Assertiveness is an important trait to have to be successful. Be careful on this one. Being too assertive can be seen to be aggressive. Being aggressive is not acceptable. This line is not difficult to draw if English is your mother tongue. However, if English is not your mother tongue then it is (generally speaking) is more difficult to understand when and where to stop. It is an expectation of Nursing Lecturers and Nursing Universities that you will submit progress reports every two weeks. Sometimes this will become difficult because you will have multiple preceptors and some preceptors will not know their role(s) well.
Dealing with preceptors is a difficult issue. Many preceptors do not have any formal training and are often asked to this extra responsibility without extra pay. Some feel that the extra responsibility is compensated for by the student because the student may be able to do some tasks with minimal supervision for the preceptor.
Be perceptive. (Be proactive) Call your lecturer early if you perceive that there will be a difficulty. Sometimes the way you are received or the way the clinical area perceives you is going to seal your fate. I agree that this is not a fair comment. Some of the most difficult problems have been when a student is literally ignored, and no feed back is given until the last day of an assessment. Then the student is not told that his/her performance was not up to expectations but is told that they will be given the report when it is completed. Then the student who has completed is documented to have had unsatisfactory performance. This is highly unsatisfactory on the part of the clinical area. It is usually due to the fact that clinical preceptors do not have an understanding of their role(s).
Preceptors are expected to take the student under their wing, coach, motivate and teach them procedures and practices as they are done in that institution. This sort of incident is more likely to occur if you are a minority, an extrovert, too young, too old or have English is your second language.
No institution allows bullying in the workplace. If you feel you are being bullied then you must let the bully know how you are feeling. You must let the person know exactly what he/she is doing that makes you feel bullied. Hopefully, it will not come back to haunt you. After you have let the bully know what she is doing, it is a good idea to let your lecturer and supervisor know of the ground reality. So, if the bully tries to give you a bad “evaluation” then the underlying reason will already be known to the “assessors”.
Role of Preceptors
Last but not least, many preceptors will say, “just ask anything which you do not understand”. Do not take this as god sent truth. The truth is that if you ask too many questions you will be perceived to be “not sure” of anything and everything. The opposite of this is when you do not ask any questions. If you do not ask questions then too the final report can be weighted against you. You will be perceived to “never asks questions”. So the balance is to ask some smart questions which leave a favorable impression. One of my colleagues said, “sometimes you have to kiss ____ “. I feel this a little unkind but the reality is close to it because many clinical nurses are not current in their practice but students have usually learned the latest interventions and techniques.
Accept Feedback Gracefully
If you do this your preceptor will be motivated to help you. If you criticize the feedback then you may be judged to be “defensive”. Always aim for a win win situation. Remember, in the win win situation all parties win. Many golden learning opportunities are lost due to attitudinal problems.
Give negative and positive feedback appropriately. It is better to say, “I felt uncomfortable when you did the wound care without giving the pain medication to the patient”. Never say, “You did the wound care without giving the pain medication to the patient”.
Clinical Competencies
Most universities require you to submit progress reports every two weeks. This is to help you to pass. Upon reading your preceptor's comments the University's Clinical Supervisor will give you some feedback. Hopefully it will be positive. If it is negative look at the suggestion (s) for improvement (s). Follow the recommendations diligently. You must be judged to be competent in the clinical area before you can move to the next level. Most universities do not like to fail you. Even if they do they will allow you to re-enroll and go through the unit again. The university gets your money twice.
Attendance Record
Universities and Clinical areas require you to keep a log of your participation in clinical care. This will show the exact hours you have completed in the clinical area. The number of hours you complete in each area will depend your level and year of training. If you do not complete the required number of hours you may not be eligible for registration.
If you have had a positive experience, felt supported and staff played a positive role in your education then a small box of chocolates is indicated. It is not an expectation but lets the staff know that they have done a good job. Hopefully they will repeat the behavior. Remember the cardinal law of behavior modification: Positive reinforcement reinforces a behavior. Punishment alienates! So practice reinforcing positive behaviors.
Good Luck and Best Wishes in nursing or any other career you choose. My thoughts will always be with you.
Your points are well taken. However, Human Beings have two brains therefore they are not able to decide on what is important etc.