I am a B.S.N. Student in Texas. After talking to several other students from my school, it seems that very few nurses we have encountered even acknowledge that the students are there in the hospital. I feel as if they do not "wish" to have time for us. These are nurses with four or five patients who seem to have plenty of time for everything else but no time for students. Granted, I understand that students can get in the way and slow nurses down but most of us truly want to help. Maybe my persepctive is a lot different because I am in school and I see things idealisticly. I know everyone was a student once. I am just wondering how nurses feel when students are in the hospital? Do you personally feel differently about nursing than you did when you were still in nursing school?
I love students! It just seems that I always get assigned a student on a day that is already looking like it's sliding down the pipe for the worse.
That's ok - I think it's important for students to see that not everything is predicatable and by the book and to see that somehow we manage to handle just about anything. I get to explain how organization and prioritization helps me manage - two things I think are very hard to get in the classroom. They get a hand held experience in this instead of being dumped on their first week on the job.
The bad aspects of a crazy day can be great learning experiences and provide some positive things for students if we will help them find that.
What do you mean....HELLO, how would an LPN know how hard your schooling is........give respect where respect is due....May I ask, How do you (BSN) student know how difficult the LPN program is. These nurses are trained for the bedside.......and student,,,, they often have more experience than you do. Don't ever discount the experience, knowledge , wisdomn or schooling of a LPN or 2 yr RN.
I am a BSN student, and don't forget that the LPN who said that to Rose was very rude, and it doesn't seem that she gave that student any respect for the nursing program that she happened to be in. I believe everyone should have respect for every program..... but here you are taking up for a person who DOES NOT know what it is like in a Bachelors program or an RN program. Not only do we have clinical rotations at the hospital we also have to make it through an entire SEMESTER of COLLEGE LEVEL courses..... thats NOT an easy thing to do. No one should put LPN's down for their program or title, there is absolutely no reason to do so, but it is also not right for LPN's to put RN's down, saying that its (the RN title) is just a title and that they (the LPN) knows more. No one knows the difficulty or what goes on in a particular program unless they have actually been through it. I feel that EVERYONE just needs to have respect for everyone else.
Who are we to blame if a student does not have a good clinical rotation or if the unit does not have a good experience with the student? Well....let's start with the nurse manager and the instructor. What kind of relationship do they have. My unit generally has groups of student nurses from two major universities as well as a technical school and job-shadowing high school students. The development of a productive relationship is ongoing but cannot be solved at the nurse-student level. The manager and instructor need to spearhead the experience. In our unit, the nurse manager and service line director met with the clinical instructors and their director to develop a plan for students, to formulate realistic expectations that the nurse can have of students and students can have of nurses, what time the student will report to the unit, and how involved she will be in the care of her patient(s). Since it would be foolish, self-defeating, and demoralizing to place a student with a nurse who is not willing to teach, our manager interviewed perspective student preceptors to get their opinions. Ongoing dialogue was begun with the nurses who agreed to precept and discussions were initiated to communicate both distinct expectations. Although this process sounds complicated, it has worked beautifully. The students feel comfortable with staff, know who they can readily go to, know that they are welcomed to seek out additional experiences, and readily take on all learning opportunities. In turn, considering future hires, the hospital gets new graduates who are a "step ahead" in hospital orientation. To foster good communication, the instructor, who has students in numerous areas in the service line, carries a beeper so she is available. She also empowers the staff to review a student's performance during the learning process. Works for us.
Ok, i live in canada, and i am in my 2nd year program of nursing. So far in my learning (Being in the hospital setting for 2 semesters now) i find there are a variety of nurses. THere are those just for the money, there are those there for the patients (very few i see), and some are the all around nurse.
I know us as nursing students are pain in the ***, we only ask questions when we (the students and instructors) dont know the answer. I personally dont ask my RN for every little thing. YOU dont have to give me attitude. Arent you happy that we are taking the load off for you? OUr *** is on the line too, because it is our name on the patient's chart. We give you the info, u just need to sit there and check on the patient occasionally (if u dont trust us).
I have encountered a lot of *****y nurses (excuse my language). SOme are just out to get you. they tell u one thing one minute and yell at u the next because u didnt do it (even though the first time they told u not to do it). And especially they pick at a time to "yell" at u infront of your instructor.
We already have enough stress to do everything we can for the patient, we have this added pressure from our instructor because they are eyeing us like hawks, we dont need the extra "Sh*t" from the RN's. WE wont purposely do something to the patient to piss u off. becuase our career is on the line.
i hear all these comments about that patients, doctors and collegues treating RN's so nicely ( in states). How come we dont have that in British columbia? one factor i could see is that states patients are considered "customers" because they pay everyhting. in canada we as a society pay for it. i kinda wanna go down to States to see what it is really like to practice.
