Need advice

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Hello everyone. This is my first time here and I need some input on a couple things. I'm a first semester nurse student and so far I'm doing great. Well, to the point. Before starting the program, my school had a long orientation day in which we were told about all the dos and dont's, we signed a lot of policy and legal paperwork both for the school and the hospital where the clinicals are being held. It looked to me that it was a very strict program, and by the tone of voice during the speech of the program director, it was serious stuff. Well, to make it short, on the first day of school one of the students got kicked out of the program because she was intoxicated (I don't know if drugs or alcohol or both). Two weeks later another student was out of the program for not following the rules about being on time both for lecture and clinicals. Everybody was like "wow, they don't play here". A month later, another student went through the same fate because he wasn't smart enough or lacked common sense; during clinical rotation at the hospital he went inside the bathroom and started smoking, set off the fire alarm system in the entire hospital and triggered an emergency situation, the whole nine yards. At that point we didn't even asked what was going to happen to him, we knew already based on experience with the other two students. We knew this was serious stuff and we didn't even blink during lecture or clinicals so to not get in trouble. Well, guess what, last week we found out that all three students are coming back next semester, because the board decided to give them a second chance. I'm ok with second chances but not when people is not serious enough about life and death situations. I wouldn't like to be taken care of by one of these students or one of my family members or friends be under the watch of these people. Everybody was shocked and couldn't believe that they were coming back. It looked to all of us that the school is not serious enough about the program and what it represents. We are nurses in the making and we know that lives are on our hands after we graduate, patients that won't get a second chance if we make a mistake. The entire class is on disbelief and we felt disappointed with the school and the director of the program. Is there anything that we can do or an autorithy to report all this? Thanks for reading and I hope I can get some feedback on this.

A really worried student nurse.

Specializes in ED.
2 hours ago, Futnur said:

Abzurdity, you are a CNA and that's maybe why you see things with a different optic. If you call petty drama about an alcoholic or drug user taking care of patients, well darling, Idk in which country you live but here things are different.

All Abzurdity was trying to point out is that there is a lot about the situation that you do not know. So much of this happens behind closed doors between the student, faculty, HR, and other school leadership. Despite what you have heard or think you know about the situation, you do not have as full a picture as those who are ultimately responsible for making the decision. While this may not be the answer you want to hear, it is the truth. No one is saying that any of these students were right or that their behavior should be tolerated, but it is simply being pointed out that you do not have all the details, and at the end of the day it is not your decision.

In addition, what exactly do you mean by "you are a CNA and that's maybe why you see things with a different optic." Does being a CNA suddenly make someones opinion less valid? That seems like a very patronizing and arrogant response to someone who was simply trying to provide an alternate perspective.

Not being derogatory or patronizing, just trying to understand abzurdity position about being lenient for such actions. I know other schools that have kick people out of the program for minor stuff than this. Anyway, I wouldn't be comfortable knowing that one of those students will be my partner on the floor. Just saying.

17 minutes ago, Futnur said:

Not being derogatory or patronizing, just trying to understand abzurdity position about being lenient for such actions. I know other schools that have kick people out of the program for minor stuff than this. Anyway, I wouldn't be comfortable knowing that one of those students will be my partner on the floor. Just saying.

As Moto pointed out, I was not making excuses for, or attempting to justify, the behavior of the students who were dismissed from your program. However, I have made mistakes in my life, and I am lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to correct many of those mistakes, and learn from them.

Additionally, I don’t think that anyone would think it fair or reasonable for others to judge their mistakes from afar, with incomplete information, and then make sweeping judgements about their character, integrity, or worth as a human being (or their fitness to be a nurse at some indeterminable future date).

It is objectively the case that the decision to readmit these students is far beyond your influence or control, and I still don’t think it’s worth your time to worry about them. If they aren’t good nursing material, then surely your program will reveal that in due time.

Finally, you overtly implied that my status as a CNA had something to do with my belief that “an alcoholic or drug user taking care of patients” was acceptable (which I never said) which is both derogatory and patronizing. Let’s leave it there.

Specializes in ED.

Again, no one is promoting or justifying the behavior of these students, simply pointing out that without knowing all the information there is no way to say whether or not it was justified to let them back into the program. You don't know if the student who was "intoxicated" had recently started a new medication and was worried that they would lose their seat in the class if they missed the first day. You also don't know the circumstances that lead to the student being late for class or clinical. To decry these students as being unfit to be nurses without knowing all the details or having all the information is simply not something I can get behind.

My apologies abzurdity, in any way I wanted to patronize or make derogatory comments. Maybe I was misunderstood but I strongly believe that those kind of actions have no base in nursing, the only person that should get a second chance is the one being late. As the other drunkard, I was present when she started throwing bad words at everybody, instructor included. That one darling, I hope doesn't get into any program in the whole wide world. Have a good night.

Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

My advice to you Futnur, is to focus on your own studies and forget about those students. They aren't in your cohort anymore so you won't have to deal with them. They are not your problem.

And never dismiss someone's opinion because they are a CNA.

If you make it through this program and become a nurse you will need to foster very good relationships with the CNAs. At this time, you are not prepared to do that.

You have way too much to work on to be bothered with the wiseness of readmitting three students.

Specializes in Mental Health.

The appropriateness or inappropriateness of them letting the students back in aside, no, there is nothing you can do about it.

Why is it any of your business?

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

A few things have stood out for me on this thread. One of the things that is encouraged in nursing school is to challenge your own mindset on various issues and question some of your own dearly-held beliefs. I believe this is part of the process of developing critical thinking skills.

It's a no-brainer that certain behaviours will get you kicked out of school; it is a bit mystifying to see those same people get back in. So you shake your head and carry on. You don't know right now who will be standing next to you on graduation day; you don't even know if you'll be there.

In the transition to becoming an adult professional nurse, certain words and phrases should be used sparingly. One of them is "unfair". That word belongs on the playground. Life is full of unfairness; as a nursing student you will meet many people to whom life has been hideously unfair. If you're healthy and able-bodied, be grateful that at the moment the unfairness is in your favour.

You stated that working alongside certain people won't be "comfortable" for you. The best way to experience how little your comfort means to anyone is to become a nurse. (Air travel is a close second.)

Calling people names like "the drunkard" and "the darling" really doesn't say anything about the people you're denouncing. Your choice of words speaks volumes about you.

The whole point I'm making is that nursing school is a good time for introspection and personal growth, not just academic. Unwise speech can get you thrown out when the "drunkards" are getting back in.

Focus on your own education and practice. Let the school (and the Universe) sort out everyone else.

Specializes in Med/Surg.

While I can kind of see why you'd be like "Uh, what" about those students....it's kinda water under the bridge. Sometimes in life you need to pick and choose your battles. As the previous poster stated, "Let the universe sort out everyone else".

Thanks everyone for their input. Well, I'll just then let the universe sort this out. My apologies again if somebody's feelings got hurt throughout this chat. Good luck to everyone and I can't waste any more time here since I have finals.

Who's business is it? Just focus on passing the program, and passing the NCLEX. Like why do you need non-important things to focus on, aren't you busy enough?

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