Do you know of anyone who has been thrown of of nursing school/program? And why?

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Did you believe it to be fair or justified? I'm just wondering how often it really happens and what the reason would be..... :uhoh3:

Specializes in Pediatrics.
On the socially enept comment from early on in this thread....

I truly believe that by doing away with the personal interviews and "committee" type enterence requirements many people have 'slipped by'

There are some people who should not have ever been admitted...but were because they were perfect or close too...ON PAPER.

You cannot function as a good nurse if you can't have one conversation without dropping the f-bomb. You need to be able to be a team player...the total score you get on your admit. tests and pre-reqs don't tell squat about who you are as a person.

I think there are people being slotted into these programs who have no business being there.

They are taking other worthwhile candidates spots!

You are 100% correct! "socially inept" is becoming more and more of an issue these days. And the reality is, that if uou deny admittance based on interview, it is considered discrimination. Likewise, failing someone clinically , or "kicking them out", is extremely difficult in these cases. These are the first people to file suit. I've never seen anyone readmitted as a result of winning a lawsuit. My guess is they just compensate th financially for their troubles (to shut them up).

These issues happen in all school settings: I've worked in a private/for profit and a CC. There are wackos in both places. And it doesn't matter how much $ you pay; of the school wants to stay in business (and accredited), they don't just pass you because you're paying big bucks.

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One of my friends who goes to a different nursing school than I do got kicked out of her nursing program for having kidney disease....

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
One of my friends who goes to a different nursing school than I do got kicked out of her nursing program for having kidney disease....

I'm sorry, but (like the pregnancy) this is NOT being "kicked out".

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.

we had a lot of people fail out.

-one girl, a year ahead of me, intubated a patient in the ED after being told to by a physician. she was dismissed immediately.

-one girl in my class was kicked out after writing her interventions/rationales on a careplan word for word out of the book, without citing the source. so, for plagiarism.

-a school on the other side of town, but in the same community college district, had a huge bust last semester, students were somehow putting info on the inside of the frames of their glasses and on their pencils for tests. something like 40% of the class was expelled.

we've also had a lot of people leave d/t pregnancy. they weren't kicked out, just decided to take a break or had a difficult pregnancy. if anyone here knows someone who actually was kicked out for being pregnant or fears that she may, it is gender based discrimination and she is protected under title ix.

http://www.nwlc.org/resource/pregnant-and-parenting-students-rights-faqs-college-and-graduate-students

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Yes, I do. She lied and told me that she didn't know why she'd been thrown out of the program, but I know that she does. The dean of our program, the second in charge DNP, and the girl's clinical instructor met her at the clinical site, pulled her into a conference room, and kicked her out. The only ways to be immediately removed form our program are a major HIPPA violation, like revealing a patient's identifying information and then saying that he or she is HIV positive, has hepatitis, etc, or by recklessly and purposefully endangering a patient. Given this girl's attitude, and her statements about her clinical instructor, I feel that she probably endangered a patient. She said repeatedly that her clinical instructor loved everyone but her, and she stated that the CI went out of her way to make things hard for her. I repeatedly told her to be respectful to her CI, to try and get along with her, and to avoid confrontation with her. Instead, the girl called her CI a *****, and said, "I hate her, I just take care of my patients and don't say a word to her. I avoid her, I never ask her questions, and I never run anything by her. I just do what I know I should, and stay where she can't find me." This statement would be disturbing no matter who said it, but if an LPN with ten years of experience who was going back for her RN said it, I would feel more confident that the patient was receiving quality care. When an 18 year old girl fresh out of high school with a CNA license and no experience says it, I can't help but wonder what kind of care her patients were getting. Also, this girl was very smart-mouthed, very hateful, and had a know-it-all attitude. When she said to me that she avoided her instructor and never asked questions, I asked her if she was sure that this was the right thing to do. I asked if she was sure that she knew what to do in every situation that might arise. I asked a lot of questions. We are on a post-surgical floor that also accepts ICU step-down and medical overflow. We are the largest unit in the hospital at 25 beds, and we have a diverse patient population. On the same day, and with the same patient assignment, you may have a major abdominal surgery on a PCA pump with three JP drains, an NG tube, a Foley, and lots of needs, a trauma patient with chest tubes, drains, and complex needs (such as pain management, frequent vital signs, telemetry, strict I&O, and tons of medications), an asthmatic who just got off the vent earlier today, but had to be bumped upstairs because ICU needed his bed for a more critically ill patient (our ICU is only ten beds), and an elderly patient with pneumonia and other medical complications. Because of this, we have to know a lot, and there is a steep learning curve. When I asked my friend about whether she felt as though she could handle situations that might arise on this floor, she stated that she knew what she was doing, and that she was confident in her skills and abilities. She even went so far as to say, "I'm a damn good nursing student, and I will be a damn good nurse. The nurses on the floor compliment me all the time, and they see how good my care is." To illustrate just how diverse our floor is, I will give examples of the kind of patients I have taken in the last two to three weeks. I've had a patient with acute respiratory failure, hypertension, type II DM, hyperkalemia, chronic hypoxemia, acute renal failure, COPD, CHF, and asthma, a patient who fell greater than 15 feet, fractured six ribs, and collapsed his right lung, a patient who had an exploratory laparotomy which revealed ruptured diverticuli, a ruptured appendix, peritonitis, and pericolonic abscesses (this patient came back with four JPs, an NG, a Foley, a colostomy, a PCA pump, and tons of other medications. He was also septic from the peritonitis), and the list goes on and on. I feel confident in clinical, but if I said that I never had to ask questions, I'd be a liar. I feel like the girl that I know greatly disliked her CI, avoided her, and felt too prideful to ask anyone any questions. I don't think she intended to endanger her patient, but I feel that she let her dislike for her CI and her pride get the best of her. Because of this, she made a mistake that got her removed from the program.

