I've been in two different hospitals in both my first and second semesters and come up against some ROUGH nurses who would rather do everything themselves than let me touch a thing.
I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that they are BUSY, they have a TO-DO list, they have patients that NEED meds, help, EVERYTHING. But, I'm here to help. I'm wearing these bright purple scrubs not because I like the color, but because I want to learn, I NEED to learn. I will take them to the bathroom, I will bathe them, I will take their vitals, just PLEASE let me.
When I say 80% of the nurses I've followed have done NOTHING with me I am not exaggerating. Why is this? Last week the nurse I was following wouldn't even let me take vitals, VITALS!! I am in my second semester of nursing school, I think I can handle that.
Anyway, I wanted to know whats up with that! I recognize that they are busy. I also recognize the few nurses that have taken me under their wing and shown me SO MUCH. I'm thankful for that, and grateful.
I understand your frustration. The best way I have been able to deal with it is just roll with it. I'm just visiting the unit. I don't bear any responsibility unlike the nurses. If I can at the very least observe what's going on with the nurse I'm paired with, I'm incredibly grateful. If they let me help and are jazzed about teaching and want to walk me through skills, truly that is a special day. However, I'm not entitled to these special days.
I pay to go to school (and I pay graduate tuition for a second bachelor's, mind you, so I have little empathy for the actual undergrads complaining about spending money - my 2nd chance is costing twice as much as their 1st chance!) to be taught by instructors and to learn using the supplies the school is able to get for me. I am, also, as someone pointed out, paying for the mere access to the hospital so that my program can have us complete our BON-required hours. There are many things in nursing that require money that don't have what you would expect as tangible returns (ahem CEUs).
At this point, I go through the motions with clinical. I will have plenty of opportunity to do ALL the skills and things I want when I'm licensed and have my own patients to protect from hapless, entitled students.
I felt that way in nursing school but I ended up learning soon that nurses aren't there to help you. It is not their job to teach you, your clinical instructor's job is to teach you. You will encounter nurses who want to teach, nurses who want you to do all care and not even check in on you, and nurses who just want to do their own work. The place I work at might end up getting students. I like to teach people but I will definitely not just pass everything down to the nursing student assigned to my patient because my license is on the line if I don't check on my patient. This nurse sounds like she is being responsible taking vitals on her patient. That does not mean you can't take your own set of vital signs. You are assigned this patient so you can go in and provide care (under the guidance of your clinical instructor). You do not need to be told to help them get washed up. You should go in there and offer if they would like to get washed up, take your own set of vitals, assist them with breakfast if they need assistance. When I was in nursing school none of the nurses helped me, except a few showed their appreciation. You should just go in your patient's room and take advantage of the patient assessment you can do. Listen to their lungs, bowel sounds, check their eyes, ask them about their previous medical conditions. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and if you are giving medications with your instructor tell the nurse before she begins her patient care. Ask the assigned nurse for report, or better yet listen to the night shift nurse give the oncoming nurse report.
I think you need to ask your instructor what they expect of you. In school we were always told to get report, tell the nurse if we were giving meds and treatments, and do all other care. I wouldn't ask the nurse if she needed me to get vitals, I would get vitals on my own, bring the patient stuff to get washed or help them if they were total care, I'd do a full assessment during the time I was washing them up. I would feel their pulses (pedal, radial), listen to their bowel sounds and heart and lung sounds. In nursing school you don't get full autonomy so take advantage of being able to learn on your own through assessment.
Forgot to add: Ask the nurse if you can shadow her when she is doing something, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. When I was in school I would just go in with them if they were doing something I wanted to see. Even if they don't end up teaching you, it is still good to shadow. I would honestly love it if a student shadowed me. I would feel bad I can't be with them the whole time teaching them (I have up to 20 patients a day) but I certainly would think it shows dedication and willingness to learn if they came and shadowed me. Remember, they're not going to hunt you down and ask if you want to come and watch certain procedures. Make yourself available. Good luck!
Almost every time, the frustration is NOT at you, the student. The nurse is frustrated at the system. They don't consider you a "bottom feeder" and personally dislike you as a student. But the clinicals system sucks - bring students to the hospital and make the staff "teach" them without reimbursement? Great idea for everyone but the floor nurses.
This, all year!! I haven't even read all of Janey's comment yet, but this was so spot-on I had to quote it.
First off, if the nurses are truly being nasty to students, shame on them. The students don't deserve that. It's not okay.
That said, nearly all of the lack of enthusiasm for students I've seen and felt is actually frustration at the system. Floor nurses in this position are essentially being paid less to do the same job, when their workload is increased with no corresponding pay increase. As it is, legally entitled break time can be a precious commodity. Nurses often stay over their shifts to chart, because they chose to prioritize pts over paperwork during their 12/8 hrs. Students do add to our workload -- we've all been there, it's not your fault, but it just is the case.
