Hey guys. I'm currently in my second semester of nursing school (trad BSN program).
Yesterday was my first day of my maternal-health nursing clinicals as I was in the NICU. The clinicals started at 6:30 and because of a family situation (had to drop off my sister bc there was no one to give her a ride to school), I knew I was going to be late, so I emailed my instructor at 6:09 AM. However, her rule is she only takes calls before 6:15, which I completely forgot. So I arrived 6:55.. Bc of my anxiety, I called my mom then called the professor. We met at 7:10.
Told her my situation...she said that it wasn't an emergency, how I was unprofessional, how I had only had to call, how I would lose my license if I was really working, how I should feel sorry for myself bc I need to make myself a priority, how I didn't communicate accordingly. I apologized several times & told her that I was never late last term, she told me she didn't want to hear it.
So she gave me an Unmet. And if I get two, I have a risk of failing the course. I don't know what to do bc it's not like I didn't communicate & there was no way I could just leave my sis at home. One of my friends had a similar situation & was late 40 mins, however her professor just gave her a talk because it was the first day & warned her to not let it happen again.
Any advice? I've been thinking about it since as maternal nursing is one of my highest nursing interests. I'm worried.
We've had students show up with the police because they were in a car accident on the way and the police drove them to clinical and still - nope - go home.
That's some big ego on those teachers.
Unfortunately, a reality of life is that life happens. The world doesn't go on pause because we're in nursing school. That student better not have just let that go. That happened because as students, we have no backbone. We feel like we owe the school something for letting us pay them thousands of dollars to get to go to a class. Remember who is paying who. You have a right to be in class and in clinical. What happens if the teacher is in a wreck? You have to reschedule your entire life to make up that clinical, probably, right? An attendance policy that absolute just doesn't work in the real world. Things happen. Being forced into an absence if you were late by a reasonable amount of time for the situation... seriously, why would you let your teachers do that when it can mean that you completely fail out of school? You know you have to pay those loans back regardless of if you finish, right?
Oh, but this is to prepare us for the real world... where people are occasionally late because stuff happens.
Remember we're PAYING to be in school. The way these things work: We pay, they provide a service. If you do bad in school, you fail your NCLEX and don't become a nurse, problem solved.
No, that's not the way it works. We pay to go to school -- part of which is to demonstrate that we have learned the required material and can pass NCLEX -- but another part of it is that we must demonstrate to the school that we consistently demonstrate appropriate professional behaviors and perform at the appropriate professional level. Remember, graduates are not allowed to take the NCLEX until the faculty attests to the fact that the graduate consistently demonstrated professional-level behavior and skills. Your school must endorse you before the State Board will let you register to take the exam.
So ... what we pay for when we pay tuition, is not just the classroom information. We are also paying for the opportunity to demonstrate that we consistently meet the standards for professional-level skills and behavior. We are paying for the opportunity to learn (which we may or may not do) and we are paying for the opportunity to demonstrate that we are worthy of the school's endorsement. That is true for any reputable educational program.
In the professional world, people get sick. Emergencies happen. Unexpected things come up. People get in car wrecks on their way to work. People get stuck behind wrecks on their way to work. People get stranded in bad weather. Sorry, but it's just not possible to control what everyone else is doing. Not every drive in is going to be perfect. And getting their an hour early to just sit just isn't practical or realistic of an expectation.
It's ego. If you're 30 minutes late for a clinical, you're not missing anything that critical that you can't be there. You're just not allowed to be there purely out of principle. NOBODY in real life, no matter what their job is, is held to the same standards that nursing schools are. It's all about image and graduation, pass, and employment rates so that they can keep that accreditation that's a whole different monster that we've let get created.
Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.
On 2/11/2019 at 10:01 AM, tonyl1234 said:
In the professional world, people get sick. Emergencies happen. Unexpected things come up. People get in car wrecks on their way to work. People get stuck behind wrecks on their way to work. People get stranded in bad weather. Sorry, but it's just not possible to control what everyone else is doing. Not every drive in is going to be perfect. And getting their an hour early to just sit just isn't practical or realistic of an expectation.
It's ego. If you're 30 minutes late for a clinical, you're not missing anything that critical that you can't be there. You're just not allowed to be there purely out of principle. NOBODY in real life, no matter what their job is, is held to the same standards that nursing schools are. It's all about image and graduation, pass, and employment rates so that they can keep that accreditation that's a whole different monster that we've let get created.
You're right, in the real world, things happen. I had an asthma attack on my way to work once and had to go to the ED. My husband had to call in for me because I couldn't breathe. I still got an occurrence. My husband had a heart attack and I had to call out of work, I still got that occurrence. Nursing school prepares you to work as a professional in the real world. And in the real world, there are consequences.
If a student is late for clinical and misses report, NO way am I going to take time out of my busy schedule to give them report. And if they haven't gotten report, how do you propose they give safe care? As a student, I had to be there for report. The first 30min were important.
You're right, in the real world, things happen. I had an asthma attack on my way to work once and had to go to the ED. My husband had to call in for me because I couldn't breathe. I still got an occurrence. My husband had a heart attack and I had to call out of work, I still got that occurrence. Nursing school prepares you to work as a professional in the real world. And in the real world, there are consequences.
If a student is late for clinical and misses report, NO way am I going to take time out of my busy schedule to give them report. And if they haven't gotten report, how do you propose they give safe care? As a student, I had to be there for report. The first 30min were important.
You got an occurance, but some programs are so tight that one absense puts you at risk of failing out of school. Occurances at jobs though, I've seen big ranges, anywere from 3 to 7 until you even get a warning.
You got an occurance, but some programs are so tight that one absense puts you at risk of failing out of school. Occurances at jobs though, I've seen big ranges, anywere from 3 to 7 until you even get a warning.
