failed my clinical rotation? very worried..

PedsHopeful · Dec 1, 2011

Put the phone away, stop studying in class, pay more attention to the kids.

Despareux · Dec 1, 2011

That kind of behavior is considered unprofessional and is grounds for dismissal from our program. As a nursing student, you are held to very high standards of professionalism. While you may not see studying, while the kids are busy with other things, as something bad; what you may not realize is that, you may be causing your college to look bad and that school may not allow your college to return for rotation; therefore, affecting not only you, but your cohort and future student opportunities.

Instead of catching up on studying, perhaps you could have used the time to assess the children's interaction and responses, or maybe you could have been working on developing nursing diagnosis and interventions based on what you've observed.

ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN · Dec 1, 2011

Why does your clinical consist of babysitting 5 autistic children? Are you doing your Community Nursing rotation? Okay, so being on the phone and studying isn’t looked upon favorably. However, students have done far worse things than that. I am sorry, but some of these clinical instructors need to get a grip. If you were in my clinical group, I would have set the ground rules. Once I found out that you were on your phone, the two of us would have had a private chat. I would have made it abundantly clear that if you are caught doing anything else besides “babysitting”, you would not pass the clinical. To wait until seeing you “studying” then bringing up other things after the fact is plain stupid. Are these schools seriously finding it incredibly difficult to recruit clinical instructors that they have to resort to someone like that?

Well, the only suggestion I have is to have a well-prepared outline of your actions and the interventions you plan to implement right away to ensure the behavior isn’t repeated. Give examples of what could happen to patients if you’re not paying attention. Be humble and own up to what happened. Above all, be understanding and remorseful. Tell them you don’t want to fail the course, but do feel a punishment of sorts is warranted. It will show your ability to negotiate and compromise. Suggest an extra research assignment on the topic of things that have happened to patients when nurses have ignored them. Also suggest making the presentation to your class. Offer a public apology to the clinical instructor although a pink slip is more reasonable.

Good luck.

x_factor · Dec 1, 2011

You were supposed to be watching not just 5 year olds, but AUTISTIC 5 year olds. And instead you were studying?

What happens when you are a nurse one day and your elderly, frail patient attempts to get out of bed alone when you aren't paying attention, falls and breaks her hip... or worse, fractures her skull and dies.

Clinical rotation is NOT the place to be doing your studying, with the exception of actual lunch breaks or other off-the-clock time when you are not supposed to be actually doing your job.

And using the phone during class? Really? That slows a complete lack of maturity, lack of respect for the teacher, and lack of seriousness as a prospective nurse. If this is how you are presenting yourself as a student, how will you present yourself as a nurse when patients lives are in your hands?

mursetudent25 · Dec 1, 2011

thats understandable, but this is a school not a hospital, noones life is directly in my care, this is more like babysitting.

the dean asked me to write a report about it, i suspect the meeting will not be pleasant.

what should i expect??

tokyoROSE, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2011

The phone thing is never appropriate, ever. I would sympathize with you on the studying because I have done that in the past (most people in my group did the same), we all received warnings, and I never did it again. I don't think studying is one of those "one strike and you're out" deal. Now if you received a warning and continued to study in class, that's a problem.

allnurses Guide · Dec 1, 2011

Frankly from all you have said here it sounds like they are going to work with you on it, give you a warning or some kind of punishment. I think at worst you will have to repeat the semester, but hopefully it won't come to that.

You'd have gotten in deep dookie for this at my school too. I find the idea of "babysitting" five year olds bizarre and awful enough to make me want to stick a fork in my eye, but if you were doing behavioral analysis or observing for developmental issues and interventions based on your observations, then obviously if you aren't observing you can't be passing the assignment.

I hope this all works out for you. It sounds unbelievably stressful, but it also sounds like they are going to give you a chance with a stern warning of some sort. Be remorseful, take responsibility for your actions and throw yourself at their mercy (without begging). Let us know how it turns out.

caliotter3 · Dec 1, 2011

I would expect being told that you have failed the course and I would expect to hear whether or not you would be continuing in the program and under what circumstances. Be thoroughly prepared to defend your case to continue in that nursing school.

mursetudent25 · Dec 1, 2011

does anyone think it's a good idea to e-mail the dean and ask about the upcoming meeting?

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2011

thats understandable, but this is a school not a hospital, noones life is directly in my care, this is more like babysitting.
the dean asked me to write a report about it, i suspect the meeting will not be pleasant.
what should i expect??

You're making excuses for your careless behavior.. You don't use your cell phone while you're taking care of patients (or children).. hell, even if you were flipping burgers, you wouldn't be allowed to just make a phone call in the middle of your shift while you are taking care of customers. That definitely shows a very poor work ethic..

When babysitting, the children you're watching ARE directly affected by your care. Yes, I think it SUCKS you ended up in a babysitting clinical rotation (wouldn't that be a special education major's job?) but that is what you were assigned to do, and you should have done it to the best of your ability. It shows a lackadaisical attitude toward your assignment, and that attitude would put a bad taste in the mouth of potential employers, and cast the school in a negative light.

A customer service rep at Petco is help to higher standards than you showed this school. If you were at an actual paying job, you'd probably have been fired. Fire=Fail

When you visit the dean, you need to NOT have this 'nobody's life was in my direct care' attitude. I would do a reseach paper on ethical behavior in the medical care as well as special education fields. Outline how you could have done things differently, and remember that this world doesn't OWE you a job, and this school doesn't OWE you a good grade. You have to work hard and be engaged.

Good luck.

mursetudent25 · Dec 1, 2011

You're making excuses for your careless behavior.. You don't use your cell phone while you're taking care of patients (or children).. hell, even if you were flipping burgers, you wouldn't be allowed to just make a phone call in the middle of your shift while you are taking care of customers. That definitely shows a very poor work ethic..
When babysitting, the children you're watching ARE directly affected by your care. Yes, I think it SUCKS you ended up in a babysitting clinical rotation (wouldn't that be a special education major's job?) but that is what you were assigned to do, and you should have done it to the best of your ability. It shows a lackadaisical attitude toward your assignment, and that attitude would put a bad taste in the mouth of potential employers, and cast the school in a negative light.
A customer service rep at Petco is help to higher standards than you showed this school. If you were at an actual paying job, you'd probably have been fired. Fire=Fail
When you visit the dean, you need to NOT have this 'nobody's life was in my direct care' attitude. I would do a reseach paper on ethical behavior in the medical care as well as special education fields. Outline how you could have done things differently, and remember that this world doesn't OWE you a job, and this school doesn't OWE you a good grade. You have to work hard and be engaged.
Good luck.

you make very good points. thanks. i guess it comes down to how generous the dean will be. is there anything more than i can do?? i'm considering sending an apology email to the dean before meeting..but what if thats not even the issue? very very stressful.