Failed for Clinical-but no proof

caliotter3 · Jan 20, 2019

No matter the details, your story is common. You got on the wrong foot fast and remained there. You were played when told that you were passing at the end. That added to the shock factor when the rug was pulled out from under your feet. Even if you should prevail in this situation, your tenure at this school is not going to be pleasant for however long you last. You might be better off in trying to find a new school home.

You walked into a situation with your phone that was preventable. Many people despise the use of cell phones in the school setting, on the job, and in other places. Having a cell phone in one's hand can send off a bad vibe, especially to someone who is looking for ammunition. In the future, it might be wise to leave you phone in the car, or totally turned off, in your purse. That way you have eliminated the phone from causing problems for you.

It could be said that it is common sense to report problem situations, no matter how slight, to the instructor. But yes, this should have been communicated to the group on day one. Yet, once you realized you were in the hot seat, you should have become proactive in covering your back for any and every little thing that might be used against you.

Your witness was spot on in his assessment that you have been targeted. You will remain targeted for your tenure at this school. You need to make a drastic change in your outlook and your behavior if you intend to succeed there. As previously said, you might find it easier and less stressful to start over elsewhere. Good luck.

TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN · Jan 21, 2019

First off, you cannot fail because you "seem disinterested." You also cannot fail because your instructor's opinion. It has to be measurable. Academic dishonesty does also apply to the teachers. Just remember, one basic rule that applies to your entire adult existence: If it's not documented or recorded, it never happened.There's some good left in there. Your school is still regulated by the BON. You can get them involved. Even though there's no incident reports, there should still be something documented.Also, you're not the staff nurse / CNA. While you do have responsibilities to your patients, when the one pulled her pants down, where was the nurse or aide? Giving nonstop supervision for an entire shift is just not realistic. You're going to have to leave the patient to chart, go to the bathroom, whatever. You SHOULD tell someone you're leaving so they can keep an eye out, but ultimately, the responsibility to these patients falls on their assigned nurse and aide.I'd look into transferring schools. This won't end until you're failed out of school and potentially with something being reported that can end your dream of nursing. Even if you have to start over, it's worth getting away from how high of a risk your school is.And always make sure you chart everything and report everything. You're the student, you're going to take the fall before the hospital staff or your teacher do.

Misscruella · Jan 21, 2019

Thanks for the input. I have had the same thoughts about restarting at this school. I am filing a grievance and I think I would like it if they at the very least change my grade since it has lowered my gpa. I was in the evening program so it is possible if I apply again and enter the day program I may have different faculty but the director will be the same. The next closest school is about an hour and a half away. This really upsets me...I don’t want it on my transcripts that I failed for “unsafe clinical behavior” because some schools will not take you for this reason. In order to fight this with the grievance and ask that my F grade be dropped I need to find reasons why my instructors account was not credible. The burden of proof lies with me I am told by the dean. Is the fact that an incident report or no report on the patients chart about the incident a good point to bring up to the dean? I know that my instructor spoke with the patients who made the complaints, I am not sure how she communicated to the director about the incidents whether it was by phone or email. You said that there has to be some form of documentation . If there are text messages for example between her and the director explaining she spoke with the patients is that considered documentation? If there is not even this do I have any recourse then? I would think so.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jan 22, 2019