Huge difference.
Yes, because of clinical hour requirements. Those requirements by the accrediting bodies are not a "monster" to keep nursing students in line. They are there to avoid predatory schools that do not provide the minimum standards of education to students.
Most instructors try to be compassionate people, but an emergency is an emergency--and taking your sister to school is not an emergency--it's bad planning.
Here's the other thing...as much as I hate it...we have to have rules for this stuff because if we don't, it gets a little chaotic. I have foregone rules about attendance, and every class has two to three stragglers up to 30 minutes late who then ask me to stay after class so they can make up for the missed quiz that I always give within the first 30 minutes of class.
I have had rules about attendance in a classroom (no on-time arrival, no quiz makeup), and everyone shows up on time. Funny how rules actually work.
Yeah, I have to say, some instructors are way more lax and lenient than others. My 2nd semester we had a girl show up late almost every day, she was usually hungover; did her careplans but no papers. She made it all the way to the end. It may have been because the instructor knew she was failing the class, but had she passed the class, I assume she wouldn't have failed clinical. That's ridiculous to those of us who show up on time and do the work.
Then there are clinical instructors who keep you after the 9 hour limit and are so strict about every little nuance that I am super glad I haven't had any of those.
I am happy to get the middle of the road, let us go an hour early perhaps when clinical ends at midnight and I have work the next day and let us experience all that we can while we are there. And that includes being ready, having our work done that is due and getting report (which is done within the first 30 minutes of clinical). Without that, I don't even know if we would be able to do anything that day now.
Basically, show up on time, a little early is better to avoid issues like traffic and such, and be prepared to be there and work for the whole 9 hours. If you get out early, that's the clinical instructor letting you, not you trying to buck the system.
I don’t understand why you are responsible for getting your sister to school. While you won’t lose your license for being late, you could lose your job.
In the real world, you have to be at your job, everything else gets scheduled around it. You should have phoned your instructor first of all. Email is extremely inappropriate. Second, you tell your mom to figure it out that you have clinical and cannot be late. I’m required to be at work at 7. I commute 45 minutes. I have 3 boys. Life is planned a head of time. How kids get to school/daycare, practices, games taken care of. It takes a lot of planning. But as an adult, it’s how you handle life. I’ve been at my job 5 years. I’ve never once been late. I’m required to give 2 hours notice to call in. Sometimes, kids wake up sick after that time frame. I already have a plan in place when that happens.
You to have your stuff together in nursing school. You accept the consequences and move on.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
On 2/12/2019 at 4:01 AM, tonyl1234 said:
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It's ego. If you're 30 minutes late for a clinical, you're not missing anything that critical that you can't be there.
Handover is pretty important, it formulates the basis of the clinical care for the day. And I dont have the time or inclination to take time out of my schedule to fill in a student who couldnt get there on time
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
On 2/11/2019 at 10:01 AM, tonyl1234 said:
In the professional world, people get sick. Emergencies happen. Unexpected things come up. People get in car wrecks on their way to work. People get stuck behind wrecks on their way to work. People get stranded in bad weather. Sorry, but it's just not possible to control what everyone else is doing. Not every drive in is going to be perfect. And getting their an hour early to just sit just isn't practical or realistic of an expectation.
There is nothing emergent about driving a sibling to school. The parents should have made other arrangements. OP should make it clear that the expectation is for them to be at clinical, on time.
It's ego. If you're 30 minutes late for a clinical, you're not missing anything that critical that you can't be there. You're just not allowed to be there purely out of principle. NOBODY in real life, no matter what their job is, is held to the same standards that nursing schools are. It's all about image and graduation, pass, and employment rates so that they can keep that accreditation that's a whole different monster that we've let get created.
Actually, there are many reasons it's not ego. Each state's BON sets the minimum number of hours students must be in clinical in order to be eligible for NCLEX. Some schools literally schedule the absolute minimum with zero wiggle room. As for the first half hour, yes, there is a lot that can be missed. Report, for one thing- why should the nurse of the patient have to spend extra time giving report when the student is expected to be there at the same time? Nursing school clinicals are guests of the facility- they have a reputation to uphold to maintain the clinical site. And your axe to grind about accreditation has no place here. It's completely irrelevant.
So as a nurse, report happens at a specific time. If I'm not there on time on my scheduled time, the nurse who's been on all night can't leave until I get there and get report. If I'm really late, the charge will try to shuffle people around so the night nurse can give report and go home. No, I won't lose my license over tardiness, but they can fire me. Obviously no one is depending on you to get there as a student, but that's part of this whole learning to be a nurse thing in nursing school. I think a warning is totally fair. Don't make tardiness a habit. Put a calendar up at home and mark off your schedule. "Clinical 6am-whenever" so your family knows they need to make other arrangements that day.
Handover is pretty important, it formulates the basis of the clinical care for the day. And I dont have the time or inclination to take time out of my schedule to fill in a student who couldnt get there on time
TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN
678 Posts
That's some big ego on those teachers.
Unfortunately, a reality of life is that life happens. The world doesn't go on pause because we're in nursing school. That student better not have just let that go. That happened because as students, we have no backbone. We feel like we owe the school something for letting us pay them thousands of dollars to get to go to a class. Remember who is paying who. You have a right to be in class and in clinical. What happens if the teacher is in a wreck? You have to reschedule your entire life to make up that clinical, probably, right? An attendance policy that absolute just doesn't work in the real world. Things happen. Being forced into an absence if you were late by a reasonable amount of time for the situation... seriously, why would you let your teachers do that when it can mean that you completely fail out of school? You know you have to pay those loans back regardless of if you finish, right?
Oh, but this is to prepare us for the real world... where people are occasionally late because stuff happens.