Dismissed from my program less than a week before finals!!! Please Help!

tencat · Aug 28, 2009

Again with the excuses! Does the program director have a phone, voice mail, or e-mail? You could have called and left a message when she was not in the office. A ten minute window by policy or not should never have to be used. Just think if you planned on getting there 30 minutes early and something came up, like it did, you still would have been on time. You are just not getting it, the only reason you were dismissed was because of you. Not because you were being picked on and you could not track down the program director.

Wow. Ummm.......true we don't know the whole story, just OP's side, but we don't know for sure that it is her 'fault' that she got dismissed.....besides which, I don't recall her asking us to judge what happened, but just to offer some suggestions and some sympathy.....

Best of luck to the OP. Instructors (and employers, for that matter) can be unfair and choose to enforce policies for some and not others. It's not right, and it is worth pointing it out if you can document it...ie on August 2, Jane Doe wore crocs all day, on August 3 Ivanna Nurse was 15 minutes late....etc. But I wouldn't start my argument with this information. You do have to acknowledge that you did screw up, and show you are willing to be responsible for that.

TessaMae · Aug 28, 2009

Just curious but why didn't you were the shoes you brought with you instead of the crocs that you knew were not allowed?

I was dismissed from my LPN program today for clinical absences...
One clinical I was sent home because I was 5 minutes late...we are afforded, by school policy, a 10-minute window to be late before we are sent home, but my CI sent me home anyways because she "wanted to set an example" to the other students (she actually told me this)
Then today, I was sent home for wearing the wrong kind of shoes. The sneakers I normally wear had a heel that was literally falling off and the only other pair I had was some white Crocs...I wore them, hoping it would go unnoticed (there are tons of flagrant dress code violations in my clinical group that never get addressed so I didn't think it would be an issue) but had the other shoes with me just in case it was an issue. My instructor saw the Crocs and confronted me about it, and I explained the situation to her and immediately changed shoes (this was within an hour of starting the clinical day, I hadn't even hit the floor yet) but she called the program director and sent me home, which resulting in me absencing out of the program.
My program director actually told me that she would have overridden the first absence if I had approached her about it...I had planned on doing so but she is NEVER in her office and with everything else going on I sort of forgot about it. She says that because I signed the paper acknowledging that absence (which I thought I had no choice in, since I WAS technically absenst since I got sent home) her hands were tied and there was nothing she could do.
My last final is Monday...I have a 4.0 GPA in classroom and have gotten A's on all of my clinical paperwork and good evaluations, but if this goes through I'll have to wait until December and take the entire Mod over...and get zero credit for this Mod, clinical OR classroom (even though I've already taken the A&P final and gotten my final grade!!)
Has anyone been in this situation before?? Is there anything I can do to appeal this?? I'm still in schock right now...I've worked SO incredibly hard and made so many sacrifices, I cannot believe this is happening

cspink · Aug 28, 2009

Again with the excuses! Does the program director have a phone, voice mail, or e-mail? You could have called and left a message when she was not in the office. A ten minute window by policy or not should never have to be used. Just think if you planned on getting there 30 minutes early and something came up, like it did, you still would have been on time. You are just not getting it, the only reason you were dismissed was because of you. Not because you were being picked on and you could not track down the program director.

geez! i understand you are trying to state your opinion...BUT i'm sure that she did not share her story with us so that we can JUDGE her...i'm sure she wanted our SUPPORT..no need to make her feel even worst that what she is already feeling. If you have nothing positive to say..then dont say anything. Its one thing to want to give her your honest advise but your really being cruel with your posts...

btw, i do hope that your appeal goes well, keep your head up high and you will be in my thoughts....good luck!

MattiesMama · Aug 28, 2009

TessaMae-They were pretty much unwearable...the back of one of them was literally falling off, every time I took a step my heel would slip back and make the hole even bigger. I brought them with me more for "evidence" as to why I was wearing the crocs (although they weren't actually Crocs, for the record-they were rubber clogs that I actually bought at the nursing store in the beginning of the program, at which time they were acceptable-they changed the dress code at the end of my first Mod because people were showing up with all sorts of crazy footwear)

Sorry in reading my OP I should have clarified...the shoes I changed into belonged to one of my classmates, she had an extra pair in her car.

TessaMae · Aug 28, 2009

Ok, makes sense now, I thought you were saying you had a pair of acceptable shoes but decided to wear the crocs instead. It really sucks that you have to go through this and I hope it works out in your favor. It is frustrating when there are rules in place but they are not enforced equally on everyone, because then when they are inforced it seems like certain people are being picked on.

