Nurse Placement Advice/Experiences

Yes.

I’ve approached the situation tentatively and have only made one or two remarks regarding the way I was being spoken to, for several reasons. One being that I know of 3 fellow students who have been moved instantly from their placement for similar issues; the trust prefer to move the person rather than addressing the problem itself - at the end of the day it seems they would rather maintain happiness amongst their own staff rather than rocking the boat, and to be honest, I don’t blame them for this. Two, I love my placement area and simply don’t want to be moved.

No mid-point interview yet, hence the dilemma I’m having on whether or not to make this official and risk tainting my appraisal.

Hello,

I’m currently in my second year of adult nursing and would like some advice. I’ve loved my time in placement so far but...

Now, I’ve met my fair share of ‘difficult’ colleagues, but recently I seem to have encountered a prodigy in this field; the sort of person who would beat their own child at an arm wrestle to demonstrate their superiority over them...that sort.

I have tried and succeeded for the most part to show patience with their anal retentivene nature and have withstood the sly comments and looks handed out to me, but feel that I am not doing my mental well-being much good by continuing to do so; it’s eventually going to have a negative impact upon my learning experience too.

Examples of such behaviour are tutting and rolling eyes in front of other professionals when I dare to make the smallest of errors, such as taking too long to perform a task or not doing things to the exact standards set out by my supervisor.

Let me make myself clear, I believe achieving high standards in practise is a noble goal, but to berate and belittle a student for not living up to such standards at all times isn’t right, surely? Is this not the reason why we are students, to learn and grow in a supportive environment and in an atmosphere conducive to learning from our mistakes?

Your views and any experiences on such matters is greatly appreciated. I’m not seeking vindication, but advice on how to resolve this issue without it ruining my career before it’s even started!

Ok, cool, thanks for the information.

The easiest solution for the trust is to move students, their main concern is the delivery of the service, so yeah, it avoids rocking the boat. However, if a member of staff has form for behaving in this manner towards students, it does IMO need dealing with somehow.

I’m glad you’ve felt confident enough to speak up, it can be difficult to, particularly as a student. Have they shown any indication they’re actually unhappy with your performance, or does it seem more like impatience? I’ve witnessed senior staff being impatient with junior nurses in procedures in the past, it’s surprising sometimes the lack of insight they have into how damaging their behaviour can be until it’s explained to them. (Some are more receptive than others to this).

Do you have any other mentors to work with? We usually allocate students to a couple so that it’s easier to arrange an agreeable off duty. It might be worth talking to them.

Just to add to what Moonkatt has said, if you don't have an upcoming mid-placement review, it might be worth asking your mentor if you could have a sit down together to discuss your progress and goals. It doesn't need to be a 'sit down to discuss how you are making me feel', it can be more general.

From that, you should be able to gauge whether they are genuinely unhappy with your progress (i.e. if there is something you are doing specifically which they are finding frustrating, or if there is an area which you need to improve), or whether this is a personality issue. It's easy to be critical of your mentor's behaviour and I completely agree that this isn't acceptable, but it's also important to reflect on your stage of training and whether there are things you can improve. Obviously as a qualified nurse there is no room for errors or slowness so some mentors can seem difficult because they want to see you well-prepared. Perhaps your mentor is assuming you know what the problem is.

If you then need to go to the university, you can at least say that you have made this attempt to sort things out or to improve in line with your mentor's comments.

Thank you for the in-depth reply.

Thankfully, I spend most of my time with my secondary mentor. It seems that the individual in question has a reputation for being a bit of a stickler and reports everything and anyone to management...I don’t take it personally, but as you say, it’s far from professional behaviour in itself.

Arrogance aside, I’m doing very well academically and in practise. I’ve resigned myself the the line of thinking that not all nurses make good educators, even if they are competent nurses.