Working with student nurses

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How do you guys feel about working with student nurses? They are helpful but at times irritating to my day. I am always kind and polite to them because I remember how it was to be a nursing student. Sometimes I feel that they have a "know it all" attitude.

I'm a recent grad working fulltime as a nurse now and it blew my mind the first time I had students because I felt I was JUST in their shoes. But I was surprised how some of them have that attitude you mentioned! I felt grateful anytime a nurse took me under their wing or shared a bit of knowledge. I've handled it that I'll help and show the ones who want to learn and those who think they know it all can miss out!

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My perception is that the instructor's license might be on the line if the student is not properly supervised.

Perhaps, but if the as the primary nurse have taken report on, and a student goes running around putting 16 french foley catheters in the pts nose or goes around making med errors, or whatever neat little trick they come up with it very well could be on your dime...ur license.

I dunno. I generally get along with the floor nurses as a student. I pretend everyone's (the patient, the primary nurse, the UAPs, etc) is just a particularly nasty family member and tread lightly until I establish rapport with all the new faces each day (how's that for a clinical goal?), then I work on achieving my other learning goals, and I always remember to thank the nurse for everything even if it's something I might later *think* I already knew.

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Specializes in OB (with a history of cardiac).

Oh I don't know. I've only been an RN since...well technically since May of 2010, but I've actually only been working since April of this year. I work nights so I don't come across student nurses, although if I did, on my shift, I'd say they're REALLY passionate about being a nurse! :)

That said, I do recall two things: being a student nurse, and being a preceptor for student LPN's when I was an LPN working in peds.

With student nurses there seem to becertain types: the ones who just plug away and do what they were taught to do, and didn't want any trouble from anyone so just minded their own buisness. And then there are the ones who tried to buddy up to the staff nurses in order to win their favor- tried to get all chummy...I don't mean to make a blanket statement but more often than not these were students in the 40-45 year old range, and they tended to try to pal up to the nurses in the similar age range- and that doesn't mean a whole lot, I realize, and I don't mean any disrespect from it. Then there were the... dare I say the "goody goody" bunch. The ones who pal up to the instructors and laugh extra loud at their jokes and just generally...you know... they would be the ones who would probably correct staff nurses in front of patients, or question a nurse's every action. The last group must be the ones you're talking about in terms of having a know it all attitude. Thankfully I didn't really come across many of those last two types, but I know others did.

When I precepted- I can recall having students who figured that since the "real" instructor wasn't there to supervise them, they could just do what they pleased, and cut out early, or just act like they were so bored (maybe they just didn't like kids?) and there were a few who literally followed me so close they were nearly stepping on my heels at times.

Of course when I was in clinical there were nurses who loved having students and took them under their wing and were all :yeah::yeah::yeah:

Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this. There will be irritating students, who may or may not know they're being like that. I think that if I started working days and had students I'd be humbled if I were approached. Hey, anyone can be irritating to one's day. In fact, I bet I've irritated someone's day just by this long rambling post!:lol2:

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I'll take a student any day over another news bite about the myriad of Kardashian bs on TV....... I can avoid their show- but the incessant stories about "who the hades cares?" are like grinding fingernails on a chalkboard .... send me the students- and take the Kris Jenner Money Machine away- :D

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Despite what others might have to say about that you were right to call her out. She was not only putting herself at risk but the patient as well. That is disgusting! Gloves are not a new school vs old school situation they are absolutely necessary!:up:

Superstarlpn and the student who held the gloves until she took them;

You will see countless examples of people doing things incorrectly or just poorly. If you call everyone out you will become exhausted and make no friends. Friends are not more important than patients, but being able to get along with your coworkers is almost as important as your skills. With an attitude/actions like that people will avoid you like the plague, including when your patient is circling the drain and you need them, gloves or not. I am not saying this is right, we should all do everything right all of the time and treat each other as we wish to be treated. But thats not how it is so you need to do the best YOU can and pick your battles wisely.

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Superstarlpn and the student who held the gloves until she took them;

You will see countless examples of people doing things incorrectly or just poorly. If you call everyone out you will become exhausted and make no friends. Friends are not more important than patients, but being able to get along with your coworkers is almost as important as your skills. With an attitude/actions like that people will avoid you like the plague, including when your patient is circling the drain and you need them, gloves or not. I am not saying this is right, we should all do everything right all of the time and treat each other as we wish to be treated. But thats not how it is so you need to do the best YOU can and pick your battles wisely.

This!:nurse:

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Specializes in Cardiac.

If I'm in a situation like that I'll usually just smile and ask if they can hold that thought for just a few moments until I can catch up with the current crisis and get back to them. I try to never act annoyed, but I'm human, I might feel slightly annoyed at times.

Great point! Everyone needs to remember that underneath being a nurse, we ARE still human and are prone to the same feelings everyone else is.... even when in "nurse mode". The nursing side still keeps up the smiles and the nice replies, but that doesn't mean that underneath we can't feel annoyed or irritated at times.

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Never understood why having students irritates some so. I understand if you got a crappy pt assignment and can't barely make it through the day to start, or are new and need to focus on yourself only.

Sometimes things are easily remedied.

You get a student. YOU TELL HER THE GROUND RULES. YOU DECIDE WHAT SHE CAN AND CANNOT DO. Basically you explain that IF she's gonna run with you today, that you will seem to order her around a bit, it's gonna be fast, sometimes you won't discuss stuff at length, that you will allow her to do stuff when you can. Also tell her that she'll understand soon how/why things flow, that's the most important thing she can get from clinical not "skills". It's how to navigate. Nursing school is assbackwards.

