Kicked out of nursing school for leaving a bed in the high position...

[rocketsurgeon87]

I'm at a loss for words.

Yesterday I left a patients bed up to go grab some wipes. My instructor walked in and saw that the bed was in the high position while I was gone. This was what got me kicked out of nursing school.

I always thought that school was a place to learn, and to grow. To make mistakes.

There were other incidences like putting nystatin cream on a patient after report, leaving colace at the bedside because I needed a liquid preparation because my patient wouldn't swallow (d/t confusion), for answering a patients friends question (knowing the patient knew him for 20+ years, but since I did not directly ask permission it was violating hippa, and lastly, for the whole bed incident.

I don't want to blame my clinical instructor for my failure. But I just wish I didn't make those mistakes.

Any advice would make me feel better.

Thank you in advance.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I'm sorry to hear about this. I haven't begun yet so I don't know the rules but I kind of thought nursing school was for learning too, and nobody is going to be perfect right off.. isn't that the whole point of school?

[elkpark]

Wellll, in the first place, it wasn't leaving the bed in the high position that got you "kicked out" -- that was just the final straw in a series of errors. The HIPAA violation is particularly serious -- HIPAA violations can carry stiff fines and even prison time as penalties if they get reported and pursued in court. I've seen a number of working healthcare professionals get fired for them. And, yes, what you did was clearly a HIPAA violation. That, by itself, would probably have bought you a ticket out of any number of nursing programs.

However, I'm sorry you ended up in this situation and hope that you'll be able to find some way out. Did you talk with the school about whether there is any possibility of your returning?

[Music in My Heart]

First off, most of us have seen examples of petty tyrants within nursing programs who, for whatever reasons, choose to go after students and get them expelled - for what often seem to be personal biases.

That said, what you describe seems to be a pattern of disregard for some of the nursing fundamentals (that is, patient privacy, maintaining control of medications at all times, patient safety, medication documentation, etc). Any one of those might not get you tossed but you seem to describe a pattern of errors which, frankly, shouldn't happen after the first couple of months of clinicals.

Were I in your place, I'd do some real soul-searching to decide if (a) I really wanted to be a nurse (and why) and (b) if I really thought I had the aptitude for it. Not everybody is suited to this line of work (including, I might add, a number of people actually doing it). If I concluded that nursing was right for me and I was right for it, I would seek interviews both with my instructors (to get their views) and then with the head of the program to petition for reconsideration.

I would also start taking additional classes (math and science) with the plan to show that I had the intellectual horsepower to get through nursing school.

However, I'd also consider looking into another allied profession... specifically laboratory science.

[rocketsurgeon87]

It has been something I have been interested in and passionate for for a while. I work as an LNA on a medsurg floor and I see these things being done all the time. I even found a used needle left in a patients bed one time! And nobody gets fired for it.

Those are all fundamental issues, and anybody can make fundamental mistakes. If I hadn't left that bed up, I would still be in clinical now. And still have a shot at being a nurse at the hospital I was promised a job at. I've just heard of so much worse that others did not get kicked out for and it breaks my heart that I couldn't prove myself to my instructor.

I was thinking of getting all the faculty members together for a meeting for their perception, and what I can do for the future. I was also thinking of going straight to the board of nursing. I have nothing to lose at this point.

[AOx1]

What is your rationale for "going straight to the board of nursing?" Reports to the board are meant for instances in which licensed personnel violate the State's nurse practice act or standards of care. I see no evidence that any of your instructors have done this. It can hurt to make unnecessary reports, as it damages your credibility. I understand that you are disappointed, but focus on developing insight into how you can perform safely, instead of placing blame on others. If you continue to blame others instead of improving, you are cheating only yourself out of the opportunity to be a safe nurse. Ask your former instructors for an honest assessment of how you can improve.

Before you do anything, take a day or two to process the loss & grieve. It may help you make a clear-headed decision that will benefit you. This may or may not be the right career match for you. Passion is important, but so is aptitude. I love poetry, but have never successfully written anything more than dirty limericks, so I won't hold my breath on becomin the next poet laureate. After you've had time to process, an honest and fair evaluation and guidance from your professors may help you decide what to do next.

