Discrimination in assigning clinicals

[HypoCarboCrasho]

I decided to go to school in my 40s and recently graduated from a large public university. My cohort, overwhelmingly women in their 20s, was friendly and the workload was ghastly when stacked on top of single parenting and hands-on caregiving for a disabled parent. Since graduating I have learned that older students in my program, myself included, were much more likely to wind up with the least desirable clinical rotations. Regardless of family responsibilities - long commutes, weekend schedules, mediocre facilities, and preceptors with a history of mistreating students. 

This is not so with the younger students who seemed to have priority - local, reputable facilities and quality preceptors. I was shocked to hear one describe the all the support she had in getting through a tough rotation. When I sought help, I got a professor who basically said "suck it up, buttercup," then complained about herself getting old. I'm older than she is. Professors in my program often self-referenced their age in negative ways that added nothing to lectures. 

What I am wondering is whether I should say something about what seems like age discrimination in clinical assignments? I've thought about submitting something to the school's bias response people or the Office of Civil Rights, but have also thought maybe I'm just not seeing things right. I know there are four of us - how many makes a pattern, anyhow? Now that I've graduated, the smart thing is to move on. Let it go.

But I can not stop thinking about the indifference towards older students and the extra load they already carry. I still feel sad when my kids talk about all the weekends they spent alone. I regret pawning off caregiving for my parent in an unfair way since I had to spend so much time commuting. I am not sure school was worth the personal cost.

 

[ponderingDNP]

The time to speak up was during the discrimination. They can easily deny it now because the evidence (you) is no longer there. When I was met with discrimination in nursing school years ago, I received the 'inability to accept constructive criticism' routine.  
 

I was graded poorly on my uniform even though it was blindingly white with creases that would make it stand on its own, while my rotation partner's uniform was practically yellow without having met an iron. She passed inspection with flying colors.

 Ahhhh!! So this is the game we play when people in power abuses it. You'll soon find that nursing is not all that indifferent when it comes to assignments. Pick your battles wisely. Determine if the fight is worth it. Most of the time, you'll stand alone while others sit and wait to catch up with you to find out what the outcome was. 

[HypoCarboCrasho]

Sounds like you had a real peach. I lost points for being unprofessional due to my poor posture while doing notes. But, I get to move on while she lives life confined by her own pettiness. Hopefully you did, too. The negativity can be tenacious. Students are vulnerable and I don't understand instructors who find punching down to be more rewarding than lifting up.

Apart from subjectively terrible teachers, I think system is objectively discriminatory - like if you mapped  the placements, older students seem to wind up on the periphery. There sure does not seem to be recognition that setting up obstacles that affect a specific group is hardly equal opportunity, much less equitable.

I hear you on playing the game though. I know the importance of networking towards a job where people enjoy their work more than politics. Also of keeping my head down since I have a number that makes me stand out among newbies.

[ponderingDNP]

Oh, I most definitely succeeded in my struggles....so much so that I even had the opportunity to say "look at me now" without opening my mouth. A couple of years ago, the nurse that received favor in the eyes of the instructor is still an LPN working the same low-paying job. She, however, is not now nor ever has been the problem. But I have to wonder if the lack of "attention" from the instructor contributed to her lack of desire to improve/succeed/soar to higher levels. Then again, she may be completely satisfied with her life as it is. 

As for my instructor, I 'heard' that a year after I graduated from that brutal LPN program, her husband committed suicide and she went downhill from there.

As for discriminating assignments on the job, I can say that I don't recall this practice until I became an RN. By then, I had grown professionally as an LPN and grown personally as a responsible adult. So, I learned a lot of patience, prioritization, and how to maneuver through the manure in such a way that had kept the powers-that-be scratching their heads. So, I can count my battles on one hand...even though a classroom filled with two-handed people would still not cover the number of opportunities for battle.

Some of the problems that management 'tries' to put on us actually belongs to them. Once you are able to discern the two and redirect professionally, they'll stop pitching the ball when they see you standing there with a bat ready for the homerun because they don't know whether or not your going to let it slide or knock it out of the ball park. What they do know is whether or not they are trying to pitch a foul ball.....that's cause for pause.🤣