Need some help/recommendations following removal from nursing school

[mlb69]

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"?

[mlb69]

The problem is how can they NOT be priority? The FVD made the patient almost crash, and, anticipatory grieving mother is "huge" in my eyes and should be in nursing. To me the compassion of concentrating on that outweighs concentrating on a "RISK FOR" nursing diagnoses....

[mlb69]

The twin had a less than 10% chance of survival; so this information is solid versus the "stable" H&H levels....

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

Wow. Is it really that bad for males in nursing? Coming from anyone but a staff member here, I wouldn't have paid that much attention to this statement. Maybe I'm naive or idealistic.

I guess my eyes have been opened, and I'll be even more supportive of my male counterparts.

We have actually HAD 3 males in our program. I always had the impression the males were singled out a little more but in a good way. 2 of them I could see why though. Well I got to talking to the third one and found out he had been written up 4 times. Now to be fair, 2 of the write ups were legit. But the other 2 were not, what he got in trouble for was not written in the handbook and other kids had done before without getting in trouble. For example, we have a rule that tests begin at such and such time and once the last test is handed out if you are late that's to bad. If this happens you have to make arrangements right after to retake your test, They will usually send you to the testing center right away. If it isn't from being late then you have to make arrangements within 24 hours to make up the test. Obviously I can see a write up if you are showing up late to every test. Well this student was late to one test, 2 minutes late. So he did what policy calls and he got written up. Many other students had been late with no consequences.

Another time in lab, he went to the bathroom not during break. He was gone 7 mins. he told us he was having bowl issues. Now this guy and his time perception were not that great to be honest, BUT there is no policy stating you are not allowed to go to the bathroom. He was written up for taking to long and a bathroom break and not having permission to go.

We have never once had to ask permission to go to the bathroom and the only time we can't take a bathroom break is during a test. Further more, students leave in between breaks ALL THE TIME. It's annoying, we can go on a break, and 20 mins after being back, students are coming in and out (not even quietly) during lecture. But he was the one written up for it.

It wasn't the schools fault he got dismissed in the end, but he had been told if he got another write up he was out. It seemed he had to walk on eggshells. I was very shocked to find all this out. He was a highly educated guy that was great with his patients and hard working, he held 2 CNA jobs while going to school and made really good grades, I do feel he was treated unfairly.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

The problem is how can they NOT be priority? The FVD made the patient almost crash, and, anticipatory grieving mother is "huge" in my eyes and should be in nursing. To me the compassion of concentrating on that outweighs concentrating on a "RISK FOR" nursing diagnoses....

Some people don't look at the emotional state as important or priority, look how many people still think that depression is "just in their head and due from a lack of vitamins and getting out more", don't get me wrong, these are not MY feelings, I am just trying to find some piece of the puzzle that fits. But I have never even seen a student get in trouble for having a diagnoses on a care plan that FITS. The only time i have seen students sort of get lectured is when they use the lazy route on the care plans. I mean they are important issues they pick but they aren't putting much thought into it. like in LTC clinicals it was like everyone put Fall Risk r/t age blah blah blah for the care maps. YES fall risks are important, YES elderly are more prone to them. BUT this person has 25 things wrong with them. Step outside of your box.

It seems like you ARE doing that though and I know in my program you would be praised for considering Psycho Social issues.

I hope everything works out in the end, I am very sorry for whats happening

[Batman25]

Are you in school at a community college for an ADN? I believe you are and that you are in the middle of the third semester of a four semester program. Am I following right?

Your class grades are fine and your clinical grades appear to be even higher than that so it seems your clinicals have gone very well. How many evaluations have you had to this point? You say there has been concern about your being able to connect the dots. How many times? Was this said to you in a sit down meeting? Was it put in writing? Did you sign anything? Or did all of this only come up at the time of your dismissal?

Your handbook should have something about procedure in regards to dismissal from the program. Do you have anything in writing from the school on their policies and procedures?

Just out of curiosity...are you being told that you are thinking more from a doctor's POV than a nurse's POV?

[ZooMommyRN, ADN, RN]

last semester: ob/gyn rotation

patient had a 9/29 h&h; to me that is an expected finding in a pregnant patient because of the extra volume needed for the baby

i'm only on page 3 so the answers may appear later, might be coming off as devil's advocate but those are things that jumped out at me.