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

I would say maybe go and talk to the program director or perhaps program dean. Were you previously put on remediation for your safety/HIPPA violation? I would take all of the dings that you listed in your reply and write out what you did wrong and at least three ways that you plan to prevent it in the future. Also write out what you have learned from these mistakes. It seems to me that nursing instructors love "reflective thinking" & (It has actually grown on me quite a bit as well). When you go to talk to the program director/ dean make certain that you have reflected on each an every mistake and that you can address them individually with what I previously suggested you write down. This will show them you have learned from your mistakes and are serious about continuing your education. Just my two cents. Good Luck!

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

You said that part of nursing school is "making mistakes". Ok that's true, but there is a flip side to that: accountability.

So far it seems like you're lacking in that department.

If you do approach the school, admit your mistake and admit you're totally and inexcusably wrong and have learned from your mistake, then they may let you repeat the class or re-enter the program. Maybe, if you're sincere enough.

[rocketsurgeon87]

My choices were administrative failure, or withdrawal failure. I chose the latter and spoke with the head of nursing. I may or may not return to the profession, but I have a pretty bitter taste in my mouth right now.

I believe it is a violation of nursing care to pinpoint and humiliate student nurses in front of peers. I believe it is a violation of nursing care to blow students off and think everything they say is wrong. I don't believe that emotionally abusing people is effective teaching. Maybe physical abuse like in the nun days. Or in the army where you are made to kill. I believe that this perpetuates fear and poor modeling for the future of nursing. I was good at what I did and I was complimented by staff and told by my clinical group that they looked up to me. I was an A student before nursing school, and a B student in it. I am a damned good person and I did the best I could to prove what I was made of. If that is a problem then I am happy to leave the profession.

I want to tell every single nursing student or pre-nursing student out there. Watch every single move you make. Do everything your instructors want, be prepared and never make a mistake. You will sweat, and cry and work 6-8 hours a night on careplans and spend thousands of dollars on something you may not make it through. I have seen many others go as well as myself. It is a rewarding field. And it has been everyday on the floor as an LNA and a nursing student. But today was the least rewarding of my life, after all the work I put into it. And for one semester and 4 mistakes. Have one bad day and you're toast.

[Bruce_Wayne, ASN, RN]

Devil's advocate here:

Sure you're having a bad day, but imagine what kind of day the patient would have had if he or she fell out of the bed, hit their head, and died.

That's the kind of things that can go wrong from a simple mistake, and that's why you've got to avoid fundamental mistakes.

Not all the time, but sometimes it IS life and death and you've got to act like it is life and death all the time.

[theantichick]

I get that you're disappointed. But re-read what you wrote... "one semester and 4 mistakes". Four *serious* mistakes. The fact that there was no patient harm does not negate the mistake, it makes you (and more importantly the patient) lucky.

I messed up in clinical 2 weeks ago... I did all my med checks & pt checks & pt assessment, but between giving PO and IV meds and giving a SQ injection I forgot to put my gloves on. In front of my instructor, no less. The patient wasn't really jeopardized, but I violated one of the primary safety procedures. My instructor **rightly** told me that she couldn't pass me on meds that day because I'd forgotten the gloves. I beat myself up for DAYS over it. And also worked out ways I can prevent something similar. I looked at my actions to see if there was something bigger behind it like getting ahead of myself, going to fast and not going over the procedures in my head before doing them. The care I took the next week saved a patient from a fairly serious med error. (The EMAR didn't flag a Rx that was contraindicated in the presence of another Rx pt was taking, and RN said she would never have caught it, didn't even know what the 1st Rx was, much less there was a contraind.)

Watch every single move you make, and do exactly what the instructor wants? You betcha... that's the name of the game in RN school. You can make mistakes, yes, but you need to address the cause of the mistakes and CORRECT THEM, not keep making them. While your mistakes seem like independent things, they all boil down it seems to me, to not appreciating the responsibility you're undertaking, and ignoring safety procedures that you should have learned before you got to the point in clinical where you started giving meds. What did you do after each error to figure out WHY you had patient safety errors?

If you are serious about continuing in RN school, you need to get real with yourself about this.

Also, how an instructor teaches has NOTHING to do with a "violation of nursing care". The instructor may not be an effective teacher, but that's a school issue, not a "nursing care" issue.

[rocketsurgeon87]

I totally agree with you bruce.

Anything could happen in a given day.

You could die at any second especially in the hospital.

As a student I tried my best to be aware of everything. And since I couldn't, that is why I will not be a nurse.

Thanks for all your helpful advice.