The first time i gave meds, today since i started attending NS, i got put on probation for not remembering the classification of a drug, though i knew all my meds and gave the meds to my patient, well after the med administration was completed, my teacher said i did good.
the problem i have with this is that it is my first week on my second (3 week) rotation of clinicals, the teacher missed the first day and we pretty much had no idea we were going to be passing meds (clinicals 2 days a week), i knew all my patients meds, what they were for and side effects. my teacher asked for the classification and i told her i did not know, and didn't think we were passing meds today, but she put me on probation.
I am passing all my Nursing classes never been on probation in my entire life, (already have BSC, AND MIS degrees)
on my first (3 weeks) rotation of clinicals i got great remarks from my first clinical teacher, never passed meds but did great wound dressing and patient care.
I am not sure why i was put on probation, its not like i gave patient wrong meds, or didn't know my patient (by the way my patient loved me). I do plan to contest it, but don't wanna draw backlash from the teacher since i will be with her for 2 more weeks
The first time i gave meds, today since i started attending NS, i got put on probation for not remembering the classification of a drug, though i knew all my meds and gave the meds to my patient, well after the med administration was completed, my teacher said i did good.
the problem i have with this is that it is my first week on my second (3 week) rotation of clinicals, the teacher missed the first day and we pretty much had no idea we were going to be passing meds (clinicals 2 days a week), i knew all my patients meds, what they were for and side effects. my teacher asked for the classification and i told her i did not know, and didn't think we were passing meds today, but she put me on probation.
I am passing all my Nursing classes never been on probation in my entire life, (already have BSC, AND MIS degrees)
on my first (3 weeks) rotation of clinicals i got great remarks from my first clinical teacher, never passed meds but did great wound dressing and patient care.
I am not sure why i was put on probation, its not like i gave patient wrong meds, or didn't know my patient (by the way my patient loved me). I do plan to contest it, but don't wanna draw backlash from the teacher since i will be with her for 2 more weeks
what do you all think.
I don't mean any of this is a snarky way, but...I've bolded, underlined, and italicized the only part of your post that is relevant. You didn't know and you made an excuse. The excuse part is probably more of the reason why she put you on probation, but who knows. All you had to do was grab a drug book, make a list of the meds you'd be giving, and write the classifications next to it. I'm assuming you had time to prepare yourself before your instructor came around to pass meds with you, considering it was your first time.
I was prepared, i knew everything about my other drugs, it was just 1 drug. but point is i did not put the patient in danger, which is a cause for probation from my school's student handbook.
maybe i shouldn't have said i don't know or tried to make an excuse, but it still does not warrant me being put on probation. i don't feel i deserved it. sometimes i feel like just forgeting about it and work my butt off, for the next 6 weeks, then i will be done with her, but then again i feel it was unfair, i should have gotten a warning not probation.
well after we had passed meds, she went ahead to tell us what we are required to know, which was supposed to be passed onto us the first day of clinical rotation, if she hadn't missed it.
i'd like to bring up something that hasn't been mentioned yet.
instructor's and professor's jobs do come with sick days. being mere mortals, they do have to take one, or even a few, from time to time.
she was sick, had a sick child maybe, or a family emergency. it happens.
my husband is a professor and hasn't taken much sick time in his entire career, but when he did cancel classes, he was sick. i called in to cancel his classes for that day and the secretary said, "wow! if he's cancelling, he must feel terrible!" and cancelled his classes for the rest of the week.
you seem to think she was doing something underhanded by cancelling. i'm not trying to be difficult, but your reaction to her calling off seems odd.
It does sound frustrating! I'm not saying the instructor was right in putting you on probation. I'd feel it was unfair if it were me based on what you describe. However, assuming she takes you off probation, you might want to let it go til the end of the rotation. Have you heard the phrase "would you rather be right or happy?" Here, the question might be "would you rather have justice or pass this rotation?" Not that it's definitively one or the other but rotations go by quickly and soon you'll have a different instructor whereas having to retake a rotation may put you behind a whole year depending on how your school structures clinicals.
