A student refuses to take careof a patient
A student left a patient's room and was hard to locate because she refused to take care of that patient. How can I stop that type of behavior
Galit,
I am a nursing instructor myself, and am assuming you are talking about a clinical situation. It can be hard to be constantly aware of everything that is going on during clinicals (especially depends on the number of students you have).
It is important to begin to explain why these behaviors are inappropriate in the classroom setting. As a new student, the individual may still not have a good grasp on the legal implications of this, and other, specific scenarios.
There may be a legitimate reason; such as personally knowing the patient, the patient being abusive or acting out extremely towards the student (especially new students); or if the patient specifically asks for a different nurse (various reasons - cultural, age differences - many things can make patients feel uncomfortable with the nurse assigned to them). I would always assess the situation first be speaking alone with both the student and the patient to hear both sides of the story. If the stories correspond and do have what you as an instructor would consider legitimate reasoning, I recommend asking the charge nurse for help to reassign the student to a patient who might be more receptive to the student.
If the student is one whom you have had repeated issues with behavioral problems, attitudes, and unwillingness to truly care for patients (because we ALL have to take care of VERY difficult patients in the working world), I would individually counsel that student, meet with your program director if necessary, and ultimately decide if the student's actions call for a discussion in which you seriously help the student to explore if this is truly the field of work they would like to be in, or if their actions have been severe enough to serve as a dismissal from the program.
I hope this helps!
Amy
I would need more details, but when I was in school, if a student left a fellow student "patient" unattended, they received a zero for the day, and a private lecture. If you are talking about a real patient, that is grounds for student dismissal from the program. This should have been discussed prior to the student being put in a situation where they were in charge of a patient. -Jeanne
