any military proud...lol! Anyway I presented the "brain sheet" to her and implemented it and she was so happy and impressed (with IT...still didn't warm up to me). Made rest of clinicals with her smoooooth! BUT she never tore up the scratched out review. Just added I made the brain, used it, and improved greatly by the end of clinicals. My lesson was to find out why and try to fix it. There are some that will just have it out for you (because there were other students that were less organized than me the entire time and didn't get it or fix it and she singled me out to rip me a new one...but I will always thank her for it and I still do!).

And I agree...prove 'em WRONG!!! I was struggling and then I was overkill organized...lol! Eh I guess you can never be TOO organized. ;)

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you asked what to do: don't give it a second thought. do a great job like you have been doing, this professor is miserable and likes to make herself feel important by telling her students that they are not good at nursing after seeing them in clinical for only a few days. i hate instructors like this, and unfortunately there seems to be at least one in every nursing program :mad:. we had one in my school that said things like this to multiple students in my clinical group in our first week of clinicals ever! you will be a great nurse, your passion can be seen in your post. just persevere and make it through this clinical rotation..who cares about her "opinion"? also, i would advise you against confronting/arguing with this prof., even though you may really want to...because unfortunately there are some profs. out there that will use their authority to get you in trouble or kicked out of the program if you bruise their ego (it happens). but if there is a prof. in your program that you are on good terms with and you feel that you can really trust, confide in him/her...maybe other students have the same feelings as you do. it's crazy how there are some amazing instructors out there that really want their students to succeed, and then there are ones like this :uhoh3:

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I think you should report the old be- otch.

That is unacceptable!!!

She is supposed to be your teacher, and mentor. I never had a decent instructor, but several like this one.

I think they enjoy demeaning students, it should NOT be allowed.

Ignore her bs and .... seriously... report her behavior.

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Specializes in Long term care, Rehab/Addiction/Recovery.

Im smiling, but not mocking your pain at all. I clearly remember my Med Surg 2 Instructor, an old school nun riding my -ss like there was no tomorrow. I really didn't do anything wrong she just chose me and one other girl to really wear out. I was doing excellent in the classwork, and completing my clinical Pt work. The thing I remember best was her saying to me as I was preparing an IV to hang for my Pt: "Girlie if you cant properly purge your Buretrol I don't know how I can pass you". Anyone remember Buretrols? Well, if you initially got too much fluid in the drip chamber you couldn't adjust the rate properly. I think I was nervous, and I did this. Later on I learned the trick to fix this. Anyway, the irony in this is that I did pass, obviously.. Later went on to become IV certified.;) Please don't let her get into your head! Go to your clinicals, do your assigned tasks as well as you know you can. Kill her with outstanding Nursing Care!:heartbeat

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I'd brush it off if I knew that wasn't true. Miserable people suck. Don't let her affect you. Who knows she didn't take her meds-----so she's not in control of her emotions?!

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Specializes in LDRP.
I'm in my 2nd level at a community college. This is my 3rd clinical. I had no problem at all during my first 2 clinicals. The instructors told me I would be an excellent nurse and I always got a 4/4. However, in this clinical my instructor told me otherwise. I had put up a post before asking if I was sensitive in thinking my instructor was not fond of me, when I was putting 110% into my work trying to do my best. However, my instructor pulled me aside and told me I would never be a good nurse. I was just shocked. It was only my 3rd day at her clinical. I have about 8 more days left of clinicals. She told me this at the end of the clinical so when I went into my car, I just cried and cried. I have my nursing care plan due the coming week and I tried so hard, putting in extra things to show that I really want this. I don't know what to do..

i didnt read everyone elses posts, but i wanted to tell you something similar happened to me. my first semester of clinical, my CI was new, this was her first semester teaching. we were in a nursing home, then a med surg enviroment and she was a psych nurse for something like 20 years. anyway, she HATED me. i dont really know why, other than i was one of only 2 people in the group without previous medical experience (she was mean to the other person too, but they learned to kiss her *ss.) i was getting ready to take out my first saline lock and asked her to come in with me to make sure i did it right. i was nervous and taking my time, plus the pt was elderly so i was trying to be careful with her skin, and the CI just blurts out "Hurry it up, how do expect to be a nurse when you can barely take out a damn IV?" -- right in front of the patient. I got tears in my eyes and after i got it out, i left the room.. later when i went in to check on the pt, SHE was consoling ME, telling me she thought my teacher was rude and that she knew i would be a good nurse.. made me feel a little better..

anyway flash foward 2 weeks later, second last clinical day. she pulls me into the med room, tells me i am doing a terrible job and that if i dont shape up im going to fail. (I had one more day of clinical?!). so i immediately started crying, and she said "Jesus Christ, just go home if youre going to be a baby about it." and she sent me home. then she failed me in clinical. in my evals she told me that there are just some people that arent a good fit for nursing, and i was one of them. then she offered to help me by getting me into a CNA program, because she thought i might be competent enough to MAYBE do that. i told her to shove it and walked out...

i applied to a different NS, got in, and now im in my 3rd semester out of 5. im doing great, no instructors have said anything negative about my performance, and my confidence has gone up tremendously. i want to mail that *itch a copy of my diploma when i get it so she can see how wrong she was..

some people are just mean. my best advice is to ask her for exact examples of things she thinks you need to improve on and do them to the best of your ability, and make sure she sees it. dont give her any room to doubt your competence, and show her what you can really do. i wish you luck, and it WILL get better!

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A little info.

When I was getting my shots/draws etc. prior to starting clinicals in nursing school, I had them done at the college because it was cheap. I hit it off with the school nurse who knew the instructors, and told me who to avoid like the plague. FYI, if you have a school nurse who you just know you could get drunk with, they are information gold!!!! Anywhoo, she also told me as a career changer long ago herself, that, as I enter nursing I will note, that, I have never met so many effed up folks in my life than when I entered nursing. This I have found as God's truth.

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Just take what she told you as a challenge and accept it. Think of it as a drive for you to make a smart care plan for your patient. Just knowing that you did your best is already enough. In case she finds your work still not good enough, don't be disappointed. just listen to what she'll tell you and who knows it might help you in the future. AND don't ever follow her footstep of being unprofessional. you can give comments to your students/ colleagues in a more positive way. :)

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

33 years ago I had a nursing instructor tell me I would never make a good nurse because I was such a loner and didn't delegate very well and preferred to do everything myself............it made me work even harder to prove her wrong. May years later I was working and got called to care for and transport a critically ill elderly female. Guess who. She got better and came to find me to tell me she was wrong.

Like I said I was told that once....33 years ago. Good luck!

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