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Nurses General Nursing

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Could somebody please help me, I have a real sticky situation. I have been asked to leave the LPN program I am in on Thursday due to the fact my math grade were not up to par, these were drop rates and ratios and proportions and things like that. My problem is that I have ADHD and the instructors are aware of this and I have tried really hard, I saw a tutor who found alot of anwers she mark wrong that were not, and we still had time until the end. I asked her if I could just write the formulas out on an index card so I could have them to refer to, since we could not use claculators yet. she said no, I offered to continue to work on them for extra credit and got a NO. The biggest problem was that we were just getting ready to get into pharmacology which I am very familar with, where we would be able to use calculators. She just would not let me try to prove myself in pharm. The actual math course had not ended yet, but if they were multiple choice questions then I would have done better. There were ones she marked wrong that looked like a decimal or my 3 looked like a 5.

During our clonical rotations at the hospital this instructor would never even come to see me, all the info I learned such as assessments besides what was taught in class I had to downloard forms from this page (this page is great) and pretty much teach myself.

Her last words to me were she could not arbitrarily change policy around for me which she has done for a student who just did not come in for a week and did not call in and just show up after losing 35 hours in the first week of Jan. the policy for that is a majority of the hours need to be made up in 1 month and at this time it still is not done. I apologize for the length of this post but I am so upset It has always been my dream to be a nurse, I am so upset because of this mistreatment, apparently if this course has an 82 percent pass rate on the boards the first try thet get a 10,000 grant, they did not get it last year, so she is trying to "weed out the people" she probably does not think can pass the boards. Just to let you I have a B in my FON and A&P, cna someone please advise the way to handle this, I tried to call the administrator of the school and he did not call me back nor did he call my counseler at the rehab center who paid for my tuition.

Can not go down without a fight! Someone please help!

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Do you have this documented on paper because this is a learning disability and I believe that if based on what you are saying is true, then that woman could be in trouble for this under the americans witrh disabilities act...if you have nothing documented then you may have a problem there.......another thing I have found is when there is no documentation on things like this....some instructors tend to use that to their advantage to make it tougher for people unfortunately....it's just the way things go.........

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Yes, the NJ Division of Vocational rehab has paid for this so my disability is well known, I also have some of the tests from math that the tutor and I went over. She let me do one procedure and that was a trch suction and the whole time she shook her head in disgust behind my back some of the students told me this afterward, I have alot of thing dates documented but the administrato of the school has not retunrd my call of my counslers call. I have cried for 2 days now, any suggetions?

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Since your disability is well documented you next step is to see a lawyer. Do this before you go to the school ombudsman. When I had problems, I went to the school grievance people who only told me to suck it up. So go to the lawyer first. I will be surprised to hear that a lawyer states you do not have a case under ADA. I can not believe that your instructor or the adm would conduct themselves in such a manner with somebody who is clearly covered under the law. Good luck to you.

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I will try but in the meantime I will be missing important hours, so you know of any nursing association for students that I can contact before I miss too much time

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Get a lawyer asap.

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Is there anyone who knows of one that can help me I am so upset I just got the mail and her letter said my average was a 64, still had 2 tests and the exam on the bottom she wrote "you are a unique individual" good luck in the future. Can you please tel me about your math tests were they multiple choice, the boards are and you can bring in a calculator.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I understand that the Americans With Disabilities Act allows for certain accomodations to enable students to meet their educational requirements, such as having more time to take tests. But I don't believe that it allows for those educational requirements to be changed to accomodate the student's disability.

If your program requires all students to calculate medication doses and drip rates by hand on tests, then I am pretty sure you will have to do the same, possibly with more time allowed to accomplish the task. In real life, when you are calculating a med dose or drip rate, you will not be given multiple choices. You must be able to reach the answer on your own "from scratch". For that reason, your school is wise to require that of students. Perhaps you could request more time to take your test, but asking for a multiple choice rather than a fill-in the blank test may not be within your rights or serve your best interests educationally.

I took NCLEX back in the paper and pencil days, when calculators were not allowed. I don't know if that rule has changed.

Best of luck to you.

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Thanks for your answer however the boards are all multipl choice and computerized and you may bring a calculator with you, so I guess some things have changed, I am not asking for my grade to be changed I am just asking to prove myself with Pharmacology, the math is only worth 10% of your pharm. grade and i am very good at pharm, I am familuar with alot of meds and the IV's are pretty much easy to do now, you do not need to do that kind of math, I spoke at length with an RN at the hospital I was doing my rotation at, I am just asking for a chance to prove that I can pass this class, thanks again

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

Whether or not IVs "are easy to do now", you are still responsible for knowing if the rate and dose are correct; we do indeed still have to do "that kind of math". I still calculate drip rates, dosages by weight, etc. It is not just knowing the drug, sorry.

That being said, we do use calculators. If your instructor is setting you up to fail (not checking in with you, showing disdain when you are being observed), that is a different thing. Keep a log of days and experiences, and write specific details of your problems. Write down her remarks verbatem and in quote marks.

Phone calls are easy to dodge, camping out in the office until you are heard makes you hard to ignore. Legal advice wouldn't hurt.

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I agree I do need to fully understand the math, I have been doing so much extra worksheets which I was told I could use for extra credit however she said no, remember also that the pharmacology course you can use calculators so that would have been my time to really get a chance to work those out and find out what I am missing. As far as the comments and lack of teaching during the clinicals I have those all documented and you are right since the principal who is her boss did not call me back my husband and I are going to the school monday morning, all I know is that I feel that the favoritism was awful, he would poll the students who felt the same way he would see, she did change policy as I stated above for the guy who did not show up for a week did not call and just showed up at our first day of a new clinical, according to him, he was depressed and thats why he was not there. The policy for attendance states you can only miss a certain amount of hours anything over 28 in a month needs to be made up in 1 month, that has not been done according to my conversation with him he only made up 2 hours, and that was the end of november, these are just some of the things that really get to me, this instructor is convinced that he will pass the boards, so she lets that go, there are a few others who have abused their time, nothing sadi due to her obsession of getting an 82% pass rate on the boards, if a student took the boards and failed the first time, that did not count, last year the class did not make it, mind you also this is really her first time running this program for a full year, she took it over last Jan. She does not think certain people will pass in her mind she has the percentage of who will, if they do not get that pass rate they have to have remedial help, before they can qualify for it

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Specializes in geriatrics,med/surg,vents.

I am sorry that you are going through all this stress,we need new nurses who are willing to work hard to get where they want to be and "weeding out" the ones who might not make it is not they way to help our profession.I know of two groups that have helped me and they both work with people with ADHD too.The first is The National Organization of Nurses with Disabilaties-NOND.com and the other is Exceptional Nurses at exceptionalnurse.com I'm sure they can help you.they were both big helps to me.

Good luck and let me know how you make out

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