A surreal dismissal

[knot4me]

On March 19 (nine months till graduation!) I received official notification of my dismissal from the school of nursing for actions that allegedly occurred in early February. Since then, I have spoken to students and instructors of other programs in the area and they, like me, don't understand why I was dismissed and not reprimanded. The reasons the school gave me:

1. I left a med unattended with a patient. That's true, but the 5 rights of medication administration were correct. The pill was still in the vaccume pack when I returned with my instructor. (Do you pass meds unsupervised at your school?)

2. The clinical nursing instructor told my school instructor that I placed a child in a soiled bed and refused to change the sheets. This is an exaggeration of the highest degree. The sheets were rumpled and as soon as I was told that the hospital's support staff would not be in to change the bed, I did change the linens. The school instructor addressed this problem with me, and I acknowledged that anything to make the patient more comfortable is a nursing responsibility.

3. I was accused of using the patient's full name as the file name of an email attachment to the instructor. I used the patient's first name only and still have a copy of the sent mail on my computer which I showed at my appeal hearing. The date of this alleged incident was also wrong and I pointed out this discrepancy at my appeal as well.

Am I crazy or was the school looking for a way to get me out? The only error I committed is a STUDENT error--and I was a student! A student with a 3.98 GPA!

If anyone can explain why the school was justified, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

[MiaKeaRN]

I think you should definitely apply to a different program!

About your question with why did it take so long for them to dismiss you.....when something is escalated in my school, it goes up the chain of command from the instructor, then to 4 other levels prior to a final decision. From that final person (campus dean), if there is any question about what to do in that situation (which was probably the case with you) they then involve the nursing dean who is over 5 campuses.

We had someone dismissed from our program for failing the drug calc test and it took 3+ weeks for the dismissal, because it went all the way up to the main dean of nursing.

Good luck. :icon_hug:

[justme1972]

Thank you all for your comments, but I think I have to give more details so that you have a better understanding of my mistakes.

About the med--yes, I left the med unattended with a patient who was alone, because he didn't want to take it from a student nurse. I was 100% in charge of obtaining and dispensing the meds without supervision--just a vera-scan. Yes--I know that was a mistake and it was addressed by the instructor at the time (Feb 1).

About the bed--we were told at orientation to that hospital of the support staff's role. The child was in diapers and fed a very restricted diet thru a G-tube, so a "soiled" bed was an impossible occurrence.

About the name--I used the first name ONLY as the file name for an email attachment. (Not Cher, Madonna, or Prince). Throughout the care plan, I used only the initials. Also, being the anal-retentive person that I am, I BURNED all the paperwork that we were permitted to take from the hospital, so that the patient's info remained between myself and my instructor only. (Point of fact, I felt uncomfortable having access to that much info in hard copy in my home.) We repeatedly discussed patients in class using only their first name, so the standard was set before my email was submitted.

I KNOW that I made mistakes, but if they were severe enough to cause dismissal, why did it take the school over a month to act?

I've already been encouraged to apply for another nursing program by a past instructor who knows all the facts and my past academic record. She, like me, questions the school's timing of the dismissal--it was too late to be accepted for the fall programs of other schools.

I guess my real question is--since I admit to one mistake, but so adamantly defend myself for the other 2 accusations, should I pursue a career in nursing or is my sense of nursing skewed?

Ok..please, please, please...don't take this as a slam...what I am about to say next isn't meant to be.

Part of the challenge of nursing schools (and our high school graduates that are in our program are having the biggest challenge with this), is that the rules, are the rules, whether or not they make sense or not or whether or not they are reasonable.

The challenge that you may have, is not understanding fully, that many things in a hospital, there are simply no exceptions to some rules.

Even with ALL of the explanations in the world, the 'reason' for leaving the med by bedside is 100% irrelevant....meds are not to be left by bedside...period...we learned this in the first 6 weeks. It doesn't matter why he wouldn't take it. You should have went to your perceptor for that day and say, "He won't take it from a student nurse", and that would be that...nothing you can do about that. There is nothing your instructor could have said to you about that.

With the soiled linens...ALL hospitals have support staff. However, they are also not available all the time. Unless your hospital has a policy that states different (with mine, you can actually get written up for changing a bed...b/c of the union, the CNA's claim it can put them out of a job...whole different issue), if you see it, you are responsible for it.

