Preceptor

So, the educator at work asked if I'd preceptor a nursing student for her practicum. I happily obliged. I met her for coffee yesterday and I think she will be good-seems very keen and bright and personable.
I like doing this kind of stuff though I think perhaps other seasoned nurses might think, who does she think she is? She just graduated 2 years ago and she's helping a 3rd year nursing student! But I feel that our educator wouldn't have asked me if she thought I'd not be good at it.
I hope that I do a good job. I'd really like honest feedback from this woman on how her learning experience is and what I could do to improve. Having a good preceptor can really break or make your practicum. Which leads me onto my ongoing thoughts of 'nurses eating their young', which is just another term for lateral violence. Why is it that nursing and nurses as caring professionals are often unsupportive towards their peers? I saw it as a student, where I was referred to as 'the student' and not by name, and was not always received with open arms when arriving on the floor. And working as a nurse, there have been many instances where I've seen it happen to others and towards me personally.
I think it would be an interesting research project. I've read some stuff that talks about nurses being traditionally undervalued, oppressed group and these groups will often turn in on themselves to deal with the stress and lack of power they feel. Like some immigrants to new places who form gangs to belong, but end up terrorizing other people. I've also read about healthcare being an incredibly hierarchical workplace where different levels of power are assigned depending upon your role-also leading to kicking the dog kind of behaviour. And always blamed is the stress, and high pressure work environment where as nurses we are responsible for people's lives. When doing research for a paper I wrote on nurses and addiction, some articles talked about nurses tending to be Type A personalities-perfectionist and not forgiving of mistakes-either our own or others, and there is also research reporting that nurses tend to internalize stress and their job-which would lead to higher stress and therefore presumably more irritability and taking stuff out on those around you. To be honest, I also think that a union environment adds to this-Mom, nevermind the comment you are about to make about I told you so. It can add to an us vs them atmosphere where it is someone else's fault that things aren't good-whether that's the actual management, health care system, government, patients, co-workers, the person who looked at us funny on the way to work. Blame is not helpful in dealing with healthcare-though it certainly seems to be what we do-as a society we blame the government for poor health care, as nurses we blame the doctor for poor medical decisions, the medical system blames the patients for their own poor health (if only people exercised, ate well, lowered their stress etc. they'd live longer and stop costing taxpayers money). Doctors blame nurses for under/overreporting concerns. Someone told me a Dr said she should go back to nursing school when this nurse called about a concern.
All this being said, I think it is our own responsibility to ensure that we create a safe, comfortable working place. And be aware enough of ourselves that we recognize when we are perpetuating this power imbalance-in whatever form it may be. I know that I have done this-questioning what others do and being snide about it. I do try to be positive and upbeat at work and to be supportive of others without being an unquestioning ninny, which can lead to, 'well, we've always doen it that way, why would we change it?' My big teeth-clenched, bite-my-tongue reaction honestly does happen when I feel that patient care and rights are not being respected. And if I feel that patients are not being treated with dignity and value. Not to say that I don't get annoyed when I have a personality conflict with another person-especially when dealing with someone who is in my view more rules oriented-I mean yes, rules are there for a reason, but shouldn't we consider the reason behind it? And I do like gossip. A lot. However, it is my professional responsibility to act as a professional-which means good, clear communication and thoughtfulness behind all my interactions at work.