College nursing dean messed up my career!!!

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I started my BSN nursing program in Aug. 2007 (fall semester) right after my father died in June things were going well. Nevertheless, the day before the spring classes started I was told by the dean (through email) not to come to my nursing classes and to change my schedule. I immediately, left home went to her office. I told her I did not want a change my schedule due to my age (38) and scholarships (time limits). She told me I would have to speak to the president of the Health Dept. I did and she told me to go to my nursing classes.

I later began to notice that the professors that had admired me the semester before were acting short & rude with me. Students began to notice and started to stay away from me. She later substituted for one professor and walked up to me while I was taking notes during a film and proceeded to scold me in front of the class. I went to her after class and tried to explain to her that I was just taking notes; which I offered to show to her. She rudely, said she was not interested. Yet, she still did not let up. Her secretary began to bother me making rude remarks whenever & wherever she saw me. One day she cornered me off in the hallway and told me if I had a problem come see her, she'll solve it, in a very cynical way. I got so tired I soon reported the secretary to human resources. During this same semester another professor (her best friend) gave me a B on a written assignment, later changed the grade to a C-. So, I went to her to talk about it she told me her colleagues said that she could do that is the class avg. was better than she thought it was going to be when she graded my paper.

With all this being said, I was already coming to class in below 0 weather in a car with no heat, my husband had just had a stroke, I was sleeping in the hospital every night while taking 17 credits, not to mention again my father had died a few months earlier. Nevertheless, I ended the semester with A's and B's. Lastly, summer came and because students knew I had problems with the faculty it opened doors to chaos with them. So, I withdrew from my classes that fall with 95 Cr. and only needed 120 Cr. She wrote me a couple of days later to tell me I was out of the nursing program. Believe me, to this day I have been trying to figure out why! What could I have done to her to make her go after me with a vengence.

I have now found other colleges and I do not get credit for none of my nursing credits. I am now accepted at Oral Roberts University and Bethune Cookman College but, I am scared. Now, I need to do 3 yrs at either college. And I owe 40 thousand dollars already. And these colleges are expensive. Do anyone have any advice. This is the first time I ever put this on paper and I feel the pain as I type. If anybody know anything about these colleges please advise. What should I do. Help, I feel disgraced!

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Your school must have an established grievance process -- have you filed a grievance? (Are you still eligible to do so, since you withdrew from your classes?)

Best wishes -- what an awful situation!

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I agree with the previous post, their should be a way to file a grievance and have your case heard before an unbiased party.

Another thing you may want to look into is a state/public college so you wont have to accumalate anymore debt by attending a private school. The nursing school that I will start this fall allows you to transfer previous nursing credits which would put you in an advance standing.

Just some thoughts.

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I did try and file a grievance but, every time I came for the paperwork they would say they were in the process of redoing the the grievance policy. I called the NY state dept. of Education but they wanted documentation on everything. I could not do it and manage my nursing classes too. I also sought a lawyer as I found out that this was not just limited to me. But, I could get no attorney to take my case. Lastly, may I ask, What college are you going to attend.

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Thanks, I think that is a great idea.

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I will attend Alfred State College in NY this fall. I started in a nursing program prior but did not complete due to personal reasons. A nurse friend of mine told me about the school and I called. I explained my situation and was able to test out of Nursing 1 and 2. I will start this fall with Nursing 3 and be done in two semesters. Granted, it's an ASN degree but my plan is to work as a RN and maybe find a hospital to cover the costt of going back for my BSN. They are still accepting applications for transfer nursing students if you are interested.

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Thanks, I will definitely call them.

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Can I ask what college this was? When I saw the NYS dept of education I realized it was here. If you don't want to say the name of the school I understand that as well but is it in the city or upstate?

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The college was Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. Just to let you know each cohart has 8 people and 6 failed the exit nursing exam.

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Specializes in Emergency Care.
I started my BSN nursing program in Aug. 2007 (fall semester) right after my father died in June things were going well. Nevertheless, the day before the spring classes started I was told by the dean (through email) not to come to my nursing classes and to change my schedule. I immediately, left home went to her office. I told her I did not want a change my schedule due to my age (38) and scholarships (time limits). She told me I would have to speak to the president of the Health Dept. I did and she told me to go to my nursing classes.

I later began to notice that the professors that had admired me the semester before were acting short & rude with me. Students began to notice and started to stay away from me. She later substituted for one professor and walked up to me while I was taking notes during a film and proceeded to scold me in front of the class. I went to her after class and tried to explain to her that I was just taking notes; which I offered to show to her. She rudely, said she was not interested. Yet, she still did not let up. Her secretary began to bother me making rude remarks whenever & wherever she saw me. One day she cornered me off in the hallway and told me if I had a problem come see her, she'll solve it, in a very cynical way. I got so tired I soon reported the secretary to human resources. During this same semester another professor (her best friend) gave me a B on a written assignment, later changed the grade to a C-. So, I went to her to talk about it she told me her colleagues said that she could do that is the class avg. was better than she thought it was going to be when she graded my paper.

I'm trying to "read more" into this story. There is a dynamic that has evolved at this school that turned the instructors against you. For devil's advocate, I'd like you to look at this dispute from the standpoint of the instructors you are having trouble with. You may very well be in the right here... but there is always two sides to these accounts.

Did you miss some classes due to your family tragedy? The number one reason for student atrition is "family emergencies". Medical problems would be second. Nursing programs are among the most competitive schools in the country and/or the world right now. Medical school classes are half empty these days, but for nursing schools there are 4-5 students waiting for every seat.

Another thing you might look at is did you take more time from the instructors than other students? The cold hard fact is if you are a "squeaky wheel", instructors will run from you.

Remember... I'm on your side... I just want you to look at this from a neutral perspective. I do wish you the best of luck in your career, but unlike the posts above, I want to dig a bit deeper and try to understand why the faculty has moved away from you.

Just some food for thought

Best,

Steve

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I appreciate that Steve. I actually never missed a day of classes but one. I myself believe that she and the president had some issues with a power struggle. The reason for this thought was that she told me to go to her and ask her if I could stay in the classes. In addition, she told me to tell her that she believe she has already told her that our classes were too small. And that she needed seats for 4 other people besides me. I told her that I did not feel comfortable breaking amenity between she and I, maybe she should tell the president herself. As far as the other professors, not all of them turned against me; Some actually warned me to just let her have her way. She even claim to me that some professors complained against me. When she did I went to the professors (3) I said to them if I have done any wrong I apologize but I did not know it. They all claim they was not aware of it as well. And one actually quit at the end of our clinical rotation and wished me luck. Please continue to pull information from me and share my story with others. You see I myself want to get to the bottom of this, so that it does not happen again in some other area of my life.

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wow! i read everything, and thats just wrong... and i dont know what to say. People are so messed up now a day!

I wish the best of luck to you!! Karma will take course sooner or later, so just live a wonderful life!

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