Failed Maternity Clinical? :(

krisiepoo · Jan 12, 2014

If the teacher will not meet with you, I'd take it higher and ask for a meeting with whomever is above her and ask that person to request the instructors presence. Let them know that you want to do well, but you are having trouble finding out where/how to improve with vague statements.

I feel it's unprofessional, rude and outright unhelpful for an instructor to be unwilling to meet with you

lmccrn62, MSN, RN · Jan 12, 2014

As a instructor myself it is important to give students real time feedback. I would go to the head of the nursing school and fight it. If this is what you want don't just don't settle.

minniebrown · Jan 12, 2014

I'm sorry you failed. It is always tough to fail things. Were you given any information prior to Dec 16 about your performance? At my school we get feedback after every clinical session, so we are given constant feedback and opportunities to improve before the end of the clinical rotation. Did you have more than one evaluation, or an opportunity to retest in the areas that you failed? Generally, I don't think they fail people without reason, so is there something that you can think of that would explain the failing scores. How did you do in your med surg clinical? It seems unusual that your instructor is not reaching out to you to talk about your performance. Do they just give you the grades and ride off into the sunset? They don't discuss it with you throughout clinical? This does not sound like a good environment for students, if your clinical instructor is not accessible.

BanannaFish · Jan 12, 2014

I received "Excellents" in my Med-Surg rotation. I found an undiagnosed heart murmur, and my instructor told me she was proud. She said I had great rapport with my patients, even when some of them where verbally abusive (one of my male p/t's was saying how I knew nothing because I was a woman, screaming at me, throwing the soap and shaver I supplied him with at a table. He was NOT a jolly fellow). I answered the nurses 'tricky' questions correctly in front of my instructor, so I believe that made her proud as well. She wrote that I used SBAR correctly, effectively communicated with the rounding physicians, and that I came prepared. She said my areas of improvement were that I sometimes was anxious and second guessed myself, but only because I took things very literally (this was somewhat of a joke between us). However, she said this improved throughout the clinical, which was 12 clinical days, 6 hours long. Maternity was only 6 clinical days, the 1st day was orientation, 2 of those days I had a patient for the entire day (I was supposed to have 3, but my second patient had been denying students in the past, and did the same to me early in the morning, around 9:30.) The nurse and instructor both told me not to take it personally, and that this happens. I said I understood, and I really wasn't offended. My goodness, there are plenty of people who just aren't comfortable with the idea of a student handling their newborn. The instructor told me that she had more anxiety symptoms then another patient on the floor, who was actually diagnosed with anxiety. Long story short, my patient ended up being sectioned and seen by psychiatrist.

I was praised during my participation with a lady partsl delivery on my fifth day of clinical, and the nurse said I was helpful and that she wanted to talk to my instructor about how well I did. She even hugged me when I thanked her and said goodbye.

The last day I was in the nursery, and all you were really allowed to do was vitals, change diapers, swaddle. They didn't really let you do anything in the nursery. I burped a baby that was normally "spity" after eating. That same day I saw a c-section, and was talking to the nurse about how cool and amazing the surgery was, and the different layers (fascia, muscle, uterus, fat). I tried to talk to them whenever they werent busy about the conditions of the babies, what led them to maternity, what they thought about it.

My first patient and I had a great relationship too. She said she had wished I was her nurse. We smiled and laughed and we got along fine.

My second patient was quite, because she was sleeping for most of the time and was exhausted. I had a great day then too.

The only thing I was ever truly made aware of was that she did not like my careplans. She had me re-do them. We only submit two, and she had me re-do both. She would add new comments to my resubmitted ones that were not addressed, and commented on new areas on the second careplan that were done in the same manner on the first. The last day she said my careplan was "warning level material, however, I'm going to let you resubmit this on Saturday". I only found out that she had documented a warning on 12/3 when I received a copy on 12/18 by my request. According to our handbook though, she was supposed to give me a copy of the warning, and provide written progress reports to me. Which did not happen. She gave me the impression that my clinical performance was not the issue, and that I needed to focus on my careplan. But I did not have the impression at all that I was at risk for failing! (She did not say that to me as well.)

