So here I am, in the midst of another clinical session. New group. The last blog post has taken me several weeks to write so I finally just gave up on. However, I must ponder some more on behavior of preceptors and students.
I am in the same spot as last time, some of the same crew, some different. I am truly shocked and horrified at the same time by the behavior of some of the staff towards my students. I just made rounds, and we have been here at just about an hour. One of my former students has 2 of my current students with her today. She has not only disappeared from view, but just gave my students the nurse on a stick and told them to go take vitals. Thankfully these are two rather strong students who went with it. But mind you, she gave no indication on how to work the darn machine! These crafty students did ask another staff member what to do and are now happily collecting vital signs. Oye!
Oh and to start the day off 5/9 of the students forgot to come in the back door. They all set off the door alarm and didn't wait around at the front door! Sheesh! Well lesson learned, I hope, and tomorrow they will not make that mistake! Now to see how the rest of our day plays out. I know we are a nuisance at times. I know it may seem like it takes longer to do some things with students, but on the other hand almost every time I have ever been anywhere with my students the day goes quicker for the staff and tasks are done sooner. Why? Because there are more hands on deck! In today's case the staff at my site today has 9 extra sets of hands, which in theory will help the day go more smoothly. We shall see what transpires. I will return to the blog here throughout the day with my observations for today :)
Well as the day has gone on things have gotten better. One student described the morning as chaotic. I asked her what she meant by this--well the facility is a bit short-staffed so people are working extra shifts that they don't normally work which makes for an interesting time as a student when it is your first day. Thankfully by 11 o'clock this student was still in high spirts and really enjoying her primary preceptor. All have done very well today, despite 2 of them being left often by their CNA preceptor. They have made the best of their situation and have helped their co-students and their CNA. So at times there are 5 people answering a call light, hey it works. The worst part about all of this is that the person leaving them is one of my former students, shame on former students for not helping new students! I call these kinds of people born-CNAs or nurses, or whatever they may be. Apparently they were never a student is all I can figure, but in this case that is not so 😝 Well now to see how the rest of the day goes. I will say overall it has gone better then I expected. Several have stepped up much sooner then I thought they would and are shining very well today. So now let's see what happens tomorrow!
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Clinicals--love them or hate them they are necessary for complete education
I am writing this post while in clinicals today. Never fear, I am making regular rounds to check on my students. In fact about every 20 minutes I get up and take a lap around to check on them as much as possible. Today I am with my nurse aide class, which will complete today. So in reality, by day 3 they don't need me very much. That being said that is the group as a whole. Individual students however, can be a different story. I am always intrigued by how my students will behave in the clinical setting, and how the staff will behave. So let's explore this a little bit.
Staff: Please note that I love my clinical sites. I truly do! Without them, my students would have an incomplete education. It is part of the rules and regulations for students to participate in clinical education in the Nurse Aide, Nursing, and Medical Assistant programs, along with the other health disciplines. Much as a teacher cannot begin teaching without some sort of practical education, a caregiver cannot give care without some sort of practical education. What always intrigues me is how staff treat my students. Here is potential new staff member, right at your door way. Knocking and waiting patiently to gain admittance. Not all of my students will want to work at their clinical site, but quite often they want to start out here. They have a general idea of the ebb and flow of the facility. A general knowledge of the staff and residents. For my nurse aides, they complete 3 days of time in the facility, and I try to keep them on the same unit each time. They will almost always rotate staff, but at least being in the same wing of the building will help them get used to the milieu. I cannot count the number of times that I have had a student report to me, and in some cases staff, that the staff member does not want to train a student. A very interesting phenomenon--often when i am in the break room during lunch or in my travels, I hear these very same staff members complain about being short-staffed. The staff member will complain in one breath about needing help and in the very next about how awful it is to have students present. Now I am not immune to the problems, and dare I say, drama that can come with students. But then on the other hand there are also often really good students. Those who jump in on day 1 and get the most for their money. They are eager to learn and eager to be productive. Sadly, these are quite often the ones i pair with those reluctant staff. i generally do not know both of these facts until a few hours into the day, and often not until much later. In an ideal world, these 2 adults, and I use that term loosely, would work out their own problems. They would find a way to get along. They would relies they can work together to solve a very big problem--that of being short-staffed. The way I view this, and so do many of my colleagues, the student is essentially on an extended interview. Quite often the student has not worked in healthcare, so they are a sponge waiting to soak up all that they can. And they are ripe for teaching, most of the time. Now I am not naive enough to think that the students will all be fabulous and wonderful. Jumping right in to help. Doing things correctly from the beginning. Communicating well with their preceptor and others. This would be an unrealistic world for the best of circumstances. Even when I have students who are working in an agency where they are completing their clinicals they always have room to improve. and they have routines and tips and tricks to learn from the staff. I would so love to be able to point out to the staff, without be sarcastic, mean, or sassy--here is a potential staff member, treat them well. But alas I fear that this would still not help. Maybe someday i will figure this out and find a way to have staff treat students in a friendly manner.