On 1/20/2019 at 11:36 AM, Misscruella said:
Hello,
i would like some opinions on my experience. I am filing a grievance with my school because I am being failed for clinical. This was my first semester of nursing for an associates degree. I passed all written test with a B and the final skills again however I was failed for clinical.
I had a feeling right from the beginning that my instructor did not like me for some reason. The way she talked to me. On our first day of clinical my instructor failed to explain certain rules such as where to use our phones if we receive an important call she said to take them “off the floor”. She said that what”happens in clinical stays in clinical “ whatever that means and sent an email to our group stating this. I was having an issue with doing an assignment and my instructor was not around the second week of my semester and I asked another instructor for help. The instructor told me that my instructor was not doing the assignment correctly and she asked to speak with the instructor when she came in. I am not sure if I got my instructor in trouble or not. That was not my intention. She later sent out an email that night stating that what happens in clinical stays in clinical . I felt like this might have started the getting off on the wrong foot type of thing. I was using my phone one day and my instructor told me that I was using it in the wrong area and was very upset with me. I apologized and told her I thought I was off the floor and I didn’t know where I should be using it. My instructor pulled me aside the next day and told me I was failing clinical. When I asked what for she told me that it was for using my phone in the wrong area , for being late once (I was), and also because I seemed “disinterested” . I thought that was a very subjective reason to fail me so I asked her is there anything I did wrong to make her feel that way. She told me she saw me sitting down in lab one day for a few minutes. I explained to her that I have a chronic illness and my legs hurt from time to time and we had been standing that day for five hours without a break. She said “ok well we all have our problems I just need to see more interest from you”. I felt we response was harsh and not very understanding and I just got a bad feeling and thought she was treating me this way in relation to the assignment I might have gotten her into trouble for so I asked to meet with the nursing director.
I met with the director and told her about what was going on . I told her I didn’t like the way my instructor spoke to me condescendingly and also how when I told her about my issue with my legs she didn’t respond very compassionately. The director told me to make sure I am on time in the future and to maybe explain in more detail to my instructor what is going on with my health and she would also talk to my instructor about her treatment towards me. I thought that it was none of my isntructors business about my health , I had already given her enough information and I did not want to make it seem like I was throwing a pity party. But I did get an accommodation from my school, even though we aren’t required to stand in lab, that said I would need frequent breaks for my legs. I never heard back from the director about her meeting with my instructor but I was told about two weeks later that I was getting a clinical warning. I showed up to the meeting and was given a warning for :
1) being late once
2) being on my phone in wrong area
3) sitting down in lab and it says I was on my phone (I don’t remember exactly what I was doing but I know I was taking a break) apparently we can’t have phones in lab I did not know this
4) a patient I had was found with “her pants around her ankles and I could not be found anywhere “
i said that I accepted the other three things but this was the first I was hearing about this patient. I asked if there was a call light left with the patient and if it was verified if the patient pulled her pants down herself. The director looked at my instructor and asked her this and my instructor shook her head no and threw her hands up like she didn’t know. I then said well why should I be given a warning for something not verified? The director then said that I need to still take responsibility for my patients even if I did not pull her pants down. I thought this was ridiculous. She also said perhaps I should tell someone where I’m going if im going to be away from the patient for a long time. I told her that I was never told this and patients are left alone for sometimes half an hour and I was gone 10-15 mins at most . Nothing was said and I was still given this warning.
I was given a second warning because a patient complained about me and a cna having an innapropriate conversation. The cna was talking to me about her boyfriend getting a vasectomy in front of a patient and I did not know what to do or say so I kept changing the subject. I did not report this because I did not want it to come back on to me from the cna and receive any kind of retaliation from the CNA. My instructor went to speak with the patient I believe and then notified the director of this. I explained that I was not told what I should do in this type of situation and it wasn’t until later in the semester that we were told to report these things to our instructor . I was told it was common sense to have reported this or told the cna she was behaving innapropriately. I disagreed.
Another patient complained that I “didn’t know what I was doing” and didn’t want me back. The previous day I had been caring for this patient heavily medicated on narcotics and she was in a very bad mood. She wanted me to leave her alone most of the time, would not let me assess her completely, kept asking for pain medication when it wasn’t due, and became upset when a bandage she had been getting from a cna was not given to her by me. I couldn’t give it to her because the bandage needed an order and the cna was giving it without one. I spoke to the nurse on duty and she said the bandage was innapropriate for her foot which just had dry skin on it. I told her this and she became upset. I told my instructor how can a patient claim to know that I don’t know what I’m doing if their not a doctor or nurse? I told her her complaint was vague and that she just wanted something I couldn’t give her. My instructor said well I will get more information. She came back and told me well the patient said that you didn’t assess her fully and really if your patient was in a bad mood like you said you should have came to me. I said “well you never told me to report on a patients mood this is the first I’m hearing of this so why should I be written up for this?” And she told me she had to report it anyways. It was true that the patient would only let me listen to her lungs to a certain extent because she was in a bad mood . I documented this on my clinical sheet but I did not report it to my instructor.
I met with the director again and told her that I was having issues communicating with my instructor still. I told her that she had become so rude that I didn’t feel comfortable speaking to her at all Especially when she was rude in front of my peers to me. I told her that I am being failed for things that were not communicated to me. She said well you are being given another clinical warning but you still have a week left of class and if you meet the objectives you may still pass. She didn’t say anything about how my instructor was acting and said she had a meeting to go to. I was given another warning. This time I brought a support person who was there for support but also really to be a witness to this all. He was from the school in a different department. He told me it seemed like they were failing me for petty reasons and for things that were not communicated to me.
I was walking in school one day and someone told me that I was not supposed to have mace on my key ring. A security guard came and took it away. I apologized and said I didn’t know because it was legal everywhere else. This week was the last week of clinical and my instructor said I did very well and met all the objectives. She told me I would pass clinical. I went for my clinical evelauation however and the director told me I failed! She said she had given it thought and decided that overall looking at the semester as a whole I had not met the objectives. They also brought up the mace. I said well I did not bring it to clinical and it was an honest mistake and I was also told that if I met these objectives by a certain date I would pass! I was told sorry but the decision has been made.
I filed a grievance with the school and I also went to my clinical location. I asked to see the complaints against me. I was told by the director there that she only deals with the school because of HIPA and also that the complaints are verbal and that nothing was written down. I think that I shouldn’t be failed based on basically hearsay then if that’s the truth! My aunt who is a nurse said that the director there could have been telling me the truth because incident reports are only written over serious things but she also said maybe you should go back and have a witness to hear her say that they don’t write things down on patients complaints. I still have the other things against me which I don’t know if that’s enough to fail me over but am I right to think that they can’t fail me if these things weren’t written down? I know that the way it happened with the complaints is that a nurse passed a message on to staff for the following day about the complaint. The staff that day then told my instructor about it . Then I believe my instructor spoke to the patient . Then my instructor called the director or texted her about it. There could possibly be a text about what my instructor heard from the patient that was sent to the director but that’s it! Unless this director of the clinical is lying to me and it is written down somewhere . What do you think?

