Out of nursing program cause i am smoker!!!

[misstaz25]

Help, I am at risk of being out of the nursing program because I am a smoker.

I really could use some advise on how to deal with a very unfair instructor. I am a first year PN student and we just started clinicals in Nov. I have an instructor that is absloutely against smoking. Of 18 students in the class only about 6 are not smokers. We were informed that if we as much as smelled of smoke during clinicals we would be docked in our grade.

One day another student and I got busted for smoking. Please no lectures on smoking and how bad it is. I really would like to quit. Anyway, our grade for the day was docked in every area it could. I would be fine with that. What I dont feel is fair is the way the instructor handled it after that.

A few days after the incident the instructor pulled me into her office when no one was around. She flat out asked me if I had smoked, and I said I will not lie, I did. She asked why after knowing her clear views on smoking I would do that, was I just that addicted? I told her yes, it is an addiction. This teacher than asked me about the other student and if she had smoked also. I felt uncomfortable about her asking me about another student, but I admitted she did also. I told her that I was sorry and would make sure it didnt happen again during clinicals. In fact I had just done another clinical the day before and told her in no way did I smoke before or during that clinical. This lovely woman told me that I need to think about what my punishment should be for disobeying her rules. Now remember my grade got docked for smelling of smoke. She also threatened to tell my mother about the incident. My mom works at the college but in a totally unrelated department.

A few days later she pulled me and the other student aside in a public hallway to lecture us and give us our punishment. She stated that we would write a 2 page paper with 2 references on how to quit smoking. Also we would write a 2 page paper on lying. Now I never did lie to her, she asked me if I smoked and I told her yes I did. If I wouldnt have confessed she wouldnt be able to punish us at all. Then to top it off she wants a 3 page paper on patient abandonment. She informed us, this is on the very last day of class before Christmas break, that we will have an incomplete in her class until she recieves these. I feel she is out of line and that she did this in a public hallway is just aweful. She wanted to make an example of us in front of the other students and I feel she handled this poorly.

I am furious. I have read the policies and procedures for the program I am in and nowhere does it say anything about smoking. In fact I dont think she can even assign extra papers because of it. My grade was docked as we were warned would happen. How can she make up extra punishment when I was punished by my grade? How can she make up extra assignments when we were told our grade would be docked. I earned a very hard A in her class. I got a 98% on her final.

Also this woman is a constant overeater and is constantly snacking on candy and other fattening treats. She flat out admits she cant live without candy. Yet she has the balls to judge anyone that smokes. She actually will pick out little things to dock grades on just because someone is a smoker when a nonsmoker can do clearly worse and recieve a better grade. I wrote in a letter to her that her behavior toward me and the other student was rude. In public to degrade us and ask us to write about effects of smoking and lying. How would she like it if she was asked to write about her eating habits and lack of exercise and how her fat butt is bad for her health? She can walk around with a jelly donut in her fat hand, but god forbid she smells smoke on a student.

She called me at home tonight to inform me that if she does not have these papers in hand by Weds of this week she will not let me continue in the program. I am considering taking her actions to her superiors and filing a greivance with the college regarding my grade.

Is it fair for a teacher to withhold your grade because of something like this? I have wrote her a letter pointing out how unfair it is and that I will not write extra papers for being a smoker. I admited to her I was wrong to smoke during a clinical, and said it will not happen again. My grade for that day was lowered because of it. I expect the grade I earned for the semester. I completed her course and than on the last day she throws 3 papers at me as a punishment!!!

I wrote her a letter that I expect the grade I earned and will not be treated like a child and will go to the board if she follows through on her threat. I feel I should add I am a president and deans list student. I have a print out of the points in her class and have earned a 96% fair and square. The class is over and I have an incomplete at the time deans and presidents list are being made, so she has taken that from me.

Please no lectures about smoking, if i could just quit I would. I want to know if her behavior is even justifiable? What are my legal options in this?

[PANurseRN1]

In case you missed the sentence before I said I don't ridicule overweight people. Many people do even if they dont say it, it is in the way they are looked at or treated. People can be very mean. I think it is ironic that someone clearly overweight can harp about the effects of smoking on a smoker and not expect someone to say something about weight and health. But than maybe that is why an overweight nonsmoker would pick on a smoker, its something they have got their whole life and its an issue they can throw in someone else's face.

The second you said "fatty," you did.

[mamason]

this post, amongst many, make it obvious that MANY persons ARE NOT reading the whole OP... ......remember, in nursing, we need to take ALL the facts....and form an opinion/dx/plan.....ALLLLL of the facts.....this student has accepted her punishment....even had the sense to write a letter to vent her feelings and then throw it away.....she has been bullied, plan and simple.....is this why we are gettng new nurses who CANT accept responsiblity for errors, because they have been brow beaten by a........ like this one instructor? so that they cant ever be wrong?...and some one in this thread made an observation that i had earlier....and hardily agree with, this instructor needs psychiatric attention.....

PLEASE, if you are not going to READ the whole presentation, dont bother answering......

I've followed this thread from the beginning. My point is....this instructor, wether right or wrong, explained her expectations for clinicals. And the OP chose not to follow them. That's why she is in the position that she is in. And since when do "YOU" dictate on who can answer a thread and who can not? I don't see "moderator" by your name. Or am I not READING the whole presentation here?