Personally, I love students. I love their enthusiasm, I love when they trust my knowledge enough to ask me questions, I love being a part of their growth. I would seriously consider becoming a part-time nursing educator if I weren't so blasted afraid of public speaking.
What I didn't love (speaking in past tense now because my ICU doesn't take groups of students -- interns only. Precepting is 100% voluntary) was having to spread myself thinner than I already was. Some days when I had a student, I had to choose between lunch and documentation, because I had to be on time to pick my children up from school. I had to leave whether my Medicare notes were complete or not. With one or two students, I was guaranteed to be outside of my 2-hour med pass window because they were so slow. One gal literally took 15-20 min. checking/giving meds to each pt. I couldn't really tell her to go faster...I didn't want to make her flustered, but I hated that I was making all these "wrong time" med errors on my end-of-med-pass pts.
I also hated that I didn't have proper time to devote to the students. Hated it.
I get that you're paying a lot of money for school...but that should mean that your expectation is that the school be properly teaching you. Floor nurses are not being paid to teach you. When I was in school, our assigned pts' RNs were there as a resource. We could ask them questions; if willing, they could supervise skills with instructor approval; sometimes they would offer to show us things. But our instructor was the one who was expected to teach us -- again, with the exception of internship preceptors, who volunteered.
Ideally, each RN would have fewer pts assigned to him/her when working with students. More money wouldn't hurt either, but I'm personally more concerned about time. Money won't help the RN get everything done, but a lighter workload would -- "everything" including helping the students.
95% of the time I ask a student to do something they either won't do it or can't do it. I'm sorry but students now a days feel entitled to only do the nurse stuff like med pass and not willing to change a patient or do a bed bath. If they aren't willing to help with little things I don't feel obligated to help them learn much. If the student is willing to go above and beyond to learn I will also go above and beyond. Nursing is not just med pass, charting and dressing changes. Students need to get used to be just being with sick people. With all the for profit schools, and people going into nursing for a stable job or second career option, not so much wanting to help people, the quality of students has diminished.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
1. How much have you paid those nurses to teach you? (I'll bet the answer is "nothing.")
2. How much has your school paid those nurses to teach you? (I'll be the answer is "nothing.")
To address the 'payment' part. I pay a lot of money to attend nursing school and recognize that nurses don't get paid any extra for being "helpful and educating", but really? If these are 'teaching' hospitals then I would gather the nurses working there understand that they may have students under their wing.. call me crazy.
"Teaching hospital" means teaching medical students, not nursing students.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
But we are there to 'help'- we are there to learn, and help. Although we can't complete tasks flawlessly like the nurses, I assure you there are tasks that can be done by the bottom-feeding nursing students, I swear...
I understand what patient acuity is, and I understand my abilities as a student. I have made myself more than available, and offer as much as I can. I understand that I do not have the clinical skills the nurse does, but I am willing to learn. And I have made that abundantly clear. I know I get in the way, but I know I shouldn't be treated like grandma's Chihuahua that won't stop bothering her. I'm in school and learning, I want to learn and am eager to learn.
It's such a shame the fervency and excitement of nursing students gets doused at the earliest moment in the hospital. I've heard about the nurse-eat-nurse environment and have refused to accept it, but after stepping foot into the hospital, I can assuredly say, I SEE IT!
Others have already explained this to you more tactfully than I can, so let me put it a little bit more bluntly: students aren't helpful. Students add exponentially to our workload. You might INTEND to help; you might THINK you're helping. You're not. You are in the way. You are one more burden to a nurse who is already overburdened. Even if all you're doing is "observing", having you there makes every task take longer. The nurse may then not have time for a break, for lunch or to chart. She may then have to stay 1-2 hours after her shift to chart. And then turn around and come BACK to work in less than 12 hours.
I am sorry that your clinical experience isn't what you had hoped, but it is not the nurse's fault. Why isn't your instructor teaching you? She's the person who is being paid to do so.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I definitely understand your level of frustration because I too am a nursing student entering my senior year (BSN program). The attitude we get from "seasoned nurses" in clinicals is ridiculous, especially in certain specialties. Some nurses will act like the student is not even there. I understand that the nurses are busy and have a ton on their shoulders (students are under a tremendous amount of stress too) but how much energy and time does it take to at least be friendly??? Do seasoned nurses forget about their "soft skills" and become complete task masters? Do they forget that they too were once nursing students? In clinicals I personally do not expect a nurse to teach me anything, I should already know how to perform those skills assigned to me for that day and the clinical instructor is there with me when meds are given; however, I do expect for them to allow me to do what I am there to do and if there is a problem with that, then that needs to be addressed to the clinical instructor or coordinator, not the student.