I know you're not going to like this, but here is my take:

You never should have had your phone out in class, in lab or in the clinical facility unless you were completely off the floor. None of this "I thought I was off the floor." Either you are or you aren't. If there's any doubt about it, you aren't. The cafeteria, the parking garage, the bathroom might be safe enough places to have your phone, but you shouldn't have had it anywhere else. If there is some reason to have your phone in your pocket -- your mother is having cardiac surgery in another state, for example -- you should have discussed that with the instructor ahead of time.

Your instructor may not have liked you from the first; it appears that you didn't like or respect her, either. If you didn't understand "what happens in clinical stays in clinical," you should have asked for clarification. If you didn't understand the assignment, you should have discussed it with the person who assigned it as soon as it was assigned.

Being late once may be enough reason to fail clinical, but certainly being late and being caught using your phone are. There's nothing subjective or unfair about that. Late is late, using the phone is using the phone. If you have a chronic health problem that necessitates you sitting down when you're not supposed to be sitting down, the time to discuss that with your instructor is BEFORE it becomes a problem. If it becomes an issue and then you discuss it with her, it seems like an excuse rather than a legitimate health issue. Filing a grievance and meeting with the director just gives the instructor more reason to believe that you don't get what you did wrong. It's clear that she's right. You don't get it. You don't seem to have any intentions of getting it.

How is it that you didn't know that phones are prohibited in patient care areas, in class, and in lab? I'm guessing it was fairly clearly spelled out in the course syllabus, in the student handbook and in several other ways. Were other students using their phones in these situations?

As for the patient with her pants down -- the height of her pants isn't really the issue. The issue is that you were needed and you were unavailable. Had you been where you were supposed to be, there wouldn't have been a problem. If you aren't on the floor, someone is supposed to be watching your patients. If you go to the bathroom, run down to the gift shop for coffee, dash to the cafeteria or hide to use your phone, you sign out to someone -- the charge nurse, the nurse who is responsible for your patient, the instructor, another student. Someone needs to know you're not there AND be looking out for that patient. That one incident would be enough to fail you, but certainly in conjunction with the other two incidents.

You failed to communicate with your instructor, and when your failure to communicate became a problem, you made excuses. "I didn't know I was supposed to communicate with my instructor" is an excuse. Altogether, you've demonstrated a poor attitude and a lack of common sense. I would have failed you, too. I would have discussed it with you each time there was an issue, and you would have had no doubt you were being failed, but you would have been failed.

My advice to you going forward would be to think about what you (as opposed to your instructor) did to cause your problems, and reflect about what you could have done differently. Some schools will expel you for one failure; some won't. If you return to this school in the future, I hope you can discuss what you have learned from this experience.

Persephone Paige, ADN · Jan 23, 2019

I think personal phones have no place in a clinical setting. Nurses get away with it, but they are already nurses. It's completely disrespectful to the patients and a form of theft, if you are working. I'm surprised they are allowed at all. I'm a 50 year old woman and as soon as I pull up in the parking lot, I switch my phone on silent and don't touch it again until I leave the floor 13 hours later. My husband knows if there is an emergency, to call the floor.

