I'm freaking out here.. I could fail clinical and i dont know why!

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

so the semester is over. depending on what i got on my final on monday, my grade will probably be a mid B, which is not bad at all.. however, this wont mean anything if my instructor decides to fail me in clinical!!! I'm very afraid of this. She's expressed many times that my performance is unsatisfactory to her standards and I've tried everything to try to prove to her that I am ready to move on to the next semester. I dont believe I do anything so terrible that I deserve to fail. Of course there are things I need to work on, but everybody does. I have never put a patient in harm and I do everything I am asked. This is her first semester as a clinical instructor and I feel like she is judging me unfairly against other students in my group who have prior healthcare expierience (CNAs). Of course some of these thing are going to be difficult for me at first, because Ive never done them before! But I've asked the other girls in my group and they say I'm doing fine. And the instructor tends to play favorites a lot.. There is a girl in the group, who is one of my good friends, who is borderline failing her theory part of the course. on the first paper her original grade was a 75, and mine was an 81. I was a little upset with my grade so I went to talk to the teacher about it.. nothing really came of it. the other girl went to talk to her about her paper and the instructor said "Oh, I didnt realize a 75 was not a C. Let's see if we can add some points to make this a passing paper." So she did, and gave the other girl an 82!! Now, if my paper was 6 points better than the other girl's to begin with, how did the same paper magically become 1 point better than mine!! and the really crazy thing is that she emailed the girl and told her not to tell ANYONE at the school that she changed her grade... she is also friends with this girl on facebook, and has allowed her to sit in the cafeteria of the hospital to study for her theory test during clinical time.

I broke down during our sterile dressing checkoff test and told another teacher everything, but I asked her to keep it confidential because I think if my teacher finds out she will hate me even more.. the other instructor suggested I go to the dean, but I dont want to unless she definitely fails me.. the other girls in my group said they would go to the dean and vouch for me and even the girls who are her "favorites" said they would tell her how my instructor plays favorites and even though they are on her good side, they dont think its fair.. but they all dont want to tell anyone until they get their grades because they are afraid she will fail them too if she finds out they said anything.

sorry, im just venting. hah. but does this sound weird to you guys? I just dont know what Ill do if I fail and have to wait until next fall to repeat the semester. I've been pretty much a wreck for the past three weeks because I know its coming. everyones clinical evaluations are today and I received an email from her stating that mine will have to be delayed until tomorrow... thats got to mean something bad!

[llg, PhD, RN]

It's wrong. Report it. No if's, and's, or but's. You are just going to have to be brave and do what needs to be done. Sometimes we are faced with difficult situations for which must do the thing that is right, even though it is hard.

Good luck to you. Let us know how it works out.

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

i know.. im working on a letter to the dean right now. i read in the syllabus that if she does fail me it has to be reviewed by the freshman team, so at that time, i'll present all my evidence against her, and hopefully some of my fellow group members will speak against her for me, since their evals are today.

[sophie<3]

Yes, definately report it. If you do pass, I would still report it because there should be no reason to play favorites and if you don't report it, what if someone else in the following semesters is victim to this too! I hope you pass your clinicals..if not, get revenge :) haha just kidding! but seriously, good luck!:hpygrp::hpygrp:

[SydneyJo1]

I agree, you need to report it. If you wait to see if she fails you and she DOES, then it looks like sour grapes on your part and hurts your credibility, even if others vouch for you. She is wrong to do things like this and is apparently extremely unprofessional, so it needs to be reported.

GOOD LUCK!!

[tfleuter, BSN, RN]

This woman is in her first semester as an instructor with this program, correct? Trust me, THIS is the time to address this issue, not later. She is in a vulnerable position. The other staff will be evaluating her performance to see if they really want to keep her on for years to come or if it's not a good fit. Multiple complaints over something so blantantly wrong will not go unnoticed with a new faculty member. Now, someone who has been there for a number of years is a different matter.

[Rednights]

You have a copy of that email ... it's game over LOL.

[MammaNurse2Be]

REPORT!

[Going2BaRN]

I agree 100% with everyone else. Report her and do it now!

[Lucky0220]

Is this poor excuse for a teacher, your theory instructor as well as your clinical instructor? I was not clear on that. If she is, then how can she fail those students who support you if they have passing and above grades on their classroom exams? As for your clinical evals, do you not get graded each week on your care plan? That is how it was done at my school. It seemed as if those stupid care plans counted for much more than our performance on the floor. We had different instructors for our clinicals all the time. If she thought your performance was not up to her standards, she should have coached you throughout the semester. That's a big part of her job!! To let you know that you might fail right at the end is totally unfair and unprofessional....and I won't even address the part about her changing the other student's grade! Totally unacceptable. I agree with everyone that said do not wait for your grade to report her. You have to be proactive here. Get on it ASAP and good luck. Hopefully this will be her first and last semester at your school.

[ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN]

she failed me... we are supposed to have appointments for clinical evaluations in which she critiques our performance and we receive a pass/fail grade. well, everyone else received appointment times for tuesday and i recieved an email from her that said "your appointment will be delayed until wednesday, i will email you the time sometime today[tuesday]" i didnt recieve another email until 11:45 PM stating she would call me at 9:00 AM today. she called at 10:45, and said "theres no easy way to say this but you have failed clinical." i asked if theres anything i could do and she said apply for next year, so i hung up on her.

i left a message for my advisor, who is also one of my professors, i suppose ill write a formal letter addressing all the unprofessional things shes done and give it to her and the dean.

i just dont know what to do, its so unfair. i dont know if i can go through it again.

[MiahMSN, MSN, RN]

So sorry to hear that. But try to be strong and keep your head up, because you are going to need your strength to fight this. Other than being unprofessional, she just seems insensitive. Do not hesitate on writing that letter. Gather all of your evidence, include the incident with the other student receiving a grade change, include names of students they can talk with in order to confirm your story and her behavior throughout the sememster, and fight, fight, fight. She should not be allowed to get away with this. Instructors are supposed to guide, support and help their students learn the material and if a student is having a problem, that is not just the student's issue, it is the instructors as well, and so you two should be able to work together to get you where you need to be with understanding the material. It's obvious she did not do this. These are the worst type of instructors to have. Good luck. Hope it works out in your favor.