Need some help/recommendations following removal from nursing school

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Hello,

This is my first time on here so I will explain the scenario. I am a b- to a c student. I am very safe and proficient in my client care but today I was released from the program with the explanation "the faculty feel you are unsafe to practice at clinical". There is nothing on my record that even indicates I am "unsafe" with patients. There has been "concern" of my inability to connect dots at times but STUDENTS don't always connect the dots. I am a 3rd semester student currently passing all courses with a steadily improvement track record. Clinical evals in the past of yielded 90% or greater. I just do not understand it. How is "slowly" connecting the dots relevant to direct patient care? If schooling is building a foundation and the majority of our "learning" occurs in the hospital setting wouldn't all student nurses be "unsafe"?

Specializes in acute.
Well the main point is why does there have to be games? We are ALL adults paying these instructors to teach us. I have learned a lot from my teachers, while I have learned a lot of nursing as a profession. If nursing is suppose to be this "compassionate, caring" profession why do they have instructors like this? To me it makes absolutely no sense.

This is not a quote but I did not know how to respond, You hit the nail on the head. Why does it have to be a game? Do any other professions have this hazing? I think not. I am a Pre-Nursing student, waiting for my DATE, to start Nursing school. If you can make through the A&P I and II and Micro you are a Serious Nursing student.

I am scared to death to get through my nursing student classes. I am 50yrs old and not much scares me. I just wish sometimes it was the way it was back when my Mother went to school for Nursing. It was more about Patient care and up front compassion. The goal was the goal.:nurse:

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Specializes in acute.

What is your name? Wow, You should run for the next President, I would vote and the three RN's I have sitting next to me right now in study!!

I hate to say it, but at some point, it does come down to the almighty dollar: my husband and I forked out bucks for my nursing education and you can bet every last buck I expected to be "scholastically reimbursed" for our hard-earned cash money. For the amount we forked out, I had certain expectations and I certainly expected them to be met.

The amount's not what's important - because ANYONE who lays out money for a nursing education is entitled to the same treatment: professionalism from the instructors and the ability to pass boards (and practice safely, of course, with a minimum level of knowledge) upon graduation. If you get neither, you've been shortchanged.

(I'm not talking about people who find they can't complete the work, and I'm not impugning them either. I'm talking about people who can do the work, are doing the work, and are getting treated like crap for no reason. We've all seen it because it's everywhere.)

At the end of the day, the instructors do work for you - while they're not there to do you any favors (and neither, by the same extension, are you), they ARE there to give you the education you paid for. Regardless of the price tag - whether you went to Duke or to a small community college, you laid out money (hard won these days, to be sure) and expect a certain level of professionalism - and a certain level of expertise - in return.

I'm an RN in the USAF. I work for a lot of people - Congress, the taxpayers, my patients (who are for the most part taxpayers, or have been!), my superiors, the hospital, the Wing Commander, and those I outrank. A lot is expected of me. I work for my patients every day when I go to work, and they're all entitled to the same sort of treatment from me. And every day I put on that uniform (and essentially I'm in it 24/7!) I work for EVERYONE on this board. You're paying me, I have fabulous benefits as a result. But I never, ever lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, I'm working for all of you just as hard as I work for my patients. YOU are the ones paying my salary, my rent, and for the groceries in my kitchen. You're even paying for my husband's health care, for some of his education, and for him to be moved with me every time the AF says it's time for us to go (and he does appreciate it, BTW). YOU expect things of me as an AF member (to follow the rules, to carry out/follow/give orders, to essentially behave as though I know what I'm doing - sometimes you gotta remind folks of that! - and to look out for those I outrank, among other things) whether you're my patient or not, and you're perfectly right to expect it. You're footing the bill. I do something stupid and get myself kicked out, you, the taxpayer, have every right to be p*ssed off, whether you know it or not. I just wasted thousands of your hard-earned dollars. I work for you and you expect better. My job is to deliver.

Yes, that's flag-waving a bit, but hey, it's what I do (literally for a living!) - and I'm trying to use that to make my point. Instructors have a job to carry out. When they blow it, they've just wasted someone's money. They've failed in their expectations and didn't deliver on their promise.

