MSN2

Good question. I am escalating my rights as a student. I would take an incomplete or a withdrawal to save my GPA. The F completely destroys my GPA. I am not trying to get out of anything - but let the punishment fit the crime. If someone has a hypoglycemic episode, we understand. If we give someone narcotics in the hospital and they experience delirium, we understand. Anyone remember the days of ketamine in adults? I had a bad drug interaction that was witnessed and I would think that my past performance would have some credibility. Not here. The old adage of 'nurses eat their young' continues to flourish. BTW - both of these professors are 2 years away from retirement.

I appreciate all of your comments. I had the meeting this morning with the professor and the head of my program. This is my last class. Every thing else is done. All A's. Even if she fails me on this paper, I would still pull a C. I pleaded insanity. I told them this is what happened, I could not make sense of it. They refused to hear my husband, who witnessed the bizarre behavior. The meeting was less than 10 minutes and they were angry at me, black & white, no questions. They took 5 minutes in deciding my fate. Instead of expelling me out of the program - I could come back next year and retake the class. Now here is where it really gets interesting. I was never required to take this class in the first place. It was a total screw-up by the advisor who retired at the beginning of the semester. Great - tuition money gone. Stress elevated. Now I have to figure out how to fight this. Again, thanks for all your input.

I agree - I was looking up drug interactions and I don't think the Bactrim helped. This class has been a stressor from the beginning. It was all on-line, poorly prepared, with vague assignments that required multiple emails to the instructor which sometimes went for a week or two with no response. This was the last assignment - and what is bothering ME most is that I turned it in 5 days early!!!! I must have had some underlying subconscious stress about it that came out like the perfect storm. Because this had never happened to me, I started researching plagiarism. I had no idea you could go onto websites and download papers or buy papers. I did this research because I wanted to know that if in some subconscious way I was a plagiarizer! I learned a lot about the subject, but like both of your comments, the main theme of most of what I read was the INTENT of the person. I will take this as far up the ladder as necessary in some hopes that I can prove that there was no INTENT - just a bad cocktail of medication along with a stressed out MSN student. Thanks again for your reply

I did submit another paper under the deadline along with an explanation and an apology. I asked for her to look back at all my other to work to see that this was totally unintentional. As you mentioned, I had not taken my pain killers for 3 days because I was at work and driving. I thought being at home with no where to go was safe - alas the internet! Thank you for your comment.

I am asking an honest question here. I just failed a class because I was accused by the instructor of plagiarism. I have never been accused of anything like this before. Let me give you the details. I had surgery 3 weeks prior and was still feeling the pain (bone surgery.) Two days before I turned in this paper I developed a rip- roaring UTI with fever and everything. I had just gone back to work - had worked 3 12 hour shifts. I was taking Bactrim DS BID. That Sunday morning (my day off) I took my hydrocodone for the first time in 3 days because I hurt like hell! The paper that was due was not a scholarly research paper, there was no rubric. It was an opinion on what we thought about a fairly general subject. It was not due for another 5 days. I had pulled multiple articles on this subject as I was formulating what to write. Well, according to my husband, after taking my Bactrim, hydrocodone & celexa, I sat down at the computer and typed out a paper and submitted it. I really don't remember doing it. So two days later I get a call from the professor, who is spitting mad saying that I plagiarized my paper. I was stunned. I thought I was still working on it! I went on line and there it was. I pulled it up - I read it. It was vastly similar to one the articles I was using as a resource. I went into her office to explain. I had all my sources. Prior to this I had been a straight A student. No issues what-so-ever. My husband went with me to explain what he had seen. Nope - I failed. Even though I still had time to submit another paper. I did submit another paper - she was not going to accept it. So now I am appealing her decision. While it is a lesson in not mixing medication, how often does someone have a UTI, bone surgery and a paper due all at the same time. We as nurses try to preach about holistic care, but not between ourselves.