medicgirl05 Posted April 20, 2013 Posted April 20, 2013 I have recently had quite a few students on my shifts, and I find that they cause an increase in my stress level. They are really great students, for the most part. I just find that on critical transports I am nervous with my students. I want them to learn and do skills, but at the same time allowing them to do things makes me nervous. I let them take vitals but I don't necessarily trust them so I take them again and feel a little guilty about it.I feel like I'm constantly battling wanting them to learn and my need for things to be done smoothly and efficiently. I get that sometimes it takes them a while to do things but it just makes me nervous. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me? How to just sit back and relax? Thanks!
island emt Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 Precepting on critical calls can be a mixed bag of do you trust them to provide important information to you, or do you verify the info to re-assure your self of the pt's actual status. If your pt's truly critical then you feel the need to be on the ball making the decisions and having a student in the process make it feel as you are delegating the responsibility. Don't have any easy solution to offer other than doing what you feel needs to be.
Roby777 Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I am a student who is currently doing clinicals. I take no offense when my preceptor double checks my work or outright ignores me when they have a job to do. I would not feel bad at all, I expect them to check my work, thats also how I learn. In terms of your anxiety, try explaining how things are going to go down prior to the shift, that way everyone knows their place. 1
MariB Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 When I was doing clinical, they trusted my vitals etc. By auscultation however they were hooked up to a monitor later. I would have preferred them to double check my work on all critical patients.
rock_shoes Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I have recently had quite a few students on my shifts, and I find that they cause an increase in my stress level. They are really great students, for the most part. I just find that on critical transports I am nervous with my students. I want them to learn and do skills, but at the same time allowing them to do things makes me nervous. I let them take vitals but I don't necessarily trust them so I take them again and feel a little guilty about it.I feel like I'm constantly battling wanting them to learn and my need for things to be done smoothly and efficiently. I get that sometimes it takes them a while to do things but it just makes me nervous. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me? How to just sit back and relax? Thanks! I would recommend focusing less on your students basic skills like vitals and more on their decision making process. Taking a set of vitals is EMT stuff. If they can't handle taking an accurate set of vitals forget the rest and boot them of your truck. What should make you nervous is if they fail to make timely and accurate patient care decisions. That's where a preceptor makes or breaks a student. Explore your student’s thought processes. Do they have errors in process, or knowledge base? Errors in process are where a good preceptor truly shines. When I was doing clinical, they trusted my vitals etc. By auscultation however they were hooked up to a monitor later. I would have preferred them to double check my work on all critical patients. You would have preferred your preceptor babysit you unnecessarily?
island emt Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 (edited) <p>I wasn't talking about taking vitals.</p> <p>My thought process was geared toward how are they accomplishing their assessment and differential diagnosis.</p> <p>are they able to quickly identify and formulate TX for critical life threatening illnesses.</p> <p>Are they correctly identifying and coming up with the appropriate treatments that the Pt needs.</p> <p> </p> <p>If they can't take a set of vitals , then they should be back in the classroom learning how.</p> Edited April 22, 2013 by island emt
Mateo_1387 Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Are you ready for students then? I do not mean any disrespect, but maybe you are not as comfortable with calls as you should be to have students riding with you. Is this possible? Also, what about them makes you nervous? Is it that they might make mistakes? Or maybe you are worried about something coming back on you? Maybe you could elaborate on what exactly stresses you out about it? Also, communication goes well with any relationship, professional or not. This can help you and the student figure out how things might need to go on a scene. Are they the new student, who needs pushing, or the more seasoned student that needs a safety net you may provide... ? Helping your students learn sometimes means they have to figure things out, slowly. You may be able to start an IV quickly, though the student may need longer to become used to the process (or maybe even the equipment your service uses). I really do not know how to make you more comfortable with having students. You were one, maybe some introspective reflection can help you in dealings with students. Only advice I can give about being able to step back is and relax is to take the right hand, place it on your right gluteus maximus, the left hand on the other, and SIT ! LOL 1
medicgirl05 Posted April 22, 2013 Author Posted April 22, 2013 Are you ready for students then? I do not mean any disrespect, but maybe you are not as comfortable with calls as you should be to have students riding with you. Is this possible? Also, what about them makes you nervous? Is it that they might make mistakes? Or maybe you are worried about something coming back on you? Maybe you could elaborate on what exactly stresses you out about it? Also, communication goes well with any relationship, professional or not. This can help you and the student figure out how things might need to go on a scene. Are they the new student, who needs pushing, or the more seasoned student that needs a safety net you may provide... ? Helping your students learn sometimes means they have to figure things out, slowly. You may be able to start an IV quickly, though the student may need longer to become used to the process (or maybe even the equipment your service uses). I really do not know how to make you more comfortable with having students. You were one, maybe some introspective reflection can help you in dealings with students. Only advice I can give about being able to step back is and relax is to take the right hand, place it on your right gluteus maximus, the left hand on the other, and SIT ! LOL I think it is mostly that I had really crappy preceptors for the most part. They rarely let me do anything and when I did they made me nervous. I don't want to be like that. I want my students to be able to interact with patients and perform skills. I also want the best patient care possible and I guess I haven't quite found the right balance. Another issue is that students come and ride with us for just one shift, as they usually ride with a busier service. They are required to do one shift with us though because we have longer transport times than other services in the area, allowing the student to actually see that we can help people, rather than just transporting them. Since I only have a student for one shift, by the time I get to know what they are capable of they are leaving. I may have a basic student one shift and a paramedic student the next.
MariB Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 I would recommend focusing less on your students basic skills like vitals and more on their decision making process. Taking a set of vitals is EMT stuff. If they can't handle taking an accurate set of vitals forget the rest and boot them of your truck. What should make you nervous is if they fail to make timely and accurate patient care decisions. That's where a preceptor makes or breaks a student. Explore your student’s thought processes. Do they have errors in process, or knowledge base? Errors in process are where a good preceptor truly shines. You would have preferred your preceptor babysit you unnecessarily? no I'm not saying that at all. But at the time I was a student and when it came to the patients best intrest it was up to the preceptor to make sure the pt was receiving the best care . I was perfectly capable of vitals etc, but as a student was I capable of making treatment decisions? I was there to learn and if that meant them double checking my work, I'm fine with it. It would have made me more comfortable. Students are released for clinical halfway through the program. Are they always ready?
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