Today was the first day of clinical for Med/surg 2. My group is on the ICU step down. Needless to say the day was going to be interesting. My instructor gave me a patient, told me I would be giving meds and that was that. No problem for me, I love doing hands on with patients. Im quite quick at doing what needs to be done, doing it write, and charting it. This means I usually have time to brighten up my classmates days by helping them. Today I had finished my total patient care, and was walking around the floor to see if anyone was stressing out and needed another hand to help them out. I have experience as an EMT so things like showing the girls how to do acu-checks and the like are really helpful to move them along.
I found this one girl in my class, I wont say her name but I will call her Student 1. She appeared to be having a horrible day so I asked her what they problem was. She told me she had a pocket of meds from this morning she still hasnt given, hadnt started her charting, and still needed to find our Instructor, who I will call Instructor 1. I consoled her, told her that If she needed help, I dont mind doing anything she needed. She seemed happy about that. Then I told her, she might want to learn to be more assertive with her time management so this doesnt happen again. She snapped at me, which I can understand, she was so stressed. I just smiled and backed off a bit. I went to find Instructor 1 because I needed her to view my days work via report. I found her in one of the patients rooms on the floor. She seemed kinda stressed, which made sense since she had 8 of us running around the floor on her license ( not everyone has prior trainning like I do)
Instructor one told me to go please find Student 1 so she could do a straight cath. "NEAT!" I thought. I went around the floor, found her, and told her what she was going to get to do. She wanted nothing to do with it. I accompanied her back to the room to see her patient and the Instructor. Once again she denied wanting to do the straight cath, so the teacher asked me too. "Wow!" I thought. What a neat thing to get to do my first day this floor. I did it quite well with help from the instructor. It was a great learning opportunity. Student 1 and Instructor one then went about taking care of this patients meds since he hadnt gotten a single one all day. It was 10 past one so i was late for lunch.
I get down to the cafeteria, eat my lunch and notice that I dont know where post conference is. Here is where things got way out of control. The instructors sit across the large cafeteria together. I approached them to ask the question and Instructor 1 asks me if I can find student 1 because she forgot to give her the MAR to sign off on the medication they gave. I said, no problem. Searched for a while and finally found her. She was just sitting down to eat. I told her that the instructor wanted to see her, it was important and she needed to go. Student 1 told me flatly that she just sat down and was going to eat and be there soon. I said, no problem, after all, I understood. So I went to let the instructor know that Student 1 would only be a few minutes but that she was heading over. Instructor 1 then started YELLING at me! "YOU TELL HER TO GET OVER HERE NOW!!!!" The other three instructors immediatly reminded her that I wasnt the one she was mad at and understanding she was very stressed I told her it was OK and went to get the girl. I get back to Student 1 and tell her that it was urgent. She told me she didnt care. Kick her outta the program for all she cared, shes finishing her sandwhich and shed get over there when she was ready. I tried to stress the instructor was angry but she didnt care.
Well two minutes later I am going across the hospital to find an vending machine so I could finish my quest to obtain the fabled peanut M&M bag when I pass by a hall and see the instructor reaming the girl out. I felt bad but we all know an unsigned med is an ungiven med, and as it turned out, if the med was given twice to this patient it would have killed them. No wonder she was so angry.
Well about 10 minutes later we all go to get on the elevators to go to post conference. I go in to an elevator with the girl and her 3 gang group. I distinctly heard, "Oh hell no hes not comming on here!" So I just turned right back around, and that being the final straw of degration I could handle today went around the corner and tried not to cry. Everyone was yelling at me, and all I was doing was trying to help! So my previous instructor from last term came to find out why I looked so upset. I told her what I thought I heard, but didnt tell her who it was because even I didnt know. That set her off. The instructors are kinda defensive about me. She grabbed me, took me up on the elevator with the other three instructors to go talk to the girls. I of course just kept thinking, "This cant be happening, this cant be happening." The instructors kept saying things like, "We wont allow this kinda bullying to go on!" ect ect. I felt nauseas.
We got to the floor, and they round the girls up into a corner and start talking to them to find out what happened. I was waiting down the hall because I was so embarassed. I hate conflict. And these girls didnt like me before from a similar situation I posted on about in the bullying thread. Well know it was 4 against one. They told the instructors that I was lying, and an amazing actor and blah blah. The instructors believed me over these four. And that made the girls even MORE angrier. Finally the issue was left at "respect each other" and to go to post conference. I was so upset I just stayed behind and cried for 10 minutes. This was so unfair, I had had such a good day and now this? I had HELPED this person not even an hour prior cause she looked upset, and now her and her gang of girls were making me out to be a liar who was out to get them.
