Disaster in nursing school. Help!

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Jun 9, 2007

Gosh, I am SO sorry

What is worst, you seem to have no support from the school. That IS totally not fair and I would be just as depressed and angry.

Is there anyone else you can try contacting? Perhaps, many of your classmates can get together and call a meeting or talk to someone. Did anyone tape her? That would be a great idea as evidence believe it or not.

I guess the instructor has issues and has forgotten what it was like to be a student once. What a shame!

Good luck and keep your head up.

CTstudent · Jun 9, 2007

You guys can't sit back and let this woman fail you. You need to go through the chain of command. Do you know who all the teachers report to? Do you have a class president or representative? If so have them set a meeting and discuss this issue. If not a bunch of you can have the meeting at once. If that doesn't work take it to the next person above them. Good luck.

TazziRN, RN · Jun 9, 2007

The school should have a grievance process, find out what it is and follow it. If the entire class (or even a good portion of it) fails after previously doing so well, then it's going to be pretty obvious that it's a teacher problem, not a student problem. And the stuff about being able to pull her lecture info and test questions from anywhere she wants is nothing but a huge load of crapola. I guarantee you that is not true.

Major step here but you could even contact the body that accredits the school and they will check on things. It won't happen quickly, but the school would be notifed fairly quickly that there is a complaint filed and it will put them on notice.

eldragon · Jun 10, 2007

uncomfortable leaving it here.

elisabeth · Jun 10, 2007

If everyone is doing poorly on her exams then it is the exam and not the students causing the problems.

TazziRN, RN · Jun 10, 2007

Don't lose faith. I had a classmate who was treated unfairly and told she would not be allowed to graduate with the rest of us. She grieved it to a panel of fellow students and when the panel heard what the school's director had done their collective reaction was, "Are you serious??? Did you really think you could do this??"

No one, no governing body of any kind of licensure test, would test someone on stuff that hadn't been taught. It's unrealistic. You have a very good argument, and I would be willing to bet that you could even seek legal recourse for this. You would win without a fight.

GratefulHeart · Jun 10, 2007

The school should have a grievance process, find out what it is and follow it. If the entire class (or even a good portion of it) fails after previously doing so well, then it's going to be pretty obvious that it's a teacher problem, not a student problem. And the stuff about being able to pull her lecture info and test questions from anywhere she wants is nothing but a huge load of crapola. I guarantee you that is not true.
Major step here but you could even contact the body that accredits the school and they will check on things. It won't happen quickly, but the school would be notifed fairly quickly that there is a complaint filed and it will put them on notice.

I agree with this post. Use the appropriate method to file a grievance and then inform your classmates how to do so as well. There is power in numbers. Remember you all are paying for this education (or lack thereof!).

justme1972 · Jun 10, 2007

Don't lose faith. I had a classmate who was treated unfairly and told she would not be allowed to graduate with the rest of us. She grieved it to a panel of fellow students and when the panel heard what the school's director had done their collective reaction was, "Are you serious??? Did you really think you could do this??"
No one, no governing body of any kind of licensure test, would test someone on stuff that hadn't been taught. It's unrealistic. You have a very good argument, and I would be willing to bet that you could even seek legal recourse for this. You would win without a fight.

Tazzi, I couldn't agree with you more.

Grievence procedures are for anyone, pre-nursing or nursing. I have tons of posts on here about a Chemistry professor that would test us on math concepts that he had not reviewed at all, or would present the material at the start of class (long, very complex formulas), erase the board and pass out a test on it RIGHT THEN.

He also changed the rules frequently about test taking.

I went to the Dean and she backed me up 100%.

Remember, unless someone physically owns the school, everyone reports to someone.

puggymae · Jun 10, 2007

Your school should have an ombudsman to help you. Contact that person and tell them the situation. They will know the correct procedure to follow, and who to contact to complain. They should also attend any meetings with you as a witness to what was said on both sides.

It is not uncommon for new faculty to have delusions about their role in the program and about the amount of "power" that they possess. If you have a syllabus with objectives on it then that is the material that is to be taught. You cannot have a question on a test that has nothing to do with the objectives.

In a good nursing program every question from every test undergoes an item analysis - each question is evaluated for validity and reliability. After a couple of semesters you develop a pool of questions that are valid and reliable. At our school if 50% or more students get a question wrong that question is thrown out because it obviously wasn't a good question. Ask the ombudsman if am item analysis can be done on the test and the results shared with the students.

Your instructor is there to teach you how to be a nurse, you pay her for her services - just like you would pay someone to cut the grass - you are her employer - and she needs to be held accountable if she is not teaching you material that will help you pass NCLEX - that is what you are paying her to do. Good luck and keep us posted.

eldragon · Jun 10, 2007

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Puggymae, I will check into whether or not there is an ombudsman Tuesday. (Tomorrow we have a 13-hour clinical day).

I really appreciate the feedback.