AIBU about a colleagues comments?

[Mumofyoungteenagers]

I work in the 'care sector' and I am a trainer. Recently I have been giving First Aid basic response training and generally it's going very well. I give training on all aspects, CPR, drowning, scalds, heart attacks, recovery position etc (you get the picture) I emphasise that this isn't just for the people we care for, but for colleagues and family members (or anyone really that may need emergency first aid).

I always ask for participants to complete an evaluation form at the end and ask for constructive feedback. Most people rate it from good to excellent and point out what they liked best etc. I always read them and take any feedback on board and improve if anybody points any out anything they felt could be improved. The nurses who have done the courses have all said they felt it was a brilliant course.

One colleague however who also happens to be my office sharer has left what I consider quite a rude and unconstructive comment. Basically saying it was too much information for people when there are nurses in the building and they'd "expect them to do perform the first aid" the tone was very dismissive and these forms form part of my yearly appraisal for validation as a certified trainer. I spoke to a manager who read the comment who just said "how rude!"

Obviously First Aid can be a matter of life and death and I do include how to help children and babies as we may have them visiting the premises and I know a lots of staff, including this colleague have young children and babies.

AIBU to consider this as rude? Should I just ignore it? The person can be kind of control freak unapproachable? I am not sure how to deal with it. I tend to ask people if they have been less than happy with their training and use their comments to better my training but everyone else has said it's the best First Aid training they've ever had (not my words, theirs!)

[ElspethFlashman]

Ignore it.

The person is not critiquing you.

[4yoniD]

I had a highly inappropriate appraisal form returned for me and (successfully) asked for it to be excluded from my appraisal

Since it sounds like she is complaining about being on the course in the first place rather than your teaching, could you try that?

Otherwise ignore, ignore, ignore.

[228agreenend]

If your manager has seen it and dismissed the comments as rude, then I would leave it. One bad review amongst several good reviews will not make any difference. Maybe re-read her comments to see if there is anything you can take from them, positive or negative.

As you said, the first iAd is not just for work, but for everyday life. Maybe write out a response and attach it to her review. Respond to their criticisms. Therefore, if your appraisal,examiner sees the review, he/she can also,see your response.

[ThreeLeggedHaggis]

That doesn't sound rude or unconstructive at all. She felt the course was too in-depth for her position and wouldn't be relevant to her work life. That's the kind of feedback MOST relevant to the organisation paying for/arranging the training.

Let it go and definitely don't approach her about it. She did nothing wrong.

[gettingbacktoresearch]

I work in a building full of nurses but am still the first aider! I know in reality they would jump to help but first aid skills are an essential skill that I think everyone should have and DD age 7 has even been doing it in Beavers!

[TheMonkeyandthePlywoodViolin]

These forms are terrible. You feel you have to write nice stuff even if the course was dire. Awkward.

[Damselindestress]

I wouldn't approach her about it but I do think what she said was silly. Imagine thinking she doesn't need to know that sort of stuff because she works with nurses, what if they weren't in the immediate area when something happened and she needed to help someone until they got there? And it could be helpful in her home life too, first aid is always a useful skill. I don't see her problem. Don't take it personally though, it wasn't aimed at you specifically, she thinks the training in general is unnecessary. It sounds like your manager dismissed her comment and everyone else was complimentary.

[harderandharder2breathe]

Just let it go. You and your manager choose what feedback needs to be applied.

I had feedback from a customer that said I was rubbish because I hadn't done something that was far beyond my job, regulations don't allow me to do, my company doesn't do at all, and she would need to go and pay someone to do. Yes it's annoying but nobody is taking her moan seriously!

I've always wished first aid focused more on very minor injuries, which are 99% of first aid!

[2014newme]

I hate those happy sheets. They should be anonymous though so you don't know who said what.
If you have nurses onsite I can see why people think the course is too detailed and that drowning is unlikely to happen in the workplace.

[MichaelSheensNextDW]

Drowning is an all-too-real risk in the care sector, 2014newme, when you're managing people with cognitive and physical impairments in a bath.