Just want to remind you, we ask you questions because we see you as a role model, a wealth and body of knowledge. we want to learn your techniques and ways because we want to be good like you. dont need to give us a hard time. Remeber, YOU WERE ONCE A STUDENT YOURSELF, REMEBER HWO THAT FELT.
we want the best for our patients and ourselves and others. but understand we are all learners (even if we have been in the profession for 20 somewhat years) if you think you know it all (in nursing) maybe you should think again, because there is not a single person out there that knows everything. think outside the box, that's how we grow and learn and mature.
Please be kind to the students in your unit. see us as a extra set of hands, an extra set of relieve for you. We thank you in advance.
From All student nurses (present and future)
thanks for listening, thanks for understanding, and thanks for being nice
beee, you sound a bit angry! i hope you dont have that attitude on the floor with pateints and the RN's.
I know us as nursing students are pain in the ***, we only ask questions when we (the students and instructors) dont know the answer. I personally dont ask my RN for every little thing. YOU dont have to give me attitude. Arent you happy that we are taking the load off for you? OUr *** is on the line too, because it is our name on the patient's chart. We give you the info, u just need to sit there and check on the patient occasionally (if u dont trust us).
not all RN's think us students are a pain in the orifice. and we aren't really taking the load off of the RN's-its extra work. they can't just sit back while we do everything-they are primarily responsible for the patients and have to keep up with what we are doing to the patients. plus, they have to do whatever we can't do for the patient. where i am doing my clinicals teh RN's also assess the patients too, they dont jsut rely on us to do it. its not that they dont trust us as you claim, but that they are the one who is primarily responsible for the patient and any nurse worth her/his stuff would be prudent enough to make sure that their patient is being cared for properly.
We already have enough stress to do everything we can for the patient, we have this added pressure from our instructor because they are eyeing us like hawks, we dont need the extra "Sh*t" from the RN's. WE wont purposely do something to the patient to piss u off. becuase our career is on the line.
the RN already has enough pressure caring for 5-6 patients, and they have the added pressure of keeping up with the students. you almost seem like you think us students have a harder time than the RN's. their career is on the line, too, you know.
maybe its a usa/canada thing. i dont know, ive never been to canada. but your view seems a bit harsh.
Beee, part of me agrees with what you have to say. Been a student and the nurse that has had student assigned to her.
I dislike calling patients "clients" which is how they are referred to in Alberta. I've never been badly treated by an Dr., nurses are another story. Just remember they don't just treat students that way, they treat the float nurses and the casuals that way too. I've worked units where the staffing office have basically begged me to come in because they've had nurses refuse the shift when they've arrived on the unit and seen who've they have to work with.
I resent "clients" who tell me "I deserve this I built this province/country". Well lets see, how come you let it get so far in debt? You voted liberal in the '60's and '70's! Now you expect my generation to clean up your mess. So far, I've managed just to think it not say it.
Try to remember the nurse you are assigned to is responsible for your patient. She has the charge nurse on her case, and the patients family, and the patient.
I've worked with great students (both LPN and RN) and some I wouldn't want to work at my dog's vet's office.
I like the ones who want to learn, ask questions, assist with basic care (no it not beneath students to assist with showers), get their dressing supplies in order before starting to change the dressing. I'm there to assist and help students not fetch the supplies they forgot.
I also graduate in May, on the 14th!! Can't wait!!! :balloons: :rotfl:
QUOTE=RNinMay2005]i am a student nurse, too. (see signature). i have met many more helpful, friendly nurses than unwelcoming ones. of course, i remember that the unwelcoming ones were all on the same unit, lol. and, the more you know and the more you can do, the more helpful they are. i am in a great unit! the nurses let you do everything for the patients, answer your questions, talk to you, offer you chances to do things, dont make you feel dumb when you get something wrong. if you are shadowing them for the day they talk to you, ask you questions to make sure you understand, etc. they don't really act like you are in the way at all.
i also did a 12 week adopt a student nurse externship thing this summer, and in one unit, the nurses were great-all of them. the other unit i went to, most of the nurses were great, but there were a few who were a bit rude. although i am in a RN program, one told me that her LPN program was so hard that she knows i would have had a hard time. hello? how do you know?
but from a student nurse perspective, i dont really notice if the nurse doesn't wash her hands leaving the room or anything like that. I am fully aware that real life is different from nursing school.(esp after my externship this summer). i am more concerned about myself and what im doing then whether or not someone is doing something "wrong". and we students dont gossip about unhelpful nurses, prob cuz they are all good up on my unit. we talk about how nice they are
..................................i know everyone was a student once.
i am just wondering how nurses feel when students are in the hospital? do you personally feel differently about nursing than you did when you were still in nursing school? thanks for any thoughts or advice.
