SNlena

Update coming up.

Thank you. We have several people who are foreign born (many phillipinos too), but we only had 2 people out of 11 (in her group) that speak with an accent (me and a 44 year old Mexican man), and we are the only 2 people who failed. She failed him for a mistake that he did (he gave lopressor without cutting it in half... it was a mistake, however, the nurse or the instructor were supposed to review all the meds and dosages with the student before we administer... at least according to their policy... but from what I heard, the nurse told him to go ahead and give the meds by himself, and when he did, he realized he made a mistake, and he told the nurse and instructor ASAP... and he failed, but was not kicked out of school). I am keeping all the records, all the kardexes, names, etc The meeting I had today with the Committee, they have 5 days to make a decision. If they feel that I am right, then they will make a recommendation to the President of College. And then he may or may not make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees (and he has 10 days to decide). So I should find out what their decision is by the end of the month.

PS= And on the 3d day, she didn't even say anything about the labs (2nd and 3d day she told me I was doing great)... but she brought it up at the meeting.

She also claims that I don't look up labs, but I do. My mistake was that the first day I looked it up, and I knew they were within normal limits, but I didn't write it down on a paper... So I got a warning for that. The 2nd day I had all the labs (print out AND hand written on paper), and the 3d day one of the labs didn't print out, so I looked it up in a chart AND wrote it down on paper, but she said that I need the print out paper too (that I have no access for, and I didn't want to ask the nurse because my last instructor would get us in trouble if we "bothered" the nurses for any reason) ... I was kind of surprised because I still knew them, and I had them written down, but it seemed like she was just LOOKING for things to fail me for. So labs, insulin and the ASA/INR. They have certain guidelines to follow (which are in our student hand-book), but they don't follow it. It seems like that can use anything as an excuse to fail you or kick you out for. If I try to fight it on my own, as I was doing for the past couple of month, I'm afraid I won't get far, cause so far I haven't had much luck. That's why I want to do it with a lawyer, and that's why I'm looking for a probonal lawyer (cause I just can't afford the hourly fees...)

PS= I don't mind paying $100-$200 for a letter, but I want more out of it because I just invested 4 years of my life (time, money, energy, etc) into becoming an RN, and it's something I am so passionate about... And right now this evaluation is preventing me from becoming an RN, its preventing me from transferring ANYWHERE because majority of colleges require normal record (and I have the expulsion for "unsafe conduct" and so on...) So not only I have to start over, but it makes it so difficult to even go anywhere else because of what she wrote and how it escalated.

I am in my 3d semester (2 years prereqs + waiting list + 2 year program which consists of 4 semesters and I was in my 3d semester). I am not a minority... I'm white/caucasian, but I am originally from Russia, and I speak with an accent. I'm 21 (youngest one in my class) and I look young/quiet, and sometimes I get comments which make me feel that I am not being taken seriously. I also limp a bit when I get physically tired.. (I had a knee injury in August 2006), and my teacher was saying how I have "attitude" cause I stood once with a "hand on my hip"... I brought a form from the emergency room + knee MRI results, and showed it to the committee, and said she should not even bring up the way I stand (considering that it has nothing to do with how competent I am). So I don't know what is it exactly that she had against me, but I really feel that the fail was undeserved. I have her evaluation in writing (where she wrote about insulin and such). And I am continuing to look for a lawyers. And for those of you in the Los Angeles area, do you know any places/firms where I can find probonal lawyers?

I had another meeting today with the committee... And I requested proof of her statements over a week ago, and she was unable to provide any. If the committee thinks I am right, then they will make a recommendation to the president of the college, and then he can make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees... I am not sure how much it would cost to have a lawyer write the letter, but I will find out. It's a good idea.

I spoke to several attorneys, but my only problem is that one thinks it will be a difficult case to fight (since they are not a private school, but government), and the others want an hourly rate and I can't afford it. I am in a process of trying to find probonal lawyers... And yes, she has to approve the insulin... my dosage and everything was correct, her problem was that the food was right in the hallway instead of right in front of him (preferably him eating) cause she thinks that otherwise he would go into a coma in 5 minutes... (she seems to be very confused about the onset, peak and duration of insulins).

