kicked out of school- failed professionalism!

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I've gone to two nursing schools and have failed in both! I was 10 weeks from taking the NCLEX-RN in both programs. I am starting to feel that God doesn't want me to be a nurse. I am male, 51 y/o, and I have graduate degrees (that is right plural) in other fields. It seems that nurses feel criticized when I ask questions. I don't mean to be critical; I am just trying to learn. I have been in both a graduate immersion program and a community college program. I have been kicked out of both. I managed to get my LPN before the last failure. Is there anyway I can combine the hours between two programs to get permission to take the NCLEX-RN?

I feel like I am in LIMBO! Stuck! I not bad guy, honest. :o

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
I am sure if my instuctors had given me the opportunity to tell my side of the story they would have understood that I was trying to perform good nursing.

How do you know this?

How do you know that the nurse was really cutting the wound vac foam too small? And telling her to stop? You're not her supervisor or the charge, and i'm surprised she handled it as well as she did, seriously. If it seems she's not doing things right, your instructor should be made aware of this. Ton confront the nurse was not a wise move.

To the nurses you questioned, it's not coming across to them that you're asking questions to learn, it sounds like it's coming across like you're questioning their skills and ability, and that you know better. Most people ARE sensitive when you have a student over your shoulder saying "that's not how you do it" or such.

None of my sins put patients in danger. If you can call my infractions professionalism failures at all, they are surely not worthy of failure.

In your opinion that is.

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you may be able to sit the exam in california

From what I understand, you must have COMPLETED a nursing program to be eligible to sit for NCLEX-RN in California, or any other state.

Edited to add:

This is from the CA BON website:

Applicants must take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) if they have never taken and passed or been licensed as a registered nurse in another state. All applicants must have completed an educational program meeting all California requirements. If you are lacking any educational requirements, you must successfully complete an approved course prior to taking the examination.

http://www.rn.ca.gov/lic/lic-exam.htm

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You know ... I once had a clinical instructor who told us to report things that the RN's did wrong and she, in turn, would report those RN's to the supervisor ...

All I could think of was ... are you insane?

Of course, I didn't do it. For one thing ... we're students ... how are we supposed to know if they're doing something wrong. And secondly ... talk about trouble.

I will occassionally say to an RN ... in school they teach us this ... what do you think? But that's it. If you're a student and you tell RN's how they should do things ... you're asking for trouble.

They're already inconvenienced by students enough as it is ... the last thing you want to do, IMHO, is tell them how to do their job. It's their license ... so I do it their way.

:typing

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We had a guy in our class...in his early to late 40's, maybe 50. He questioned the instructors to death. His questions didn't come across as questions, they were more like acusations. He was failed out in 1st semester. WE were all relieved because his questioning caused a lot of tension in the classroom, and sometimes the instructors would get really mad. He was very argumentative and they really could not see him functioning as a RN. Some people are cut out for this field, some are not. Bottom line. Its not what you say...its HOW you say it.

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Bottom line. Its not what you say...its HOW you say it.

So true.

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I've had the same problem in the past where people thought I was being critical when truly I was trying to learn by engaging them in the debate. You need to remember that everything is about perception. Nurses are very terretorial and defensive when it comes to their patients and clinical practice. Be careful how you phrase questions and respond to their teaching. Smile and nod, then go home and research the problem - if you disagree with their methodology, then alter your own clinical practice in the future. Always remember there's more than one way to skin a cat, and experienced nurses are often times applying real-world experience over what a textbook says.

If I were you, I'd go to the director of the school of nursing and ask for counseling and if there's a plan you could formulate to get back into the program. Be open to their suggestions, or at the very least, smile and nod and alter your future clinical practice based on your meeting. It's nauseating and demoralizing to have others question you, knock you down a notch, or tell you you've failed, but we've ALL been there, and it's part of the learning process. Good luck.

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Specializes in Registry, all over the place.
You know ... I once had a clinical instructor who told us to report things that the RN's did wrong and she, in turn, would report those RN's to the supervisor ...

All I could think of was ... are you insane?

Of course, I didn't do it. For one thing ... we're students ... how are we supposed to know if they're doing something wrong. And secondly ... talk about trouble.

I'm sorry Lizz, I disagree. There are plenty of basic things we students can tell are wrong. Handwashing does not look like a priority at my clinical facility. I have seen ALL levels of staff lacking, including RN's performing wound care without GLOVES, touching gauze that has pus on it, then move onto another patient without washing hands. CNAs feeding patients after changing a dirty brief without gloves. Please believe this is no joke, we are told we go to this facility to learn what NOT to do as a nurse. And we do tell our instructors the things we notice that are out there and if it's bad enough she will report it to the charge and if they do nothing, to the DON.

You might want to be quiet because you won't want to get in trouble, but if you go about it the right way, you will not. Everything is about tact. Student nurse or not, the patients are suffering because of things like this. Another student in my class had a patient who was threw up 6x in one hour and BP dropped to below 60 and she told the patients nurse, the nurse said "oh well, I'll check her when I can." She never did, and the student went to our instructor and she got the charge and it turned out the patient had to go to the ER and had pneumonia and a strep infection. Also, another patient was receiving a brief change form a student and the student noticed the chucks(?) pad was almost soaked fully with what lloked like blood. I told the nurse, she did nothing, I got our instructor, confirmed that was blood and she notified the charge. The other nurse said the CNA forgot to change the pad after her last brief changing LAST NIGHT when her hemorhoids were bleeding! What, last night, it's 0630??!!?? Both the CNA and Nurse were reprimanded, CNA for not doing her job and the nurse for not making her. You might be afraid of getting in trouble but people are really suffering and it's ashamed people don't want to speak up, TACTFULLY on their behalf.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

A minor question:

- If you already hold two graduate degrees, why do you not work in those fields?