Students: I am not silly enough to think that my students will enter the clinical world perfectly. That they will be 100% prepared for their rotation. Or even that they will come prepared and ready to go body, mind, and spirit. The majority do come and full-fill this criteria. they are like a new sponge, ready to soak it all up. Ready to dive in to help. That being said, some day surprise me for sure! Take this last clinical group, by the 2nd half of the first day one was already having her CNA watch her while she performed tasks. In this case i was not really surprised based on how much of a go-getter this student was in the classroom. Then in this same group I had a personality conflict between a student and her preceptor. At the end of the day the student turned in her evaluation of her preceptor. She indicated that the preceptor was "not professional". Of course does this student say anything to me during my numerous trips by her throughout the day? No, don't be silly. The next day, same pairing. About 11 one of the nurses lets me know she has reassigned my student, per the students request. did my student talk to me on this day? No. Don't be silly. Instead she goes to the nurse on her unit, thankfully the nurse was on her unit. Then this nurse goes to the DON for guidance. All bypassed the instructor in this case. So I will sure to say, "if you have a problem with your unit, preceptor. any staff, etc. please talk to myself during your clinical time." I will admit I need to keep reminding myself--this is all new to my students. They do not live, breathe, and eat classroom/lab/and clinical time.--to be continued
Staff: Please note that I love my clinical sites. I truly do! Without them, my students would have an incomplete education. It is part of the rules and regulations for students to participate in clinical education in the Nurse Aide, Nursing, and Medical Assistant programs, along with the other health disciplines. Much as a teacher cannot begin teaching without some sort of practical education, a caregiver cannot give care without some sort of practical education. What always intrigues me is how staff treat my students. Here is potential new staff member, right at your door way. Knocking and waiting patiently to gain admittance. Not all of my students will want to work at their clinical site, but quite often they want to start out here. They have a general idea of the ebb and flow of the facility. A general knowledge of the staff and residents. For my nurse aides, they complete 3 days of time in the facility, and I try to keep them on the same unit each time. They will almost always rotate staff, but at least being in the same wing of the building will help them get used to the milieu. I cannot count the number of times that I have had a student report to me, and in some cases staff, that the staff member does not want to train a student. A very interesting phenomenon--often when i am in the break room during lunch or in my travels, I hear these very same staff members complain about being short-staffed. The staff member will complain in one breath about needing help and in the very next about how awful it is to have students present. Now I am not immune to the problems, and dare I say, drama that can come with students. But then on the other hand there are also often really good students. Those who jump in on day 1 and get the most for their money. They are eager to learn and eager to be productive. Sadly, these are quite often the ones i pair with those reluctant staff. i generally do not know both of these facts until a few hours into the day, and often not until much later. In an ideal world, these 2 adults, and I use that term loosely, would work out their own problems. They would find a way to get along. They would relies they can work together to solve a very big problem--that of being short-staffed. The way I view this, and so do many of my colleagues, the student is essentially on an extended interview. Quite often the student has not worked in healthcare, so they are a sponge waiting to soak up all that they can. And they are ripe for teaching, most of the time. Now I am not naive enough to think that the students will all be fabulous and wonderful. Jumping right in to help. Doing things correctly from the beginning. Communicating well with their preceptor and others. This would be an unrealistic world for the best of circumstances. Even when I have students who are working in an agency where they are completing their clinicals they always have room to improve. and they have routines and tips and tricks to learn from the staff. I would so love to be able to point out to the staff, without be sarcastic, mean, or sassy--here is a potential staff member, treat them well. But alas I fear that this would still not help. Maybe someday i will figure this out and find a way to have staff treat students in a friendly manner.
