was i wrong?

Published

Today i had nursing students for the entire shift. at the end of the shift the student told me my patient who is a fresh first day post-op hysterectomy had 380cc out of her JP. i said ok, thinking yeah thats alot but its first day post op. Well her instructor didnt like my answer i guess and made the student go back and tell me again and that she should tell the charge nurse. I ended up just saying ok ill call the doc. So I ended up calling the MD- who pretty much acted like he didnt care and said "uh ok". was i wrong?! should i have been like freaking out about the output? I feel like im so stupid 90% of the time

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
Well her instructor didnt like my answer i guess and made the student go back and tell me again and that she should tell the charge nurse.

What we have here is a case of a CI not liking how the floor nurse is handling things, and the student is caught in the middle as a reluctant messenger.

It sucks for the student; it sucks for the floor nurse.

Here's my question, and I guess it would depend on where in the clinical rotation the student was... but isn't part of clinical calling the Dr and updating them, and learning to speak with the physicians? With the CI next to you and awareness of the primary RN. Reporting findings was part of our clinical experience, especially as we got closer to graduation.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
QUOTE=Bblessing2u;4288343]Ahh CherryBreeze,

I will clarify... I just don't do it for the 1-2 patients I have, I do it for ALL the patients my nurse is assigned. Yes, we STUDENTS are supposed to be doing this! ( Not the bagels of course) And, it is just this kind of sweet note you wrote that reminds me of those second type of nurses I deal with. Thanks! :-0

I was thinking exactly the same thing Cherrybreeze was. Odd as it sounds to you at the moment, it's much more satisfying to stock up, clean and replace everything for people you don't like, beyond the issue of whether or not it's your job. I think it's related to the nursing concept of giving the best care you can to patients you don't like. Without quite meaning to, you touched a nerve. You might not have liked the wording of her note, but it falls far, far below reason enough for you to take a dig at her.

Everyone is welcome to contribute, but if you are going to get bent out of shape because someone doesn't perceive you as you expected them to, you're going to have a rougher ride than you need to.

I do think it's really a wonderful thing to do to something special for someone who is special. Nurses who excel at teaching, go the extra mile, and those you just hit it off with-- don't know whether your school would approve of a Sephora or Bath and Bodyworks gift card- but a card and a big thank you aren't against the law. . .:nurse:

QUOTE=~Mi Vida Loca~;4288539]. . . .But I always try to do everything I am allowed to do when I am with my co nurse whether she is really friendly or not. Shoot if she isn't friendly it's sort of my mission to break her down (not in a bad way) by the end of the shift and smile or something so I try even harder LOL I try to show her although she was stuck with a student it can be helpful.

:idea: Yeah, that's the ticket! :):):) Lemons----->lemonade.

Specializes in Med/Surg.
I was thinking exactly the same thing Cherrybreeze was. Odd as it sounds to you at the moment, it's much more satisfying to stock up, clean and replace everything for people you don't like, beyond the issue of whether or not it's your job. I think it's related to the nursing concept of giving the best care you can to patients you don't like. Without quite meaning to, you touched a nerve. You might not have liked the wording of her note, but it falls far, far below reason enough for you to take a dig at her.

Everyone is welcome to contribute, but if you are going to get bent out of shape because someone doesn't perceive you as you expected them to, you're going to have a rougher ride than you need to.

I do think it's really a wonderful thing to do to something special for someone who is special. Nurses who excel at teaching, go the extra mile, and those you just hit it off with-- don't know whether your school would approve of a Sephora or Bath and Bodyworks gift card- but a card and a big thank you aren't against the law. . .:nurse:

:idea: Yeah, that's the ticket! :):):) Lemons----->lemonade.

Thanks, nursel...you made my point better than I did. :) It's our CNA's that often do those little things, but I do them just as often...straighten up rooms and bedside tables, empty garbages, get rid of full linen bags. It's part of taking WHOLE care of the patient, IMO. I think patients feel better overall when they're in a comfortable, clean room (same as, I know I feel better/more settled when my house is clean, which isn't often enough :p). I think it's something important for students to learn early on, too; some feel that those small things "aren't their job" or that it's being done as a favor...but it's a favor to the PATIENT, not their nurse, and shouldn't be based on how they "like" their nurse. To do it for all of that nurses' patients...well, that honestly just sounded odd to me. I don't know that I want a student in the rooms of my patients that they are not assigned to and know nothing about....