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Several people were failed for ridiculous reasons in my class, all by the same instructor. Technically, they weren't "thrown out" but it felt like they were. One student was given a 0 for an entire clinical day because she forgot her scissors. She was unable to bring up her clinical grade and failed as a result. It was such a shame because she was great with patients and would have made an excellent nurse. The same instructor also gave a clinical grade of 0 to a woman who was caught smoking in school scrubs on her break (not saying that there is nothing wrong with that, but a 0 for the entire day seemed a little harsh). Multiple people failed out because of this instructor. I am so glad I made it out!

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We had one who was dismissed for posting nasty names/stories about her classmates and teachers on Facebook.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Quote from mollyj91

One of my friends who goes to a different nursing school than I do got kicked out of her nursing program for having kidney disease....

I'm sorry, but (like the pregnancy) this is NOT being "kicked out".

Wait, what? How is that not getting kicked out? If she can do the work, why does it matter whether or not she has kidney disease? For that matter, unless it's a high risk pregnancy, I'm not certain why that has any bearing either.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Do you know, with 100% certainty That she was "kicked out"? The school said to her, "because of your illness, we are asking you to leave school"? If they were stupid enough to say this, and get away with it, this is not a school anyone should be attending. I have taught students with a wide variety of illnesses, including cancer (where their own immune system may have been compromised). The most a school can do is advise the student to take time off, and return when they are in a better condition to handle the workload. That, is not kicking someone out. But through the grapevine, that's how it may sound. Remember, there are two sides to every story. And no one ever wants to be told to put their dreams on hold. It's a huge blow to the ego.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

A student drew up insulin in a non-insulin syringe. Another student ended up giving a bunch of meds that were meant for a patient in "Bed A" to "Bed B."

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Specializes in Dialysis.

We had a student that was kicked out for being aggressive. He stalked the A students, refused to do care that was 'below him' and was generally creepy. He was told to leave and not to reapply after student complaints and he yelled at his CI.

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Our school kicks people out every semester, as well as the students that fail or drop out. Last semester they kicked out 7 students, for a plethora of reasons. Some examples include:

1) being completely incapable of interpersonal interactions (he could not hold a conversation with anyone without the other person feeling extremely uncomfortable- something that could have been avoided if our school did interviews prior to admission)

2) performing tasks at clinical outside of our scope as students, and

3) leading a personal life that involved high-risk decisions and activities, some of which ended up spilling over into professional/school life.

I can't say any of the dismissals were unjustified.

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