Will I get kicked out for this?

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2012

It's unlikely that anything will come of this. In order for the charge nurse to complain about you or report you, she would first have to state that she engaged you in the discussion. Since the topic was part of a school assignment, you'll be fine (provided you were allowed to be completing homework during clinical time). A person that would engage a nursing student in a debate like that while at work is clearly used to arguing with others about political matters. I doubt she viewed it as unprofessional or even thought about reporting it.

However, this is a good lesson for the future, whether your a student or an employee. Politics and religion are two topics which nearly everyone has strong opinions about. It's best to avoid these topics when at work. :-)

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2012

i beg to differ. when you're in clinical you should be focusing on your patients, not your homework, even if it is, like, nursing homework. what were the two patients you were "sitting with" doing while you and your classmate were engaged in this discussion? or is it just ok to look at them as something less engaging than the furniture while you socialize with your peer?

sorry, i think you were wrong to be doing this. also remember that your school probably goes to a great deal of trouble to get that clinical placement, and when the facility management has a report from their floor charge nurse that says she had two students hanging around talking and doing homework instead of doing patient care or asking other staff if they needed help, and argued with the charge nurse when she spoke to them, it could get back to the school.

you might not think this is fair, you might think that it's perfectly ok to do what you did. i would encourage you to think about the gestalt in which you practice, what every other part of this equation might be thinking, and how the opinions of others could have far-reaching effects. and never, ever forget that when you are in a patient care area, the patients and their care must come first.

allnurses Guide · Mar 10, 2012

It definitely does not reflect well on your school to be doing homework around patients. It reflects even more poorly to be discussing a politically charged topic in front of them. I hope nothing happens from this and I think it is unlikely it will, but I encourage you to NOT do homework while at clinicals. You are there for the patients.

missa-almost-RN · Mar 10, 2012

I should clarify we were actually instructed to finish this packet by our clinical instructor, and were encouraged to complete it at the time we were, and do so with other students. So, we weren't "socializing" or not permitted to finish this packet - in fact it was the opposite, we were told to finish it during clinical time as our patient schedules permitted. Our instructor knew we were there working on them together and wasnt sitting far away, though I don't believe she heard as I said, it wasn't a loud argument-type thing, but it was two strong opinions going back and forth for about half a minute or so. My patient was in her room napping, and the other one that was there was watching a movie (we were in the lounge area). Typically, our instructor tells us that when our patients are watching a movie or napping, she would like us to use that time to either work on packets alone or in small groups, or review our patients charts. I am fully aware I should have handled the situation differently by not responding to her prodding and antagonizing, but I'm just worried about it causing a real problem for me! Lesson learned - I just hope it doesnt go farther.

missa-almost-RN · Mar 10, 2012

Again, we were INSTRUCTED to finish this packet today if we had time to do so while we were at clinical because most of our patients were napping or watching a movie a few feet away.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2012

it would have been a courtesy and shown some professionalism to offer to help the other staff with other patients before you started with homework. you didn't have to finish it at clinical, by your own description. but lesson learnt, and go forth and do better.

missa-almost-RN · Mar 10, 2012

Yes, thank you...but what makes you think I didn't check with the staff first? I did, actually...we all did. Everyone was napping after lunch except for a few stragglers watching movies. All the staff on the floor told us they were all caught up...hence we began working on packets.

healthstar, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2012

It takes more than that to get kicked out, don't stress.I would do anything my instructor tells me to do. I don't care at all if RNs say I am not helping or student nurses are lazy, she doesn't know what type of student I am or what my school requires. Yes, the nurses and other students might need help with patient care but after all your instructor is the one that grades you and gives you feedback. She can pass or fail you based on instructions alone. My instructors used to give us assignments at the beginning of clinical day, she expected us to turn in databases and careplans, med sheets at the end on clinicals, there was no time to help others. Every school has different requirements, my instructor always said I do not want you to spend your time giving bed baths,passing food trays, mopping the floor, cleaning the room. First, it is a waste of clinical hours, second, it is not what you are going to do as a RN. I have done a lot of assignments in the patients rooms, I told my patients what I was doing and everything was confidential. There are assignments that require answers from pts.

shortnorthstudent · Mar 10, 2012

It takes more than that to get kicked out, don't stress.I would do anything my instructor tells me to do. I don't care at all if RNs say I am not helping or student nurses are lazy, she doesn't know what type of student I am or what my school requires. Yes, the nurses and other students might need help with patient care but after all your instructor is the one that grades you and gives you feedback. She can pass or fail you based on instructions alone. My instructors used to give us assignments at the beginning of clinical day, she expected us to turn in databases and careplans, med sheets at the end on clinicals, there was no time to help others. Every school has different requirements, my instructor always said I do not want you to spend your time giving bed baths,passing food trays, mopping the floor, cleaning the room. First, it is a waste of clinical hours, second, it is not what you are going to do as a RN. I have done a lot of assignments in the patients rooms, I told my patients what I was doing and everything was confidential. There are assignments that require answers from pts.

Every school and every clinical instructor is different. For the most part, my clinical instructors have wanted us to spend our clinical time performing tasks that benefit the patients and staff on the unit. If a bedpan needs to be changed or a tray removed from a room, and we aren't busy with other more pressing patient care, then that's what we do. Paperwork while on the floor is highly frowned upon unless you are caught up and have made sure that none of the nurses or techs need assistance. And, even then, we are encouraged to do so only away from patients and the nurses' station.

Merlyn · Mar 10, 2012

We were at clinical today and a few of us (students) were sitting with two of our LTC patients, filling out packets that were assigned to us about our views on growing old and health care. One of the questions was what role do we feel government should have in health care. I explained how I wanted to answer the question to another student, and asked her how to best word it in my answer. I won't go into who had which position on this sensitive issue, but the charge nurse happened to be doing meds at a cart right next to our table, and literally butted into our discussion (which wasnt even really a discussion at all at that point) and made some rude comment to me about my answer (basically attacking/challenging my belief). I questioned what she said to me, and basically stated why I felt the way I did...I did not get loud or in any way abusive or anything with her, but I did strongly disagree with her back and forth for about 30 seconds. She told me to "get a clue, girlie" and another student came to me and said to "come over here" to me, and I walked away.
Now I'm nervous that this nurse will make a big deal about this to my instructor/school, and I'm petrified of getting kicked out for lack of professionalism or something simialar. We were not loud, and no one was around except for two patients who can't hear well and didn't seem to be bothered at all or even aware that a disagreement occured (no one was yelling or anything even close to that). I'm just so worried now and regret engaging back with her and not just ignoring her comment. Do you think this is something that will cause problems for me?

Was she your instructor? Or just a staff nurse? In your nursing career, you will run into many of these people. The Medical Profession is like a human body and just like a human body it needs vent holes to get rid of its' wast. She is what we call an Anal Sphincter. She told you to get a clue because it sounds as if she hasn't had one in years. Don't worry, relax, have a beer.

Raviepoo · Mar 10, 2012

It could haunt you if the nurse decides to be a d&^$ about it and complain to your school. I don't know if all schools are like this but the one I attended reserved the right to expel a student if they judged that the student was "unfit to be a nurse" for any subjective reason. Your administrators are not perfect. They have opinions too. They make mistakes too. One such meistake can be putting too much faith in hearsay. I have seen people expelled for less than the incident you described. Just keep your head down and don't express any more opinions where they can be overheard. Protect yourself until you get your diploma.