booted from program 3 weeks before graduation.

Published

I need help. I have spent 4 years in college, and in the nursing program, only to be told i was out of the program 3 weeks prior to graduation. The reasons for dismissal are bogus at best, and my precepter knows this, as well as the other professor present. My record show erroneous degratory information about me, and my grades are good, and so is all other things except this professor. At this point i feel she not only is ruining my life, costing me thousands of dollars that will be very hard to repay without a nursing job. I am a single mother with two children, so this was not an easy thing to do. What can i do about this? I am considering a lawyer if i can find one that will do it pro bono. Most everything this professor says is false, with no proof of any of the boggus filings in my record. Need help please. All this just happened today.

Thank you

I'd like to know what the bogus reasons were as well

The lawyer may get her some money but there is no way she will be able to graduate with all her classmates that she has been with for the last few years.

After she sues her school there is no way they will let her back in. If she does get back in her teachers will be on her more than any other student and bounce her out on her first minor in fraction. If she lives in a big enough city that there is another NS in the area that she can finish her last year, the new school will want all her transcripts and will talk to her past instructors who advise them not to accept her based on the bogus reasons as well as the court case. If there is any chance these bogus reasons are real even a little bit I'd suck it up and try to apply at a different school to finish my last year after I was accepted than I would sue the first school

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm with everyone else...what were the "bogus claims"?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MPH Student Fall/14, Emergency, Research.

Interesting.

In the university I attend, individual professors only have jurisdiction over their individual classes. It would not be in their jurisdiction to have students expelled from the university. I would be astounded if a single professor could just up and boot you from the program without a formal grievance process to the program faculty, chair, and board of directors, a process which would require considerable input from all concerned parties, and would certainly be open to appeal.

I suspect there is more to this story.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

How can the OP put up a thread asking for advice and literally offer no information for us to go on and not even come back to the thread to respond?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
How can the OP put up a thread asking for advice and literally offer no information for us to go on and not even come back to the thread to respond?

Well, it hasn't even been 24 hours, maybe she will come back. But I am not sure how anyone can help if she does not give any kind of details.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Sometimes it seems a lot of these types of posts aren't looking for help as much as commiseration and absolution (which usually does not come).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.
Like I said, there's something about your situation that sounds sketchy because you're leaving out info. or yo just had a personality clash with your instructor and "didn't want to hear it." Instead of crying "whoa is me" now, it sounds like a situation that could've been dealt with accordingly.

It's 3 weeks prior to graduation. Other than obviously heinous accusations about you, if you had any deficiencies that needed to be addressed, those would have shown up early on in your nursing classes/clinicals and would've been dealt with accordingly. For example, an excellent nursing student would not have statements like "needs to change poor attitude" placed in their records three weeks prior to graduation. Doesn't make sense. And if doesn't makke sense, it didn't happen.

Tyler, thank you for a well-written and thoughtful post. I will respectfully disagree with you, though, that any deficiencies that OP might have had would have been addressed earlier. In nursing education, there's a phenomenon called "Failure to fail", which means that some instructors are too inexperienced, too unsure of themselves, too "nice" to fail a student who is not performing up to standards. Sometimes the criteria for assessing student learning are ambiguous, open to subjective interpretation, and an instructor can either inflate grades unfairly or, conversely, grade a student too harshly. It is unfortunate and, in my opinion, heartbreaking, to allow a student to progress if he/she has a deficiency that is not being corrected. It's even worse when that student is not being made aware of the deficiency until the end of the program and the student is flunked out for unsafe practices in a clinical setting. A good instructor will provide constructive criticism that is meant to help the student improve. The not-so-good instructor will either be too "nice" to criticize the student or swing too far in the opposite direction and be intimidating and condemning in delivering criticism.

OP, I strongly urge you to exhaust all possibilities within your school system before you seek legal advice. First, look back at your previous performance in clinicals and then reflect on what has happened to you now. Is there any way that the problems that are cropping up were occurring in previous terms but no one said anything to you? Did you do something blatantly unsafe in the clinical setting or violate academic honesty? Be honest with yourself and if the blame does indeed lie with you, you may need to take the consequences. If, however, the case against you is based on heresay or a personality conflict with your instructor, you need to get that cleared up as well. Ask for a meeting with your instructor and the head of your program. Document what you have done and be able to defend yourself against any false claims. If it is a personality conflict or a case of the instructor being unfair, you may need to file a grievance with your school. Additionally, plead your case before the admission and progression committee at your school. It can make a difference!

If you have passed all previous coursework to get to this point and unless you did something incredibly wrong, like harm a patient in a clinical setting, show up for class or clinical impaired, or violated academic honesty codes, I don't understand why you would be out of the program rather than just out of the one class. Most schools do give students one opportunity to repeat a class that they have failed and, unless there's something you're not sharing here, you should be given that chance as well.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

Interested to see where this goes.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics.

Excellent post, Moogie. The 'failure to fail' is a big problem. I see it myself as an instructor. My biggest fear is that an instructor will say (of a student that I passed, and is now promoted to the next level), "how did you pass him?" Am I not a confident instructor? I sure am. But I have had students in my clinical pass, then end up failing the very next semester. Some may say that I should have failed them, others may say that the student met the requirements of my course (and did not meet the requirement of the next course, where the expectations were higher). Failing a student clincially is very subjective. If you are in a program where the clinical grade is 'pass' or 'fail', and one objective (of about 25 or 30) is not met, the student may fail the entire clinical component. When lateness is an objective and the student is late once, should he deserve to fail?

On the other hand, there are many times where the student is just not cutting it. You see they are having trouble applying theory to practice, they are not critically thinking, they are not assertive enough, too dependent on their classmates (or staff nurses) to solve problems. This person may end up passing clinical, because there may be no tangible proof of this (as the OP is alleging was the case with her, possibly). The above type of student may end up passing if the instructor does not have written evidence to support all this (because it is very subjective, depending on the objectives of the individual clinical course).

It is QUITE possible that the OP has been flying under the radar up until now.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I do understand what all of you are saying. This program is very quick to condemn somebody for something that has no proof. Here we are guilty until proven innocent. I have for two years discredited them on every single thing they have brought against me, but yet it is kept in my file even though there was no validity to it. It is like they have been after me all this time. I had my review two days prior to this happening, and it was a very good review. They also kicked six others out. The last graduating class was so bad that all of the people were on antidepressants. (no kidding) My mind is just whirling right now, and i will lay out more later. I have all ready got a lead on a lawyer, and am going to check with the State Board of Nursing, and also with the NLNAC. Something has got to be done about this program. As i stated, all of my test scores, and reviews have been good. My clinical's have been going well. I just don't understand what has happened. They are questioning my integrity, and honesty. Nothing wrong with critical thinking, or application. I have handled the 12 hour shifts well. I will not quit until this is resolved, and i will finish in another program. It is just a lot to do all at the same time.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg,.

This happend to one of my friends. She eventually went to another learning institution and is doing well. I met her years afterwards and could not advise her to seek free legal aid. Nurses are so mean to each other. They just are, research provides statistics which gives credit to the saying "nurses eat their young" not only do they eat their young they chew em up and spit them out.

To the OP, you better fight, fight hard and fight now, no time to waste. When all is said and done, remember you fought to be a part of an ever evolving fighting ring (Nursing).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

So wait this has been going on for two years and you are just now making a stink out of it......There has GOT to be something more. What exactly about your honesty are they questioning? Your integrity? I can see where inadequacy in both those areas would be grounds for dismissal

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion