snapshot

Aw, I wouldn't agree with that. I really enjoyed working there, and I worked in a lot of different areas.

Like anything, it's the few that ruin it for the many. Most people are used to tattoos...even if they wouldn't get one themselves, they aren't going to be offended by someone else's. That said, it's a risky endeavor for an employer to not have a tattoo policy at all, because as soon as someone shows up with a tattoo that is borderline or offensive (e.g. a guy I know with a confederate flag on his forearm...), they're going to have a tough time asking them to cover it without being accused of discrimination.

I just had the exact same thing happen to me, and I passed. If you want to chat about it, let me know and I can send you my email or something. You'll be fine, though--I agree with the others about what to do. Good luck!

Hey all, I'm a new grad, and I am currently a relief float tech for most of our inpatient units. I did quite well in nursing school, and because I am hoping to work in OB (eventually midwifery, if possible), I use every chance I could to increase my skills and knowledge in that area (e.g. I did a research project that is now in the early stages of publication). My preceptorship was in pediatrics, but my preceptor was cross-trained in NICU and PP, so I did some of that, as well as tagging along with other nurses to do L&D. It was amazing, and I'm more sure than ever that this is what I want to be doing. I also have a great relationship with my current nurse manager, and have worked hard, have a high GPA, awards, etc., to help ensure I can be successful after nursing school. I know it's not the norm to get a job in OB right after graduation, and if I can't, that's fine. I'm more than willing to work some med-surg, get my skills honed a little more, and pay my dues--I enjoyed those rotations quite a bit in school, anyway. However, my facility has two openings right now in OB for night shift, which are not popular around here but that I happen to love. I applied for them, figuring if nothing else it would get the manager familiar with my name for openings down the road. Wouldn't you know it, last Thursday, at the EXACT time I was taking my NCLEX, the manager called my home to "speak with me about my application." Because I wasn't home, she also sent an email to my work account asking me to call or let her know when she could reach me. I emailed first because I didn't have her direct line, and then I called the next day, also, but was told she was in a patient room so I left a message. I emailed again Sunday evening to tell her she could reach me all day yesterday and today, as well as to let her know I passed my boards and have an active license now. Our email system allows us to check to see if an email has been opened, so I know she got both of them. And yet... Nothing. My sneaking suspicion is that she got another application or two from someone with more experience, but I don't know. I'm also worried that she somehow didn't notice I was newly licensed (though it was very clear on my application, in my cover letter, and from my current job title) and changed her mind when I told her I'd been taking boards. I understand if she has changed her mind, but I wish she would let me know either way. My question is...what now? Do you think I should call again, or just wait? I work overnight tonight and she comes in right as I'm getting off in the morning, so I'm also considering just stopping by to introduce myself and see if that gets me an answer one way or another. I really want her to know how interested I am in the positions, but I also don't want to annoy the bajesus out of her and ruin my chances for getting a job on that unit later on since I really, really like the hospital I work in and want to stay there if possible. I've never really been in a position like this, so any advice would be appreciated!

It won't necessarily work immediately after you finish. The board has to receive your results first...I believe it will say "Delivery Sucessful." If it does say that, then there may be another reason your results are on hold. What state are you testing in?

No, not at all...most states won't have your licensing information immediately. My state, for example, takes a minimum of 3 business days. You may be able to check your BON's website to see if there is information about how long it will take.

Yeah, that's tough, because obviously you wanted to get licensed sooner rather than later since you chose the ADN program. I guess you have to weigh what's more important - your GPA after you're done, or how soon you can be a nurse. If my grades had suffered as much as yours seem to have (I've squeaked out As or A-s so far), I probably would have left because I want to go on to graduate school also and need my application to be competitive. However, there are lots of bachelor's programs and that level is not quite as competitive, so if you don't plan to go beyond a BSN, it might not matter as much. As far as the NCLEX...if you're as hard of a worker as it seems, I have complete faith that you can get some review books and pass it even if you stick with your current program. I don't know if your program makes you eligible for LPN boards, but I took mine after working on my own and passed easily. I know the RN boards will be a lot harder, but I still think it can be done. Also, I don't know how these programs continue to operate, but they shouldn't be able to. I bet it probably has a lot to do with this exact problem, though - they get so many students because we don't know how bad things are until it's too late! Good luck!