Try your best to stay positive and don't beat yourself up too much. I think while some people see some of what you are saying as excuses, I see it as you looking back at things in retrospect at why you did what you did and try to make sense of it all. If I was written up for being 5 minutes late even though we were allotted 10 minutes, I probably would have not spoken up either and I probably would not have fought it with the director either, who want to ruffle feathers and make an issue out of something. I would figure that I am not a rule breaker and not really be concerned with being written up again...at least not until something like this happened. I am not a single mother but my DH is the bread winner and we have nobody else to turn to for help when my school say decides last minute to change the schedule or when clinical starts at 7am (and they suggest arriving at 6:30)but daycare opens at 6:30 yet I am given clinical at the facility 1 hr away instead of the one 15 minutes away....it can be so frustrating! I really hope you can get back into the program, keep us posted! Good Luck

TessaMae-They were pretty much unwearable...the back of one of them was literally falling off, every time I took a step my heel would slip back and make the hole even bigger. I brought them with me more for "evidence" as to why I was wearing the crocs (although they weren't actually Crocs, for the record-they were rubber clogs that I actually bought at the nursing store in the beginning of the program, at which time they were acceptable-they changed the dress code at the end of my first Mod because people were showing up with all sorts of crazy footwear)
Sorry in reading my OP I should have clarified...the shoes I changed into belonged to one of my classmates, she had an extra pair in her car.

MattiesMama · Aug 28, 2009

I think while some people see some of what you are saying as excuses, I see it as you looking back at things in retrospect at why you did what you did and try to make sense of it all. If I was written up for being 5 minutes late even though we were allotted 10 minutes, I probably would have not spoken up either and I probably would not have fought it with the director either, who want to ruffle feathers and make an issue out of something. I would figure that I am not a rule breaker and not really be concerned with being written up again...at least not until something like this happened.

Yup that's exactly why I wasn't more proactive about it...I'm kicking myself in hindsight, because so many people told me to go to the program director about this CI from day one (this was not the only issue I had with her) but I kept avoiding it because I didn't want to get a reputation as a complainer, and I was so close to the end I figured I could just stick it out.

Brikkz · Aug 28, 2009

Wow that sounds pretty bad. You had a lot of rough patches and it really bites. I hope you can get back into the program in time to do finals.

MattiesMama · Aug 28, 2009

Just spoke with my schools executive director...she is allowing me to come on Monday and take my first final, and then meet with her about the appeal. She sounds nice and very reasonable...I'm cautiously (very cautiously) optimistic that maybe this can be resolved...

Thank you SO much for everyone who gave me kind words and advice...if it wasn't for this board and some serious prodding from my friends and family I don't think I would have even considered that I had a shot at fighting this!:redbeathe

TessaMae · Aug 28, 2009

I think that is a good sign... :yeah:

Just spoke with my schools executive director...she is allowing me to come on Monday and take my first final, and then meet with her about the appeal. She sounds nice and very reasonable...I'm cautiously (very cautiously) optimistic that maybe this can be resolved...
Thank you SO much for everyone who gave me kind words and advice...if it wasn't for this board and some serious prodding from my friends and family I don't think I would have even considered that I had a shot at fighting this!:redbeathe

Commanderzoom · Aug 28, 2009

Again with the excuses! Does the program director have a phone, voice mail, or e-mail? You could have called and left a message when she was not in the office. A ten minute window by policy or not should never have to be used. Just think if you planned on getting there 30 minutes early and something came up, like it did, you still would have been on time. You are just not getting it, the only reason you were dismissed was because of you. Not because you were being picked on and you could not track down the program director.

You should become a nursing instructor. You'd fit right in.

XYcsccSN · Aug 28, 2009

You should become a nursing instructor. You'd fit right in.

Why, because instead of offering a pity "hang in there, they were unfair", I offered a look at reality. Breaks rules and there will be consequences. An appeal based on "everyone else broke rules" will hold no weight. As a nurse, you must be responsible for your actions. As a nurse, you must be prepared. As a nurse, you must be organized. The whole shoe thing would have been avoided if the shoes were simply looked at beforehand. How can your shoes be in such bad shape, yet you have no idea until it is time to go to clinical?

I hope they show mercy and let her back in. I also hope she learns from this experience and never lets something like this happen again.

TessaMae · Aug 28, 2009

I think (and I mean no disrespect to you) the poster was implying that it sucks to be kicked when you are already down...even if you have a point...I'm sure the OP is down on herself already and wont be making the same mistakes again.

Why, because instead of offering a pity “hang in there, they were unfair”, I offered a look at reality. Breaks rules and there will be consequences. An appeal based on “everyone else broke rules” will hold no weight. As a nurse, you must be responsible for your actions. As a nurse, you must be prepared. As a nurse, you must be organized. The whole shoe thing would have been avoided if the shoes were simply looked at beforehand. How can your shoes be in such bad shape, yet you have no idea until it is time to go to clinical?
I hope they show mercy and let her back in. I also hope she learns from this experience and never lets something like this happen again.