[haveacupoftea]

It's not your fault she couldn't be added doing the course. It would be unprofessional to approach her about it though. I manage a small team of 5 and they're asked for 360 feedback yearly as part of the appraisal process. It does annoy me slightly that people who have no idea how to do my job, and often seem to go out of their way to make it difficult, are invited to critique me on it. But hey, such is life.

[haveacupoftea]

Arsed not added. Shitty autocorrect.

[alicemalice]

It doesn't sound that rude to me. Just her opinion.

[MichaelSheensNextDW]

OP - I would ask that your manager feeds back to this colleague that s/he is missing the point that in the time taken to find a nurse, who may be in a situation they cannot leave, or in the loo, or out having a fag or whatever, a patient/resident could die or experience avoidable harm. That the first aid role is to deal appropriately with the immediate scenario they've found AND get help.
And she should be asked to reflect on what happens if the nurse on duty is the one who has had an accident/seizure/anaphylaxis etc.

[NotAMammy]

I felt very empowered when I did first aid training, but I know others feel like they take on a lot of responsibility if they have it. It might just be that this person doesn't like the idea of being responsible for first aid, would rather not know it and would rather someone 'more competent' is there to do it. Almost like if they have the training then they have to step up in an emergency instead of leaving it to the 'grown ups.' It's very short sighted of them, but nothing you can do about it. Best ignore it and focus on the constructive comments.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

"Basically saying it was too much information for people when there are nurses in the building and they'd "expect them to do perform the first aid" "
So actually no criticism of you or your course, just blatantly saying that they have no intention of giving First Aid, they're going to leave it to the nurses.

Maybe that form should be part of her appraisal, not yours.

[2014newme]

Ah OK drowning is important then yes! Hadn't realised you were bathing people!

[honeyroar]

She just sounds as though she didn't want to do the course and thought it would be a waste of her time, even before she arrived. It's not a reflection on your delivery of the course, or you personally. It's just her opinion, it doesn't matter, all your other feedback was good..

[honeyroar]

PS, if I've given negative feedback about a work course I usually say the trainers were good and tried to make the subject interesting, BUT... Then comment on the course and why it wasn't necessary or useful. I can't think why someone would grumble about learning first aid though, it's useful everywhere.

[Whereismumhiding2]

She's just being mardy and "that's not in my job description".

I'd just take note of her attitude, as has your manager, and forget it, if i were you. You can't please everyone . Maybe she'll thank you in years to come if she actually saves the life of a family member of hers, due to your training course!

There's always a mardy mare or mardy manchild in training courses, you've just found one of them easily. .. She outed herself!

[twattymctwatterson]

There doesn't seem to be any criticism of you there at all. It's her personal opinion of the need for the course. If you're giving out those forms at the end of the training you really need to be prepared for the fact that the training you are giving isn't going to land perfectly with everyone. YWBVU to tackle anyone who doesn't give you glowing feedback.

[Atlanticblue76]

One negative feedback form doesn't mean the course is bad. However, in your position I would acknowledge it (just to myself) and if any other people have the same feedback look at the course content. It sounds a bit like you don't want to be criticised to be honest.
I've given negative feedback in a really negative way about courses before, one that sticks in my mind particularly was a whole day course and consisted of over 100 pages of PowerPoint!! No discussion time or practical exercises at all! They also had really monotone voices and it was very hard to stay awake! It was such a shame because it was a fascinating subject!! Now I'm sure, the trainers (who wrote the course) worked extremely hard on it and thought they had done a great job. However, i couldn't give them positive feedback because I switched off by page 5 but someone who learns in a theoretical way might have given them top marks.

[Madwoman5]

99% good 1% negative. Annoying but statistically irrelevant.

[Batteriesallgone]

Let's be honest the nurses are probably giving glowing reviews because for them the course is probably easy and a nice break. People give good reviews to courses they find easy - particularly if it's a sit down break from a busy job - whether the trainer was any good or not.

Your colleague wasn't being rude. She has a point. In offices, there's only one first aider to X number of people, if she feels the nurses provide an adequate ratio cover of first aiders to non-first aiders she might be right. We don't know how risky your workplace is.