need advise... to tell or not to tell

[countrygirl0905]

I am in an accelerated program and we were assigned group projects. The other two members in my group did absolutely nothing and i spent all weekend preparing everything. well because i spent so much time on the project i didn't get enough studying in and bombed my test today on top of being sick and running a fever. After the test i asked my teacher if i could go home due to not feeling well. She had me wait so she could grade my test and asked why i did so horrible since all my other test grades have been A. I tried to play it off that it was due to being sick. She stated if i have a good reason i could retake the test. which to me means she knows more is going on then me just being sick. My question is would you have told about the presentation and lack of group effort especially since the other two are failing the class and will more then likely be dropped from the program unless a miracle happens for them. I don't want to throw my classmates under the bus but i would like a chance to retake it.. opinions anyone? thanks

[ereed1304]

Just tell the truth. No one wants or needs to have dishonest nurses (not referring to you). If they are dishonest and cutting corners now, they will later. Besides, you need to learn to take charge of uncomfortable situations now while you are in school before you are faced with them in your career, which you will be.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

You can say what happened truthfully and without throwing anyone under the bus; for example, "I put in a lot of effort on the group project, and between being sick and not getting the most support from my group members, I was not adequately prepared for the test." It also helps if you can say specific things, e.g., "My partners did not finish parts X, Y, and Z by the deadline we had agreed to, so I ended up completing those instead of studying." It's not to put the blame on your group, because you are the one who allocated your time, but just so your prof can get a good idea of where your efforts were being directed, i.e., still to class assignments.

Good luck!

[Amnesty]

Girl, toss them right under that bus. If they can't even get it together enough to complete group projects, you running defense for them isn't going to help anything. They'll either take this as the wake-up call they need, or they'll get dropped from the program, but either way, it'll be for the best. I have absolutely no sympathy for people who don't carry their weight in group projects.

However, it was still your responsibility to make sure you'd studied for that test and all of that nonsense, so definitely don't act like it's all their fault that you failed when you go tell your professor about it. Time management is an important part of nursing, so be sure that when you talk to the professor, you reflect that you know you failed at doing it adequately but felt she should know that a large factor in that was having to carry the workload of two other people in a limited time.

As an above poster said, have specifics. Did you guys split the project evenly and then they bailed on their parts, or did you just kind of end up doing everything while they ignored the work? Show her what specifically you put into the project, and what each of them did.

[Philly_LPN_Girl, LPN]

It is one of those situations where you could say the glass is half way full or halfway empty you could either tell the truth or since they are already failing, let them fail on their own.

[loriangel14, RN]

There is no reason for you to defend or protect them. You need to be honest with the teacher. You can't sacrifice your own chances at being sucessful just because you want to be nice.

[Stephalump]

Throw them under that bus and don't look back.

[countrygirl0905]

so I ended up speaking with the teacher and i opted not to redo the test. I decided it was my own fault for using so much time on the presentation.