Skipping a rotation and still graduating?!?!?

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Specializes in CCRN, ED, Unit Manager.

I have a friend who could not get a clinical site because they all filled up (how did this happen??) so she is skipping our entire med surge rotation (our 2nd of 3, beginner intermediate advanced) and she still gets to graduate.

*****? Is this even possible under the rules and guidelines of the board of nursing and whoever else sets forth educational guidelines???

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

I don't know that states govern how many clinical hours students must have to graduate; I think the state governs how many clinical hours students must have to sit for the NCLEX. I'm not sure if all of that has any effect on approval/accreditation, but it sounds extremely shady.

It's possible your school has a abundance of hours and she can afford to miss a rotation? Or maybe the school is planning on lying about her hours? Or maybe she's screwing herself. I don't know. Interesting.

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Specializes in CCRN, ED, Unit Manager.

We have 16 clinical hours per week for four semesters, give or take.

She would be missing approximately 7-8 weeks of clinical time as a result.

The only things that bother me are:

1.) we lost a student last semester because she missed 4 clinical days when we are only allowed to miss 2

2.) how can an institution have students and then have nowhere to put them? very unprofessional

3.) Not only does she skip clinical, but she skips lecture too? What is the point of that? That means I have the capacity to fail and get thrown out but she gets a freebie, seems very odd.

4.) This isn't fair to her, either. We only get 16 months of training in an ADN program 8 months of that being med-surge) and she'll be missing on 2 months of that. She's going to be behind the curve, so to speak.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this. I looked at the Board of Registered Nursing (I'm in CA) and can't seem to pin down exactly how many hours an ADN program needs.

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Specializes in L&D.

Wow that sounds extremely odd!

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That is insane. If I were in her shoes, I would not sit back and take that. She is paying for an education and she should get what she paid for. I would feel very short changed. Never heard of such a thing.

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Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

Wow! It is the end if the world when we miss clinical because you have to make the tone up here (NC) at my school. We are required to have do many hours of real patient care experience, especially in med-surg! We do specialty rotations, such as ED, Oncology Clinic (Outpatient), Wound Care (inpatient and outpatient), L&D, Newborn Nursery/ NICU, Health Dept/ STD clinic, Pediatrics (Inpatient), OR, and ICU basically a whole lot of places and one of my instructors said that our program director had to advocate for our program in order to allow us to go to some of these places and get clinical time. Med-Surg rotations are our most detailed and lengthy, and must vital, because that the type of unit most new graduate nurses will be working as inexperienced, general, staff nurses, according an instructor.

In my program if you don't meet the clinical hour requirement, and can make it up, your gone! And our instructors are not ones to reschedule their time to do a make-up day because you felt bad. You must come and let them send you home, they are not so harsh as to make you stay when you are clearly sick, but they say it's better if they see you and send you home.

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I agree with the other poster. How did they run out of space? Unless other students failed the class in other semesters, and have to take it now. Even then, you would think they would account for this and have room.

Are you sure she gets to graduate, and not just "walk" with the class? This is crazy. If they accepted her into the program, where is her spot in the clinicals?!

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Sounds v. fishy to me. I'm guessing there's probably more to the story than the OP has been told.

OTOH, it is true that lots of schools will let you march if you are close to graduating but haven't met all the requirements; however, you don't actually graduate (as in get the degree) until you have completed all coursework and met all requirements.

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how do you know this story is true?

they might be letting her walk across the stage to "graduate" c her class, but she doesn't get the actual diploma until she makes up those hours.

or she might just be giving you a load of bull.

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