Stick that grade where the sun don’t shine!

When I was in nursing school, I had to do a rotation on the medical/surgical floor. I had a nurse preceptor who gave no instructions to me. Basically go get report on your patients and away you go. During this time, I was 18. I was definitely needing some guidance. This mentor denied me opportunities to go to the OR where everyone else got to go see an operation. She told me I was slow. She told me I didn’t understand nursing. She told me she didn’t think I would pass the semester. I was heart broken. I was scared. I thought maybe this nurse was right about me. I stuck with it because I felt I had no choice. Somehow I made it through and this nurse did pass me through her clinical. My next rotation was mental health. My preceptor loved me! She gave me a letter of recommendation and said she hoped to see me apply there when I was finished school. How could I be graded so differently in two different areas of nursing? It all comes down to that teachers personal values and teaching skills. The second teacher spent time answering all of our questions. They genuinely believed in each student. They created an environment for learning. If you’re wondering what prompted the first teacher to judge me so harshly? It was because I would not get all my bed baths done on time. I would ask the patient if they wanted their bath, they would say “no, I just woke up” or “I have company, could you come back?” And as the decent human being I am, I would honor their wishes. My preceptor for med/surg was task oriented. I was taught to be patient oriented. I had a different skill set and a completely different set of values I was upholding. My last placement in nursing was 4 months in a longterm care facility. I was hired there before I finished my placement. I went on to work in other LTC facilities. It turns out, there is a place for a nurse like me. That nurse was really wrong about me. I passed my nursing exams the first try. I had the intelligence and the skills to make it.
The lesson in all this is, that one person’s judgement of you cannot be taken to heart. Everyone is judging you based on their own values and beliefs. If you are struggling to learn, ask for a different teacher or supervisor. Ask for a change. Always believe in yourself. And never let a bad teacher make you feel like an inept student.