Wow, you are right about our situations...if it weren't for a few details being different, I would think that we are in the same program! Disorganization and strict adherence to policies for their own sake are the two main themes throughout the classes. I've lost a lot of classmates, too, and former 4.0 students are just happy to be advancing to the next class. It's frustrating and sad. I made the same choice as you to start with an ADN program over the nearby BSN program, and am deeply regretting it. We do clinicals on the same floors as the students from the university, and they say that they are not dealing with anything like what we are. I always tell my classmates that I should have seen it coming from the start: we had a program orientation a few weeks before our first semester, and letters were sent out saying when and where it was and that it was mandatory. I showed up early, but more than 15 minutes after the start time, there were dozens of us waiting and no one had showed up. Lo and behold, they had given us the wrong meeting room. Even so, when we walked over to the correct one, the instructors blamed US FOR BEING LATE! I'm a little further along than you, so I can't really say if you should stop now. I don't have any advice, other than I believe that you are working hard, and just know that you're not alone!

llg - Unfortunately, the policy in the program is that I can't wait until my final grade is in to back and try to get something changed. The only reason I'm still able to be even contesting these points is that they weren't even deducted until well after the 'late'/absence occurred. If I wait until I need them at the end of the semester, it will be too late to get them returned. logank622 - I can understand where you're coming from, and maybe I didn't explain this well, but the issues with Ann's attitude started immediately, before any interactions with us. That first day that she taught, she was YELLING, demanding SILENCE in the classroom ten before the class was scheduled to start. Then she immediately launched into the speech about how she was getting ready to hand out a quiz and all the things she would do to anyone who tried to cheat - completely unprompted. (Not to mention, the cheating policy is in the syllabus and our handbook, as it has been every semester.) I can't personally speak to any incidences of eye rolling or anything directed toward her, but I can tell you that I certainly have not done so. She is not a victim of any sort of mistreatment from me in any way. triquee - I think you're pretty spot on about the dynamics among the three. And I've been doing exactly as you said - all of my interactions with Ann about this have been through email, at first just because I don't see her on a regular basis, but now because I want to have documentation. Someone suggested that I meet with both her and the Dean, and honestly, the reason I don't want to do that is not because I'm afraid I'll lose my cool, but because she is SO CONFRONTATIONAL at all times, and I tend to freeze up in the presence of people like that. I don't think it would do any good. Thanks for your input, all!

psu_213 - The reason I used the word 'insulting' is not because I don't think professionalism is important, it's because adding those points to our grade implies that we need to be taught how to be professional. Not only are most of us 'non-traditional' students who have plenty of workplace experience, but a job and school are not equitable environments. My job depends on me to show up and be professional. On the other hand, students are paying the instructors to do their jobs. The only person who is negatively impacted by my absence is me, but I took responsibility for the information I missed. In fact, I missed every lecture for that unit because of the meningitis, but I still showed up to take the exam on the day it was scheduled and got the highest grade in the class that I am aware of. I also do realize that most of the time, email is not how people communicate an absence for work...my point was that I did so because I knew that my nurse manager prefers email because she has communicated that. Not only has Ann not put forth a policy about what is an "excused" absence, the syllabus specifically states that absences don't need to be excused. What would be accepted in any given workplace is completely beside the point.

