Staff Surprises
I have heard of extern scomplain that the managers or the staff do not know what they are doing, they are cranky, only allows them to file but I seldom hear from externs saying that they are appreciative of the time staff spends with them to teach them new skills.
Students should remember that these people are busy. They are good enough to accomodate these students even on their busy schedules.
I always remind my student sbefore they go to externship to always thank the people training them for their time. Be helpful in any small way they can help.
Judy, creating a way to have a real conversation about this topic is important.
Michele Deck
I agree, this is something we do with our clinical students every other Friday when they are on campus. It also helps them to know what should be addressed with authorities and what is just "not best standard of practice".
Loretta, I named it that so that both positive and negative behaviors can be discussed in a non-threatening environment.
Michele Deck
We have been telling our students what we expect and that what they see in the "real world" is not always the best way to do something. I really like the name of this - staff suprises. It helps put a positive spin on a necessary part of being the teacher in a clinical setting.
I really like this concept. Our students are sometmes hesitant to bring up things they heard or saw at their preceptorship. This gives us a great tool to utilize in the class without finger pointing or being derogative toward a clinical site. We could discuss as a class what may have been a completely normal event that looked or seemed out of place to the student. Great ideas!
David, I agree that we must way each and every staff story and make it a teaching opportunity.
Michele Deck
You may learn a better way of doing something.Just because it's not(text book)does'nt allways mean it's wrong.Thats the good thing that comes from after clinical confrences is answering the questions about staff surprises.Sometimes you may find something you may want to impliment ,then again that's also the time to explain it's not the way it should have been done if done incorrectly.
I try to remind my students that they are there at the discretion of the doctor and his staff and they are there to learn not judge. not all facilities will do things the same way.
Karmle, there is more than one correct way to do a procedure.
Michele Deck
I, too, remind my students that they may see procedures done differently than what they were taught. I suggest they observe and remember for future discussions and to never correct an employee.
Deidra, we must tread lightly with staff and I think the example you have given here is an effective one.
Michele Deck
I agree, not all the time will you have positive time on your clinical rotation or externship. I like the staff surprise ideal. This way when you have a group of people at a site all the student can hear what happen in the other student day. I like for my student to give an example of what skills they perform, what they like about their day, and what they disliked about their day. This other can see what the other student day for the day. If we are this site for week at a time may the other student will see or have the same experience as the other student did.
Traci, this is a terrific approach and perspective to give your students.
Michele Deck
I am able to schedule five college's of Nursing for their clinicals at my campus. It can get very busy when we have up to 5 different Nursing colleges here on one day. But I have taught our assocaites to view having student nurses as a blessing. They are able to make a difference in the education of these young nurses. I also have the chance to teach theory and clinical. So I make sure that when we are in postconference discussing the good and the bad of "Staff Surprises" that my students view each "staff surprise" as a learning experience for themselves. In a positive way. We are all human yes, but sometimes seeing a seasoned nurse make a mistake will allow the young nurse to see that you should never let your guard down as a nurse. You are dealing with human lives.
I love the idea of having the students or interns write their questions down. I am going to use this in the clinical setting where I teach. Thank you.
WENDY, I like your cake analogy and will use it.
Michele Deck
Staff surprises often catch me off guard too as the instructor. It is very difficult for me to hear that the standard of care is not always being delivered especially by healtcare professionals that know better. So the exercise used for staff surprises is a great tool to weed out the acceptable and nonacceptable behaviors.
We are always getting the stories that we didn't learn to do it like that. My favorite line during discussion is that "There is two ways to bake a cake-from scratch or from a box". "You can still bake a great cake." The results can be the same even when two people take a different approach.
Our clinical practice is always on site in our dental hygiene clinic, but we do experience some of the same challenges with instructor calibration and/or students perceptions of what an instructor has said.
Usually, if we ask more questions from the student as to their understanding of what the other instructor told them, we find that the differences are less substantive and more perceptual in nature. It just takes lots of communication and clarification between all of us.
I agree with Grace. We all have busy and/or bad days, but if for whatever reason you can't adequately precept, then don't. There's some great preceptors out there, but there's also those that should not be out there training newcomers, whether it be due to their bad attitude, incompetence, or just plain unwillingness to give their time. On the other hand, when someone is a great preceptor, it is such a good experience for the student, and they do notice and comment on it extensively.
