argument with my ignorant nursing instructor!

HelloNurse

HelloNurse

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so the other day we were having a lecture on cultural sensitivity in regards to nursing. she asked us to name some specific cultures we may encounter in the workplace. some people said "Hispanic", "African American", etc.. i said "Deaf!", and then my teacher looked at me like i was retarded and preceded to say no no, that is not a culture that is a disability. i read back to her the definition of culture in our book that was something along the lines of "the shared characteristics, beliefs and practices of a certain racial, religious or social group"
then i kind of got annoyed with her and gave her attitude and told her Deaf people do have their own unique culture and maybe she should google it later. haha..

later we were talking about things we can do to help accommodate peoples different cultures, like respecting dietary preferences, knowing whether or not someone prefers direct eye contact, etc.. someone brought up using a translator for spanish speaking patients and the teacher said "very good! that is very important, because we can not depend on family members to translate due to privacy reasons and the fact that they may not know certain medical terminology and might know how to convey it back to the patient, as well as we do not know if they are actually telling them what we want them to say..
she continued and said that we have things called "blue phones" that will connect us with a spanish translator for immediate problems, as well as on call translators...

so, i asked what they have for Deaf people. again, i got the confused look. she said "most Deaf people know how to read lips, so its not really a problem." i told her that was a rude assumption, and that not all Deaf people can or want to read lips, and its very tiring, so even if they can a sick person probably doesnt really have the energy to do it and would really prefer an interpreter.. then she said "well, they can always write" i rolled my eyes and decided i was just going to give up and then someone else raised their hand and said that they worked in the ER and when Deaf patients came in they usually had a friend or family member with them to help interpret.

i was like "isnt that the same thing as the spanish people with family members!?!?!" if you are going to respect their culture and privacy you should do so for every patient that comes through the door! just because there is a greater hispanic population in this area as compared to Deaf, doesnt mean you should give any one culture more of an advantage over the other!!!"

she ended this whole conversation by saying, "well its not much of a problem, we do not even get many Deaf patients. I've never had one."

I thought to myself, "hmm I wonder why. you dont exactly make it an easy process for them.":roll:
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i was pretty enraged by this whole thing, and im pretty sure i am now the weirdo girl who interrupts class to talk about Deaf people.. haha. oh well i think its ridiculous.. have any of you had horrible hospitalization experiences?
 
2 things -

1.) yes, it is pretty bad that someone in her position still thinks this way, mostly out of ignorance. Hopefully she will look it up and educate herself. Might not be much help, though, because if deafness is listed officially as a disability, that is what she is going to call it.

2.) I can't remember how far along you are in school, if this is your first year or not in clinical...but be veeerrry veeeery careful about getting on the "wrong" side of clinical instructors. In my school, clinical is pass or fail, we have no test grades to back us up. Basically, clinical is not just about learning nursing skills, it is about making sure that we are 'safe' and know the rules about what to do and what not to do to keep patients safe. The instructor, if she or he decides she doesn't like you...well, there are a million things they can look at as "unsafe behavior" that they can get you tossed out for. Most times, they may see us do something we shouldn't and they let it go because we are students and they know we are nervous and going to make mistakes...but, if you get under their skin or they feel they are being undermined in any way, they may watch you more closely and look for things to get you on. Damn clinical instructors have way to much power, if you ask me.
 
Typical of the medical profession. Refer her to a couple of books on deaf culture. Or better yet, send her to this forum.:lol:
 
jenniifer said:
2 things -

1.) yes, it is pretty bad that someone in her position still thinks this way, mostly out of ignorance. Hopefully she will look it up and educate herself. Might not be much help, though, because if deafness is listed officially as a disability, that is what she is going to call it.

2.) I can't remember how far along you are in school, if this is your first year or not in clinical...but be veeerrry veeeery careful about getting on the "wrong" side of clinical instructors. In my school, clinical is pass or fail, we have no test grades to back us up. Basically, clinical is not just about learning nursing skills, it is about making sure that we are 'safe' and know the rules about what to do and what not to do to keep patients safe. The instructor, if she or he decides she doesn't like you...well, there are a million things they can look at as "unsafe behavior" that they can get you tossed out for. Most times, they may see us do something we shouldn't and they let it go because we are students and they know we are nervous and going to make mistakes...but, if you get under their skin or they feel they are being undermined in any way, they may watch you more closely and look for things to get you on. Damn clinical instructors have way to much power, if you ask me.
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yeah i am in clinical, and it is pass fail for us too.. ive learned my lesson on staying on instructors good side (i failed clinical once before without putting any patients in danger or doing anything really that warranted a failure.. but thats a whole new conversation.. lol) this teacher is not personally my clinical instructor, just the lecture instructor, but still, i know they all talk. thats why i bit my tongue, i could have made a bigger scene, but i didnt want to jeopardize myself over something she obviously doesnt care about as much as i do.

i suppose ill just try my best to change things when i am a nurse. i plan on getting my masters and bossing stupid people like that around. haha
 
HelloNurse said:
yeah i am in clinical, and it is pass fail for us too.. ive learned my lesson on staying on instructors good side (i failed clinical once before without putting any patients in danger or doing anything really that warranted a failure.. but thats a whole new conversation.. lol) this teacher is not personally my clinical instructor, just the lecture instructor, but still, i know they all talk. thats why i bit my tongue, i could have made a bigger scene, but i didnt want to jeopardize myself over something she obviously doesnt care about as much as i do.

i suppose ill just try my best to change things when i am a nurse. i plan on getting my masters and bossing stupid people like that around. haha
Click to expand...

Change begins with one person. You go girl.
 
wtff?!??! When you're in power one day, stomp her stomp her stomp her, just as Beowulf said.

And yes, she's lucky PFH isn't there. xD
 
The nursing instructor is not that far off. Many people go their whole life without running across a deaf person.
 
blank canvas said:
Seriously?
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Sure. Add up all those people: Those that were born deaf, those that became deaf thru accident/sickness, those became old and lose some of hearing. I would bet that the senior citizens take up most of the 10%.
 
Buffalo said:
Sure. Add up all those people: Those that were born deaf, those that became deaf thru accident/sickness, those became old and lose some of hearing. I would bet that the senior citizens take up most of the 10%.
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Interesting... good to know :ty:
 
Buffalo said:
Sure. Add up all those people: Those that were born deaf, those that became deaf thru accident/sickness, those became old and lose some of hearing. I would bet that the senior citizens take up most of the 10%.
Click to expand...
They take up at least 85% of the 10%.
 
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