It is really impossible for us to make an informed opinion without being present. Sometimes the phrasing/timing/tone of the questioning can make the difference between a reasonable question and an unprofessional statement. And as we were not present, we do not know the tone.

That said, Nursing is not a matter of accumulating "X" number of hours and then you can write Boards. As nursing knowledge builds with each course, you must finish the entire program to write Boards in most places. The first part of two Programs does not equal one complete Program.

But even if you are permitted somewhere to write RN Boards, you may need to examine what behaviors led to dismissal from two separate programs, as it does not bode well for a successful career in nursing.

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As Others Have Stated, I Feel As If The Whole Story Is Not Being Told. But If Being Blunt With People Is The Problem Then Maybe You Should Try An Online Nursing Degreee Program. They Give Credit For All Courses Already Taken.

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Every night after clinicals we did a post conference where we would discuss our nightly experiences. We were alone as a group with our clinical instructor. This was the time for us as students to vent our frustrations with the nightly events or comment on things that may have happened. We at times discussed the things we saw that were totally awesome, and sometimes discussed the things that went really wrong! LOL. Sometimes it involved something we did as student nurses, or something we witnessed that we didn't agreee with. OUr clinical instructor always told us to wait until post conference. WE are in no position to question the floor nurses and how they do things. If you learn anything in nursing school...its know your place. EVen after we graduate...we need to be careful who it is we correct or criticize. Keep the trap shut and the ears and eyes WIDE open!! LOL..your turn will come ....that is for certain!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Cardiac, ICU.
You know ... I once had a clinical instructor who told us to report things that the RN's did wrong and she, in turn, would report those RN's to the supervisor ...

All I could think of was ... are you insane?

:typing

Actually, I'm thinking is the OP insane? You don't outright question someone who has put in their time, graduated, passed boards.....did you say 34 years of exp.??!!!!

You were a student, despite two degrees and despite your age. You are there to learn and if you didn't witness outright abuse, ie. hitting or something like a nurse giving a deadly med or something, then you should have kept quiet. There's always a way to handle a situation w/o sounding like you were questioning their judgement.

I don't mean to sound cruel, but if you think you know more than a nurse who has already graduated and you don't know how to ask a nurse about her methods w/o sounding like a know it all, then just maybe it was right of them to kick you out. I think it is for the best.

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Look ... life threatening events are one thing ... but telling an RN how to do routine tasks is another matter.

I did have an RN tell me one time to give six units of insulin when the patient was NPO and her blood sugar was all over the place. I said I wanted to check the sugar again, and the RN told me not to bother. I checked the sugar anyway and, sure enough it was low. I wasn't going to put the woman into hypoglycemia ... especially since she hadn't eaten anything ... regardless of what the RN told me to do.

Did I report the RN for that ... hell no because the sugar was running really high ... just as much as it was running really low.

When it comes to routine stuff I'm NOT going to tell the RN what to do. And I'll tell you why. A lot of times, I've thought an RN was not doing her job when, in fact, she had ten other crises going on that I knew nothing about. So ... unless it's a life threatening situation, I'm not gonna go there because, most of the time, I don't know the whole story of what the RN is dealing with that day.

When we're on our own, we're gonna find out how hard this job is. And sometimes we're going to be so busy, that we may even forget to wash our hands sometimes. Sorry but, I'm not going to get on an RN's case about that.

I'm sorry Lizz, I disagree. There are plenty of basic things we students can tell are wrong. Handwashing does not look like a priority at my clinical facility. I have seen ALL levels of staff lacking, including RN's performing wound care without GLOVES, touching gauze that has pus on it, then move onto another patient without washing hands. CNAs feeding patients after changing a dirty brief without gloves. Please believe this is no joke, we are told we go to this facility to learn what NOT to do as a nurse. And we do tell our instructors the things we notice that are out there and if it's bad enough she will report it to the charge and if they do nothing, to the DON.

You might want to be quiet because you won't want to get in trouble, but if you go about it the right way, you will not. Everything is about tact. Student nurse or not, the patients are suffering because of things like this. Another student in my class had a patient who was threw up 6x in one hour and BP dropped to below 60 and she told the patients nurse, the nurse said "oh well, I'll check her when I can." She never did, and the student went to our instructor and she got the charge and it turned out the patient had to go to the ER and had pneumonia and a strep infection. Also, another patient was receiving a brief change form a student and the student noticed the chucks(?) pad was almost soaked fully with what lloked like blood. I told the nurse, she did nothing, I got our instructor, confirmed that was blood and she notified the charge. The other nurse said the CNA forgot to change the pad after her last brief changing LAST NIGHT when her hemorhoids were bleeding! What, last night, it's 0630??!!?? Both the CNA and Nurse were reprimanded, CNA for not doing her job and the nurse for not making her. You might be afraid of getting in trouble but people are really suffering and it's ashamed people don't want to speak up, TACTFULLY on their behalf.

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