Failing Nursing School Over One Class?!!

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  1. What should I do?

    • 16
      Pursue my Associate's degree to find out what I might be good at, and then get a bachelors.
    • 13
      Continue with nursing school.

29 members have participated

So I just finished my first semester of a 2-semester long Practical Nursing program. I got A's and B's in all of my classes (Even Pharm!) except for my one- my first clinical rotation. It is graded pass/fail and my instructor gave me a fail. I feel that She judged me and treated me unequally (compared to other students) all semester. She made me feel very incapable during the actual clinicals and excluded me from performing skills on patients even though I have passed them all. I would appeal the failing grade, but I couldn't pass anyway due to missing 2 days of clinical at the end of the semester ( I just couldn't do it anymore).

So, I went to the dean of nursing and said I had decided not to come back to the second half of the program. I decided to use my prereqs and transfer credits to get my associate's, and then transfer to a university for whatever I decide I may be good at.

I am just so lost in life. I was unhappy before all this happened. How do I know if nursing really isn't for me, or if I only got tired of it because of this entire situation? If I decide not to pursue nursing, then I have no idea what else I could major in. I don't know what I'm good at. I need help!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

My opinion is that you need to take a step back and absorb the constructive criticism that you have received. Missing 2 critical last days of clinical is a HUGE deal. Perhaps your instructors derived an unfavorable opinion from that? Perhaps it is dependent on you to demonstrate your desire to succeed?

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Specializes in hospice.

Did she tell you why she wouldn't allow you to do skills? How did she single you out or treat you unfairly?

Skipping two clinical days would result in a fail for even the most competent student. Sounds to me like you chose to fail clinical.

Things got hard so you gave up. You can't do that and succeed in any field, but especially nursing. You can't throw up your hands in the middle of a hard shift and say, "I'm done!"

I'm sorry it turned out this way, but you need to come up with a plan to make sure you don't repeat this when your next major gets hard.

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I couldn't pass anyway due to missing 2 days of clinical at the end of the semester ( I just couldn't do it anymore).

Your instructor didn't fail you, YOU did! Knowing this, it's harder for me to have sympathy. You set yourself up not to pass...

I'm sorry about your situation, but most nursing programs have strict attendance policies, and it's your job to adhere to them.

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Nobody can be a good nurse if they won't even report for duty.

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You could use some of the classes you've already taken to go into a different medical field. My daughter always thought she wanted to be an RN just like her mom, but once she got into it, she decided it wasn't for her. She took a different avenue and decided to get into the RRT program instead. Most of her nursing prerequisites went towards that as well. She just finished her first year and absolutely loves it.

There's also radiology, PT, OT, etc...

Good luck in whatever you decide to do and don't give up.

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I know it seems like I may have chosen to fail my clinicals, but a lot more happened behind the scenes that I did not put in summary of the situation above. It has a lot more to do with the way I was being treated than how good of a nurse I could be. This instructor, I believe, was trying to test me and put me through a lot to see if I could overcome what she was placing in front of me. I completely disagree with how clincials are graded- simply on one instructor's opinion.

The first day of clinicals that I missed, I actually did show up. I walked to the front door of my clinical site and for some reason just couldn't walk in. I tried for 10 minutes and couldn't do it. I had a mental block against it that I believe was a self-defense mechanism. At this point, I am just trying to figure out my next step, not correct my mistakes or so-called wrong-doings.

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Specializes in hospice.

You ever gonna offer any details as to what constituted the poor treatment you say you're instructor dished out?

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.
I know it seems like I may have chosen to fail my clinicals, but a lot more happened behind the scenes that I did not put in summary of the situation above. It has a lot more to do with the way I was being treated than how good of a nurse I could be. This instructor, I believe, was trying to test me and put me through a lot to see if I could overcome what she was placing in front of me. I completely disagree with how clincials are graded- simply on one instructor's opinion.

The first day of clinicals that I missed, I actually did show up. I walked to the front door of my clinical site and for some reason just couldn't walk in. I tried for 10 minutes and couldn't do it. I had a mental block against it that I believe was a self-defense mechanism. At this point, I am just trying to figure out my next step, not correct my mistakes or so-called wrong-doings.

It seems like you are not getting the point. The instructor had no choice but to mark you as fsiled because you missed 2 clinicals. How do you know you would have failed? You don't. You are just assuming you would have and blaming the instructor for YOUR CHOICE to miss 2 clinicals. Had you shown up those last 2 days, you may have passed. But now you will never know because you were automatically failed for missing the shifts, whether the instructor wanted to pass you or not.

As far as what to do in the future, I suggest finding an easy going job with no stress if you reaction to stressful situations is just to check out and blame others.

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It seems like you are not getting the point. The instructor had no choice but to mark you as fsiled because you missed 2 clinicals. How do you know you would have failed? You don't. You are just assuming you would have and blaming the instructor for YOUR CHOICE to miss 2 clinicals. Had you shown up those last 2 days, you may have passed. But now you will never know because you were automatically failed for missing the shifts, whether the instructor wanted to pass you or not.

As far as what to do in the future, I suggest finding an easy going job with no stress if you reaction to stressful situations is just to check out and blame others.

Well said.

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
figure out my next step, not correct my mistakes or so-called wrong-doings.

Hmmmmm, what kind of career can you have where it's not necessary to correct mistakes or admit to wrong-doings?

I see a fully successful career in government.

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Specializes in Hospice.

I think in our program they had one day built in for you to miss for emergencies, and we certainly had to contact our instructor if that ever happened. If you miss two days, and you have 10 clinicals that semester, you would fail. 20% rule. It's in the syllabus and the handbook. One thing that happened to me in nursing school was developing that interesting complexity of bone called a spine, and adding a few layers of epidermis! If I had ever felt singled out by a clinical instructor I would have asked to have a discussion to clear things up, and end it on a good note by asking for opportunities to learn my skills. Maybe if you come back next year you can address these issues head on and be successful. Wish you the best!

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