I was supposed to take an exam at 8:30 am in the morning today, but my phone which was fully charged and plugged in decided to completely die over night, how? I have no idea.
I woke up at around 10:00 am and noticed how bright my room was, I quickly tried looking at my phone to see the time and noticed it was off. Yep, I have missed a nursing exam! I felt sick to my stomach and started panicking.
The very thing I immediately did was explain my situation honestly to my instructor and what happened. Our Syllabus policy states that we are able to make up an exam with a VALID excuse before the test, but I of course decided to be honest, and well, guess what? I was denied my exam and got a big fat 0.
So I pretty much lost a letter grade.
Anyway, I know the instructors will tell you to be honest all the time, but in situations like mine, you should lie.
She even encouraged me drop out of nursing school, even though I got A's on my last two exams. I can still make a B if I worked hard, but I can't believe she would encourage that.
Yep, also missed an test. I'm not a morning person. And three alarms to wake me up are necessary. That's why I got off dayshift. But when I missed the test, I accepted the consequences. Learned my lesson. Got a THIRD alarm clock because two obviously weren't working. I didn't whine about my teacher having a lack of compassion.
nobody will sympathize with you UNTIL it happens to them... anyway... don't you folks have a nursing exam to study for. 12+ pages wow.
I mentioned in my last post that I was late to work because my battery in my car died. Does it happen? Yeah. It is my fault? Not really. However, I can also say...hey, you knew it was going to be super cold that night, the car is over 10 years old (might still be the original battery?)--I should have made accommodations for a warmer place to park my car for the night.
So, like an alarm not working, it might not be my fault, but I accept responsibility since I should have been more proactive to prevent a bad situation.
Sorry that happened to you. In nursing school I was a bit paranoid about missing exams or clinical that I would set my alarm on my end table as well as on my phone. Also, I didn't want to take the make up exams because they were usually hard to pass.
However, since your grade is still salvageable, I'm surprised the teacher gave you advise to drop out. She probably assumed since you missed one exam that your work ethics has been compromised. Just prove her wrong. Good luck.
Really? Not ALL of us are in nursing school. I've been late to work & gotten in trouble accordingly.
i've been late for work (once) when i got into a minor accident. i had the police report and was prepared to show it to my boss, but she said that wasn't necessary and there was no punitive nonsense. Everyone just asked if i was okay, and I offered to stay late if needed.
that kind of respectful culture is why there hasn't been a staff position open at this company in over 5 years. the only reason people leave is if they're retiring or their family has to move, and then there is a queue of PRNs scrambling for their position. treat people like humans and you'll be rewarded.
It might sound nice to say "oh just lie...we all do it...it hurts no one." Ok, so you tell the instructor "my house burned down." In most cases considered a valid excuse, but what happens when the instructor asks for proof that it happened.
Instead you could try "my tire blew as I was driving in." I happen to think that mishaps with one's car can be a valid excuse for being late (I was late for work one day because my car's battery could not handle the -12 degree F night). It does happen. But suppose the instructor says "well, show me the tow truck receipt...or the receipt for a new tire."
How about "my grandfather died this weekend and I was driving back from the funeral and didn't make it in time." Instructor: "then show my the funeral card or the obit." I had a professor in college who said when going over the syllabus for the course, that we needed to bring in the obit/funeral card if that was our reason for missing an exam. To use his words, "believe it or not, students have lied to me before."
Point is, what is going to happen when "proof" for the lie cannot be produced? At that point, the 'choice' involved in dropping out of nursing school might be taken out of your hands.
My guess is, this instructor has been lied to before. As someone has mentioned, she has probably heard the alarm "excuse" before. While the OP might have been 100% honest about why he was late, the instructor may have been rolling her proverbial eyes thinking "here we go again...another student who thinks the alarm excuse will work."
