How to Handle a Nurse Who Doesn't Want a Student (LPN)

00:01 Speaking of awkward, sometimes your assigned nurse is not happy to have you during their shift.

00:08 Don't take this personally.

00:10 The nurse just may not have enough personal bandwidth to care for their patients and you.

00:17 The nurse may be having a bad day, didn't get sleep, maybe they're short staffed, or just have a really difficult patient load.

00:25 And honestly, they may just be behind on their work.

00:29 It happens. Again, don't take it personally.

00:33 It has more to do with what's going on with them, their workload that it really has to do with you as a person.

00:41 Keep in mind, students add workload of the nurse preceptors.

00:45 And they didn't get the extra pay for that.

00:48 If it does happen, this doesn't need to be a bad experience.

00:52 I know it's not fun, and it's a bummer for you as a student, but try to look at it from the perspective we just talked about.

01:00 As Nurse Faculty, this type of situation has come up more times than I would like.

01:07 Let me tell a story, when I took students to clinical.

01:10 I had an ICU nurse yelling from a patient room into the hall, when the charge nurses ask them if they want to take a student.

01:18 The charge was like, "Hey, Joe, do you want to take a student?" And the answer was, "Not really." And this nursing students were right behind me and heard the whole exchange.

01:30 It may be uncomfortable.

01:32 But I'm going to tell you how to prepare for this when it happens.

01:36 Here we go. You're gonna have to take the high road and have a better attitude and the nurses are assigned to.

01:43 Make sure you have a good attitude and you're patient.

01:47 Be intentional about looking for things you can do and offer to do them.

01:52 Even if it's not a direct clinical skill.

01:55 This could be getting another blanket for the patient, or filling up the patient's water if you know they're about to give some medications.

02:02 This allows you not to interrupt per se, but also helps out the nurse and the patient, and read the mood.

02:10 If the nurse starts seeming too relaxed throughout the shift once all that chaos comes down, use this time to ask questions be inquisitive.

02:20 You can even offer to round on the nurses patients when they're at lunch.

02:24 And that's an important point.

02:26 Give the nurse a break from you at lunch.

02:30 Here's another way to collaborate with faculty.

02:33 If there is a skill like giving medications, your faculty may be willing to go with you to the patient's room to give those meds.

02:41 Your faculty can ask the nurse if this would be something that would be helpful and you'll get to do a new skill and help your nurse.

02:49 The bottom line is like everything else.

02:53 Communication with your faculty and with your nurse can help transform that awkward situation into a positive experience for everyone involved.