I read the explanations, but none of it matters. Should instructors be biased for or against a student? Of course not! But, they are human. When I went to school, they kept recycling the instructors. If you didn't have one for X class, you have them for Y class. There was no escape. The only three who didn't interchange between were the OB, Peds and Psych instructors. The Psych instructor detested long hair. She would really get after people who did not have their hair pulled back securely. They all have their peeves and something about you has ticked this one off. I'd cut my losses and apply at another school, put the phone in my car, wear compression socks ( they're wonderful, btw ) and look interested in everything.

christymcg · Jan 23, 2019

10 hours ago, Ruby Vee said:
I know you're not going to like this, but here is my take:
You never should have had your phone out in class, in lab or in the clinical facility unless you were completely off the floor. None of this "I thought I was off the floor." Either you are or you aren't. If there's any doubt about it, you aren't. The cafeteria, the parking garage, the bathroom might be safe enough places to have your phone, but you shouldn't have had it anywhere else. If there is some reason to have your phone in your pocket -- your mother is having cardiac surgery in another state, for example -- you should have discussed that with the instructor ahead of time.
Your instructor may not have liked you from the first; it appears that you didn't like or respect her, either. If you didn't understand "what happens in clinical stays in clinical," you should have asked for clarification. If you didn't understand the assignment, you should have discussed it with the person who assigned it as soon as it was assigned.
Being late once may be enough reason to fail clinical, but certainly being late and being caught using your phone are. There's nothing subjective or unfair about that. Late is late, using the phone is using the phone. If you have a chronic health problem that necessitates you sitting down when you're not supposed to be sitting down, the time to discuss that with your instructor is BEFORE it becomes a problem. If it becomes an issue and then you discuss it with her, it seems like an excuse rather than a legitimate health issue. Filing a grievance and meeting with the director just gives the instructor more reason to believe that you don't get what you did wrong. It's clear that she's right. You don't get it. You don't seem to have any intentions of getting it.
How is it that you didn't know that phones are prohibited in patient care areas, in class, and in lab? I'm guessing it was fairly clearly spelled out in the course syllabus, in the student handbook and in several other ways. Were other students using their phones in these situations?
As for the patient with her pants down -- the height of her pants isn't really the issue. The issue is that you were needed and you were unavailable. Had you been where you were supposed to be, there wouldn't have been a problem. If you aren't on the floor, someone is supposed to be watching your patients. If you go to the bathroom, run down to the gift shop for coffee, dash to the cafeteria or hide to use your phone, you sign out to someone -- the charge nurse, the nurse who is responsible for your patient, the instructor, another student. Someone needs to know you're not there AND be looking out for that patient. That one incident would be enough to fail you, but certainly in conjunction with the other two incidents.
You failed to communicate with your instructor, and when your failure to communicate became a problem, you made excuses. "I didn't know I was supposed to communicate with my instructor" is an excuse. Altogether, you've demonstrated a poor attitude and a lack of common sense. I would have failed you, too. I would have discussed it with you each time there was an issue, and you would have had no doubt you were being failed, but you would have been failed.
My advice to you going forward would be to think about what you (as opposed to your instructor) did to cause your problems, and reflect about what you could have done differently. Some schools will expel you for one failure; some won't. If you return to this school in the future, I hope you can discuss what you have learned from this experience.

I second all of this. There are going to be many people whom you do not get along with and are just outright mean to you. Sometimes you have to address the tension, apologize (regardless of fault) and ask for a clean slate/"redo". The majority of people are willing to do this if you go forward with a new approach. It may be a good idea to do a personal inventory and see if this is a career you truly want to pursue. It doesn't seem that it's a high priority to you.

NurseMegP, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2019

Whatever you decide to do, I do agree that the phone thing, at least while you are a student, needs to be nixed. As a student, unless you are on lunch, do not touch it. Hopefully, you'll continue this practice through as a nurse because as someone else mentioned, while the nurses can get away with it, it is disrespectful (though this does depend on the scenario because at 3 AM when the call lights are the "q" word, and you're caught up on charting... who cares).

JadedCPN, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2019

While I get your frustration with the situation, I guess I don't understand what "proof" would be acceptable to you?

I tend to agree with Ruby Vee on this one overall.

dumbnurse, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN · Jan 23, 2019

I think Ruby is right as well. As a nursing instructor I know that we must try and cover all the possible scenarios that students present to us. Documenting from day one is essential. Clear and concise clinical expectations should be spelled out and if not clarified. Good luck Misscruella...

AnnieNP, MSN, NP · Jan 24, 2019

I'm also in agreement with Ruby Vee.

guest52816 · Jan 24, 2019

Without going into each and every issue you had during the clinical, I am going to suggest you take your concerns out of the nursing department, and directing to the Dean of Academic Affairs at your school.

You will find no relief within the nursing department.

I speak from experience.

While I did not fail, any aspect of nursing school, my nursing department failed to hire clinical instructors in a timely manner, and kept inept nursing instructors teaching.

It was necessary to go above the nursing department to get anything done about the situation.

And believe me, the Dean of Academic Affairs got things straightened out!

The others who have warned you about the potential unpleasantness should you remain at the school, are right.

You need to be prepared.

But if the nursing department knows they are being watched, you should be safe.

Document everything.

Remain calm.

Look at all options.

Good luck.