School making me repeat a course. Help

[mmilbrunRN85]

Hello! I am just looking for advice. Please feel free to respond!

Due to my mistakes with academic integrity I was suspended from the program for one year. In a letter from the School of Nursing and the Office of Academic Affairs it stated that In order for me to return to the program, the terms were for me to take a APA course (which I did on 11/27/2018). I also had to communicate with the program director on march 1, 2019 to state my return to the fall 2019 online MSN/FNP program because the hybrid program is now longer available. After my suspension I can return to Primary care II Nursing 621 in the fall 2019 because I passed Primary Care I with a B in Spring 2018.

Since February 2019, I have been in contact with two professors to register for Primary Care II. On 2/25/2019 I first reached out to -----------y about my return. She stated in the response that she is “checking steps you need to take and will get back to me.” Throughout the month of march 2019 we were communicating with each other about my return. On March 29, 2019 ---------------- reached out to me and stated they want to assess my knowledge and skills required for taking Primary II. On April 1, I received a call from phone call from----------------- stated in a week or two she wanted to assess my skills. Obvious, I stated I would come to be reevaluated. However, I also stated that Primary Care is a 6 credit course with clinical hours and there is a lot of material to go through and I have been out of school for close to a year so I’m not sure what she wants to be to study. Her response was that she just wanted to see where I was at and this is just assess my skills to create a plan of study and not to worry. I went over a couple of things I learned from class but I wasn’t sure that I was being evaluated on. I came to campus to meet with her April 16, 2019. When I arrived on campus, I was handed a packet and she stated that I will be tested on. When I examined that packed I realized that what I was being tested on was from Health assessment, NU 522, a class I took in the fall 2017, almost two years ago. I told her that this was from health assessment class and not Primary care I as we discussed over the phone. I knew how to do a basic head to toe assessment but not as detailed as she wants it to be (What she wanted me to do is a very detailed assessment which involved the assessment of every nerve, muscle and heart.) I told her I wouldn’t do well because this is too much information to go over in the next 15 minutes. At this point I was very upset but I attempted to completed the full assessment. Needless to say I didn’t do as well as I would like. At the end of the assessment she states she would get back to me about the next steps of my return by that Friday. We did not go over ways to improve or a plan which was stated in the their pervious emails. That Friday passed and I didn’t hear from her. I emailed her that again that Monday she said she needs to get in contact with one prof and she is waiting for a final plan. I didn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks. I emailed her again 4/26/2019 stating that I don’t understand why this process is so complicated. There was nothing in the letter that states I need to be evaluated or any policy stating that an evaluation is necessary. She responded and stated she is waiting on one prof to give a final plan. After weeks of waiting for a final plan, I wrote a very stern email stating that I have not heard from anyone in months. My plan of return is cut and dry and I don’t understand this waiting is necessary. I continued to communicate with them. Finally, on 6/4/2019 I get an email stating that I have a repeat Primary care I based on my evaluation 4/16. There was no explanation of why I need to repeat the course and that everyone including the the dean of the school of nursing agreed with the final plan. ----------- stated she was willing to have a conference call to discussed my next steps. We had a conference call 6/14/2019 and she stated that I had to repeat Primary I and also I had to start January 2020 and not Fall 2019. After the conversation I feel that I am not treated fairly because there wasn’t any explanation of why I had repeat a course and why wasn’t another form of remediation used or a plan of study initiated.

I completed my own research on procedures and policies on SHU and there isn’t policy that states that I based on a evaluation I had to repeat a course I took a year ago. If I repeated this course, it would cost me 7000 again. I don’t think it is appropriate for them to decide for me repeat a course based on one head to toe assessment. Primary I course contains a vast amount of information about many diseases and treatments and it is hard to determine what a student knows based on one assessment that is why during the course we had multiple exams and every student had to complete over a 150s hours of clinical hours to ensure that every student knows the demonstrates their skills. During the conference call I tried to explain my situation but they didn’t want to discuss it with me. The profs. are not acknowledging the decision made by the Provost and the school of Nursing. I went to the provost and he has agreed with them. any now I have to repeat the course and start a semester later.

Has anyone been through this type of situation? what should I do next?

[Luchador, CNA, EMT-B]

What did you do to get suspended for a year? It sounds like you are lucky they did not just permanently kick you out of the program. I would take the class again and be grateful for the second chance.

[MotoMonkey, BSN, RN]

I agree with the post above. From what you said you were suspended for academic integrity issues and had to take an APA course before being considered for readmission. To me this sounds like you had a problem with plagiarism of some form and were suspended on those grounds, though I could be wrong, I am reading between the lines here so to speak. I don't know that my school would have even readmitted a student who was dismissed for academic dishonesty.

Regardless of all that, it sounds like you have jumped through all the proper hoops regarding your suspension and are ready to move forward. It sounds to me like the school is doing its best to set you up for success as you move forward in the program, they may be concerned that if, after a year away from school, they allow you to jump into the Primary Care II class, you may struggle academically or even fail the course. It would be a real shame for you to go through all the steps to be readmitted only to fail out your very first term.

At $7,000 for a 6 credit class, I can certainly see why you would be upset having to retake it. But for those prices I have to imagine that this is not a brick and mortar state school, and therefore it may be incredibly difficult to transfer any or all of your credits. So the alternative would be to apply to another school, attempt to gain admission after being suspended for academic dishonesty from another program, and starting over. It doesn't seem like a great position to be in either way, but if it were me I would suck it up, jump through the hoops, keep my head down, and focus on the end goal.

[Wuzzie]

Agree with the above and not to put to much of a point on it but...you made your bed and unfortunately now you are going to have to lie on it.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Personally, I would be grateful to not have been completely removed from the program.

Additionally, I would also contact the admins about having this post deleted. You've named names, have a unique situation, and your username looks an awful lot like a real name. Schools do indeed come onto sites like this- you very well could have just put a massive target on your back.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

54 minutes ago, Rose_Queen said:

Personally, I would be grateful to not have been completely removed from the program.

Additionally, I would also contact the admins about having this post deleted. You've named names, have a unique situation, and your username looks an awful lot like a real name. Schools do indeed come onto sites like this- you very well could have just put a massive target on your back.

Not to mention you named the instructors' names. Not cool OP, not cool.

[falconersys]

Personally, it sounds like you're lucky to still be eligible for the program.

I would have advised against emailing the professors and complaining about the procedure to get back into the program. It doesn't really matter if you thought the process was complicated, the professors don't need to know your thoughts on it and I can guarantee that they don't want to be lectured or rushed by someone who they're giving a second chance to. Also, they probably did have to have several conversations between staff members and possibly the board/state to figure out how to handle your situation, which takes time. And, as others have said, the another strike you've put against yourself is posting about your very specific situation online.

I'd take the additional course, chalk it up to an expensive mistake, and move on. They aren't stopping you from getting your degree, it's just a delay.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

On 7/10/2019 at 6:27 PM, meanmaryjean said:

Not to mention you named the instructors' names. Not cool OP, not cool.

I have no words. Good grief.

Glad to see the mods edited the original post.

[myoglobin, ASN, BSN, MSN]

Here's the thing I have several thoughts:

a. It is likely that the professors involved felt that you were "getting away too lightly" with the standard University plan and took it upon themselves to create additional hoops for you to jump through (knowing that it was unlikely that you or anyone else would be able to do so successfully. I am essentially a 4.0 student and would likely not have done much better than you because such a detailed assessment exam usually follows a semester of intensive preparation with a great deal of dedicated practice. You were probably set up)Why? Probably (there is no way of knowing for sure) because they don't want you in their program, but don't feel they can just abrogate university policy directly. This is unfortunate, but it may be the reality that you face. Even if this isn't the case (and there is no way to be certain since they will likely not volunteer this information) it isn't a gamble you should take. Imagine "busting your butt" only to face an artificial hurdle somewhere down the line in that program that cannot be overcome because the professor doesn't believe you should be in the program.

b. I would consider "going tabula rasa" and applying into a different program. There are schools such as where I graduated University of Southern Indiana, which only cost around $400.00 per credit hour (both in state and out of state online). Apply for several of these programs take a year off and "rebuild your knowledge base'. I would suggest the resources at Khanacademy.org, Lecturio.com (which basically has the lectures of an abbreviated medical school education) and a good assessment text like Jarvis and a good question bank(s) like Uworld and possibly Boardvitals.com. You can go into a new program stronger and wiser. It would be helpful to know what it is that you did and why so as to formulate an accurate hypothesis to minimize you doing the same thing in the future.

c. Note that our school (USI) advised that if we were found guilty of academic integrity issues that they reserve the right (and allegedly have in the past) seen instances where these situations were reported to the appropriate boards of nursing for possible action against our licenses. This situation was referenced in particular with regard to clinical issues (someone who misrepresented clinical hours during a nursing an advanced assessment course). Good luck, God bless and try to try to turn this negative into a positive scenario that results in you being an even stronger, wiser person. Your experience may also help you to appreciate others who fall short in some manner and to show others more empathy than would have otherwise been the case had you not gone through this experience.

[caliotter3]

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:17 AM, Luchador said:

What did you do to get suspended for a year? It sounds like you are lucky they did not just permanently kick you out of the program. I would take the class again and be grateful for the second chance.

This. You appear to be on thin ice with them. Stop arguing and do what they want or just move on to another program now before they find another reason to drop you. You are the one on the catbird's seat here.

[TriciaJ, RN]

I really debated with myself before writing this post, because quite often I come across as pedantic and no one wants to hear it. Then I reread where you said you were looking for advice, so here goes:

I believe how we write says as much about us as how we dress and present ourselves personally. You original post has typos and huge walls of text that should have been arranged into paragraphs. It was also difficult to follow the course of events.

You made several references to written communication with your professors. Did you take care to write concisely and professionally, or is the above post a fair example? I'm sorry; it just didn't leave a very favourable impression. If I was trying to determine if a student should be readmitted I would be less likely to advocate in that person's favour.

I might be way out in left field here. I may be one of the very few people in the world who notices or cares about such things. In that case, carry on. I do believe however, that one's written communication style can go a long way to help or hinder one's efforts.

Good luck in any case.

[caliotter3]

Tricia, I thought the very same thing but I bend over backwards so as not to be accused of criticizing. Sometimes I think too much tongue and lip biting is not doing the person asking for advice much good.