Fast Track to NOWHERE!

A little disclaimer first:  Ok, so I know that not ALL fast track nursing students are like this, but here goes...........

The big mammoth, or so I have named him in my head, is going to be done following me at work by the end of my shift tomorrow.  Let me tell you why I call him the mammoth.  You know how in all the science fiction movies and history documentaries, they show mammoths from time to time?  I have always pictured them as these large, slow moving, low i.q., burly, and just blah....animals.  12 shifts ago, I was assigned an 8th semester nursing student from UTEP.  I normally LOVE having students, and was excited to be precepting for the first time since I have been in PICU.  I knew from the first phone call from the mammoth that this was going to be a LONG rotation.
So there is this new "fast track" program where you can get your nursing degree in about a year if you have a degree in another field.  This program is designed to graduate more nurses, and to get college graduates that their degree did not turn out, to have a chance to go into nursing.  However, most people that go through the fast track, just don't realize that you need to REALLY WANT to be a nurse through and through to do it.  It is kind of like being a teacher, you have to WANT and LOVE to teach to be successful and a good teacher.  Nursing is not all glitz and glamour, and you should NOT do it just for the money.  Trust me, we don't get paid enough for what I do.  It takes everything out of me to work in the PICU 100% of the time.
So back to the mammoth.  You know when you can just tell that someone is lazy over the phone by the tone of their voice?  I know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but we all make first impressions, and trust me, I was not looking forward to even the first meeting.  I tried several times to give the mammoth the benefit of the doubt, but I feel like I was just using way too much energy trying to make him want to care.  The mammoth was a "no show" the first day, and has been late just about everyday since.  He constantly sighs, grunts, and has the attitude like, "yeah I know all this, and you have nothing to teach me."
I love teaching, but I can't teach you to be self-motivated, and I can't teach you how to be a good learner.  On one hand, I feel like I should have been tougher on him, he may be my nurse one day.  But people like the mammoth know the short cuts, and know how to be lazy and make it work.  You know that person, that tries so hard looking busy doing actually NOTHING?  You think to yourself, if they would only spend half their energy doing something, that they spend trying to make it look like they are busy, they would get everything accomplished?

The mammoth is slow, unmotivated, always has a blank look on his face, and basically portrays that he is just annoyed with having to actually even be there.  I have even made comments that he needs to act like he wants to be here, and not like he is in detention.  I have long given up trying to waste any of my time and energy on him, and have just been counting down the final days I am stuck with him.  To my surprise, I actually found out that he has interest in working in our PICU.  Really?  Come on?  Seriously?  I think NOT.  Some people just don't get it.  Like a big, slow moving, blah, mammoth.

So he is on a fast track to nowhere.  And here's hoping not on the other side of my hospital bed or yours.