On my last week of med-surg I clinical, I was told that I failed. I was told it was because I was "uncomfortable talking to my patient", thus interfering with my care for my patient.
(A little bit about me: I have had a stuttering problem since I was 7. I was made fun of because of it at school, so I don't talk much. My stuttering has gotten better now, but I'm still awkward around new people; old habits are hard to break).
But what's really bothering me is that if I received any notice or indication earlier (even second to last week of clinical), I could have either improved on my weak points or have withdraw. Now I have to settle for an F that's going to be on my transcript forever.
I'm hoping I can do an academic forgiveness...
My instructor said that I should talk to a counselor about my communication problem. I know I need to improve on it and I'm trying (I didn't realized until now that it's a big problem); I just don't know how to effectively so that I can overcome this obstacle. Whenever I talked to my patients, I am actively listening to their concerns, but more times than not, I am so focused on listening/talking that I missed their nonverbal ques, which as a nurse I need to intervene and address.
Long story short, has anyone failed a class in nursing school and still graduated with your BSN at the same university? I am just so conflicted and depressed on how this will affect my progression and my future. Will I be able to get into graduate school? What if I failed again and be dismissed? I heard that 4th semester is the hardest, so I'm deathly afraid. (I'm currently in my second semester).
I'm sorry for rambling; I really need someone to talk to/get advice. Has anyone been in a similar situation as me and have been successful?
Hi, I am in a similar situation and failed my clinical and your story inspired me. If you dont mind, what did you do in particular to improve in your game plan.
I'm now about 5 years into my career at this point... the specifics of why I failed clinical isn't necessarily all that important. What I did do was hinted above, I did a lot of introspection about the reasons they gave me for the failure and what I did that contributed to the need to fail me at that time. There were multiple reasons, but all fell into needing adequate preparation. Also part of the equation was needing adequate sleep. I wasn't getting enough at the time. I became a LOT more proactive and protective of my sleep needs and also ensured that I was as prepared as I could be. I also had to become a lot more communicative with my instructors. Academically, even with the sleep deprivation that I'd had, I was doing VERY well. Once I'd figured out the root causes of what caused my clinical fail (just days away from finishing the semester and going on to the next one) I ended up going from a relatively middle-to-low performer they had to look after to a star performer they never had to think about.
Also because of the school's rules, I couldn't be assigned to the same clinical group with the same instructor that failed me. It also helped, in a way, that the CI that failed me wasn't brought back the next year, probably due to many complaints...
akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P
3,533 Posts
I'm now about 5 years into my career at this point... the specifics of why I failed clinical isn't necessarily all that important. What I did do was hinted above, I did a lot of introspection about the reasons they gave me for the failure and what I did that contributed to the need to fail me at that time. There were multiple reasons, but all fell into needing adequate preparation. Also part of the equation was needing adequate sleep. I wasn't getting enough at the time. I became a LOT more proactive and protective of my sleep needs and also ensured that I was as prepared as I could be. I also had to become a lot more communicative with my instructors. Academically, even with the sleep deprivation that I'd had, I was doing VERY well. Once I'd figured out the root causes of what caused my clinical fail (just days away from finishing the semester and going on to the next one) I ended up going from a relatively middle-to-low performer they had to look after to a star performer they never had to think about.
Also because of the school's rules, I couldn't be assigned to the same clinical group with the same instructor that failed me. It also helped, in a way, that the CI that failed me wasn't brought back the next year, probably due to many complaints...