[mareeh77]

I recently finished a nursing program but had a run in with a clinical instructor at the beginning. I was a bridge student, who was still actively working full time as an LVN while in the program. During my very first clinical, I had volunteered to give meds with a staff member and other students observing. The instructor accused me of dispensing the wrong medication. Since I was already currently licensed as an LVN, I could not let an accussation like that go unanswered. I corrected the instructor in front of everyone and let the instructor know that the MAR had the drug listed with the brand name, while the med on hand was under the generic. She was already a bit peeved at me because I had argued with her in regards to wound care orders for another patient.

From that day on, she had it in for me. There was one incident that she wrote me up for 2 safety errors. I was terrified from then on to ever speak up during clinicals. My program allowed 3 lifetime safety errors before disqualifying you completely from the nursing program. This all happened within the first 5 clinical meeting. She ended up failing me midterm. Lucky for me, our clinical instructors were changed halfway through.

I'm only relaying this because maybe you might have run into some disagreement on something with an instructor that you may have passed off as insignificant. One thing many of us learned through nursing schools is that what the instructor says is golden. Although, there are many who are willing to also learn from their students, there are also those that want you to follow their train of thought (at least, while you are their student). Always, acknowledge that you can see their point and don't argue with any of them.

Once you attain your RN, you will no longer need their approval

[Preeps]

Argh. I am sorry for you. You do seem like a calm, reasonable person, and I must say I admire you are coming across atleast in these forums. You don't sound angry or bitter or "lashing out" at the teachers who seem to be hurting you and your career.

I too believe it could be partly your gender and maybe they are not sure what to make of you.

And I also must add that I consider myself the antithesis of litigous. BUT, I think you should definitely speak to a lawyer because unless they have documentation, and a lot of it they have no right to ramdomly dismiss you.

You should have had to signed papers after evaluation saying you have been warned, on probation etc. Good luck to you.

[kcochrane]

Well since you completed 2 semesters do you know could you sit on the NCLEX-PN? i know many RN students who have done that because they were unable to finish there RN program at that time. is that an option for you?? or see can you enroll at another school and start were you left off. I myself would not want to return to school like that. yeah you could sue but that takes a long time. see you at least you have some options. about the whole "unsafe" thing i know a ton instructors who are RN's,MDs, (from family and friends) that could be a million and one things from anyone stand point.

Depends on the state. NYS no longer allows this since 2007 and I know many other states have followed. Unless you are in a program specifically designed to give you your LPN first than work on your RN. Check with your BON if you decide to take this route.

I believe Excelsior would be an option for you to get your RN. Unless you are in CA.

[HyperSaurus, RN, BSN]

I'll be honest..it really does sound like you're missing the dots. If nothing else, you usually need to follow Maslow's hierachy. Anticipatory grieving is very important, but the lower H/H seems concerning to, pregnancy not withstanding. Circulation before psych...(unless of course you're in a psych semester..)

[Preeps]

I'll be honest..it really does sound like you're missing the dots. If nothing else, you usually need to follow Maslow's hierachy. Anticipatory grieving is very important, but the lower H/H seems concerning to, pregnancy not withstanding. Circulation before psych...(unless of course you're in a psych semester..)

I disagree completely. Missing the dots?? First, he is a student! There is a huge learning curve for most students. I always felt that if they only knew how little I knew. . . and i was a very high acheiving student. I remember clearly doing clinicals on a cardiac wing and we had not had one single cardiac lecture. I couldn't believe it. I felt soo inadequate, and was afraid to be found out. I remember clearly asking a bunch of questions because I didn't care how dumb i appeared I wanted to learn. I remember seeing "EF" on all the pts chart and I keep wondering what on earth it meant. Finally I polled my fellow clinical members-not one knew, and they really didn't seem to be too concerned. I finally asked a nurse, ah Ejection Fraction.

Putting the dots together takes time and practice and experience (except maybe for the brilliant few). This student sounds like he has potential and truly wants to be a nurse. I hope he keeps at it!

[HyperSaurus, RN, BSN]

I'm a second semester student, and personally, those values made me raise my eyebrows. I miss alot of stuff too, and that was just one example. But, I don't know what he's truly like as a student, but that one example did perplex me.