I know I'm a good preceptor, and answer questions frequently for students and try to explain certain things, without being asked. I am actually the opposite of that little dig, and that's what set me off about it.

I think that's high... was it frank d/c? how else did she present? I know allot of reg. staff ask my instructor stuff! She has been working for a while and has the respect of the floor staff...

I would ask the nursing instructor, " Did i miss something"

Don't feel bad we are all learners all the time! Head up!

Cheerybreese,

I apologize for the dig. I did not mean to imply that you were not a great nurse.

What was meant as a note to say I appreciated the nurse who goes out of her way to help a student has turned into something I did not mean it to.

I am sorry I worded my posts so that there was room for misunderstanding.

Just to clear up one thing...I work hard no matter how I am treated, by the nurse or the patients. I take my work seriously, and do not cross boundaries or do patient care unless I am instructed to. Obviously I have a lot to learn...

I think I need to stick to my books!

Bblessing

Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

I think the only thing the poster was meaning was that if a nurse goes the extra mile for her, she will also go the extra mile for the nurse...doing more to ease her load. Its human to have more desire to do MORE and be extra helpful in those situations. I have been a nurse for several years, and Im here to tell you that I will be more helpful to my coworkers who play teamwork. This site is becoming more and more argumentive and judgemental as time goes on.

What I have NOT appreciated is being made to feel like "I" am the idiot for asking what to "YOU" seems silly and inappropriate. I am a student! What do I really know about post-op JPs? Not much to be honest! Some drains barely register 50 ml after 8 hours. If I saw this lady with a JP nearly full, I would probably come to the nurse asking if that was normal.....( and nevermind looking in my book...I can't find any book that agrees with others!)

I think it would be great if people remembered what it was like to be a student, and cut each one of us some slack... just once that day. :D

Nothing in the OP's first post says that she belittled the nursing student or made then feel like an idiot for reporting findings or asking questions. What I noticed in the first post is that it doesn't say that the nursing student (or instructor) took the initiative to ask the nurse those appropriate questions in the first place.

The OP already got feedback saying it probably would have been more helpful to explain to the nursing student why she didn't feel the finding warranted a call to the doc (fresh post op, stable vitals, etc). However, it sounds like the OP is a newer nurse and felt intimidated by the nursing instructor into calling the doc which was inappropriate of the nursing instructor.

Nothing in the OP's first post says that she belittled the nursing student or made then feel like an idiot for reporting findings or asking questions.

You are absolutely correct... My post (Bblessing)was that of my OWN experience.

Bblessing

when i was a nsg student, it was NOT the responsibility of the floor nurse to teach us.

we were there for our assigned pts and communicate all interventions/observations w/the floor nurse.

any questions would go to our instructor.

yes, there were nurses who truly enjoyed teaching, but i never questioned nurses who seemed annoyed or reluctant with our presence.

if there was an issue, the ci and nurse would confer...privately.

leslie

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I think the only thing the poster was meaning was that if a nurse goes the extra mile for her, she will also go the extra mile for the nurse...doing more to ease her load. Its human to have more desire to do MORE and be extra helpful in those situations. I have been a nurse for several years, and Im here to tell you that I will be more helpful to my coworkers who play teamwork. This site is becoming more and more argumentive and judgemental as time goes on.

I didn't think Cherrybreeze deserved to be put into the category of "those" nurses based on her reply. Maybe it just seems to me that students are becoming more and more likely to judge nurses as one of "those" than they used to be. If I seem too quick to jump to somebody's defense, it may be related to a sort of allnurses thread crossover effect.

I really appreciate Blessing's gracious response. Now let's get back to discussing drainage and sorry for off-topic tangent.:)

Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I agree with Leslie. It is not the floor nurse's job to be teaching the students, that is the job of the clinical instructor. There are some nurses who simply do not like to teach, I am one of them. I would rather care for my patients the way I want to without having to deal with the added responsibility of having a student. I'm sorry but if the student messes up, it's not just the instructor's license on the line, it's mine as well. It doesn't make me a bad nurse or mean that I do not like having to deal with students, I'm just not comfortable teaching at all.

+ Join the Discussion