Really I found my best clinical nursing experience was in assisting an NP in ICU. I actually decided on my own to be her assistant for the day. I knew I'd get kicked to the curb if I was all clingy, and all "but why, but why?". :) We worked like a surgeon and first assist all day long. I never learned so much. I didn't give a rat's behind about doing the typical student clinical day... and I remember the procedures I did hand in hand with her.

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Specializes in Intermediate care.

another thing i don't like is a student who CLINGS on to me like their childhood blanket.

i'll be on the phone with a doctor or something and there will be call lights on. Just go answer the call lights, its ok!!! go ask the CNA if she needs help with anything. The CNA's have a lot to teach as well. our CNA's are taught to read basic telemetry, and sometimes the more experienced CNA's know more about telemetry than i do. it's not just telemetry, but other things....so help everyone on the floor!!! when physical therapy comes into a room to walk a patient, go in there with them. Take every learning experience you can get.

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As a second year ADN student some of this totally blows my mind!!! I don't particularly care WHAT I see another nurse doing... I'm not going to say anything to them about it (and I have seen MANY things lol). If its dangerous for the patient, I will say something to my instructor.

We are also not "assigned" nurses. We are expected to be indepedent in the duties we have tested off on and we are to do them, and usually the nurse asks us when we get report. Even though we do our own assessments, the nurses come in and do thier own (as they should). If there is an abnormality I will ask and they will explain usually, or I ask my instructor. They do leave the vitals up to us. Its true with the patients we get that the nurses don't have to worry about thier call lights and such because we are there for that.

However, when an aid has an issue with me for not changing linens when I have been doing other priority nursing interventions, I don't appreciate the comment. Also, if I have a new hip replacement that I have never had before, and I'm not sure what they can tolerate as far as movement, nothings is in the chart, and the nurse says she'll tell me later (and never does even though I ask multiple times) I'm leaving the linens to the CNA. Mind you, this was the only time that happened, and all of the other CNA's rock, but this one had literally disappeared for most of her shift, left her phone in the med room, and no one could find her. Seriously???

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I enjoy having students, but want the nurse educator for my unit to let me know that I will have a student with me the day before they are due to rotate through my service. Many times, I come into the OR early because I have a HUGE case to get ready for (a Whipple on an unstable 80+ year old with a difficult surgeon who has stranger danger, for example) and need the extra time to focus and prepare. When I am in mid-thought/task and the educator saunters into the OR and announces that I have a student with me for the day, I have to MAKE myself not appear annoyed. A small effort on their part to communicate with me the day prior will make for a much more pleasant day for the both of us.

That being said, I like students who are engaged. I despise the students that are obviously uninterested, not focused on anything but the banter in the room, fidgety because they are uncomfortable standing and end up contaminating something, or constantly complain about being cold/hungry/tired. Oh yes, I have had those students.

I love teaching. I love leading a student to a certain train of thought and I have to stop myself from dancing when they pick up what I am putting down and RUN with it. It is just so rewarding.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
as a student nurse (and hopefully a gn come this may/june!!), i certainly don't think i know it all. i'm actually quite terrified to make a "rookie" mistake or have a memory blank in front of you. i'm also nervous that those nurses who are actually nice to me are only doing so by the skin of their teeth; i feel i'm constantly annoying them.

that being said, as students, our textbook is our second bible. i read the info over and over. it is fresh in my mind. so when i read a current "evidenced based best practice" blurb and i see it not being executed in a real life setting, i am "confused". in my experience, i stay quiet and refer my questions to my clinical instructor.

the only time i have ever questioned a nurse in front of a patient was when i witnessed her (begin to) start an iv without gloves. i blurted out "shouldn't you have gloves on for ivs??" and she responded , "ohh i'm old school honey, i don't use them!". my face must've said it all . i handed her a paid of gloves and just looked at her until she accepted them.

idk. i wear gloves probably more than i need to, but that was dangerous for the nurse, the current patient and her remaining ones. ick!

i assume that the nurse you called out in front of a patient for not wearing gloves was washing her hands. you didn't say anything about that. given that she was washing her hands, the only danger in not wearing gloves to start an iv was to the nurse herself. unless, of course, she was playing with the sterile angiocath with her bare hands before sticking the patient with it. but you didn't mention that, either. and one can presume she knew about the dangers to herself, right? she is, after all, a real nurse. so i'm not sure why you felt it was her place to make her wear gloves.

as a student, you're a guest in our unit. i enjoy students, and love to teach but not every nurse does. the reason some of my colleagues don't like to teach is from episodes just like the one you describe. that nurse knew she was supposed to wear gloves, but didn't feel confident in getting a vein while wearing them. she learned without them, and it is very, very hard to change your practice that much.

if you wanted to know why she wasn't wearing gloves -- a legitimate question -- or wanted to encourage her to protect herself by wearing gloves, the time and place to do that was not in front of a patient whom she was about to stick. but the way you present your story, it's as if you're very proud of yourself that you haven't called out other nurses in other situations and you're presenting that one as if it were so cut and tried that there was no choice but to call her out. there was a choice.

if you had done that to me, i wouldn't want to work with you anymore, and you're very, very lucky if that nurse continued to try to teach you.

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