If there is a problem, it needs to be blamed on the clinical instructor or coordinator, not the nurse.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I Agree with you, I am a firm believer in "If you don't like your job find another one" I have had many nurses who were down right rude when my professor attempted to pair me with them. One way to overcome this is to keep confidence. I would hold my held high and actually approach other nurses and ask to shadow them. We all have problems, obstacles in our lives and are downright exhausted. Some of the nurses on the floors have forgotten that they were once students. FORGET that your underpaid, FORGET that your tired, FORGET you don't feel like being bothered and do a KIND act for someone else, Much blessings to you & your studies!
Believe it or not, nurses haven't forgotten that they were once students, nor have they forgotten how it felt. Students, however, have no idea what it feels like to be short staffed, assigned one or two more patients than "the maximum" and THEN told we have a student as well.
I see all these students here indignant that "the nurse wasn't nice to me, nevermind that she's tired and overworked and doesn't feel like being bothered." I see very few (none, actually) students advocating being nice to the NURSE.
I love how people think on here and how we all have different opinions. Mine is opposite then most posters here. I hear you. I know your eager and want to learn and I hear your frustration. I may agree with some of the points in the above posts, but c'mon, even if, as someone mentioned, "the nurse wants to assess the pt herself, " when referring to VS, give me a break, you can do that and not be in her way and not be taking up her time. It takes 60 seconds to show you how to use the VS machine, if you don't already know how. Whether she takes the VS or you do, she can assess them as well from yours as she can from hers. VS are VS. Many mornings I will come to work and see students and go, "uhhh..." Yes they take more of your time and since I'm not a morning person, I don't always feel like going, "GOOD MORNING!!" as they do, but I give them a smile and do my best to make them NOT feel as the OP is feeling. You all, face it, students as a general rule do not get treated well and it's sad. I don't care how busy we are, we can still give off a SENSE that we are caring and thankful to have their help rather than give off "I-wish-you-weren't-here-and-in-my-way" attitude. Just be NICE. It's really not hard...
THIS. This is how we should view students. We should do all we can to educate them, including letting them see all the extra stuff we have to do that takes so much time. I have worked in a couple industries, and I am telling you all that nursing is, without a doubt, the worst environment for noobs. Some "Seasoned" nurses will treat new grads and students with outright disrespect and degrade them for not knowing how to perform tasks while at the same time refusing to educate the new grads/students those same tasks.
Be nice to them, and help them: they may soon be your coworker...or your boss. We are all on the same team, and we all are here for our patients. Don't let a student become a nurse without getting some good clinical experience.
Others have already explained this to you more tactfully than I can, so let me put it a little bit more bluntly: students aren't helpful. Students add exponentially to our workload. You might INTEND to help; you might THINK you're helping. You're not. You are in the way. You are one more burden to a nurse who is already overburdened. Even if all you're doing is "observing", having you there makes every task take longer. The nurse may then not have time for a break, for lunch or to chart. She may then have to stay 1-2 hours after her shift to chart. And then turn around and come BACK to work in less than 12 hours.
I am sorry that your clinical experience isn't what you had hoped, but it is not the nurse's fault. Why isn't your instructor teaching you? She's the person who is being paid to do so.
This is exactly how NOT to view the new generation of nurses. Calling someone a BURDEN doesn't help anyone, ever.
STUDENTS: you are NOT a burden. You are, in fact, going to LESSEN the burden by adding to our workforce. DO NOT let jaded nurses defeat you--you are the generation that will change the face of this industry.
Nurses are the single most important, and largest component, of the healthcare industry. We should all join together and PUSH FOR POSITIVE CHANGE in our industry, and STOP insulting/degrading/deflating each other.
I think you get the picture by now, I have my job and you have yours. The best course of action is to understand this and do the best you can, there's a lot you can learn by watching.
la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN
1,260 Posts
I understand your frustration. The best way I have been able to deal with it is just roll with it. I'm just visiting the unit. I don't bear any responsibility unlike the nurses. If I can at the very least observe what's going on with the nurse I'm paired with, I'm incredibly grateful. If they let me help and are jazzed about teaching and want to walk me through skills, truly that is a special day. However, I'm not entitled to these special days.
I pay to go to school (and I pay graduate tuition for a second bachelor's, mind you, so I have little empathy for the actual undergrads complaining about spending money - my 2nd chance is costing twice as much as their 1st chance!) to be taught by instructors and to learn using the supplies the school is able to get for me. I am, also, as someone pointed out, paying for the mere access to the hospital so that my program can have us complete our BON-required hours. There are many things in nursing that require money that don't have what you would expect as tangible returns (ahem CEUs).
At this point, I go through the motions with clinical. I will have plenty of opportunity to do ALL the skills and things I want when I'm licensed and have my own patients to protect from hapless, entitled students.