how to report a teacher to the BRN?

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On a clinical day my instructor patted me down and searched me looking for my cell phone, which she found, yelled at me for a while then sent me home. I feel violated and humiliated. I want to know my rights as a student and her rights as an instructor (whether or not she can touch or search me). I would like to bring this to the attention of the BRN but don't know how. Any ideas how to handle this?? i've been so distraught over this here i am at 1 am thinking about it when i should be sleeping!!

Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I can put this very simply for YOU: the response is NOT to contact the BRN.

And some STUDENTS act like they are still IN high school, violating very simple rules that have been laid out for them. And we expect them to follow much more complicated rules in just a few months as nurses. So, do I blame teachers for treating students who act like children as children? Not really. Does it make it legal? Maybe not. But OP was barking up the wrong tree and got the answer to her question and then some. :nurse:

When you have your rights violated and been manhandled illegally maybe it will make sense to you, or maybe it has happened and it has skewed your perception. Sendana was right in what they said and it had nothing to do with WHO you go to in order to report this. Their are two sides to every story and then the truth. To sit here and say that it is perfectly fine for an instructor to act illegal because a student broke a no cell phone rule is absolutely absurd. It's no wonder stuff like this goes on when people have such a serves them right type of attitude.

The instructor should have handled the situation in a manner that didn't involve violating a persons rights. She could have written up the student, sent her home or whatever disciplinary action is laid out in the handbook.

FYI, I don't manhandle other people's children. If it was MY teen and he was lying about his cell phone or something he had and I searched him I would be completely in my rights as a PARENT to MY CHILD. I would NOT be within my rights to do it to someone elses child.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
it reminds me of the case of the HS student being strip searched from drugs by school officials NOT law enforcement.

How does this remind you of a strip search? Seriously.

Lifting up a persons shirt and patting them down without their permission by someone who does not have authority to do so is along the same lines. In the case of the HS students, she wasn't made to be completely naked. But she was patted down, had to pull out her bra and stuff. It was late and I used the wrong word. It doesn't still make the situation ok and that is exactly what it reminded me.

I can not believe people are trying to justify someones being physically violated. I have no doubt that someone wouldn't feel the same if it was THEIR rights violated.

Was the student right? No, if it were me it wouldn't have come to this because I wouldn't have kept on breaking the rules. BUT if for some reason I had a lapse of judgment and did that doesn't mean that someone else has the right to violate me as a PERSON. The CI doing a pat down and lifting clothes on a student that did NOT consent to it acted out of line. PERIOD END OF STORY. It is a very black and white situation.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

What she is saying is it was a search that was not consented to by an individual that was not allowed to do the search. Nursing instructors are not LE and are not allowed to touch students in that way at all. Yes it is wrong she brought the phone, yes the BRN is not the people to contact.

This post quoted wrong because the other person quoted wrong, so I just wanted to clairfy it wasn't my post you were responding to, what you are saying is absolutely correct though.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Really, people, think about the advice you are giving out here! Going to the dean after you have been repeatedly caught violating clinical site rules is being "discreet"? Maintaining good relationships with clinical sites and ensuring that students follow rules there is of paramount importance to any nursing program. How in the world is this student going to benefit by escalating this situation?

The ship has already sailed on the student acting mature and professional in this case. She messed up. She got caught. She's got some medicine to take.

Of course we can say the instructor was wrong to "lay a finger" on the student and do a lot of hand waving on battery and torts. But considering what the student has told us, is going down that road a beneficial course for this student to take?

This student clearly has nothing to gain by going to the dean, the police, the board of nursing, the archbishop or anyone else. The only proper course of action is to start behaving appropriately. The student has her future in the program and as a nurse to think about; using her to vicariously get revenge for inappropriate acts by other clinical instructors is silly.

I haven't given any advice as to the ACTION the student should take. I have only stated that if the teacher did infact do this, she was out of line and violated the students rights as a person.

Acting like this is ok is not good advice. Since when is violating someones personally rights OK?

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

I would be ****** for being patted down. It's annoying enough to have to lift my pant leg to show how long my socks are. We can have our phones on us to use for the 'net and PDA functions but not for texting or calling outside. We text/call our instructors because they run between multiple floors.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
Was the student right? No, if it were me it wouldn't have come to this because I wouldn't have kept on breaking the rules.

And I think that's where most people are going with their comments. "Let's attract more attention to the fact that I broke the rules two days in a row because my RIGHTS wuz violated, by golly!" You know exactly where any student complaint or investigation into the matter is going to go, and it won't be in the student's best interest. Some battles aren't worth fighting.

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Some battles aren't worth fighting.

I agree. Sure, OP, your rights were most likely violated but is it worth getting singled out and removed from the program. If I was you, I would just let it go and move on through the program. I think pursuing this is a very bad idea... just my opinion... I don't think it's going to be worth it in the long run.

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I am on both sides of the fence with this one. The first concern I have is that you were patted down. I don't believe that was appropriate behavior on the instructor's part. It is true that the student should not have the cell phone for many reasons during clinical time but in this day and age cell phones are everywhere. Doctors, nurses, patients, etc.... have them and as long as the phone is not being used it shouldn't be a big deal. I believe that if the instructor is that passionate about no students having their phones during clinical time than he/she should have devised a plan to ensure that phones were not accessible unless in an emergency. To sum it up, I think that the instructor might have unneccessarily violated your rights. I would start by speaking to your school's dean or director of the program and follow up with something in writing stating as per our conversation on such and such date......regarding the incident ..... and definitely state how aggressive the behavior was and who you spoke to. I always tell my son this advice; "If I can teach you anything either always put it in writing or never put it in writing." Basically if it will help you put it in writing or if it will hurt you don't put it in writing. Hope this helped:)

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
And I think that's where most people are going with their comments. "Let's attract more attention to the fact that I broke the rules two days in a row because my RIGHTS wuz violated, by golly!" You know exactly where any student complaint or investigation into the matter is going to go, and it won't be in the student's best interest. Some battles aren't worth fighting.

No, some people are justifying WHY IT'S OK for what the instructor did. I have stated and I stand by what I have stated. It was not right. That is where I left my opinion. Like I said, it's very black and white.

This same situation wouldn't occur with me, so I won't advice to the poster what she should do. If she felt she was personally violated she will have to decide how she wants to deal with this and weight the pros and cons.

But on the simple matter if the instructor was right or wrong, it was wrong. Period! She had no rights to do that.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

Once the student was caught, the instructor simply could have asked the student to surrender her phone ( even though she was patted down to find it ) or face getting removed from clinicals for the day and receive a zero for that day or something. There are several other ways to handle this then what was presented......ASSUMING what the OP is saying is the whole story, which it generally isnt in cases like this.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
No, some people are justifying WHY IT'S OK for what the instructor did.

Interesting, I just read through the entire thread and found not one person who said it was okay to be "patted down." Just that they're amazed that anyone would want to continue to draw attention to what happened.

Like I said, it's very black and white.

Sure it would, if it happened exactly as OP said it did. You have already said you would love to hear the other side, sooooo....

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Interesting, I just read through the entire thread and found not one person who said it was okay to be "patted down." Just that they're amazed that anyone would want to continue to draw attention to what happened.

Sure it would, if it happened exactly as OP said it did. You have already said you would love to hear the other side, sooooo....

No I think your words were maybe it was illegal but if a student is going to act like a child they deserve to be treated like one;) That would be justifying the actions.

What does it matter that I would like to hear the other side? That has nothing to do with the fact that IF it did happen, it was NOT OK. Which I have made clear NUMEROUS times. I even bolded and underlined the word IF in my other post about it.

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