elle27

Hey--there is medication for anxiety. I am a 4.0 straight A student. I got a 'C' on my first nursing exam at the start of our 2nd semester. I actually got physically ill. I had to leave class later that day. I drove to my doc's office & sat and waited. When she had a minute to talk to me she immediately wrote me a script for a really low dose diazepine. I only take it pre-test. Back to 'A' status. I am all of those well organized super study girls who can quote the text for you. I am encyclopedia girl. I also do yoga & am uber-healthy. Just like pain meds are there for a reason--so are all the other ones. If all else fails talk to counsel--and taking meds does not make you weak. It means you are smart enough to know when to ask for help. :redbeathe

I think it's just differing perspective. Although being a student nurse you must understand that you are an idiot and can't possibly know anything and you are always wrong. I'm sorry. It sucks. I had my confidence betrayed by an instructor and have NO RESPECT for any of them--all I see now are the flaws. I was so idealistic when I started my program. I have come to accept what a complete idiot I am and will continue to accept it until I Finish. Then I'll take my exam & go back to doing the best I can. Realize that those who can, do. Those who can't -- teach. They have no other means of control so they slam you instead of having a conversation. Being stuck in a fear engendering negative atmosphere is sad. Especially since we are to be nurses; and how sad that a physician can't communicate his wants or needs to those assisting. Don't let it get you. Study harder and learn to read minds. :) Don't stop keeping the patient's needs front and center!

That is ridiculous. I know professors get stories about things being turned in that actually were not. That does not mean they have the right to be jaded and assume everyone who states they turned something in that was not received is lying. I would print the whole thing. The receipt, the items to be turned in--all of it. I would physically mail it to him, to his department chair and to whatever student advocate you have. Most schools have some sort of student advocate or ombudsman; they are there to help. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you let us know how it turns out!

Hello everyone reading! It turns out I am not the only one to have this dispute. I am the only one 'brave' enough to take it to a hearing. Turns out the college (not the school of nursing) has been waiting for anyone to come forward and go on the record about this individual instructor. Since I have taken this step more than a dozen other students have responded and come back to speak up. I will have this instructor again. She is one of two primary instructors for the LPN program. The college is going to monitor her classes for the next year. I will graduate before the monitoring ends. Score one for integrity and professionalism. Thank you all so much. Words fail at how much the insight and input given here encouraged me. Thank you!

Oh wow--okay--thank you all. I am very chill about this. My previous life was as a hairstylist. My clients are actually the ones behind me taking the plunge to go to nursing school. I have played devil's advocate in my head with this. I have read all of your responses. I decided to take my problem to the college ombudsman. We have a fact-finding hearing on Friday. I cannot say how many times I have let inappropriate remarks, actions, touch or advances slide. I have not ever stood up about it. I have come to the realization that part of being a nurse is advocating for people; for patients or clients--but for people who need it. I don't see how I will make a very good advocate for others if I won't advocate for myself. Whatever happens from here, happens. Thank you all--again--and further--for all of your points, for your help; for being there. I will post the outcome of this right here. Then maybe the drama can go back to existing in the theatre department.

I am sorry. I did say something very polite to her about touch. I said, "please, I'd rather not be touched or hugged. I don't feel comfortable." That got me a mini-lecture on therapeutic touch. I was written up for doing something I didn't know I shouldn't do; a finger stick. I will accept that. i haven't been checked off to do finger sticks. i didn't know we were checked off for finger sticks. the writing up for my "inappropriate" behavior was all about the conversation she initiated in a parking lot off site from clinical--and i wasn't in scrubs and had no identification about me that said i was a nursing student: she and i were alone. this is six weeks of buildup; i think the write up is retaliation for asking not to be touched. c'est la guerre. if she has me exited from the program--i will find another. pressing assault or battery charges would just make a mess of things--but if she makes a mess for me, i will make a mess for her. maybe she'll learn something about boundaries and integrity. thank you all, again.

:yeah:YOU CAN DO IT! Have you checked the online options? Excelsior is online--I don't think they 'reject' anyone, either. Don't quit. Just don't even let that be an option. You have lots of good advice posted here already--so I'm just here to cheer you on. There are plenty of platitudes out there about silver linings and darkness before dawn--lights at the end of tunnels. The best thing I was told when I started the process of getting into nursing school was to have something to focus on; something I loved and was passionate about outside of relationships, outside of school. I have a climbing rose we planted two years ago. It won't bloom until it is at least five years old. I should be an RN by then. I see it every morning as I walk out my front door. I keep that rose in mind--how it is growing bigger and stronger every day. How it is slowly getting closer to blooming. I am too. I am grateful for that advise. School is tough and sometimes I feel so alone and overwhelmed--but I remember the advice; I think of my rose. I get a little peace, a little reassurance. Best wishes. Don't quit! I wish we had audio so I could call out "YOU CAN DO IIIT!"

She is a touchy-feely person. She will pat people on the bottom--or on the head--like we are small children. She did work peds for a long time--before she retired and began teaching. I think that is where the behavior comes from. She comes across as this nice older lady. Most people adore her. There are a few of us that she seems particularly drawn to. We are all about the same height and build. I don't know if we remind her of a relative or of herself at our age. I wasn't actually crying--I was just walking fast--trying to get home so I could get started on the work and eat lunch (six hours of clinical with no break!). I was really proud of myself for not crying, actually. Being sandbagged with 6 hours of homework right before a 3 hour A&P exam should be enough to make anybody cry. I don't think she is being sexual. I feel groped. The way she hangs on and pats remind me of high school boyfriends. It's just weird and disturbing. I think you are right about riding it out. I feel validated reading that what I've gone through is unfair and inappropriate. A little reassurance and validation go a very long way for me. Thank you very much for the response--seriously!

I had a hard time with that, too. I think because it's complex and long. I wrote out a stage and used photos of people I knew to identify that stage with their age group. I pretty much used read/write/recite while looking at their picture. So--when test time came--all I had to do was close my eyes and see a familiar face; the information came floating along with it. I hope that helps. If it doesn't--keep trying!

I am a first term LPN student. My trouble is one older Professor (she's a retired R.N.) who has to pet, squeeze, touch, pat, rub and huddle during any conversation. I'm afraid of retaliation (she's already written me up over an honest mistake) and losing my place in program if I speak up and say stop. I don't want to be whiny--but it's distracting--she's smothering--and it makes me really uncomfortable. I understand there is a therapeutic factor to touch--but I don't need to be groped while learning. It's a small school in a small town. She also wrote me up for being upset one day after clinicals. I was in the parking lot, leaving after we finished. I had held it together all day. She had dropped this bombshell about changed assignments that morning. I was almost at my car. She called after me--and asked two or three times how i was--assured me I could talk to her--and then took that trusted communication and turned it into a write up of me being unprofessional. I know this program will weed out people who they don't like--no matter how good your grades are or how hard you work. I've known people who were exited because a professor did not like them. This means way too much to me. I really don't want to lose my place. I'm pretty freaked out right now. I thought I was doing well. Any suggestions?