That's not a sense of entitlement. It's got nothing to do with entitlement. I think that's the way the world works, regardless of what's being purchased. And an education is the most valuable purchase a person makes.

And on a bit of a side note - but still related - the joke in the military is we've got "Property of the US Government" tattooed on our posteriors. I actually think of that as "Property of the American People". ;)

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
This is not a quote but I did not know how to respond, You hit the nail on the head. Why does it have to be a game? Do any other professions have this hazing? I think not. I am a Pre-Nursing student, waiting for my DATE, to start Nursing school. If you can make through the A&P I and II and Micro you are a Serious Nursing student.

I am scared to death to get through my nursing student classes. I am 50yrs old and not much scares me. I just wish sometimes it was the way it was back when my Mother went to school for Nursing. It was more about Patient care and up front compassion. The goal was the goal.:nurse:

They're many schools out there that are good schools, that don't haze their students and do teach you about main priorities being patient care and compassion. Once I got into the program and started classes, I found out it wasn't near as scary as I read and heard about. Hopefully you are going to get into a good program with supportive teachers, it can make all the difference :)

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What is your name? Wow, You should run for the next President, I would vote and the three RN's I have sitting next to me right now in study!!

:o:o:o:o:o

I am humbled!

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Hey guys... An update... I am scheduled to graduate, YAY!!! Everything went smoothly the last semester and am stoked everything worked its way out!!! Just wanted to update everyone!

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
Hey guys... An update... I am scheduled to graduate, YAY!!! Everything went smoothly the last semester and am stoked everything worked its way out!!! Just wanted to update everyone!

Thanks for the update--that's freakin' awesome!

You know, after five years as an RN, I'm still hard-pressed to articulate what it means to "think like a nurse." I've thought, at times, it means "think like a woman," and that might even be a bit valid. It is a holistic field, at least in some ways, and we synthesize as much as we analyse. Don't know how much those processes are particularly feminine. There are also important elements of detective work and problem-solving, and I think some people sometimes overlook how much female nurses have to access their "masculine" side.

I do firmly believe you've shown some traits that will serve you well as a nurse. Tenacity, for one, but also an openness to other points-of-view. You could very legitimately have elected to "get out of Dodge," as a solution to your situation. At the bedside, you often have to be able to stand and fight. But it isn't a fight about turf or who's the alpha dog. The experience you've described is a real good example of not losing sight of what you are fighting for.

Congratulations, and good luck.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

Not fair dropping this bombshell on you! I would complain in writing to the highest authority. Surely this can't be legal, but it also isn't right. Find out your rights from your university head/CEO/dean and find a counsellor to help you cope emotionally, or find a good friend to whinge to. Don't take this lying down! It just is not right. Also I thought they would have to provide proof of your being unsafe as well - ask for that then get the legal advice. Good luck and keep fighting for your career!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

Just saw the update, good one :)

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Good for you!

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Thanks for all of the replies; I completely enjoyed reading them although the topic was taken "way" off course... Perseverance and tenacity is sometimes needed but also I believe that standing up and fighting for what is right is truly a testament to a person's beliefs, personality, and frankly the "core" of what the person is about. Yeah some things did not go my way but hey, that is life. Life doesn't just keep on throwing you fastballs or everyone would be successful. It is how you overcome life's obstacles is what makes you, you. I would not have changed a thing that happened because it has made me a better person and honestly a better nurse. In my experience, instructors will walk all over you if you allow them too. Sometimes people just need a reality check (instructors) on why they are there teaching at their respective institution. I mean, we as students, pay these instructors a good penny to teach us about the profession; not to continually harass, dog, or bully us. I believe once the teachers come to the conclusion that BEDSIDE nursing is a different ballgame than classroom nursing, nursing schools will be much more enjoyable. Granite, you definitely use the classroom teaching however I believe in a different manner. The only really thing I would like "everyone" to get out of this topic is the HUMAN ELEMENT. This element, quite frankly, is key to success or failure.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
Hey guys... An update... I am scheduled to graduate, YAY!!! Everything went smoothly the last semester and am stoked everything worked its way out!!! Just wanted to update everyone!

Thanks for updating members that you are scheduled to graduate. Persistence in following guidlines for appeals of accademic progress sometimes work! Since issue now resolved, thread closed.

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