I flunked out of clinical today..

Published

I`m devastated.. This was my last semester.. 3 weeks away from graduation. What happened is I didn`t have my watch for clinical and that was a break in dress code.. and when I went to take a vital sign i was confronted with the problem that there was no clock anywhere around and I had no watch.. I went and took out my cell phone and used the timer to get the exact 30 second count. I had my back to the door at that point because i wasnt really sure my instructor wanted to see my phone out .. I couldn't feel the radial pulse so well.. I was nervous and recorded the wrong number. I handed them my vitals and it was way off.. the HR.. I looked at it and thought to myself that`s not right .. my instructor said go do it over again .. I did with another student and had a number that was way different but I used the apical pulse which I could hear much better. Now I get sent to the office and told that I falsified medical records to try to cover up my mistake of not having a watch. I am kicked out of the program .. my instructor said that she did not see my cell phone and that she was watching me the whole time.. that i was facing her and looking at the door to see if there was clock hanging.. This did not happen. I don`t know how I can prove it. Its basically my word against hers and i`m like devastated.. She keeps saying that my story changed.. that the second time i got the HR i got 117 and then told someone else it was 170.. which was completely false I even wrote down 170, with another student watching me right there (its a child, that`s why so high), and I`m not entirely sure why she would be so insistent to say this.. I was like flabbergasted at all of this.. shell shocked and maybe I didn`t express myself properly but I didn`t change my story .. I might have misspoke .. i mean hell when she took me to the waiting room to talk to me about this and I told her I listened to the HR for 30 MINUTES.. when obviously I meant seconds.. I`m just very upset right now.. 3 years of my life and it ends like THIS!!? Now I don`t know if i will ever go back into the program .. I need to write a letter in my defense for when the teachers have their meeting about this where they decide whether to take me back for next semester.. or any semester. It`s devastating.. I`m taking 1 day off to clear my mind and then start writing this tomorrow.. anyone have any idea what I can write.. I don`t know if theres anything I can do to get them to change their minds. This is so awful

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Man I am so sorry to hear that this happened. Lesson learned DON'T FORGET YOUR WATCH AND CARRY AN EXTRA ONE!

Anyway, while writing your letter I would admit everything as it happened truthfully.

-Yes you forgot your watch.

-Yes you pulled out your cell phone and tried hiding it to try and take the pulse because you thought you would be further reprimanded for taking out your phone.

-Admit you were irresponsible in your actions. Admit that you should NOT have tried rushing to get the pulse with a cell phone timer. Admit that you should have gone up to your instructor and told her you were UNABLE to take the pulse because you did not have a watch.

-Note how IMPORTANT this nursing program is to you and how you have worked hard for three years to get to this point and that you did not want to mess it up three weeks before graduation which is why you didn't take the pulse correctly.

-Speak with the dean maybe? Or whoever is head of the program you're in.

-Basically just say that you took the pulse to the best of your ability without having a watch handy.

I dunno..... this might be really tough to pull yourself out of.... either way you will have to kiss some serious *** and they still may not take you back. Not only this nursing program but I would assume ALL nursing programs would have done the same thing, if not kicked you out than definitely reprimanded you in some way shape or form. Depends on a lot of things.

Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I'm so sorry that this happened so close to the end =( In my program, that would have been a critical violation (forgetting a watch, not the "falsifying"), 3 of those and you'd be dismissed. FWIW, having your cell phone on your person while on the floor would have been reason for dismissal here.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics (neuro).

Admit you mucked up. You brought your cell phone to try and better the situation and it ended up looking worse. You know in retrospect what a huge mistake you made. Maybe mention some suggestions on how you would have handled the situation if you could do it again and what you would do to avoid making the same mistake again.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospice + Palliative.

