How to handle missing classes for a learning challenged nursing student?

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My son is in his junior year of nursing school.

In the first semester of this year, he got C in med surg 1. A large about of the cohort, perhaps 30%, did not pass.

The school is offering to have him, and the others take med surg 1 in Spring 2020, starting in 2 weeks.

He is learning challenged, including ADHD. He is eligible for accommodations, but he did not receive them until halfway through the Fall 2019 semester.

For the Spring 2020 retake of med surg 1, the class is weekly, 8:00 am-1:00 pm.

Due to the Passover holiday, he will be missing two classes consecutively, and it will be hard to catch up.

Does anyone have ideas or suggestions on how to handle this?

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

This would be an excellent conversation for him to have with his instructors.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

If he hasn't already, have your son reach out to Disability Accommodations at his school - he doesn't have to share his disability(ies) with his instructors but this will allow him access to resources and supports and Disability Services can speak with teachers about the accommodations that would benefit him.

Schools are obligated to allow students to miss class for Religious Holidays - I recommend that your son reach out to his instructors in advance of missing class and see what they recommend - he may have to make up class another time, study independently, or complete alternative assignment(s) to make up for missed time, or they may just want him to get notes from a classmate.

He may want to speak to both instructors and disability services about resources to support student learning - many schools offer free tutoring, writing assistance, open lab time, etc -- and knowing (and utilizing) the resources available could really help him improve his study habits and scores in school.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
On 1/4/2020 at 8:21 PM, Chris Larson said:

Due to the Passover holiday, he will be missing two classes consecutively, and it will be hard to catch up.

Does anyone have ideas or suggestions on how to handle this?

To be frank: The best way to handle it is to skip the holiday celebrations in favor of attending his classes.

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Have him get with his professors ASAP. Print the syllabus out and literally recite that thing. Ensure he knows what is expected from the class and what he expected to know for the classes he is missing.

Also, if he has a good cohort he can ask a friend to record the lecture (please ask for permission first). Having a good planner also makes a big difference so as he is gone from a class he knows what he has to get done. I have used this planner and it has made such a big difference in my daily busy routine. Organization I found in nursing school is one of the most overlooked concepts that people don't realize it is very critical. Either plan to fail or fail to plan.

Best of luck to your son in nursing school!

https://www.leveluprn.com/pages/study-planner

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On 1/4/2020 at 11:21 PM, Chris Larson said:

Does anyone have ideas or suggestions on how to handle this?

The school is likely being generous in allowing him to retake the class instead of kicking him out. He's already struggling. I wouldn't push your luck. They can't hold religious holidays against him but he may not have the capacity to catch up adequately on his own and they are not required to make up the deficit. Also, if he wants to be a nurse it's time for him to start problem solving on his own. Lots of ADHD nurses out there who handle their own business. If his other learning disabilities preclude him from doing this perhaps nursing isn't the best choice for him. Probably not what you wanted to hear but please understand my intent is not to insult you or your son it's just that sometime the kindest thing we can do is be honest even if it's difficult to hear. He will absolutely have to be able to independently problem solve, sometimes on the spot and emergently, when he is a nurse. I wish you both the best.

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This may not be advice for the med-surg class, but I just want to point out that once he begins his career as a nurse, I hope he's not expecting to be written off the schedule for religious holidays. Hopefully he might be able to switch shifts with somebody, but when you're new, you'll be working all sorts of holidays (religious or not) and hours. He really needs to prepare for this and perhaps starting with nursing school and that schedule will be good prep for later?

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Encourage your son to join our website as we have many resources to assist students: https://allnurses.com/nursing-students-c132/.

AN's Nurse Disabilities forum has advice re dealing with ADHD: https://allnurses.com/nurse-disabilities-c162/

HE needs to take responsibility for own learning in order to be successful. As a parent with learning disabled child, lesson I had to learn for them to be able to fly and become successful in chosen career.

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