[melissahunter2]

welcom to nursing school!

[mamason]

Well Mstazz, mamason has risin in the ranks because she chooses to stand in line. You however will get nowhere in this profession because you abuse your rights as a citizen to question authority. See where this is going?

I'm not a push over if that's what you meant by this post. Far from it. I choose to pick my battles.And if it's "my "screw up" then I am prepared to to take the consequences for my actions. As far as the OP, the consequences suck, but, she was aware of them from the beginning. And that is the issue here. She doesn't like the consequences. So what if she has to write papers. Big deal, most of us did that in school. I especially did more than the rest because I was so outspoken. Nursing school is just one step to becoming a nurse. Why on earth would a person set themselves up to be made miserable over a smoking incident by threatening to go over her head, sue, whatever.....True we do have rights as a citizen and by all means should abuse them especially if we screw up and don't want to be responsible for our actions.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Giving this thread cool down time.

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

A personal habit, even an unhealthy one at that should not come between a nursing instructor and a future nurse's future...It's discriminatation at its worse!

If all nurses who smoked were barred from practicing, my what a shortage we'd have on our hands!!!

:smokin:

:smokin:

:smokin: :smokin:

PS...Just taking the torch to this hot topic WOHAAAAHAAA!!!!!

[TrudyRN]

1. Read the school's rules and be sure the Instructor is not backed up by them.

2. Get a lawyer and sue the living daylights out of her. You might have to give her and her employer a chance to correct the matter before you can sue. See what the lawyers you consult have to say.

3. Is she obese? If so, she is really one to talk and needs to have pointed out to her that she is really mentally ill, not to mention hypocritical.

4. While I also think it is nasty for sick people to have to endure odors (cigarette smoke, fragrances in perfumes, colognes, hair care products, nail care products, fabric softener and detergent, makeup, deodorant, so-called air fresheners, and any other stinking messes that are part of our lives and which some people find totally, literally sickening), I disagree that your instructor has the right to enforce rules that are not school rules. I do think you should get in the habit of not subjecting your patients and co-workers to various types of avoidable stink but have a problem with they way your instructor is going about this.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Yep, had to wear a uniform, do a pee test, criminal background check, and child abuse background check.

The point is, Jim

Nursing IS held to a higher standard.

[imenid37]

I quit smoking. I think you should too. I do agree w/ you that the instructor can't go on a no-smoking crusade which goes way above and beyond the rules of the school and hospital. This sounds like middle or high school. You are learning to be a nurse and be responsible for people's lives and this woman is going to tell your mother you are smoking. That is RIDICULOUS. Tell the dean. I hate smoking, but this is totally inappropriate for this instructor to be a maverick and to set up these special rules.

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I will tell you how it is at my school so you can compare.

At my school no one is allowed to smoke on campus including the teachers. Smokers walk to one of two spots just off campus to smoke. (not a short walk) They are not allowed to smell of smoke either. They are told to use breath mints, change their sweater or something. I have several friends/classmates that I didn't even know smoked off campus becuase they NEVER smell of smoke. They said they are very careful. They stand where the wind takes the smoke away and doesn't blow the smoke back onto them or in their hair. They also use very strong mints. One friend changes her sweater.

Smokers are told to not smoke before clinical because they will smell of smoke and that bothers the patients. They are told not to smoke in their car on the way to clinical because they will reek of smoke. No one is allowed to smoke during clinical. They will be tossed out if they do! I don't know if they are asked to leave just for the day or what but everyone was warned. People in my class wait until after clinical to smoke.

At my school the clinical instructors are supported over the students. When a clinical instructor threw a student out she went to the principal who had previously said that the student could miss a couple of days. The principal supported the clinical instructor who said that the student missed too many days. She is out of school.

I personally think the instructor was a little harsh. When you butt heads with people most will just want to butt back and not work with you. I probably would have talked really sweet and pointed out that I did not lie but couldn't I just write about smoking. Just something like that.

I hope everything works out for you. Good luck.

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

This is the way it is with my school too. No smoking in uniform no matter what. Also, while at school no one is allowed to smoke in the parking lot or in their car. We are referred to our Student Handbook. No perfumes or any strong odors on the students either.

The hospitals here do not allow smoking on the premesis. They do offer programs to help employees to quit.

[fleur-de-lis, BSN, RN]

I really dont want to hear anymore stories of how people are allergic to the smell of smoke... Personally I feel I should be able to smoke in the morning before I am on her time.

Obviously you do not get it. It is not that the smell of smoke is simply unpleasant. It has serious medical reprecussions for many people, even when it is simply on your clothes.

I believe in personal rights, but they should not infringe on the rights of others. You have the right to smoke on your own time, but you dont have the right to then go to clinicals reeking of smoke and risk causing medical distress to patients (or co-workers). You and anyone has the right to smoke, but I have the right not to have to breathe it. Comparing it to perfume or people who overeat is ridiculous. While strong perfume can be annoying, it has far fewer toxins than cigarette smoke and generally causes fewer medical problems. Any I have never seen anyone medically harmed by another person taking a third trip to the buffet - come on!

We all have faults, there is no denying that. When our faults begin threatening to harm others, and we are in the healthcare field to help others, I think we need to take a real hard look at ourselves.