What to do when someone lies and you get written up

[vjw59]

hi

Today was my daughters 2nd day in clinicals as an lpn student. I am a masters prepared RN so this upsets me terribly.

She was sitting in a conference room with another student. They were working on their charting and my daughter stated to the other student " I am so tired I worked everynight this week and school every day, I have to go to work after clinicals today , just shoot me:" A person who works for the clinical facility was in the room and went and told the instructor that my daughter said " if I have to take care of another old person just shoot me". The instructor wrote my daughter up, and would not even speak to the other student who was present. The other student stated the person in the room "smirked" as she left. My daughter is upset to say the least and so am I. Her character has been attacked and she cannot even defend herself. Why would the instructor do this and how does she get this write up removed. Personally I want to go in there I am so tired of hearing how horrible instructors are. This must be stopped. We as nurses need to stop this behavior.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

I am assuming your daughter is an adult, so she should follow the school procedure to challenge a grievance, I imagine. I would get the other student to write in their own words what happened and take it higher. Really it's "he said, she said", and there's no way to prove which way it happened, so I wouldn't think she'd have much luck but it's worth a try.

[caliotter3]

Point out to your daughter that all behavior is on display in the clinical facility and she should conduct herself with that thought in mind. If I were her, I would confront the person with the big mouth, but that would probably get her kicked out of school.

[2ndcareerchange]

I would also advise your daughter to keep her personal business out of school and clinical. None of those people are her friends, and if they are, they need to keep it formal and professional. This is the part of real life. People are catty and jealous, do not give them information they dont need. Hopefully she will learn from this and it will not effective her standing.

Good success to her!

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Maybe your daughter can request a meeting with the program director to explain her side of the story and state that another classmate was a witness to what really happened.

I think that the clinical instructor jumped the gun, but I also know that nursing programs are having difficulty obtaining and keeping clinical sites. She was probably afraid that if she did nothing, the school may lose their priviledges to allow students to go there. Not saying that this is right, but I see it happen often.

The reason why I would want a meeting with the director is because if the OP's daughter has to return to that same site and see the same person that exaggerated her comment, there may be more to come.

[latebloomer74, LPN]

The grievance process is a joke. They always side with the instructor. "Due Process" is not in their vocabulary. Sad but true.