Illnesses and Nursing school

mariedoreen · Feb 28, 2005

I am wondering if any nursing students have any medical problems, and if so, how much help, or how supportive your school is. Specifically if you are in an accelerated program. I know my soon-to-be school charges you $250 if you miss one clinical day (seems outrageous to me)
Are there any laws that say they have to accomodate me if I have a MD support me? Specifically the illness is IBS. I am so worried that my school will tell me that I can't do the accelerated program. Do I need to establish some sort of status with my school? Help!

They charge you?! :angryfire

neuronursein06 · Feb 28, 2005

I would go to the disability office at your school and go from there. Most schools have to have a disability office. I would already have in place all the medical dx, etc- if you get a flare up of it, what you need to do (i.e. not go to school/clinical for 24 hr), how it affects you, etc, from the diagnosing physicial. Have you already been accepted? I have migraines, among a few other random things, and the school knows if I have a migraine that I cannot go to clinical or class, and to grant a 24-hr extension on assignements. (I ahve not had to do this yet...the extension at least.) I learned that my migraines can be stress induced, so I am very cognizant of pretending papers, etc, are due 48 hr. before the due date. I was very up front during the interview process.

$250? That is CRAZY. We just have to make up the clinical- can only miss one. I'd look into that too! Our clinicals are either on Tue/Wed or Wed/Th, so we just have to go on one of the other days.

Good luck!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2005

I don't know about laws, but you have to physically be capable of performing the duties. And if you've been accepted then it shouldn't be a problem.

What accommodations are you expecting? We all get sick, the flu has been rampant lately. People have had to miss school because of emergency surgeries, deaths in the family ect.

Do you have an usual amount of absences? I don't see them rewriting the rules for you in regarding absences. When you enter a program it's understood that you will be following their rules, not them rewriting the rules to accommodate you.

I'm sure you'll do great and hopefully flareups, pain and problems with the IBS will be minimal. Think positive thoughts. Good luck!

ER1010 · Feb 28, 2005

I am not asking that they bend over backwards for me. I just want some consideration, such as not charging me $250!!!!!

I just want to protect myself in case I get sick. If there is something I need to do in advance I want to make sure I have it in place.

Thanks again!

AKAKatydid · Feb 28, 2005

I know my soon-to-be school charges you $250 if you miss one clinical day (seems outrageous to me)

... lol probably because they were counting on the free labor! Now they've got to pay someone to fill in! :eek: ~ I don't know about at your clinicals, but at mine, they seem like they don't send techs to the floors that have student nurses.

~*~kendra~*~

saintlouis · Feb 28, 2005

First off- check with your Access office (they work w/ students who have disabilities or otherwise need accomidation for testing, etc.) I'm sure most, if not all, schools have them. They'll help you get your ducks in a row in case something happens later. It won't help to contact them AFTER you miss a day, so....

Secondly- my first semester I was diagnosed w/ Adult ADD and started the meds. It took some time to adjust- I slept 16+ hours a day for the first 6 weeks. My instructors were VERY understanding. I was able to keep up on the work, and didn't miss more clinicals than allowed. They didn't penalize me beyond that.... I hope your instructors will be as understanding. I can't say I needed special accomadation, just understanding with my bleary eyes, etc and many missed lectures.

Wow- that really sucks that they charge you for the absence! The last week of the semester is allowed for clinical makeup- if you don't miss, you get a couple of free days right before finals!

Good luck. I hope it all works out for you....

neuronursein06 · Feb 28, 2005

What accommodations are you expecting? We all get sick, the flu has been rampant lately. People have had to miss school because of emergency surgeries, deaths in the family ect.
This is true! They just KNOW that I have migraines, but really they haven't been much of an issue- or else I've been much more aware of migraine auras and taken Imitrex in time.
good luck with whatever you decide to do!
Oh- and are you already accepted to an accelerated prgm? Could (jsut a thought) an accelerated prgm increase your stress, which could worsen the IBS?

TweetiePieRN · Feb 28, 2005

At my nursing school, we were only allowed 1 missed clinical day...throughout the entire program!! They used to allow 1 missed per semester, but students were really taking advantage of it and they had to get serious and modify the policy. If you missed more than 1 clinical day, you would have to make arrangements to make it up or risk being dropped from the program. You had to have a certain amount of hours of clinical time racked up to finish. I personally would have rather paid the 250 vs being dropped from the program.

BTW. I have had IBS for a long time. Are you taking any meds for it? Mine flared up throughout nursing school due to the stress, but our school was totally unsympathetic to any of our problems unless they were REALLY debilitating.

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2005

We're never allowed to miss clinicals, not even 1 day. If you're really sick and have a doctor's note, then the clinical day can be "excused" and you will have to make it up during the make-up days at the end of the semester.

This semester was the first time I've really been sick to the point where I didn't think I would be able to make it through clinical. I ended up going to clinical anyway and then I was sent home early. My instructors were great about it and aren't making me make it up, since I was there for most of it and was able to get my careplan done.

I think it just really depends on the school as far as how many clinicals you can miss, but for the most part you can't miss many, if any at all. I think they are highly regulated by the state BONs as far as how many clinical hours students must have, and in order to be accredited they must abide by that. So most schools will probably be strict in their clinical absence policy. I think the best thing you could do is just talk with them about it, share your concerns. Talk with your doctor, see what he/she recommends. Good luck :)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2005

I am not asking that they bend over backwards for me. I just want some consideration, such as not charging me $250!!!!!
I just want to protect myself in case I get sick. If there is something I need to do in advance I want to make sure I have it in place.
Thanks again!

So because you have a pre-existing illness if you miss a day you shouldn't pay. But someone who gets sick along the way has to pay. I still think you're asking for preferential treatment. But it's worth asking them, or as your interesting in looking for a law that protects you. The laws protect you from discrimination, so hopefully you won't be discriminated against.

Good luck!

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2005

It seems awfully punitive to charge a student a fine for missing clinical.

I have a couple of friends with GI issues. One of them had to drop out. The other is not as severely afflicted. All missed clinical days require a make-up. Two missed days in a rotation, and it's a write up. There is no third. If there is a third, don't come back.

The idea here is to mirror the real world responsibility of reporting for work. You miss so many days, and you're dismissed. Our instructors think of our reporting to clinical as the same thing as reporting for work. If you can't report for work, you can't do the job. There is no accomodation for disability that can get around that unless the patients come to you.

But a fine for not showing up???? That's unprofessional and has no basis in reality unless you're a player on a football team.