I go to a small school and I recently failed a clinical class. I currently have two more semesters (6 more classes) left to take. I am also worried i will fail my preceptorship in the last semester because of school doesn't adequately prepare students and i have no additional health care experience. Does anyone know of a student who has failed on course but completed the nursing program? Are there any preceptors out there that can give me advice? Have any instructors ever failed a student in clinical, if so on what grounds?
I am hoping to gain a sense of hope by writing to all of you. Thank You!
I notice that you're a big fan of "screwed". Is it possible that your attitude towards your educational institution could play a role in how things are turning out for you? If your demeanor here is any indication of how you present yourself in the real world, I think it's obvious what the root of the problem is. Your threatening manner certainly can't be endearing to those who decide if you will end up with a nursing degree or not...
if you fully read my post at all you would have noticed I clearly indicated that I am not going to a school that prepares me to be solid nurse. All that advice is useless to me. My school won't fail me again or they are screwed. However preceptor outside the school might fail me bc we aren't prepared. You are making assumptions which is useless to me. If you cannot be positive and answer the questions at hand you shouldn't respond. idk what world you live in where you think a student has the cash flow to just pick up and attend another school and lose credits and repeat courses.
I dont know anyone who has failed clinical without doing something really stupid. They don't fail you for small mistakes because theyes know we're learning. You would have to break the rules, disregard the instructor, or be completely incompetent.
First and Last time I will ever use a forum. I received only one truly objective and useful response. Miranda you are not even qualified to answer my question. I asked for advice from nurse preceptors. You haven't even started a nursing program. you are all making assumptions about my situation, and my personality and ability to accept criticsm. I was not given criticism. I was not given any formal documents about reason of my failure. I was given numbers on a sheet that indicate passing or failing. You don't know enough to make a judgement.. I appreciate all the responses and attention you guys have shown me. I will consult a a professional nursing advisor for the best answers.
You asked for advice from a preceptor-- I've done that, too, and I did point out that based on the very limited info you gave us there could be another side to the story. I asked for more details. That's what it means to be objective.
If you changed your posting name (because it looks like your name is K****, which I have masked in case you do because doing so changes it in all your posts), and changed some identifying details, perhaps you'd get a more useful set of responses. Depending on the details, you might get the same answers. But don't come here and whine that you're not getting anything helpful (i.e., what you wanted to hear) if you don't give us anything to work with.
What does "numbers on a sheet that indicate passing or failing" mean? Was this a mid-semester review or something? Did you discuss the line items with your evaluating faculty and where you needed to improve? Were those extra assignments designed to have you document improvement? You want help, help us out here.
I would be surprised if a "professional nursing advisor" would tell you much different. No data, no conclusions.
I've known a good number of students who have failed clinical or theory and went on to successfully complete their programs.
My suggestions to you (as someone who sits in the course director chair and has been a clinical instructor who has failed students):
1. Look at the syllabus of the course, student handbooks with progression policies, and your clinical evaluation tool to see what the course and college policies are pertaining to clinical failures.
2. The performance problems should be written in a way that's clear so that you understand what performance standards where not met. Did you get any feedback early in the course that you had a problem or did this issue/problem come out of the blue?
3. Request a meeting with the clinical instructor and the course director to discuss the issue. You want to learn something from this experience and get feedback and make a plan to do better going forward.
4. If you did #3, use the administrative chain of command at the school (associate assistant deans, etc).
5. If you have an academic advisor in your school/program, make an appointment ASAP to discuss your options.
I failed students for repeated med errors and not communicating critical patient incidents/status to me at the time of occurrence. I tell my students we all make mistakes and it's usually OK if we figure out what happened, learn something and most importantly-take care of the patient. My students didn't take care of the patient and I can't have their back if I don't know about it.
My story. It's only recently that I have begun to share the fact that I failed with some of my coworkers. It's a huge stigmatized topic that we NEED to talk about in nursing. We NEED to talk about the fact that failure in some way is inevitable in nursing. It's not about the fact that you fail, it's HOW you fail.
