Being late for classes in nursing program....

DayDreamin ER CRNP · Sep 4, 2010

I can only speak for myself and for my program. You probably wouldn't get kicked out of the program but you would have gotten chewed out for being late to class.

If you are late to clinical, that's another story. With my program, if you are late to clinical, you will mostly likely get a "U" for the day and you might get kicked out if you are late again. There is a guy in my OB clinical right now that was 10+ minutes late for our first day because he just didn't know where to go in that particular hospital. He got chewed out in private by the instructor that day for sure. He is a pretty smart student and a really nice guy too. He was about 5 minutes late for day 2 clinical. Her got a royal butt chewing and a warning that if he arrived late again he would fail the class. Yes, FAIL the class and have to retake it next semester. Is that harsh? Not from where I'm standing. There are 50 people that would LOVE to take his spot and won't be late for clinicals or classes.

As a student, I get really peeved at other students that continually arrive late to class. I get even more angry when those same students rattle their keys and have to step over everyone else to get to a seat. We do have one teacher that does not allow students to come in past about 3-5 minutes after class starts and she will make the students sit outside until the break before he/she is allowed into the classroom.

Truthfully, while YOU may not have suffered for being late, your late arrival is a distraction to the lecture so your classmates may have been the one to suffer. Nursing schools are professional programs - please treat them as such.

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allnurses Guide · Sep 4, 2010

Generally, as compared to most other fields of study, nursing school instructors, even if it's classroom vs clinical, are extremely intolerant of students being late to class. Sometimes, even if you don't suffer repercussions right away, an instructor can get an unfavorable impression of you whether fair or not. That translates into you not getting the benefit of the doubt if some future issue should come up.

As one who's always had to fight the tendency to be late, what I had to do was to get there 20 minutes early, especially on clinical days. Account for weather and traffic conditions. Whatever organizational skills you can muster to make lateness less likely (gas, lunch, clothes, kids, assignments) the night before-- you'll be glad you did. :)

dudette10, MSN, RN · Sep 4, 2010

I've noticed that people who are chronically late are just bad time managers. If you're late once in a blue moon, you probably have a very good reason. If you're late three times in one semester, you can't manage your own time, and I would have no sympathy if you're kicked out of class or clinical for the day. Depending on the instructor, you may indeed be kicked out.

A story that illustrates my "on time" POV: A domestic worker I have in my home is 10 minutes late every single day. I made the choice to not fire her on the spot after the third day in a row, but I told her I would increase her working day by one half hour (added to her arrival time, unpaid) so that I wouldn't have to rush. She whined and gave excuses, but I stood my ground and said she had a decision: be on time and get paid for all work, get fired the next time she was late, or come one half hour early unpaid.

Guess what? She took one half hour early unpaid, but she is still 10 minutes late every day. Because my needs as her employer are met, and I still get 20 minutes free, I'm fine with her being 10 minutes late everyday. But my jaw literally dropped when she chose that option!

caliotter3 · Sep 4, 2010

There were some people, one in particular who were always late for class, major late. I don't know why they bothered coming at all, most of the time. The one who was the biggest offender actually had the nerve to have a bad attitude about the fact that she was late. She felt that because she was already an LVN, that she was wasting her precious time to come to class on time and did not care one bit that she disrupted the class whenever she sauntered (yes, I meant that word) in and made noise getting herself situated. Although instructors commented about it, they never did anything about the situation. I lived an hour and a half away and also had a full time job but I managed to get to school very early, so I was not very impressed by having my time wasted when the instructors took time to deal with the late comers.

SarahWingrove196 · Sep 4, 2010

I don't go to Ivy Tech, but our professors will call you out on the spot if you're 30 seconds late to class. It's very embarrassing because you have to walk right back out and hover near the door to hear the lecture and try to pick out little bits and pieces. I always leave super early now, and just study if I'm too early. I always end up finding something else I have to do before I leave the house, like print notes or find a specific book, so I give myself big time cushions. Someone above said it's a huge distraction to other students when you're late- I totally agree. You could miss a test question because of someone coming in late, and that missed question could land you a 76 on a test you needed desperately to pass...you see where I'm going. Might not be that serious, but ya never know! We're being trained to be professionals, so I think that's the point.

texasmum · Sep 4, 2010

I totally agree with the previous post. Look at it this way. When you have a class that lasts for example from 9:00 to 9:50 - most students are there on time and ready to go. Then you have the few that come in late. They disrupt the class (even when they are trying to be inconspicuous) to get their seat, get their things out, settle etc. By this time it's 9:15. Then you have the students who will begin putting their things away by 9:40 waiting for the instructor to finish. That leaves a grand total of 25 minutes for a lecture -- not much time to get information across. Science and nursing classes are lots of information in a short amount of time as it is. If you get behind, you don't finish the information you need to before the end of the semester. If I were an instructor I would be very irritated. As a student - I am there to get the information and I am aggravated when students are late because it cuts into my instruction time. Once you start clinicals, it disrupts the whole shift change if you are late. Once in a great while is understandable. Everyone has emergencies. Other than that, it's unacceptable.

sherriberry1 · Sep 4, 2010

We get locked out until the first break and however long you are outside classroom is deducted from your hrs. Allowed to be out.

Thangbom321 · Sep 4, 2010

My RN program only allows 2 absents. If your late and the door is closed, you just missed out. They are trying to get you used to the rules that will be implemented later on when you become a RN. When your late, the other person can't go home, and you also mess up the "planed schedule" for the day. All I know is that i don't mess around with coming to class late and risking getting kicked out because of it. It took me some time and hard work to get here. I will try my best to keep my spot on the roster knowing that my school only accept 50 students every 6 months.

YzGyz

allnurses Guide · Sep 4, 2010

In my program, two tardies = an absence. Three absences = kicked out.

Learn to be early. It is NOT something that one has no control over.

Awright162 · Sep 6, 2010

Thanks for the responses.

cheska_rn, ASN, RN · Sep 7, 2010

In my school, if you are tardy (even once), the DON is notified. I am not sure what she does upon this notification -- my classmates and I are too scared to find out -- so we show up on time. :)