avery
i love the nursing students! they remind me of how exciting it was to be a "nurse in training". :) they encourage me to remember why i became a nurse in the first place. whenever students are on the unit (no matter where i work), i embrace them, and help them anyway i can. i don't mind them asking questions, or watching me do things. i don't pretend to know everything, and don't mind letting them know this about me as a nurse. i learn fresh ideas from them, and always look forward to seeing them come on their clinical days. :)
:balloons: ((((((((((nursing students everywhere)))))))))) :kiss
I am still a student and have had some wonderful experiences with nurses and horrible experiences. One of the greatest experiences involved me finding blood in my paitent's stool, when I told the RN, she asked me what I would do if I were her and allowed me to listen while she called the doctor to tell him what was going on with the patient. That was great, because they don't teach you how to call the doctor and what to say to him/her in nursing school. At the same facility I also had a nurse tell me that my patients K was high at 3.5, but she didn't know why? (she was the charge nurse by the way). I had another nurse ream me out because I hung Protonix by itself because Pharmacy said that there was no testing done on it with her maintenance (.45 with 20K). She told me that she had been piggy-backing that drug and that maintenance for 3 months now. I watched another nurse give an enema with the patient laying on her right side. After the procedure was over and we were standing in the hall I asked her if the patient had a condition that she couldn't lay on her left side for the enema. The nurse told me no, and that you only position patients that way in nursing school. Just last week I had another instance that My patient was admitted for swallowing difficulties with an abcess on her tonsils. The fact that she could barely swallow a pill was not documented anywhere. In all of these instances I never talked bad about the nurse, nor did I go running to the instructor. I just let the nurse in charge of that patient know what my findings were, why I did what I did, and documented what I did. I am there to learn. Sometimes it's learning new procedures and sometimes it's learning what not to do. In any instance it has all been a learning experience for me the good and the not so good. For the most part I realize that I have not been the one taking care of this patient for 12 hours a day for the last 3 days. I have found that most of the nurses I have encountered are wonderful, that a few blow you off like your "justa" student and you don't know anything, in these cases I will run it by my instructor to get her opinion. I have also seen students that think they know more than the nurses which makes them get treated even worse. I have found that to get respect as a student you have to give it and earn it.
Since I work on a locked psych unit, the students all appear to be scared out of their wits! Even after they've been coming to us for over 6 weeks, some of them still seem terrified. How they perceive us, however, proved very useful. We have several prima donnas who, while listening to taped report, bad-mouth the person who's speaking on tape, make derogatory remarks about the patients or, in one instance, fast-forwarded the tape because, in their considered opinion, what was being said was not worth their while, relevant, etc. The students typed a letter to our manager, who read it out loud at a quarterly meeting with the DON. You never saw so many pale, frozen faces in your life!
The mere fact that students must have the clinical experience puts some nurses in a quandry. I myself being both a nurse with an active practice(LVN) (Texas) and a nursing student (LVN to RN) have been on both sides of the equation. As a nurse with students I have always been mindful of how much difference I can make for the student and their clinical experience, sort of a pseudo instructor and I attempt to nurture the student, try to help build their self confidence. On the other hand, as a student, I have experienced, at times, just the opposite during select rotations, such as pedi. To Avery I suggest to take the good with not so good and try to come away from nursing school with the confidence that you are or shortly will be qualified to practice as a nurse, and get ready for a fantastic experience, being a nurse! I never have regretted my decision to become a nurse! Good luck and hey...HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!..Oh I almost forgot...Some nurses eat their young!
...and different responsibilities. In our program the nurses are told we have total responsibility for the patient except ... (whatever we can't currently do, say, for instance, hang blood or do IV pushes.) Now, it is true that our instructor(s) have to watch us do anything within the current term's skills (e.g., give meds; change IV tubing; hang piggybacks)...but, in general, we collaborate with the nurses who are ultimately responsible for the patient.
And sometimes I can be of some help; a couple of nurses were looking at a MAR wondering what a couple of medications were, and I was able to tell them ! :)
As far as the "dirty trick"--I'm surprised she got away with it. Didn't the poster inform the instructor of what her fellow student had done? I mean, I'd probably say something like..."do I look like I'm dumb enough to give meds when I know we can't?" (well, hopefully in a bit more tactful manner.) I think that student should have been bounced out of school. That wasn't just a dirty trick on you; it was a trick done at the expense of the safety of the patient--who checked on those meds? Anyone who has such a low respect of patient safety shouldn't be a nurse.
NurseFirst
It was a staff nurse that I, as a student RN had been "buddied up with" who crushed the patients' meds into some applesauce and instructed me to "feed the patient". I didn't see the meds but this staffer then went to get my instructor, who witnessed me feeding the patient and wrote me up for administering meds. It was first semester in med/surg and my first strike. Yes it was a dirty trick by the staff nurse who really was the most disgruntled person I had met in a long time. I wonder if she is still at this facility?
gauge14iv, MSN, APRN, NP
1,622 Posts
I love students! It just seems that I always get assigned a student on a day that is already looking like it's sliding down the pipe for the worse.
That's ok - I think it's important for students to see that not everything is predicatable and by the book and to see that somehow we manage to handle just about anything. I get to explain how organization and prioritization helps me manage - two things I think are very hard to get in the classroom. They get a hand held experience in this instead of being dumped on their first week on the job.
The bad aspects of a crazy day can be great learning experiences and provide some positive things for students if we will help them find that.