I consider myself a success story. I took responsibility. I buckled down, through the embarrassment, and repeated the semester. Now I am precepting my own student. I think about everything I needed from my own preceptor every time I go to work with her! While it was horrible at the time, failing really did make me a better nurse.
My story. It's only recently that I have begun to share the fact that I failed with some of my coworkers. It's a huge stigmatized topic that we NEED to talk about in nursing. We NEED to talk about the fact that failure in some way is inevitable in nursing. It's not about the fact that you fail, it's HOW you fail.
I consider myself a success story. I took responsibility. I buckled down, through the embarrassment, and repeated the semester. Now I am precepting my own student. I think about everything I needed from my own preceptor every time I go to work with her! While it was horrible at the time, failing really did make me a better nurse.
You are a success story! You lived and learned and I hope to have a preceptor like you when my time comes. :)
I withdrew out of clinical after my clinical instructor said she would fail me. I was so shocked that this happened and it was the first semester of my senior year. I withdrew, improved on my skills, gained employment in a clinical setting, and came back with new confidence in myself as a future healthcare professional. That seem to have done the trick because I passed clinical the second time around and even my preceptorship. My clinical instructor for my preceptorship even praised me for being smart and knowing all the answers to her questions rather than the rest of the class.
If you repeat, you need to really think within yourself what your deficits are and improve on it. It also helps a lot to get a job in the clinical setting where you can see and kind of apply the knowledge that you gained in nursing school.
After working in a clinical setting, things started to make sense...a lot for me.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
First and Last time I will ever use a forum. I received only one truly objective and useful response. Miranda you are not even qualified to answer my question. I asked for advice from nurse preceptors. You haven't even started a nursing program. you are all making assumptions about my situation, and my personality and ability to accept criticsm. I was not given criticism. I was not given any formal documents about reason of my failure. I was given numbers on a sheet that indicate passing or failing. You don't know enough to make a judgement..
Valuable life lesson. Treat your CNAs well and they will go to the mats for you. Speak to them like you did to Miranda and you may find that your job is alot harder than it needs to be.
You have given no information and asked people to make definative statements.
And this is coming from someone who has a nursing degree and has been out of
I appreciate all the responses and attention you guys have shown me. I will consult a a professional nursing advisor for the best answers.
Hate to bust your bubble a professional nursing advisor wont give you any different
Put the ego aside- lashing out and talking down to others is rude. It's not going to help you, especially not in nursing. You've received some wonderful advice from experienced nurses/CNA's. Take the advice, take some time to reflect and change yourself, and move forward.
If you are unwilling to listen, then perhaps being out of the program is best.
I also have no prior healthcare experience. Our labs consist of a lot of lecture and very little time to practice. In clinical, we aren't allowed to do much and the stuff we can do, the instructor has to be with us. With seven students in a clinical group, that's not a lot of time per student.
However, I never have thought it was my school's responsibility to adequately prepare me. My school teaches me the basics and I must practice until I get it. I go to open lab, run the steps through my head and act them out with my family "patients." I watch videos. I ask my fellow students or instructors for help if something isn't clicking.
I do this when we are learning a skill and again when I'm prepping for clinical and I know or suspect that a certain skill will come up.
That's how you adequately prepare. It's on you, not your school. At the end of the day, it's your practice and your license. Embrace it.
Just finished a MedSurg clinical. 1. The instructor and I just do not click. Nobody's fault, just happens sometimes. 2. She called me out on every little thing EVERY clinical (to the point where everyone else felt bad for me!) Know what? I developed an "It is what is" attitude. Worked my butt off to be ready so she wouldn't have anything to call me out on, and provided some great patient care trying to stay out of her way lol. It is what you make it, and I decided to make it a learning experience. And by the way, I passed the clinical!!!!
BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN
3,520 Posts
I notice that you're a big fan of "screwed". Is it possible that your attitude towards your educational institution could play a role in how things are turning out for you? If your demeanor here is any indication of how you present yourself in the real world, I think it's obvious what the root of the problem is. Your threatening manner certainly can't be endearing to those who decide if you will end up with a nursing degree or not...