The nurse (preceptor) I was working with is on very friendly terms with my teacher and she just doesn't care enough to stand up for me.

And to add on... I have another classmate who also failed, and she is also trying to contest... She went to Grievance department to file a complaint, and now the school is telling her that she either accepts the fail and be placed on a disciplinary probation for a year, or they will suspend/expel her too. She is shocked... It almost seems like they are trying to intimidate/screw over anyone who tries to contest.

"I suspect there is a lot more going on in this situation than just the insulin issue. Being expelled from a program is serious business and I doubt any school would expel a student for that particular clinical situation alone.I'm starting to feel like you. Are we really getting the whole story??" It seems strange to everyone, including me. She failed me based on that probation (with those 2 reasons) and claiming that I didn't have the labs (I knew they were within normal limits first day, cause I looked it up but i didn't write them down, and the 2nd and 3d day I had a printout of them). So I went to talk to the Dean, the Chairperson, and the Ombudsmen about it. They said that they can see my point, but it's ultimately up to the teacher if she wants to change the grade. I requested a meeting with the teacher, and she was "unavailable" for the first couple of weeks. Then they finally called me and set up a date for March 29th, which my teacher didn't show up for... So we re-scheduled for April 11th... On April 5th I got a letter saying that I am expelled for "unsafe conduct" (in a clinical setting), and that I can request a hearing to discuss this matter. So I did... I had that hearing a few days ago, which is where she made her strange statements (about the insulin acting much faster with those medical conditions, and so on).

Yes, the guy was on a beta blocker (coreg tab 25mg), but even though it may mask s/s of hypoglycemia, would he really go into a coma after 5 minutes? I mean, she was basically saying that if I give the insulin sq (novolog, which in my drug book that my school told me to purchase and follow, it says 15 min onset), so would his blood sugar really drop from 300 to 20 in 5 minutes? Seems a bit ridiculous to me... The tray was right out in the hallway, so the guy was gonna eat 2 minutes later, it's not like there was no food nowhere in sight! But she made me sound so unsafe, and that I was putting him in a life threatening situation, and that he would have been in a coma after 5 minutes... I requested information which would back up her statements, so hopefully she will respond to that soon...

I had a meeting a couple of days ago, and I pointed out those things... She just keeps saying her own things. That patient was not getting any anticoagulants (just ASA and Plavix), and she wrote in my evaluation that my patient could have had a "life threatening bleeding issue"... I was trying to sort this out for 1.5 month already, and I am getting NOWHERE... In fact, they completely expelled me from this program.

Me neither, but that teacher failed me after 3 days at clinical, and when we had a meeting to discuss what happened, she was saying that I put my patient in danger because the food wasn't directly in front of him (it was in the hallway being passed around), and that he would have went into a coma in 5 minutes (his blood sugar was almost 300 when I was about to give the insulin shot)... When I pointed out a 15 min onset, she said that I must take his medical conditions into account, because CHF and pleural effusion will make the insulin act so much faster... I also gave Aspirin 81mg and Plavix, and she said that I didn't check INR, and that it's hospital's policy to check INR... I don't believe it either, and I am trying to get a copy of that policy... I checked the platelet's in the patient's chart, which were normal, so I didn't write it down NEXT to the medication... and now she is claiming that I never knew it... It was my mistake not to actually WRITE it down, but it was the FIRST DAY!!!! and I was put on probation for that...

I had a patient (who had Congestive Heart Failure, pleural effusion, diabetes, and a history of hypertension, and emphysema)... my instructor claims that those medical conditions will make insulin (subcutaneously) take a much, much quicker effect (so if the book says that the onset is 15 min, in his case it will be 3-5 min)... Can someone please explain how this would happen and why? What do you think about this??