Request not to be placed at certain clinical site

Hello,

I was a nursing student at a community college recently. While attending school I also worked at a major hospital. I burned some bridges and now moving on to a different school. A school that uses my former employer for clinical sites.

I'm looking for words to use in my request letter to my clinical coordinator, asking her not to place me at that hospital.

She's gonna wonder why. I'm not willing to divulge that.

Any advice (other than take the risk of asking my classmates to switch)?

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Be honest with your school, if you burned bridges with your former employer they likely don't want you onsite for clinicals either.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

Never burn bridges. We never had a choice of clinical sites. You went where you were told.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

It's hard to offer our opinions with such little information. I respect that you choose to keep some information under the vest, but depending on circumstances, responses may vary.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

I might make a "mild" request for a clinical site that I did want to go to, but I probably would do more than that. Anything else has the potential to make you look like a dramatic, trouble-maker.

[emmy27]

It's hard to say without knowing your program's policies and the nature of the bridge-burning, but in our program, we were not allowed to request specific placements. They had enough trouble finding clinical spots for everyone, if they had started taking requests, it would never have been manageable. This meant some people had frankly silly commutes (driving past facilities near them to get to facilities far away, etc) and I am aware of other nursing schools that actually send some students out of town and they are required to arrange their own hotel stays for some clinical placements.

Unless the nature of the bridge burning was such that you think management would have you escorted out of the building if they saw you, I would say you're better off just sucking it up and risking this placement. If you assaulted someone or stole from the employer or something where they could/did press charges, then I think you have to explain that to your clinical director. If you merely had a personality conflict or were fired for something performance-related but not criminal, I think you have to face the awkwardness of seeing those people again as part of the consequences of that, rather than risk burning bridges with your nursing instructors by making an unusual and probably not acceptable request.

Grit your teeth through the placement if it comes to it, and treat it as an object lesson going forward on why not to burn bridges in this relatively tight-knit field.

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

emmy27 said:

Unless the nature of the bridge burning was such that you think management would have you escorted out of the building if they saw you, I would say you're better off just sucking it up and risking this placement. If you assaulted someone or stole from the employer or something where they could/did press charges, then I think you have to explain that to your clinical director. If you merely had a personality conflict or were fired for something performance-related but not criminal, I think you have to face the awkwardness of seeing those people again as part of the consequences of that, rather than risk burning bridges with your nursing instructors by making an unusual and probably not acceptable request.

Grit your teeth through the placement if it comes to it, and treat it as an object lesson going forward on why not to burn bridges in this relatively tight-knit field.

I completely agree with this.

I don't think your school with accommodate your request unless you did something you could go to jail for. Other wise, just deal with it. Clinical placements are hard to get & they can't bend over backwards to make everyone happy.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Clinical placements are hard for schools to secure, nursing schools do not want to jepordize their privledges with a hospital because of a tension filled student placement at a hospital. Be honest, avoid a tension filled placement for your individual sake and for the school's sake.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

The employment setting is different from the school setting. The hospital does not care that you are returning as a student, and neither should you.

I would never in my wildest dreams ask to not perform my clinical rotation at a facility.

"Divulge" or not.. this is YOUR issue not the school's.

[WheatGerm]

Been there,done that said:

The employment setting is different from the school setting. The hospital does not care that you are returning as a student, and neither should you.

I would never in my wildest dreams ask to not perform my clinical rotation at a facility.

"Divulge" or not.. this is YOUR issue not the school's.

I agree, only hesitation is that the facility might have her name flagged depending on how serious her offense was. I know my school had a rule that if you were employed by a facility you weren't allowed to go there for clinical. Obviously this is a bit different with her not working there anymore, but the school might not want her there anyway.

I would suggest saying that you previously worked there and want to try to get a new experience at a different hospital, you don't necessarily need to go into details. The school might not want you someone that you've already been. Ours always encouraged us to change up our hospitals each semester.

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

It must have been a pretty big deal, if you left nursing school and your job.

It's hard to say what you should do without knowing what you've already done. I guess it can't hurt to ask, but don't get your hopes up.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

sheirry said:

Hello,

I was a nursing student at a community college recently. While attending school I also worked at a major hospital. I burned some bridges and now moving on to a different school. A school that uses my former employer for clinical sites.

I'm looking for words to use in my request letter to my clinical coordinator, asking her not to place me at that hospital.

She's gonna wonder why. I'm not willing to divulge that.

Any advice (other than take the risk of asking my classmates to switch)?

Traditionally, there is no "asking to switch" with a classmate. You go where you are assigned. The End.

Requesting "do not place me here" will likely cause you to be placed exactly where you don't want to be. This is not your decision to barter with. Deal with it. There are way too many wanna-be nursing students without stipulations who would gladly take your place.