I will admit, that my second careplan was resubmitted incomplete, because my printer had run out of paper and the last few pages were gone. These are usually 20-26 pages in length, and I just simply didn't think to see if everything printed. I had always handed my careplans in complete. I was not made aware of this until the 16th. Even after I resubmitted, we had been texting each other to set up a day for an evaluation. At first, she seemed to be willing to pass me, but then she kept cancelling days that she had scheduled for us to sit down. Finally she picked 12/16. I don't understand why she didn't just say, "Where are these pages?". I would have immediately printed them and brought them to her.

They don't talk to us individually after clinical. We have something called post conference, were we kind of sit and just talk about how our day went.

If I was told that my reason for failing was my careplan, then I would admit that I should have checked it to see if the pages were printed. But my instructor says 'that's not the issue'.

Another student passed in an incomplete careplan and she passed though? So I am confused. She just keeps saying that I needed constant direction from the nurses and instructor. I am currently going through an appeal process, because I feel as though she was thinking of passing me, received my careplan, and then changed her mind. Furthermore, if she documented a warning, I was not aware of it.

I just feel hurt because she was so friendly and nice throughout clinical, but seemed extremely annoyed and angry during my evaluation. (Pursing her lips together, jabbing her finger at me, meanwhile I'm sobbing hysterically)

Lastly, I brought my careplan to another instructor to help me go over it, and she said she would have given me an A-.

The only other honest to god thing I can think of is that on the first day she claimed I "was staring at the mothers face when asking for an ID number". You always check the infant I.D. with the mothers.

That just seems ridiculous. I checked the mothers number with the infants number, and they were correct. I read the I.D. band on the infant as the mother read the numbers. I don't know what she is referring to. She only brought this to my attention on the 16th. I never incorrectly handed off an infant, incorrectly checked an I.D. band, or anything of the sort. How can I correctly check I.D. bands in med-surg, but not do so in maternity?

My second semester of sophomore year, I had received a clinical warning for simply asking a CNA the difference between "Bed A" and "Bed B". I ended up introducing myself to the wrong patient, and I did not look at the I.D. band AT ALL. My instructor walked in to ask how everything was going, and I told her I introduced myself to the wrong patient. I never made that mistake again.

She is saying I did not measure the patients urine on my patient for my second careplan. She was a c-section, but she had her baby on 11/10, and I was there on 11/12. She says we walked in together, but I remember walking in by myself. I did not measure in ml's the patients urine, I had documented that she voided once during my shift. She is saying that I was not aware of the protocol on that patients infant blood glucose monitoring. We weren't allowed to do infant blood glucose testing, but she is saying it was pertinent to the infants feeding schedule. She says I didn't know where to find it, which is true, I didn't remember where in the nurses station it was located. I wasn't responsible for the feeding of the infant, the parents wanted to feed the baby. To the best of my memory, she was just showing me where this paper was at the desk.

Please any insight would be great. My instructor will not meet with me, the head of the Maternity department will not respond to me (I am still on the roster for students continuing, so I have been receiving emails from her to the whole class. She hasn't responded to mine though.) The Associate Dean will not meet with me after arriving to her decision as well, and just says "I believe the faculty arrived to their decision with appropriate evidence". The Dean has said something similar, and she will not respond to me to sit down and explain her reasoning (ignoring my emails as well, even after saying "I'd love to sit down with you, but not right now".) The Associate Vice President (not part of the nursing department, this is the Academic Affairs office) sent me a letter saying that she is upholding the grade to, because the handbook states that a student may fail for being deemed unsafe. But according to that same handbook, I never was made aware of or given a copy of the warning I was given?

Did I truly do something horrible? I work at a hospital in Boston, in the ER, Medical floor, pysch ward, Telemetry wing, post-surgical. I've never been talked to about my performance. I also worked with a disabled girl with MD, and was responsible for her medications and total care. Yes, I've never held a newborn before and told my instructor this. I had asked her how to hold an infant by the jawline so I could check the baby's fontanels.