Later you may want to file a letter dispassionately questioning the instructor's application of probation to that specific situation, just for the sake of clarity and future student & instructor benefit. If the school gets several questions about this particular instructor or the application of the probation policy, it may make a difference. It also may not make a difference, but there's only so much you can do as one student over one incident.
So go ahead and be ****** off and bemoan the unfairness of it to uninvolved parties; but at clincial, just try to just look forward and keep striving to do your best.
That's what i have been thinking about @jjjoy, i have practically 4 days left (2 weeks) on the clinical rotation, might be better to just let it go, i'll only have to deal with the teacher during clinicals anyway.
I just don't want it to be on my record that i was on probation. but i guess i just have to deal with that.
thinking about all this is taking a toll on me, can't study for my exam next week.
Well i'm not gonna argue with you on that, I'm sure you were perfect the first time you gave meds, but guess what not everyone is going to be perfect.
I don't think she was being too harsh on you--We ARE expected to know our drugs--the classification, mech. of action, expected side effects, adverse effects to watch for, necessary labs/cultures. What I'm curious about is whether you had the chance to look up your meds the night before or if you were just assigned the pt THAT day. If you had the chance to look them up the night before, I would have been surprised that you didn't know the class. However, if it was a newly assigned pt for the day, I think you should have been given the chance to look up the med and THEN administer it (telling your prof the class and everything else).
Also, not knowing ONE drug CAN put the pt at risk. You got lucky this time, as you stated, 'the pt wasn't in danger.' But what if he was? Maybe that drug class interacts with another prescribed drug class. You wouldn't have known that. The probation was probably a bit harsh, but I can understand it. Just move on and learn from your mistakes.
Well i'm not gonna argue with you on that, I'm sure you were perfect the first time you gave meds, but guess what not everyone is going to be perfect.
Exactly right. And not everyone gets through nursing school.
My program was the same way, you didn't know the drugs, you don't get to administer them. Not everyone was perfect in my class, but those that weren't had to remediate until they got it right.
Take it as a lesson learned and know your stuff next time.
How in the world did you "know the meds and the side effects" without knowing the class???
Well I can see how that could happen...it's easy with so many meds to know them as: this helps to lower your blood pressure while also knowing side effects to watch for are hypotension, dizzyness, fatigue, headache ect... is that a Beta blocker? Ace inhibitor? Ca channel blocker?
This site cracks me up..everyone is so dramatic..OP you are taking all the coments very well,no you should not be on probation that's ridiculous, you're a student this is how you learn just the same as those who are RN's now did when they were in school..unless somehow they mastered nursing before starting school
Thank you, it was my first time giving meds, if i consistently did not remember my drugs maybe the second week/3rd day of clinicals and she put me on probation then i will agree with her. but i have learned from my mistake.
its hard to know what question the teacher will ask, no matter how much you study.
In my program, not knowing the class of one drug that I'm about to administer will get me put on probation. As has been mentioned, the class is important information. It not only tells about how that drug works, but tells us about possible contraindications with other drug classes. Important stuff
No, nobody's perfect.....but gosh, that seems like a weak justification if someone were harmed, or worse.
More concerning is the complete lack of responsibility you seem to take in this. It seems this was everyone's fault but yours, oh, and then followed up by no one's perfect.
Not a good approach when one mistake can kill....quickly.
Probation doesn't have any long term consequences....take it as the reminder it's intended to me, don't ever make that mistake again and move on.
Boog'sCRRN246, RN
784 Posts
I don't mean any of this is a snarky way, but...I've bolded, underlined, and italicized the only part of your post that is relevant. You didn't know and you made an excuse. The excuse part is probably more of the reason why she put you on probation, but who knows. All you had to do was grab a drug book, make a list of the meds you'd be giving, and write the classifications next to it. I'm assuming you had time to prepare yourself before your instructor came around to pass meds with you, considering it was your first time.