You didn't know if it was going to be a few minutes or a few hours before the bed was changed, and especially if the child had been recently bathed, etc...you don't put a clean child into soiled sheets, and I agree with the other poster, "old" sheets are considered soiled.

The e-mail, I agree that the instructor over-reacted...but I still think it boils down to if other mistakes weren't made, that alone wouldn't have got you kicked out.

Life experience has alot to do with understanding this too. I am an older student and one of our high-school grads was told by an LPN to pass meds on the FIRST day of clinicals....I stopped her and said, "You need to go ask the instructor about that." she said, "she never said we couldn't" and I said, "She also never said we could, and considering we haven't started on meds, I'm 99.9% sure we aren't supposed to touch them."

Well, needless to say, she went off in a huff, and got in trouble for passing meds without asking.

Clinicals is where you put into practice everything that you have learned in class.....the elusive NCLEX hospital.

[nicki123]

I know how you feel. I was failed 2x in clinical. The nursing instructor used to make me wait by the med cart for an hour while she took all the other students for med pass, then she would come to me and tell me I was late and not prepared. She also would leave me out of discussions and told one of my friends "Why do you talk to her?"

Then, she told me I was passing and then failed me before the middle of the semester. She said I had pocca dotted underwear. This women was a witch. Then, I went to the school dean and they took her side. She lied and said none of those things happened.

Then, I went back again, and they set me up to fail my test out.

I know how you feel. These nursing instructors are wicked. They act so hateful. They love for students to fail. I do not think you should have left the med unattended, but I do not feel it is a reason for failure. We are students, that is how we learn.

[nicki123]

Go to another school. Thats what I am doing

[smk1, LPN]

The med issue requires a write up, the name in the chart is also inappropriate because of HIPAA, the soiled sheets issue is ridiculous. Failing a student over these 3 thins seems a bit too harsh. Remediation could have been done.

[MiaKeaRN]

If you apply to another program, please make sure you leave your school on somewhat gracious terms. Nursing instructors do get together for local organization meetings, etc. and you would hate to be labeled and have a bad attitude/reputation follow you. As hard as it might be, put some type of letter together to go into your file.....and leave the program on a positive note. Just my

[goodstudentnowRN]

I know how you feel. I was failed 2x in clinical. The nursing instructor used to make me wait by the med cart for an hour while she took all the other students for med pass, then she would come to me and tell me I was late and not prepared. She also would leave me out of discussions and told one of my friends "Why do you talk to her?"

Then, she told me I was passing and then failed me before the middle of the semester. She said I had pocca dotted underwear. This women was a witch. Then, I went to the school dean and they took her side. She lied and said none of those things happened.

Then, I went back again, and they set me up to fail my test out.

I know how you feel. These nursing instructors are wicked. They act so hateful. They love for students to fail. I do not think you should have left the med unattended, but I do not feel it is a reason for failure. We are students, that is how we learn.

I agree. They should not have failed you for that. I can assure you that their friends made worst mistakes and they are still in the program. Some of these instructors like to prove a point. My school is different. They work with you to do better. I just hate it when these instructors try to prove a point. What goes around comes around. I hope and pray that her conscience will be burdened by what she did to you. She should have called you in a meeting and put you on probation but should not have failed you. Apply to another school and please do not use their transcript. You will be sorry if you do.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

If you apply to another program, please make sure you leave your school on somewhat gracious terms. Nursing instructors do get together for local organization meetings, etc. and you would hate to be labeled and have a bad attitude/reputation follow you. As hard as it might be, put some type of letter together to go into your file.....and leave the program on a positive note. Just my

that's very true miakea, we have many nursing students from different school and the instructors all come and talk to each other and seem to know each other.. they laugh and talk together.. i see them passing each other in the halls and they say hello and ask how each other's kids are and vaction.... i'm really surprised because they are all so friendly , they all seem to know each other.... maybe they all know each other from doing clinicals in hospitals together.. i do know 2 teachers that went from one school to another and thats how they know each other.. and some work in my hospital as staff nurses... so yes be careful and leave on good terms .. because the instrctors all know each other