I was denied a maternity leave.

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I'm a vocational nursing student at a trade school and was denied a leave of absence due to pregnancy. I won't even be put on a waiting list! Failed students have priority over me to re-enter the program! I ended the term with an 88%, my financial obligations are taken care of, and my obgyn even had written a letter to the school requesting I be able to take off the next term. The school said that I would be terminated! Does anyone have an experience similar to this, or possibly information that would help me appeal the school's decision to terminate me because of pregnancy? Also, does anyone in their opinion believe this is considered an act of discrimination? PLEASE reply. I really don't want to have to start all over again in another program.

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
What does smoking have to do with this, Stanley? A better comparison would be, what if you got prostate cancer and needed to take a semester off for radiation and chemo? Would it be fair if the school said you were out of luck like they are doing to the OP?

Without speaking for Stanley maybe he meant because getting pregnant and smoking are both a choice the student made? In any event at my school any of the three would still require that you re-apply.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Getting pregnant isn't always a choice. Often it's an accident.

Are you suggesting that, if a smoker gets lung cancer, THEN the school can kick them out? What about if an obese student gets an illness that obese people have a high risk for, then their outta luck?

Or, are you suggesting that the student needs to get an abortion?

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Stanley isn't sugeesting any of those things, FS. He's simply saying that the school is not required to accomodate her. He probably chose a lousy example, but hey.

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

I am in an RN program, and as far as I understand they do NOT give maternity leave. You can be pregnant in the program, but it is understood that you cannot miss anymore time than anyone else. We had a girl start first semester preganant, and she had her labor induced over Xmas break so she wouldn't miss. If you have to miss more than the amount time that we are allowed to miss then you must withdraw yourself from the program. The only difference between your situation is that a person who withdraws due to medical issues (pregnancy, illness, temporary disability etc), but has good grades will be given priority over others for readmission. That being said there is no promise you will be readmitted because it comes down to space being available. I believe that readmits are only allowed in when a new admission declines, or drops prior to the start of the program semester.

The system is pretty fair because it doesn't matter if your in a car wreck, develop cancer, get preganant, have a death in the family etc everyone is held to the same rules and standards. It's scary, but we all knew it going in. Thats why I try to stay healthy, keep my kids healthy, not take chances, and pray a lot.

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Specializes in LTC.

Maybe the school don't want to be liable for any injury or birth complications due to all the work we have to do in clinicals ? Not, sure... but definetly talk c- the next person in the chain of command. There were soooo many pregant women in the program I'm in. They had to go to theory and clinical just like the rest of us. They may have been given lighter assignments, but the school was not going to give them maternity leave. Nursing school is nursing school, not a job. Most jobs give leave, but I don't know of nursing schools that do. I hope you don't have to take leave due to med. problems though. Good luck, and I'm so sorry to hear about this, and how they are treating you.

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Getting pregnant isn't always a choice. Often it's an accident.

Are you saying she was raped?

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

I'm saying that women who are sexually active can have a birth control failure leading to an unplanned pregnancy. I'll bet that if we polled the allnurses women, we would find that a large percentage of us here have had unplanned pregnancies. Also, since the human sex drive is a force to reckon with, some people will have weak moments where they do not show an ideal level of restraint and will become pregnant while taking a chance.

What I find surprising is that, in this liberated time, where out of wedlock pregnancy has lost its stigma, women are in the workplace, that any enlightened person thinks it's okay to penalize women who have an intended or an unintended pregnancy while in nursing school, whether they are married or single.

For many, many women, nursing school is the road to a better paying job. Perhaps they already have a child and are receiving some financial assistance. To let an unplanned pregnancy derail their aspirations is ludicrous. I think it's a throwback, frankly, from the early days of nursing when nursing schools had a great deal of control over the private lives of the nursing students.

And yes, abortion is usually an act of desperation on the part of the mother, and policies like this will encourage them. And hardworking, decent people can have unintended pregnancies that shouldn't totally derail their academic goals!

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The stork doesn't just come around and drop babies off.

This isn't a women's lib issue. All the other arguments are merely red herrings and are irrelevant to the issue at hand.

Pregnancy, with the exception of rape, will always be considered a choice.

My mother had a bit of wisdom for me...

If you can't handle any and ALL of the responsibilities and consequences of a child DON'T HAVE SEX.

Sex, and therefore pregnancy, is a choice that must be dealt with by the man/woman and NOT anyone else. Medical conditions that may result from the pregnancy are merely consequences of that choice.

Even employers only have to give you 12 weeks. If you have to be out 9 months you can bet your job will be gone when you get back. If the employer does hold your job it is out of kindness. Not because they have to.

In this case, it is the SAME as smoking. It is our right to do what we will with our bodies. It's our responsibility to pay the consequence for using that right.

Pregnancy, while a right, isn't something that anyone else is or should be responsible for. I feel bad that the OP will lose her spot but really now. She should have considered what would happen if she got pregnant BEFORE the situation arose.

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Maybe the school don't want to be liable for any injury or birth complications due to all the work we have to do in clinicals ? Not, sure... but definetly talk c- the next person in the chain of command. There were soooo many pregant women in the program I'm in. They had to go to theory and clinical just like the rest of us. They may have been given lighter assignments, but the school was not going to give them maternity leave. Nursing school is nursing school, not a job. Most jobs give leave, but I don't know of nursing schools that do. I hope you don't have to take leave due to med. problems though. Good luck, and I'm so sorry to hear about this, and how they are treating you.

umm..hello! I have 4 children and worked as an aide at a hospital until the last min..this is the world of nursing and pregnant women work all the time

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nursing schools, in order to be accredited, need to have their students in clinical a required amount of hours. Pregnancy,illness, death, all same thing..can only miss so many clinicals. Anyone who reapplies for whatever reason has same process..One of our fellow students had her husband die suddenly and she didnt miss more clinical time than he minimum..its what it is...my friend had a c/section on Friday, went home on Sunday and went to her first day of nursing school that Monday..she did it and made it through.

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Again, I am so sorry for the trouble you are going through. Please remember this tho... don't put any unnecessary stress on you, as it puts unnecessary stress on your baby also. God Bless!

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

If I were driving to school next week, and another car came our of nowhere and smashed into me it wouldn't be my fault. If I had to miss more than the allowed amount of time due to the crash it still wouldn't be my fault, but I would be kicked out. If my kids became sick, got injured or were killed it may not be my fault, but I am still not allowed to miss more than x amount of days.

The simple fact is that you have to be present at X amount of clinical rotations etc. Its a regulation, and is beyond the schools control. If you cannot be present regardless of the reason you have to exit, and reapply.

They also cannot hold or promise you a spot in a future class. I mean think about it !!!!!! If they allowed someone whos pregnant to leave, and come back in 6 months with a promised spot available then they would have to let everyone who ran into a problem. The guy who was in a car wreck and injured his arm, the girl who got pneumonia and missed two weeks, the classmate who got shingles, and the Dr wanted her to stay home for two weeks. Then they would have to keep extending it for the lady whose child was found to have cancer, the girls whose mother is dying, the lady whose husband lost his job, and now needs to work. There would be so many promised spots no one new would be able to apply.

You may think I am overdoing it, but these things happen to all of us. I have heard stories of women pressing on despite breast cancer and making it through the program. They were NOT given leave to take chemo and try not to die. They were held to the same stardards as everyone else. I wish it could be different, but it is what it is.

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