I'm all for compassion, but it is not a lack of compassion which leads the instructor not to allow the student to make up the test. Yes, messing up the alarm is human...yes it is a little thing that happens. However, one of those "little" things can cause serious harm to a patient. Just saying "well, it happens, I'm human" isn't necessarily going to protect you. I'm not going to go as far as saying the instructor did the OP "a favor." However, the 'show some compassion' argument doesn't really stand up either. The plaintiff's attorney certainly isn't going to show someone "compassion" for a little mistake that happens to humans.
FWIW, I don't think it was necessarily appropriate for the instructor to tell the OP to drop out of nursing school, but I need to know the context and tone of the comment before I am able to say anything further about that.
If you are going to lie, make sure you don't back yourself into a corner later i.e be asked to produce results. In my defense i'd say (from my earlier post): well you want me to produce the vomit i flushed in the toilet, or the bad sandwich i ate which caused me to be sick? They'll say no and get over it.
The main point is if and when you need to cover your butt you need to assess the situation and see "are they going to believe the truth?" Why yes I have a doctors note or witness.. or should i lie and say ... Am I boxing my self in if i say...
And so forth. Most people just lie to lie which is why they fail. While i do not support lying the truth does NOT always set you free.
I believe this is something you should pursue following the change of command to fight for your case otherwise except it and move on. Sympathy does not make the situation better, however, i am sorry this happen-such is life.
If you are going to lie, make sure you don't back yourself into a corner later i.e be asked to produce results. In my defense i'd say (from my earlier post): well you want me to produce the vomit i flushed in the toilet, or the bad sandwich i ate which caused me to be sick? They'll say no and get over it.
There is a good chance they require a doctor's note if you miss an exam d/t illness. Furthermore, where I went to school, not "calling off" at the time of the exam meant no make up. If you are sick you had to call. What are your going to say...you were so ill that you could not even make a 30 second phone call to a voice mail to "call off" for the exam? If that is the case then you were sick enough to see a doctor and get the aforementioned doctor's note.
If you are going to lie, make sure you don't back yourself into a corner later i.e be asked to produce results. In my defense i'd say (from my earlier post): well you want me to produce the vomit i flushed in the toilet, or the bad sandwich i ate which caused me to be sick? They'll say no and get over it.
The main point is if and when you need to cover your butt you need to assess the situation and see "are they going to believe the truth?" Why yes I have a doctors note or witness.. or should i lie and say ... Am I boxing my self in if i say...
And so forth. Most people just lie to lie which is why they fail. While i do not support lying the truth does NOT always set you free.
I believe this is something you should pursue following the change of command to fight for your case otherwise except it and move on. Sympathy does not make the situation better, however, i am sorry this happen-such is life.
I see you're not in nursing school yet by your profile so I'm going to share this with you: Your clinical grades will include a spot called "accountability". If your program is like mine, an "unacceptable" in this category fails you for the semester. What you are saying here, if you did get busted, would fail you. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Fail. If you do not have a strong enough moral code to realize lying is wrong, then at least let the possibility of failure prevent you from your creepily thoroughly thought out plan in the art of "lying convincingly".
I was at clinicals a week ago and started having chest pains.
Spent the entire day in the ER of the hospital I had clinicals in as a patient.
Will probably have a huge medical bill to pay.
I have to make up the clinical day! This is what accountability is all about. It sucks, but I did "technically" miss my clinical day. This is the life of a nursing student. You can get by in your prereqs with a little slap on the wrist here and there, but nursing school is training you to be a nurse, hence the need for accountability. Buck up people!
or drop out and do something else! :) it's not too late, and changing courses is NOT a failure or a weakness.
Honestly, could you tell me why someone would drop out of nursing school because of a failed test or missed clinical day? Rofl! Do YOU give up that easily?
the only reason people leave is if they're retiring or their family has to move, and then there is a queue of PRNs scrambling for their position. treat people like humans and you'll be rewarded.
wooh, BSN, RN
1 Article; 4,383 Posts
Yep, also missed an test. I'm not a morning person. And three alarms to wake me up are necessary. That's why I got off dayshift. But when I missed the test, I accepted the consequences. Learned my lesson. Got a THIRD alarm clock because two obviously weren't working. I didn't whine about my teacher having a lack of compassion.