Help!!! Caught btw rock and hard place--Instructor sending students home early...

[meatballgirl]

Hi Everyone:

I need some savvy advice from some smart seasoned nurses. I'm in nursing school and a terrible situation has developed....

We are suppose to have clinicals from 3pm-midnight. Our instructor lets us out at 7pm, and we spend about 2 and a half hours total on the floor. The rest we are sitting and chatting about nursing stuff. But we get let out 5 hours early, every day. Today, she cancelled the whole day all together. We lost 9 hours.

Now I know some students are happy to play hookie and to get out early, I feel like I'm getting ripped off. I'm seriously not learning anything at all. And all the other students are not saying anything. We are pressured by the instructor not to tell the Dean who is very strict, but it's getting ridiculous.

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

I want to squeal.

Don't get me wrong, if we can't do anything on the floor from 7pm on, then I don't want to just sit there for 5 hours. I want to learn something, to do something.

But I feel like I can't say anything. The whole class will kill me. And I still have 9 months to go with this group. And the instructor will give me hell if she finds out it was me.

So what do I do, wise nurses?

Leave an anonymous note in the Dean's box? Any ideas that will not get me hanged by the class?

Thanks!

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Wow. You seriously think this is an issue? There are all sorts of ethical issues with this clinical group then =(

But the class will hang me. I don't want to get "accidentally" injected with 50cc of insulin. I'm not diabetic and I don't want to die.

Anyone know HOW I should tell this terrible secret?

[MattRN81]

If you are worried about retaliation, My suggestion would be to request to be in another clinical group. Win-Win situation. Your fellow students who do not want to speak up and do the right thing will pay the price later, if they even make it through nursing school.

[nursel56]

Seems to be a trend -- this is the second thread started about this issue in the last couple of weeks.

[tigerlogic]

Talk to someone and tell them you fear retaliation - it could be your dean, program director, academic advisor. That said, if all your classmates are ok with being cheated out of that time, I worry about your whole program. If it was hard to get in and/or it's really expensive, you'd think other people also want value for their money/time/effort. Be an adult. Stand up for yourself, your peers and your education.

[LexRaven]

Accidentally injected with 50 cc of insulin? Sounds trolly to me....

How should you tell this terrible secret? You just did. Print this thread and leave it in your dean's mailbox.

I agree with this method!

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

But the class will hang me. I don't want to get "accidentally" injected with 50cc of insulin. I'm not diabetic and I don't want to die.

Anyone know HOW I should tell this terrible secret?

You mean the secret being you don't know that insulin is measured in units and not cc's? If this is your educational standing....there's a problem, mission control.

Anyone know how many vials of insulin it would take to fill 50 cc's of a 60 cc syringe? And how that many bottles (more than would be on hand for the FLOOR) would not be missed?

[nguyency77, CNA]

Just wanted to give some input here. I'm NOT a nurse. I am a CNA.

Our CNA "clinicals" were really not technical. It was just basic skills.

Having said that, there was a clinical instructor who was supervising a group my friend was in. This clinical instructor allowed them to come to the clinical site at 11 am, whereas our program required that we arrive at our site at 7 AM and stay until 3 PM. The teacher was allegedly letting students leave at 1 PM... They had only TWO HOURS on the floor, every day for nearly a week before someone had the sense to say something. The instructor was fired that same day.

Now, CNA skills are relatively easy. Even though I got a lot of practice, I was still quite uncomfortable when I got my first job. So imagine getting NO practice.

I would definitely say something about it. Just don't tell your classmates.

[multi10]

"...let all the other kids go." [?!] OP, in your mind, are your colleagues/fellow nursing students kids? You're not a kid. You are a grown up. Someday you hope to take care of sick people as a professional.

Now go and do the right thing. PLEASE.

[cienurse]

If it were me and I was afraid for my life every time I went to clinical, I would be transferring to another program followed by whistleblowing on the instructor after I was gone!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I would report it to the dean and higher up, but i would do it anonymously and then keep my mouth shut. It is up to them to act, but it is not up to you to sacrifice yourself.

[meatballgirl]

Thanks for the input everyone. (And BTW, I was kidding about the insulin. Yes, it comes in units. But you get the point, I fear retaliation from the other students.) Our group is a strange one. Lots of them are there because their parents are forcing them to be there. Others are just trying to scrape by and get the license. I dont' have a doubt what the right thing to do is. I'm just wondering how I should do it. Does that make sense?

I can do it anonymously. I can sneak into her office and speak with her quietly. I can do it leave her a note in her box. Etc, etc. you know what I mean. I'm freaking out. I don't feel right but I dont' want to get anyone fired. Why is life so ridiculously hard???

[loriangel14, RN]

Why would you be concerned about getting the teacher in trouble? She is being dishonest and cheating the students and the school. You don't need to "sneak into" the Deans office.Go in with your head up high, you are doing the right thing.You will feel good about yourself once you get it off your chest.