Students: I am not silly enough to think that my students will enter the clinical world perfectly. That they will be 100% prepared for their rotation. Or even that they will come prepared and ready to go body, mind, and spirit. The majority do come and full-fill this criteria. they are like a new sponge, ready to soak it all up. Ready to dive in to help. That being said, some day surprise me for sure! Take this last clinical group, by the 2nd half of the first day one was already having her CNA watch her while she performed tasks. In this case i was not really surprised based on how much of a go-getter this student was in the classroom. Then in this same group I had a personality conflict between a student and her preceptor. At the end of the day the student turned in her evaluation of her preceptor. She indicated that the preceptor was "not professional". Of course does this student say anything to me during my numerous trips by her throughout the day? No, don't be silly. The next day, same pairing. About 11 one of the nurses lets me know she has reassigned my student, per the students request. did my student talk to me on this day? No. Don't be silly. Instead she goes to the nurse on her unit, thankfully the nurse was on her unit. Then this nurse goes to the DON for guidance. All bypassed the instructor in this case. So I will sure to say, "if you have a problem with your unit, preceptor. any staff, etc. please talk to myself during your clinical time." I will admit I need to keep reminding myself--this is all new to my students. They do not live, breathe, and eat classroom/lab/and clinical time.--to be continued
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
And I am back--really must do this more often
I keep telling myself I will write on here. And obviously that has not happened. It has been a heck of a semester for me. We are just past mid-semester and screeching into spring break 2018. Yep 2018 already. In my time as an instructor I have learned a great deal--especially that I should expect the unexpected always! I have good days, bad days, odd days, and just days where I scratch my head and think "I don't get paid enough for this!" or "I get paid too much to be a babysitter!" But alas I do love what I do, I truly do. It is rewarding to see my students come in wide-eyed and curious. So full of potential. Some make it and some don't. Some leave the classroom with a great deal more than they expected and some leave thinking I have done them a disservice because I did not award them with an A for showing up.
So some funny things to park for later:
--when performing catheter care skills in nurse aide one does not need 6-8-or 10 washcloths! The skill really only requires 2 or 3 at the most, yet time after time so many of my students grab extras. I fear I am becoming jaded at times, or just needing to trust my gut more. I can certainly tell often when the student has no clue of what they are doing and they are trying to fake me out.
--I really need to make my own training videos for my nurse aide students. Alas, this is on my to-do list and of course skills will be changing in July. So maybe for next years goals I will get this done.
--even on a multiple-choice exam with obvious answers, sometimes things are not so obvious to the students. I have to laugh when I read the questions again and the answers and realize that the student missed the answer from not reading carefully--one student this year in my MA classes has consistently done this. She likes to argue her point with me, yet has failed to convince me she is correct and when she reads the question again she realizes she did not read carefully. And in nurse aide the exams have only one correct answer. If the student would simply read all choices and ask themselves "does this answer complete the question text?" Of course I do remember my own days as a student and have a sinking feeling that I was just like so many of my students.
--I am pretty sure I teach at the college level, yet this year I feel like I am on par with my sister who teaches first grade and my teacher who assists with preschool! So many times I have to catch myself, take a deep breath, count to 5 and then speak before I call someone a doodie head or just roll my eyes outloud.
--Despite this I do have success stories out there in MA and nurse aide. I have students successfully becoming nurses, rad techs, and other careers. I do have hope. Maybe it is just a sign of spring fever in myself also! So, until next time when I return with more thoughts to get out of my head and to help me keep on keeping on!
So some funny things to park for later:
--when performing catheter care skills in nurse aide one does not need 6-8-or 10 washcloths! The skill really only requires 2 or 3 at the most, yet time after time so many of my students grab extras. I fear I am becoming jaded at times, or just needing to trust my gut more. I can certainly tell often when the student has no clue of what they are doing and they are trying to fake me out.
--I really need to make my own training videos for my nurse aide students. Alas, this is on my to-do list and of course skills will be changing in July. So maybe for next years goals I will get this done.
--even on a multiple-choice exam with obvious answers, sometimes things are not so obvious to the students. I have to laugh when I read the questions again and the answers and realize that the student missed the answer from not reading carefully--one student this year in my MA classes has consistently done this. She likes to argue her point with me, yet has failed to convince me she is correct and when she reads the question again she realizes she did not read carefully. And in nurse aide the exams have only one correct answer. If the student would simply read all choices and ask themselves "does this answer complete the question text?" Of course I do remember my own days as a student and have a sinking feeling that I was just like so many of my students.
--I am pretty sure I teach at the college level, yet this year I feel like I am on par with my sister who teaches first grade and my teacher who assists with preschool! So many times I have to catch myself, take a deep breath, count to 5 and then speak before I call someone a doodie head or just roll my eyes outloud.
--Despite this I do have success stories out there in MA and nurse aide. I have students successfully becoming nurses, rad techs, and other careers. I do have hope. Maybe it is just a sign of spring fever in myself also! So, until next time when I return with more thoughts to get out of my head and to help me keep on keeping on!
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