Finally I went into post conference and when i sat down one of the girls was giving me the "I better not see you in the parking lot after school" look. So childish, so high school. The other girls were completely pretending I didnt exist. I waited after conference till everyone had left because I was physically scared that they might do something once they were out of sight of anyone official. I just cant tell you how upsetting today was. It seems that I need to care less about others and just do my own thing. I try so hard to keep myself up, and keep all my classmates above water too. But now I feel like I am done being the nice guy that always goes out of his way to help everyone. Look what that got me today.
I know that was a long read. Im sorry I just had to get this all off my chest.
I for one feel like you are probably too nice and that is why you went out of your way to do what you did.
I kind of feel like when I start my clinicals, I will wish you were a fellow student. Just remember, some people will appriciate your experience and knowledge.
Remember, nursing is not all meds and sunshine. There will be days where you wonder why a patient is in a bed at all....non-complient treatment wound up with an abd abcess, and will probably go back and be returned later with another wound...however, after getting d/c he promptly lit up with his nicoderm patch still on....(still shaking my head over that one).
Hey loco i have seen some interesting things like that..
I was transporting a patient from the hospital back to thier home and then to thier retirement home. Patient had pitting pedal edema, CHF, one lung, and a needed O2 via cannula. All she cared about was getting the hell off our truck to light up a cigg... she even tried to do it while ON the stretcher with the fully filled O2 tank less then 8 inches under her..
Scary scary people hehe. But they make for good lessons and good stories! And hey, I do have bad days but I dont look at them negatively because I always learn from them. In my opinion I have my health, my family has thier health, my mom has survived cancer for the 4th time now, and I am learning something new every day, so how could life not always put a smile on my face?
And p.s. I made CHOCOLATE MATZA for tommarows pesach dinner! Im so excited! Though I totally got some on my index cards later on so I need to remake a few of them hehe.
How does someone venting and seeking emotional support turn into an attack on their character? I don't think that's the intention of allnurses.com.
Right???
Dreamer, I had my first clinicals in January... coming from being a unit secretary with zero patient care experience. To say that I was a lost and a little more than nervous would be an understatement! And I thank G-d for my classmates that had previous CNA/tech experience, because they helped me to learn so much... even just the little things, you know?
I kind of agree with the others, though, about why that girl may have gotten defensive when you mentioned her time-management skills, but we know you meant well.
My advice? Stay away from the fearsome foursome, and let them fend for themselves. Refusing to do a procedure??? Now there's a good nurse in the making... not. Stick with the classmates/friends that you know and trust, and ignore the others.
And chocolate matza sounds fab... send some to Michigan??? LOL
.. I made CHOCOLATE MATZA for tommarows pesach dinner! Im so excited! Though I totally got some on my index cards later on so I need to remake a few of them hehe.
Did you finish your paper?
ps. could you please send anything chocolate to Virginia too?
Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
This is a great forum to come and vent when you have a bad day. What's great about this forum, is that an outsider can look at your experience and give you a more objective opinion about what you could have done differently or how you contributed to the problem. While I think some posts were a little too harsh and purposely worded to put you on the defensive side...I do agree with some things that were said.
While I don't agree with some things that your other classmates did, I do not feel that you are a victim of unsolicited bullying either.
You finished your work early and went looking for other students who were behind. You found a student who was noticeably stressed...she did not come looking for you...and you insulted her. You knew she was frustrated, and yet you still felt the need to offer an unsolicited 'critique' of her time management skills. It was just as wrong for you to do this as it was for her to snap at you. I would have asked you to leave my room immediately unless you could be more productive than commenting on my time management...you are not an instructor.
I think part of the problem between you and your classmates is that you feel you are ahead of the game and not on an even playing feild because you have prior experience in healthcare. While that may be true in reality, you seem to wear it on your shoulder like a badge of honor. If you go back and re-read your post, you may notice this like many others do. Undoubtedly, your classmates are getting this vibe as well and resent you for having such an attitude. They want to learn and become competent in their own time without an 'experienced' student showcasing their productivity and making comments about their own developing abillities. I think if you examined this attitude with an awareness to tone it down a notch, you would be better received by your classmates.
Another mistake you made, as others have pointed out, was being the liason between the Instructor and the student. You were merely sent to give a message to the student. The fact that you felt the need to go back to the instructor to tell her that the student knew she wanted to see her but was choosing to eat lunch first makes me feel like you were antagonizing the situation. I think deep down you knew it would make the student look bad in the instructors eyes. Be completely honest with yourself...do you seek approval from authority and feel the need to be perceived as better or more competent based on others faults and weaknesses? If not, this is definitely how you come off in your OP and I suspect that is another issue that your classmates have with you. If you had simply delivered the message to the student and went on your way, there never would have been an issue with the instructor yelling at you. I am not condoning her reaction to you, simply saying it could have been avoided had you not played carrier pigeon between the two.
