Our latest group of students passing through prompts this question. Here are a few of mine:
1. If the nurses have no where to sit and chart, and 5 of you are sitting gossiping-GET YOUR TAIL UP!
2. If you are capable of doing it, like passing trays and answering call light, then- DO IT! Don't reply it isn't your patient. You aren't my student either, but when you ask me a question I don't make that my response, do I? Help me out, and I'll be better able to help you.
3. At your level, in and out the patients room in 3 minutes is probably not a good assessment. Especially when you tell me that the patient has a reg heart rate, and his admitting diagnosis is new onset A-Fib.
4. Reading a Stephen King book in the nurses station is a bad idea, and you look like you don't care. As does playing solitare on the computer in OUR breakroom.
5. If you have had a patient for two days, and he is your only patient, you should be able to tell me the diagnosis. You should also know a fair amount about his medications. At least read your drug guide before coming to clinicals.
I could go on and on. This new group we have takes the lazy/stupid cake!
BTW - I love having students that are motivated and are truely there to learn.
I agree with you completely! I guess I was thinking more about right after graduation and they are out of "school mode".
I see your point. I think it takes quite awhile before new nurses get out of 'school mode.' They have nothing else to base their judgements on when they start out except for what they were taught in school. Thus, I'd imagine that for the first several months, the new nurse would still be reticent to do things differently than how they were taught without clear explanation as to why the variation is alright. Unfortunately, in many environments, there isn't enough time for the experienced nurse to stop and explain things to the newbies, so the experienced nurse feels exasperated because they are getting further and further behind with each "that's not what we were taught" and the newbie fears they aren't competent because they often aren't sure about what they are supposed to know and do.
I love having students! If I could tell them anything, I'd say choose my patients when choosing your patient assignment.
I like to have the company and the help during the day. I love to talk about nursing, and I'll talk my students' ears off during the day. Probably they don't get the chance to say much because I talk so much, so I'd probably also tell them to interrupt if they have questions I'm not answering.
I'd also tell them that when they come to an ICU rotation, don't expect it to be like the floor rotation.
I'd also like to tell students that a pediatric rotation - even a pedi ICU rotation - is totally different than an adult rotation of any kind. You really need to be prepared to deal with kids and talk to them on their level. Don't ignore the kids when you go in the room and talk only to me. The kid is your patient, not me. The kid needs your attention, not me. I get plenty of attention. I can answer all your questions when we leave the room. If you're uncomfortable talking to kids or don't know how, then tell me before you go in, so I can help you with that.
I am an LPN and RN student. Some of our instructors get so upset when we students try to make everything so technical. We ask questions like: "do we need to know that for the test" or to repeat what he just said so we can write it down word-for-word or just want exacts when there aren't always. Sometimes and instructor will say- "I'm just trying to get you to think like a nurse". When we're told we need to step it up on an assignment we always think it's technique or skills, not the thinking aspect. I think as a student it's SO hard to get out of that, because you HAVE to do well on all those other things to get through nursing school and as you near the end (end of 3/4 semesters) it gets more towards the thinking part and less towards writing in perfect APA. It's certainly a hard habit to break drives our instructors crazy at times.
I agree with you and I don't think it's enough to just tell students that "there's more than one way to do things" or "patients are never 'textbook.'" The reason is that many nursing instructors are VERY particular about how to do things. They will be failed if they stray from protocol one iota, even if the variation is totally safe and effective. And hopefully students are also being taught to not just blindly accept whatever others tell them but to understand the rationale behind their actions. So I wouldn't suggest just quickly saying "oh, don't worry, this is okay" to a student and expect the students to just accept variations without further explanation.