Sorry for the novel lol. Any insight appreciated.

lilredrunner · Jan 13, 2014

If the teacher will not meet with you, I'd take it higher and ask for a meeting with whomever is above her and ask that person to request the instructors presence. Let them know that you want to do well, but you are having trouble finding out where/how to improve with vague statements.
I feel it's unprofessional, rude and outright unhelpful for an instructor to be unwilling to meet with you

This. Go up the chain and ask to create a conference to talk about the issues. You have that right as a student, especially if it's totally out of character for you.

unicoRNurse · Jan 13, 2014

Wow. I am really sorry for what you are going through. I really don't know what else you can do if you've already contacted the lead instructor, program director, dean, etc., which it sounds like you have... It seems extremely unfair to fail a student without any warning, and it doesn't make any sense, either. In our program, a student would get a clinical warning, followed by learning contract, remediation, etc., if s/he were in any danger of failing. Additionally, we get weekly evaluations pertaining to our clinical performance, so we would know the following week if we received a "needs improvement" or an "unsatisfactory" in any clinical area of evaluation. We also get a weekly anecdotal evaluation, which is the clinical instructor's narrative pertaining to each student's performance at clinical that week. We also do weekly self evaluations, which are reviewed by the instructor, so she knows how we think we are doing. Unless you kill someone, or something like that, there is pretty much no way you can fail in our program without seeing it coming. If I were in your shoes, I would consider expressing to the program director that I was not afforded due process as outlined in the handbook, and respectfully reiterate my request for a meeting. It might help to articulate what you hope to discuss/accomplish in said meeting, as well. I think I would pursue every possible avenue of appeal/grievance if I were in your situation. Of course, if you are still in the program, you may wish to tread lightly -- only you can determine how far it is safe to push it. But if you were kicked out over this, I would fight like gangbusters and not let it rest, as you don't really have anything to lose at that point. Good luck to you. I hope you are able to meet with someone, lay out your case, and get just resolution. If that can't happen, I hope you retake the class, kick its a$$, and go on to be a fantastic nurse. Who knows -- maybe this situation will inspire the program to review its policies pertaining to clinical evaluation, adherence to the handbook, and see that there is no value in surprising students with failing clinical grades.

neverbethesame · Jan 13, 2014

I only found out that she had documented a warning on 12/3 when I received a copy on 12/18 by my request. According to our handbook though, she was supposed to give me a copy of the warning, and provide written progress reports to me. Which did not happen.

Keep going up the chain of command. The fact that she didn't follow the handbook to let you know that you had been warned is key here. How could you improve something that you didn't know about? Hopefully the warning documents at your school require the student's signature once they've been gone over. I wouldn't put it past anyone to falsify documentation to cover their own behind if they could find a way to do it and not having the student sign is one way that any document could be created with the "right date" on it thus making it seem like she followed the handbook.

You also mentioned that another student turned in a care plan incomplete and it was accepted. You have to find out more about that. Maybe that student is covered under the ADA for ADHD, Dyslexia or Dyscalculia or any number if issues. If they aren't, then why was it accepted?? You may not be able to find out if the student keeps their condition a private matter and the school can't disclose that info.

BanannaFish · Jan 13, 2014

That student was my friend, so I know that is not the case. She believes the instructor just honestly plum forgot and didn't notice that her careplan was not completed. She did not receive any comments about it.

I want to stress that I was not aware that I was on clinical warning status, did not receive a copy, and did not receive progress reports. Furthermore, it's the opposite spectrum of what I received in my med-surg evaluation. I believe this will be what hopefully wins the appeal. (But honestly, after what everyone else has said, my will to fight this is dwindling.. I feel as though the people in these positions are just 'writing me off' and dismissing my case by agreeing with the grade.. :"( It's very disheartening).

BanannaFish · Jan 13, 2014

Btw, thank you all for being so supportive! :")

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jan 14, 2014

Maybe the program needs to do what my school did for clinicals and establish a midway review. Even in the short clinicals we met with our instructors and read how we were being marked. It didn't count against us if we were unsatisfactory at that point but we had to be satisfactory by the end of the clinical.

RunBabyRN · Jan 14, 2014

The fact that your instructor will not meet with you is a HUGE red flag. I would absolutely take it up the chain and stand up for yourself.

Good luck!!