I'm a bit befuddled as to how this one violation was grounds for dismissal. Doesn't your program have some sort of warning process? Or have you had warnings for other things, and this was a "last strike" sort of deal? If that's the case, then I'm sorry to say but you're probably out of options :( If there isn't a warning system in place, and this is truly the first infraction you've had in an otherwise great clinical performance, then I think you would be able to appeal the decision with the Dean and if you explain yourself well you have a decent chance of readmission. Good luck, in any case!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I'm a bit befuddled as to how this one violation was grounds for dismissal. Doesn't your program have some sort of warning process? Or have you had warnings for other things, and this was a "last strike" sort of deal? If that's the case, then I'm sorry to say but you're probably out of options :( If there isn't a warning system in place, and this is truly the first infraction you've had in an otherwise great clinical performance, then I think you would be able to appeal the decision with the Dean and if you explain yourself well you have a decent chance of readmission. Good luck, in any case!!

My guess is the reason for the harsh reaction is the "falsification of medical records" accusation. Prior to going to nursing school, I was in hospital HR. Falsifying records was one of the few "instant fire" infractions and one of the even fewer that resulted in a "no re-hire" code on the employee record.

To the opening poster, admit to anything as long as you can stress that you did NOT falsify a record that is VERY serious stuff.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency.

I am so sorry this happened and I feel wholly for you. Honesty is the best policy. I would write multiple letters of apology--to the clinical instructor, to your director of your program, to the manager of the unit you were on, and to the hospital's education department.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

Wow. I'm sorry for you. That really doesn't seem fair at all. I do not even own a watch since the one I used during school broke. I also had a little one that attached to my stethoscope. It was nice to have just for ease of mind since my watch died once before I got to clinical. I hate watches. Good luck. Keep us posted!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am so sorry that this happend to you. I would just be truthful, apologetic, what you learned from the error, and what you would do to prevent it in the future. No one is perfect, and we all make mistakes. With that being said, to try and cover a mistake with another mistake is not ideal. But I am sure that you know that. I would not get into he said, she said, one word against another word.....just stick to the facts as you recall them, that you aspire to improve critical thinking skills, and your reasoning at the time--to not get the child that you were working with any more "worked up" and in distress any further, you "thought outside the box" to get the information for your assessment. That perhaps you did mis-speak when confronted, and you aspire to not react defensively to constructive instruction in the future. And the steps you will take to prepare correctly for clinical rotation. Good luck and keep us posted. It is hard not to get defensive, but try not to.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

This really sucks and exemplifies everything thats wrong with nursing school.

Where I work, there are 16 nurses working at any time, probably only three of us actually wearing a watch.

An absolutely asinine reason for failing you and I am really sorry it happened.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

This sounds crazy. I am making the assumption this was in a hospital room....no clock in there, what the heck?I forget my darn watch half the time, I think you had a clever solution to use the cell. I am assuming that cells are probably banned in clinical or something and that is why you did not want it seen. Regardless, I suspect you got nervous about the whole thing, flustered, and that is why you had trouble counting and calculating the correct HR? There may be more to this story, perhaps you have been written up in the past or something, but from what you wrote it sounds like a serious overreaction. When I was in nursing school and we were being tested on doing glucometer checks, on ourselves, not in the hospital,I got very nervous about sticking my own finger. At the same time, my friend who went right before me also got flustered and used the insturment incorrectly. The instructor started screaming at her, and then screamed at me to go. I sat there frozen.....could not remember a thing. She started screaming at me too, that I was incompetent and on and on. I walked out of the room crying and I think I cried the whole way home. After that I was terrified to do a blood sugar check on a patient until finally, when I got my preceptor later in the program, she was supportive and understanding, amd before long I was whizzing around the floor doing all the glucometer checks for everyone. The point to this story? Sometimes nursing schools are strict about absurd things and all it does is fluster students and make them terrified, and you cannot do anything well when you are scared, including something as simple as a HR.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Maybe you should tell her (or in your letter) that you were 'nervous' about not having your watch. Apologize. Let her/them know that you did not know how to react. Let them also know that your instructor saying you 'falsified medical records' is a deep accusation, let them also know that this does not reflect you as a person.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion