Request not to be placed at certain clinical site

[sheirry]

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)?

[bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN]

Unless your former employer specifically told you to never step foot on campus again, I wouldn't even attempt to talk to your clinical coordinator. If you've been banned from the premises then they need to know, however if there is no where else for you to go, you risk being dismissed from the program due to not being able to meet your clinical hours.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

For our first three clinicals (Med Surg 1 and 2 and Maternity), we had no choice as to where we were placed. For Pedi and Psych, we got to make requests but they were simply that- requests and we were still to go wherever we were placed. The only time they told us we could request to not be placed somewhere was in Psych and they asked us to let them know if we or an immediate family member had been treated at a certain facility and they would not place us there. For our preceptorship, they would not place us in facilities we'd been employed because they thought that it wasn't good to go into a facility that views you as an aide for your senior preceptorship and that it may inhibit you.

I do not think you have a leg to stand on, especially since you are unwilling to divulge what happened. If you request not to be placed at this site, the response is going to be "why not?" And if you refuse to answer, I suspect you'll find yourself placed there.

[caffeinatednurse, BSN, RN]

At our nursing school, they didn't allow current employees of a clinical site to do their clinicals there. However, I'm not sure about former employees...

Either way, be honest and see what can be done about it. If there's another student who is willing to switch with you, then switch. If not, then you're going to have to deal with some awkwardness. The good news is that it's temporary and won't last forever.

[FurBabyMom, MSN, RN]

We didn't get *any* choice with our clinical placements. We signed up for classes - lecture, lab and clinical slots. School sorted out which group was at which hospital and when. We were not allowed to be placed on the unit we worked on if we were employed as a sitter or aide. My senior year, for my praciticum/preceptorship, I was working at one of the hospitals in the float pool as an aide. Automatically couldn't go to that hospital (I tried to argue for it, with the caveat that I'd ask not to be assigned to that unit - still a no go).

If we tried to meddle or make our own arrangements we lost that game. The only time we could make arrangements was if we were legitimately too sick to be at clinical or had some extenuating circumstance (like a death in the family) causing us to miss and need to make up. That was a complicated process. There was no swapping other students out - each facility has different requirements in addition to the school's requirements and then there was the fact the school had to submit student names for IDs, charting and pyxis access.

I don't know - without knowing specifics you may have to talk to your advisor about it. They would be better able to tell you what your school's policies are and may know more about agreements between your school and clinical sites.

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

If they already placed you there, it may be difficult. I know we are not allowed to switch clinical even thought they do not start till the end of August because all of our information has been sent to the site to get us all approved to be there. Unfortunately I think you will have to spill the beans if you want a chance.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Surely you didn't alienate an entire hospital:no:. Assuming this was not a one-floor, critical access hospital, why not simply request an exemption from the floor or unit in question...as well as taking this opportunity to show how you've 'grown' (for lack of a better word) and show a little remorse for setting the fire to the bridge?

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

I would not want to risk making my school look bad by showing up and then being asked by the facility to leave. They will be pretty angry when they haul you in and their first question will be "why didn't you just tell us" ? If you need to do this approach it from the angle of "I am just making sure the school isn't placed in an akward situation" blah blah blah. It will go over better. If it's something you can just suck up do that.

[Mandy2016, BSN]

Unfortunately, the only exception I've ever heard of was based purely on student safety. If you have a restraining order against someone who works at a particular facility (hopefully not the other way around!) then I believe the dean of your school would consider that a reasonable request and grant you special treatment. Good luck!

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Let this be a lesson to all: act like a mature professional at all times!!! You had no options at my school, you showed up where and when they told you to! Switching with another student would be a major no no.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

Conqueror+ said:

I would not want to risk making my school look bad by showing up and then being asked by the facility to leave. They will be pretty angry when they haul you in and their first question will be "why didn't you just tell us" ? If you need to do this approach it from the angle of "I am just making sure the school isn't placed in an awkward situation" blah blah blah. It will go over better. If it's something you can just suck up do that.

That makes a lot of sense. Let the school know you used to work there, and ask if that is going to be a problem at all.

[amberdragonfly, ASN]

I agree with pretty much everyone so far. Unless it was a serious infraction that got you escorted out, I wouldn't be pushy about it. If it's not a situation that has you banned from but whole hospital, perhaps mention that you used to work there, and ask if your instructor needs to take that into account when doing assignments. She might appreciate it but still tell you if doesn't matter. Let it go if that's the case.

A couple of side notes: schools can vary, though. We were told we don't have a choice in time or location, but that our instructor will try...no promises...but try to keeps us geographically closer to our homes. That way we won't have students criss-crossing across the state. And even though we can't request anything, I've heard through the grapevine from current students, that for weekend clinicals they will take volunteering for those shifts under consideration.

I also had a friend who found out her work facility was on the location list for her school. She requested to be assigned there for convenience and they accomodated her...she would come to clinical in the morning and stay to work her evening shift. This all occurred on her own unit. í ½í¸• She was really good at switching gears and not crossing scope of practice. And the nurses we worked with were always really good about educating and letting us watch procedures anyway, so they never had a problem with her being there in both capacities. BUT she was lucky it worked out so well...I can totally see that being a major issue in most cases.

[Erythropoiesis]

I would simply make my school aware that I had worked there in the past, but not anymore, and ask about policy regarding performing clinical rotations at a facility you used to work at. If you can, try and notify them of this via an email so that there is documentation. That way you aren't telling them what exactly happened to cause your unemployment, you aren't sounding like a baby asking for alternative arrangements to be made for you, but at the same time if something DID happen at the clinical site (I have no idea what you did at work that caused you leave both your job and your school) and you were asked to leave, at least you had made the school aware beforehand that you had ties there at one point.