Is it possible a clinical instructor can make ..

[malkieh]

My clinical instructor is making me hate going to clinicals..

Yesterday she decided to give me a letter of complaint to the school. Because when I flushed the IV site to check for patency I did not do the following.

A. the patient was extremely cacklecitic (sp??), and you could feel the catheter through the skin! The nurse taking care of the pt told me to be extremely careful, because they could not afford to loose the site.

So I got all of my equipment, and I assessed the site. I explained to the pt that I was flushing her IV to make sure that it was still working. What I am using is not a medication. My instructor interjected that it may look like water but it is NS which has salt in it making it more like the regular fluid in our body.

I removed the cap (my instructor insists that we put caps on EVERYTHING) wiped it with a alcohol wipe and was very gentle because like the nurse said "cannot afford to loose the iv site"

With the syringe, the hospital we are at uses 10ml with NS. So normal people could pull back to break it, but our professor will not let us do that. So I had to push and hope it did not squirt everywhere.

Again used another alcohol wipe I attached it gently and started to push, very gently. I looked at my professor kind of like is this ok? I was nervous, it was my first time doing it on a patient.

she came over and said "move out of the way."

looked and saw there was no infiltration, saw that you could feel the catheter and said "see can you feel that" I said yes. She removed my syringe and cleaned again at the IV site and then used a new syringe and again pushed in saline.. Evidently she could not see what I could see that it was going through fine.

Afterwards she says to me, "I cleaned it again because there was blood under the tape, and it could cause infection if you do not really clean the site well."

Key word, under the tape no where near the tip of the ivsite, and the nurse said to be careful!

when I explained that the nurse wanted me to be very careful, she said "no excuses I am writing a letter that you have to go to the IV lab and practice.'

Which was fine with me, more practice the better. But this was my FIRST TIME!! Why couldn't she just warn me and tell me to practice, why inform the school??

I sat down to talk with her about it. She said to me

"why do you want to become a nurse."

I responded, "because it's something I have dreamed of doing, I want to help people get better and know that I was a part of them getting better."

she responded, "you can be a crossing guard and help people cross the street."

I held back crying until today... Because I had an exam this morning in lecture and I had to study and keep my composure. But honestly I was shaking during the exam..

I have gotten to a point where I do not care anymore, and that scares me because this has been my dream..

I told the head teacher one time about another incident, but everytime someone complains our clinical instructor becomes more agitated..

In post conference she said out loud, "I will not pass students that I do not trust, and I have documentation of everything that has happened in clinicals. So I will fight all of you if I have to, because if your not safe it's my license. I will make sure you do not move on."

I am trying to not let it get to me, but it's hard..

[Rivka P]

Unfortunately, this is something I have seen happen in my school and it's something that I know a lot of nursing students complain about. It may be because she is burnt out and just doing this for the money, and taking it out on you. I would check out other posts from nursing students on allnurses.com because it may just make you feel better to know you are not the only one who has experienced this.

That is a really scary thing for her to say about not letting people move on. Talk to the other students in your group and see if you can put your heads together and do something about it.

Cry all you want. We all did.

[achot]

Oh, Malkie!
I know how you feel and the teacher was totally out of line, they say that those who can-do, those who can't- teach!
I wish I can make these teachers nicer and more professional for you but they are not, My best advice? Hold onto your ego and sense of self worth dont let her kill it for you. Keep a low profile - do what you're told and when she criticizes dont react, listen attentively and try to see if there is anything you can get from it.
Gam zeh ya'avor!
Shabbat Shalom (Baruch Hashem for Shabbat)

[medic09]

Interesting. I'm sorry you're having such a tough time. I hope it is just this one instructor.

I'm actually in favor of clinical instructors being tough, and even weeding out the unsuitable students (not everyone is suited for nursing); but they must also be INSTRUCTORS. They have to teach, give the students good instruction and support, and then apply the tough criteria. I wasn't there, of course; but I don't read a student going to remedial lab as a 'bad mark' or 'punishment'. IF the student needs the help, I see it as just that: remediation. On the other hand, barring impending danger, an instructor should show respect for the students as colleagues; especially in front of the patients.

In my first medic class in Tzahal, we had a drop out rate of about 25%. In our paramedic program in Quinsig Comm. College we had a drop out rate of about 33%. I was a bit surprised when so few of the students at UNM CON dropped/failed out.

On the other hand, there are a lot of nursing instructors who have no business teaching ANYTHING. For some of the classroom instructors, this is a holding pattern until retirement. For some of the clinical instructors, this is a default position based on their age and old friends. In many of both cases, the instructor knows ALL, and the students had better not question.

Hang in there! Keep studying and working hard. Focus on your relationships with the instructors who care and teach well. Do what you can to satisfy the instructor who seems unreasonable, and be prepared to roll with the punches a bit until you're out of her grasp.

May Hashem bless you with success in caring for your patients!