I am asking this as a soon-to-be RN student:
Would a nurse (who is training a student) be bothered (for lack of a better term) if the student asked, "This is how we were taught in class to do x,y, and z. Why/in what case would you do it a different way?" I can't honestly think of how to put it in a better way, but I would really want to know why I was doing something a different way than how I was taught. I'm not interested in offending the nurse from whom I am learning in any way, but since my main goal is to learn how to properly care for a patient, would that be improper for me to ask? I'm not saying that the nurse would be performing the patient care incorrectly, I would just want to know, without seeming too big for my britches.
Sorry, my thoughts got a bit twisted around there; I hope I made sense.
Would a nurse (who is training a student) be bothered (for lack of a better term) if the student asked, "This is how we were taught in class to do x,y, and z. Why/in what case would you do it a different way?" I can't honestly think of how to put it in a better way, but I would really want to know why I was doing something a different way than how I was taught. I'm not interested in offending the nurse from whom I am learning in any way, but since my main goal is to learn how to properly care for a patient, would that be improper for me to ask? I'm not saying that the nurse would be performing the patient care incorrectly, I would just want to know, without seeming too big for my britches.
Sorry, my thoughts got a bit twisted around there; I hope I made sense.
In school, I handled situations like that by talking to an instructor. I was mention to the instuctor that I was confused, that a nurse did XYZ and we were taught ZYX.
Would a nurse (who is training a student) be bothered (for lack of a better term) if the student asked, "This is how we were taught in class to do x,y, and z. Why/in what case would you do it a different way?" I can't honestly think of how to put it in a better way, but I would really want to know why I was doing something a different way than how I was taught. I'm not interested in offending the nurse from whom I am learning in any way, but since my main goal is to learn how to properly care for a patient, would that be improper for me to ask? I'm not saying that the nurse would be performing the patient care incorrectly, I would just want to know, without seeming too big for my britches.
Sorry, my thoughts got a bit twisted around there; I hope I made sense.
I personally love having students with me and I love when they ask questions. I don't mind these type of questions, but not in front of the patient. The patient has too much to worry about already and the last thing they need to hear is "that's not how we learned to do it". The only thing that accomplishes is to make the patient think that we are doing something wrong that might cause them harm (unless the nurse is actually doing something that might cause harm - then by all means, let the nurse know, and your instructor too).
I personally love having students with me and I love when they ask questions. I don't mind these type of questions, but not in front of the patient. The patient has too much to worry about already and the last thing they need to hear is "that's not how we learned to do it". The only thing that accomplishes is to make the patient think that we are doing something wrong that might cause them harm (unless the nurse is actually doing something that might cause harm - then by all means, let the nurse know, and your instructor too).
In school, I handled situations like that by talking to an instructor. I was mention to the instuctor that I was confused, that a nurse did XYZ and we were taught ZYX.
Hi,I'm currently in NS in my 3rd semester towards a BSN. During my experience in clinicals there were nurses that wanted to help a student learn and some that acted as though they were mad that students were there. First of all its okay if a nurse doesn't like students but its frustrating when the nurses act like they didn't know that their facility was used for teaching students FOR YEARS. Second, when I take care of my patient I give total care, but when the students come to the hospital the aides act as if they don't have to do their job when we arrive. The aides get mad at us when we also have to meet with our instructors or attend to another learning experience when we can't rush to the rescue and clean a patient, instead of continuing to do their jobs.
The patient is in the hospital usually because they are going through a true medical crisis or having a life changing event. They do not want to hear about how hard your last test was or how you really wanted to do clinicals in another unit.
jjjoy, LPN
2,801 Posts
I see your point. I think it takes quite awhile before new nurses get out of 'school mode.' They have nothing else to base their judgements on when they start out except for what they were taught in school. Thus, I'd imagine that for the first several months, the new nurse would still be reticent to do things differently than how they were taught without clear explanation as to why the variation is alright. Unfortunately, in many environments, there isn't enough time for the experienced nurse to stop and explain things to the newbies, so the experienced nurse feels exasperated because they are getting further and further behind with each "that's not what we were taught" and the newbie fears they aren't competent because they often aren't sure about what they are supposed to know and do.