What exactly is expected of a student in nursing clinicals?

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I just failed Peds/Ob for the second time!!! They didn't want me to graduate from the school!! Really, I was about to take my last class. I passed theory both times, the first time I wrote a letter complaining about the teacher and I think I was failed the second time in retaliation. I was put on probation and told not to fail the class again. The clinical instructor has the final word though and even though at about midterm she told me that I had started out a little shaky, but had improved she said she would pass me if I handed in a "perfect" careplan. I just looked at her, of course I would try, but what exactly is "perfect". Why was I being held to this standard when other students were given back a care plan to make corrections if necessary. I was very upset. I went to register for the final class because I knew I had passed the final. I was told I had received an "F" I couldn't believe it. All my dreams, about $9,000 and one and half years out of my life were wasted. To make matters worse, when I went to meet with the Academic standards Committee (who my clinical instructor is on) she lied. She said I had "safety" problems very vaguely. I asked her what she meant specifically. She said once I was taking care of a child with acute bronchitis and I didn't know what to do. I told her I had let the nurse know the pulse oximeter kept going off and she said to ignore it , it was not working properly. We are supposed to get evaluations at mid semester and a final clinical evaluation. I got neither in either class!! I can't understand how they are getting away with this. I sought legal advice and was told these kind of cases are next to impossible to win as the law always favors the school. What if the teachers lie, is this ok. I refuse to believe there is nothing I can do about this, but it seems as if I can not get any justice through the school. I am going to take the issue to the state, but do not have too much hope the this will be a success. Anyone have any suggestions???

Specializes in Newborn ICU, Trauma ICU, Burn ICU, Peds.

KellNY, you say that her being an LPN without an issue makes you more concerned? For me it just sends up a flag (along with her age, that you say shouldn't be a consideration) that the OP may have needed more help in her clinical. Certainly if that was the case, she should have recognized that and sought out help, but we don't know about that for sure. She's (by her report) been a successful LPN for a number of years and while not everyone is cut out to be a RN, there is also the possibility that her clinical instructor (the same one both times) either didn't like her, or didn't like or didn't have the patience for older students. There is the possibility that she was just scary, too. But if that were the case, I would hope that a clinical instructor wouldn't let someone go through the clinicals *twice* without extensive documentation to that effect.

To quote you: "She didn't even know HOW to convert"

You're right, she DIDN'T but that was one time in her first clinical try and she corrected that, isn't that what clinicals are for, to learn?

OP:

"Of course, I should have been more prepared for the clinical but I just wanted to be sure. Of course when I calculated the calculation for the medication, I made a mistake...Actually, this was at the beginning of the clinical rotation...The next time the teacher asked me a question, I made sure I knew how to do the calculation correctly."

The OP did not fail her second clinical because of a med problem, she failed it based on a careplan, and by her telling the story, one that she was NOT given the chance (as the other stdents were) to have proofread and to correct:

"The clinical instructor has the final word though and even though at about midterm she told me that I had started out a little shaky, but had improved she said she would pass me if I handed in a "perfect" careplan. I just looked at her, of course I would try, but what exactly is "perfect". Why was I being held to this standard when other students were given back a care plan to make corrections if necessary. I was very upset. I went to register for the final class because I knew I had passed the final. I was told I had received an "F" I couldn't believe it."

KellNY:

"No one is slinging mud, that's a bit much..."

Perhaps "slinging mud" was the incorrect term to use, but if I were the OP, I'd think based on the following post, someone was slinging something at me (and they somehow missed in her original post where she said she is already a nurse):

"Quote:

Originally Posted by LovebugLPN

I hate when people suggest RN fail outs become LPNs. If this woman had difficulty taking care of a patient and her instructor felt she was unsafe, why would anyone want her to care for them as an LPN? RN students do everyone a favor and don't become an LPN if you are a scary RN student. I suggest she be a CNA where she doesn't have to make any medical decisions.

Coloradogrl:

I COMPLETLY AGREE!!!! If you cant meet standards as a student then what makes you think that someone can be a good nurse period! I also think becoming a aide where you have NO medical decisions on your shoulder's not only for your safety but for ALL OF OURS SAFETY.....ANY OF US COULD BE YOUR PATIENT!"

Again, folks are concentrating on her med error, made at the beginning of her first clinical and according to her story, that was not why she was failed the second time. She took that earlier mistake and said she learned from it. If she didn't, and meds were an issue in her second clinical, then why didn't the nursing instructor have documentation of her issues and cite examples of errors the OP made to present to the review board?

If her story is 100% true, I'd call it a nightmare.

Specializes in Newborn ICU, Trauma ICU, Burn ICU, Peds.

Heck, if it's 75% true, I'd say it's close to a nightmare, too.

Specializes in ICU.

I disagree with the fact that someone brought up age in this. That she should kinda get the benefit of the doubt because she is an older student. I am an older student, single mom of two kids, I shouldn't get a pass on safe nursing practices for that, I don't expect one. Can you imagine if she did gave a med to child not knowing the pound/kilogram ratio and wound up hurting a child? And her excuse would be,"Gee sorry I hurt your child but I am an older student, so you will just have to forgive me." You can either do this safely or not. And the fact that she has twelve years of experience as an LPN scares me more too like someone else mentioned. I would think after all of those years she should know how do conversions. Lastly, to address that the stance that the doctor writes the weights and scripts and does all the thinking as far as the meds go...the meds stop here with the nurses, we are the last line of defense against mistakes the doctors and pharmacy might make.

Janis

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