Okay all, I have an issue with an instructor and I need an outside perspective. It's a long one and I'll probably give to many details, so if you can bear with me, I appreciate it. Backstory: I am in my second semester of the RN year at a community college program (so I will have one semester to go after this, graduate in May). The program has had a lot of change and upheaval during my time there, including a new dean and a complete curriculum redesign that we got mixed into halfway through the program. It's been really frustrating for much of the time, but I've done what I can to be patient because I know change is difficult and that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that students don't see. There have been a few instructors that I didn't care for much, either because they didn't have the knowledge/experience to back up their position, or simply because they didn't respect us at all, but I've just kept my head down, worked hard, and gotten through. I'm a good student, and have not (including now) been at risk of failing out at any time. This semester, the lecture portion of my class was supposed to be co-taught by two instructors. One of them left shortly before classes began for another job, so the school hired another instructor, "Ann," whose entire teaching career included a short stint at another community college in another state (she was apparently an old college friend of our new dean). From the start, it went badly: the first class the she taught solo, she was rude and accusatory. She yelled at us like second graders over perceived slights to her authority (e.g. someone rolling their eyes), and threatened to ruin anyone who even thought about trying to cheat on a quiz (something that has never been a problem). Good example: even though the syllabus outlines that we should "skim" the reading before lecture and then actually do the reading after, she spent ten minutes one day yelling at us for being "unprepared" for not having done the reading before class and telling us that she has "no sympathy" for us because when she was a student she knew about "proper time management." Oh yeah, by the way, this was a lecture taking place immediately after a big exam. Several times, she would use a high-school level vocabulary word and then stop herself and say, "Oh, you probably don't even know what that means, do you?" (Though at the same time she wouldn't concede that she was wrong about "dysphasia" not being a real word.) The classroom was always terribly tense, and several of my classmates, and even a few of our clinical instructors complained to the dean and the other instructor and the dean about how things were going. My own personal beef with her was that she didn't really understand the material. Her first degree was not in nursing, and she went back to school, got licensed, and worked for just a short time before going into teaching. The only preparation she would do before class was to read our textbook, but instead of admitting when she didn't know the answer to a question, she would make one up (and was usually wrong). I didn't like driving an hour each way to listen to her essentially read from the book and then let class out early because she had so little to teach. However, I just kept quiet, sat in the back of the room, and rode it out. After a few weeks, the other instructor "Laura" told us that they had decided to have only one instructor for each section, and so Ann would no longer be teaching our class (she's only doing the smallest of the three now...hmm). However, a week or so later, Laura became very ill and missed about two and a half weeks' worth of lectures, though she did come back for a day in the middle. Ann filled in for a few of those days, and then we were back to having only Laura. Five points of our grade are designated as "professionalism" points, a new fad in the new curriculum. Basically, they are taken away when someone is constantly walking in late, being disruptive in class, leaves their cell phone on, that kind of thing. It's a little insulting, but whatever...if you behave yourself it's 5 easy points. However, near the end of the time Laura was at home, there appeared on my grade report a deduction for a day that I was supposed to have been late for class a few weeks prior. I emailed Laura to ask about it, and she said Ann had put in that deduction and she'd check into it when she got back. I KNEW I hadn't been late that day for multiple reasons. First, we took a quiz that day, and the policy throughout the program is quizzes are given as soon as class starts, and you don't get to take it if you're late for class. I was there, I took the quiz, and the gradebook proves that. On top of that, I knew I'd arrived WITH another student that day, and I checked with her, and she was not deducted a point. On the last day the Laura ended up being (a Thursday), I began to get very ill. I emailed Ann (knowing she would be teaching that day) to let her know that I would be absent. I ultimately ended up hospitalized for the next three days (Fri, Sat, and Sun) with viral meningitis and then was away from school for several more recovering. Laura was very supportive and helpful during that time. However, a few days later, another deduction appeared for my absence on that Thursday that I became ill, which noted that it was "unexcused." The class syllabus SPECIFICALLY notes that attendance is not mandatory and this policy has been reinforced in class many times over. Laura has stated multiple times that she understands that life happens, kids get sick, work obligations can come up, that kind of thing, and so she just appreciates it if we let her know. I sent a message asking Ann about both that deduction and the one for the day I was supposed to have been late. She said that she had recorded I was late and basically that her attendance record is law no matter what, and ignored all of the issues I had with that deduction. She also said that "a simple email" would not be enough to excuse an absence in the workplace and so it would not be accepted for class. Not only is that NOT universally true (because that's EXACTLY what I did when I missed a work shift that Saturday and my nurse manager was fine with it), but there is NO POLICY about unexcused absences in the class (or program, for that matter)! I know MANY people who have missed class without losing points even if they didn't notify the instructor before or give a reason after AT ALL. What's more, I had missed a class early in the semester because of a sick child who couldn't go to daycare, and was not deducted for that. I pointed all of this out to Ann, as well as reminding her that she hadn't addressed any of problems with the "late" point. She totally ignored the second part, and said that if I had a doctor's note for the absence, I should send it to her. Luckily, my primary physician had given me one at a follow-up because he knew I was a student, even though I hadn't asked for one because I had no reason to think I'd need it. In the meantime, I met with Laura and found out that the attendance sheet DOESN'T EVEN SAY I WAS LATE the day Ann said I was. I sent Ann the medical excuse and AGAIN reminded her of the problems with the "late" day, plus the problem with the attendance sheet. She AGAIN ignored the part about the late day, and told me that the note would not be acceptable because it does not SPECIFICALLY list the day I was absent on it. It DOES mention that I was hospitalized the NEXT day...so she wants me to get ANOTHER note because she, as a nurse, can't ascertain that I was probably sick the day before I was hospitalized with meningitis?! Really? (I may do so just to make a point, but I'm not going to make a special trip for it, so it won't be until my next follow-up in a few days.) So, here I am. On one hand, I know it's only two points. Like I said, it's not like I'm in danger of failing the class, and so part of me thinks I should just let it go. I won't have Ann for an instructor again. And honestly, I'm just tired of wasting time dealing with this. On the other hand...in my first semester, if I had gotten two more points, I would have been up a whole letter grade, and I've never forgotten that. But furthermore, I feel like this woman is a BULLY and she needs to have someone stand up to her. (I'm not the only one who has had problems, it's just that my situation is unique so I don't have anyone else to back me up.) I'm not sure why she's teaching if she has so much contempt and so little patience for us, but something needs to change. There is a huge difference between what Ann is doing and some instructors I've had who are no-nonsense and have high expectations of us, and she needs to learn that. I have so much to back me up, so I'm reluctant to just quit. As for Laura, while I believe she is rooting for me silently, she does not want to "get in the middle" or try to override Ann. I can understand that because they will be colleagues on an ongoing basis, so my only recourse from here is to go to the dean of the program. (Though I do find myself wishing she would just change the grade, since this is supposed to be 'her' class now, anyway.) The dean has a very welcoming attitude toward students, so I'm sure he'd have no problem meeting with me. However, a few of my classmates have a bad habit of running to him and complaining about every little thing, and so I'm really reluctant to be associated with that group. My only one-on-one interaction with him was when I was working on an honors project, which he was really excited about. I hate to ruin the goodwill I've earned with him by wasting his time with something like this. On top of that, there's the issue that he and Ann are old friends, and so I'm concerned that he won't be willing to step in and force her to make it right. I need input - what do you all think? Should I talk to him, or should I not? Any other ideas? Thoughts? Thanks in advance!