The students on the elevator lack maturity. If you have an ongoing problem with them then you need to separate yourself from that particular group. Just make sure that you truly acknowledge your part in this ordeal. I have a strong suspicion that these students are abrasive to you because of a perceived superior attitude. You may not be doing it intentionally, but it comes out loud and clear in all of your posts. I think if you tone it down, this may alleviate some of the problems you are having. Those who are immature will continue to be immature, but perhaps you can mend some relationships and create a better working environment for everyone involved. You all need to work cohesively together as a team...and the same will be expected from you once you are a nurse.
Dreamer- I just went and re-read some of your other posts: I see that you only graduated EMT school in December, is that correct? And you bypassed the first year of the program Nursing? And you say yourself in other posts that you get preferential treatment from your instructors? And you say you are number one in your class gradewise, but then I see that your GPA was only 3.4? And you had at least one issue with a female nurse while in EMT school? And you are only 22? AND you posted disparaging remarks about women on the mens nursing board???????????
I think I hear someone's ego screaming. Not a bad thing to have great confidence in yourself at all, just don't have it at someone else's expense. I learned through the years the ones who toot their own horn all the time are usually the most insecure looking for approval or to feel better about themselves.
You are so young and have so much more life to live and experience. Now I understand why you don't understand where the problem lies with you. You will gain valuable insight and wisdom with experience and look back on these problems and see how trivial they really are.
Still am not saying their actions are correct, but I will reiterate what I said earlier- when you continue to have the same problem with others, it's time to look inside and wonder what one can do differently.
Well the troll comment by someone got my curiosity and I wanted to see what they meant and now I know.
At one point in a post he compares the hospital setting to Disney for him, like a little playground for learning to an instructor. Personally, if I was within earshot of this, I probably would have puked on the spot from sugar overload.
kukukajoo is from songs- the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel each say it. "kukukajoo Mrs. Robinson......" and "I am the walrus kukukajoo" I have had the nickname for years but can't remember how I got it.
Yes I graduated EMT in Dec. I bypassed term 1 of Nursing school. Not the first year. Please learn to read correctly. I dont get preferential treatment, I get asked to do new skills more often and respected more by my instructors because they see that I work very hard to get the skills and learn the material. I never say "I cant do it," or "its too hard," like so many of my classmates do, hence I get respected more. So my instructors expect alot more from me but likewise give me alot more to do. What does my GPA prior to nursing school have to do with my GPA IN nursing school? Its an LPN program currently, they dont factor in our prior GPA. I didnt have any "issues" with a female nurse while in EMT school.
The issue as you state it so negatively to once again make it sound like I did something wrong, was a CHF patient who us students had just approached to assess. Nurse came in said she needed help cleaning the patient because they defecated on themselves. The other students ran, i stayed to help. The "Issue" youre alluding too was that she procedded to rant to me about some doctor that broke into her house. It was nothing specail, I wasnt snooty with her, I just smiled, nodded, and let her rant her little heart out. Way to twist something to sound how you wanted it to.
And my favorite, Disparaging remarks against women? I posted a thread the day I posted this one because the women had all yelled at me. It was a joke thread, as I later stated to just vent that they nearly knocked my head off like a steamroller. "Women can be scary." Damn right they can be.
Youre so completly determined to find fault with me. Even outside where I already admitted fault. I was nice for most of your berating me but now I am a tad creeped out to say the least and the fact that you went back and systematically chose anything negative you could try to conjour up.. thats just sick, mentally speaking. Nice job BTW on posting only threads I have posted that could have any negative connotation added to them. Real nice way to twist around events to make what you want out of it. Im done with this thread because I am not going to take more of your unprovoked aggression. You were talking about me being so passive agressive before. I think you might have that one a bit backwards. You keep posting as you claim to "help me see fault." Yet each time you get nastier and nastier. Now youre full on twisthing things around to what you want, and really aiming at defaming me like you innocently denied doing before.
Im done. I call bull. At first I thought you were really trying to be constructive with critisism. Now you're just being a poop. Please dont respond to my posts again unless you are being positive.
Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
i would respectfully ask everyone to avoid accusations of trolling. report posts that violate the terms of service, and ignore those you don't have a constructive response for. if someone is trolling, responding similarly is just chumming the waters.
to the op: starting "joke" threads is relegated to the break room.
So my previous instructor from last term came to find out why I looked so upset. I told her what I thought I heard, but didnt tell her who it was because even I didnt know. That set her off. The instructors are kinda defensive about me. She grabbed me, took me up on the elevator with the other three instructors to go talk to the girls. I of course just kept thinking, "This cant be happening, this cant be happening." The instructors kept saying things like, "We wont allow this kinda bullying to go on!" ect ect. I felt nauseas. 
lisabeth
1,087 Posts
I for one feel like you are probably too nice and that is why you went out of your way to do what you did.
I kind of feel like when I start my clinicals, I will wish you were a fellow student. Just remember, some people will appriciate your experience and knowledge.