What would you do?

TazziRN, RN · May 24, 2007

That's exactly what you should do. If she were the only one breaking the rules it would be one thing, but because others have been dropped for doing the same things, it should be even across the board.

Question: does she have a learning disability? If yes, she may be protected. Just be prepared for that.

Thedreamer · May 24, 2007

No she has no learning disability. She is just a foul tempered girl who for some reason none of us can figure out is getting special treatment. Its just 100% puzzling us. Its almost as if the administration has said to not kick her out because even the teacher says she doesn't like this person. Im just SO perplexed!

Thedreamer · May 24, 2007

It just occurred to me.. Perhaps she isnt failing the student because our program is so small that if she does fail her, it just means she will be forced to deal with her again next term.. So she is doing whatever she can to promote her to the next term to get her out of her own hair.. Which scares me.

TazziRN, RN · May 24, 2007

Another reason this needs to be addressed, then. If she cannot get through each term safely, then she shouldn't be a nurse.

miss arron · May 24, 2007

i can't believe your teacher is letting her get away with that....

even if they let her through this class she's bound to run into someone who won't tolerate that and give it to her good.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 24, 2007

If this particular student's issues are not directly affecting you, I would ignore it and not do anything about it. This might sound harsh, but her tardiness and absenteeism is none of your business. Don't waste your energy by concerning yourself with her matters.

Once you graduate and start working as a nurse, you will soon find that nursing is an unfair, politically-motivated field. Some nurses can get away with horrendous deeds, while others are severely punished for unimportant things.

TazziRN, RN · May 24, 2007

So she shouldn't do anything unless she is unfairly bounced out too?

newlife30 · May 24, 2007

Actually, you shouldn't worry about it, heard about karma? We had a similar student in our class, who happened to be a transfer from the regular program( I'm in the intensive). I believed she thought that she would get away with her behavior, however, I noticed that she hasn't been present this week. It turns out that her 'transfer" which was approved, ended being rejected. I understand your frustration, in my situation, I just told the other students, who were complaining about it, that the only person who is losing from this opportunity is her ....finally, (in your situation) she may have found a loophole, the administration may be trying to close all ends, who knows...try to ignore it...you don't need the added stress!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · May 24, 2007

i honestly dont know what to do... some students and i might be taking this to the head nurse at our school and demand some answers. what do you guys think? i need some advice! :trout:

you do nothing. and, i literally mean nothing. give this student no help whatsoever. if someone is feeding her information about what is going on in class lectures or questions on the test, then they need to stop. if they don't, stop interacting with them as well because they are promoting cheating (at least as far as the tests are concerned). whatever you share with them, they are siphoning to her second hand.

there's nothing you can do about the people who run your nursing program. they have the power to do what they want. take this as an example of what happens among the troops when rules are not applied fairly. when your time comes to be in charge, remember that as hard as it is, you can't always play favorites and bend the rules for some people. then, again, sometimes you are caught between a rock and a hard place and have no choice (see below).

i've just completed a very complicated class in health information management. there was someone in our class something like this. she literally cheated her way through the course by missing days including the day of our big midterm exam. she sought out people and leeched the correct answers to tests off them. someone showed her a completed spreadsheet project we had to format and turn in when she couldn't figure out how to do it. however, someone else who was very devious and had her trust got revenge on her but good. they fed her some wrong answers to the later tests which she apparently accepted without even checking their accuracy resulting in a low score for her on the test. there was a lot of eye rolling and silent snickers when this person announced her poor grade to the class. our semester was completed a week ago. this lady was still in the computer lab at school working on homework that was supposed to have been due on may 9th, 2 weeks ago! the reason i know this is because she called me and asked if i would give her the answers to one of the assignments. she said the instructor had given her an absolute deadline of yesterday, may 23rd. "no way," i told her and don't call me again. she had to have been desperate to have called me. we all did the final exam on may 16th and completed the course. i notified the instructor. but, the instructor is the one who allowed her to drag these deadlines out. she'll never be successful at a job because employers are going to be too strict about expecting that deadlines be met. time = money to an employer.

i'm not advocating that anyone feed wrong facts to someone because it is inherently mean. you also have to be able to be completely closed mouthed about it and never reveal yourself and what you've done. i'm dying to know who betrayed her! however, if this person is sliding through your nursing program the same way, she'll have problems passing the nclex. it costs $300 to take the nclex that will be a waste of money if she doesn't pass. also, if she does get a license potential employers are going to ask about her attendance. her attendance stinks. even if the school somehow covers up this fact, she'll hang herself at a job with this tardiness and attendance problem. i've said time and again in posts that nursing school should be treated just as if you are going to a job because you are being evaluated for a lot of behavioral characteristics that potential employers are going to ask about. no employer hires a new grad without getting some kind of evaluation from their nursing instructors. your nursing instructors are the only ones who have been observing you in the role of a learning lpn or rn and can provide that information. what any of you do as a cna isn't the same although an employer might inquire about your attendance and attitude from another employer. this new grad reference may be the one way your instructors will have to do the nursing world a favor and they will be telling the absolute truth.

i'm thinking that the people in the nursing program know something about this student that is allowing them to let her slide by like this. is it possible that one of her parents or a close relative is employed by the school or is a local doctor? the way you describe her behavior towards the instructors makes me think she's threatened to sue them or something if they drop her from the program. the school may be afraid of her threats. i had a new grad who started working on my unit some years ago who was the daughter of a doctor who was on the hospital staff. this is how she got hired. how she got through nursing school i'll never know. her preceptor came to me all flustered one day because she had started to draw up insulin in a 3cc syringe with a 1 and 1/2 inch needle! she hung wrong iv fluids on patients and made a number of med errors that were just unbelievable. our problem was solved when the grad failed her state board exam. she did us all a favor and resigned voluntarily. i have no doubt that the don would have let her stay on staff in some capacity if she had not resigned because of her father being on the medical staff. politics.

Melina · May 25, 2007

I agree with Daytonite. Do nothing to encourage or sabotage her. Obsessing over this girl has to be affecting your own learning experience.

I must go further and say that it really seems like you don't have all the info, which is one reason to go to the head of the school, I guess. (Although it isn't really your business).

You wouldn't necessarily know if she has a disability. If she does have an ADA accommodation, you wouldn't know about unless she chose to tell you. No one at the school can legally mention it, so it may seem as if she is getting away with something when you don't have the complete story. She could be rude because she knows everyone in the class hates her, and she may say she woke up late because she doesn't want everyone to know what she is struggling with. It doesn't sound like she has done anything unsafe in clinical, and while I understand your desire to have everyone treated equally, I don't see a real problem.

I understand you are frustrated, but frankly, if you and your friends acted the way you portray yourself acting towards your classmate (gossiping about her test scores, counting how many days she's missed, etc.) it is not surprising that she has chosen not to share her personal life with any of you.

~Mel'

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · May 25, 2007

No she has no learning disability. She is just a foul tempered girl who for some reason none of us can figure out is getting special treatment. Its just 100% puzzling us. Its almost as if the administration has said to not kick her out because even the teacher says she doesn't like this person. Im just SO perplexed!

Just want to point out that she could have a learning disability and you could have no idea about it. That information is confidential. There are a lot of things that can be real disabilities and a lot of things that can be used as one. It is possible she is protected unless unless you know what is in her file...she doesn't even have to be honest about it.

I'm saying this justifies her actions because it doesn't sound like this is a disability issue and if it is...it seems a bit extreme.