Sent home from clinicals :(

[Phillippians4:13]

Hello, I've only posted a couple times so I'm not sure if this is the proper place for this post. I'm sad, embarrassed, and frustrated because I was sent home from clincals this morning. I'm a second year student in an ADN program and today was my first day to care for 3 patients (all meds, care, etc). I prepped at the hospital for 2 hours last night, came home prepped until midnight and up at 5 a.m. to get to clinicals on time. In preconference I was not certain why my pt was receiving an antibiotic. She was admitted with SOB, but I saw nothing in the chart other than that. When I truthfully told my instructor that I wasn't sure about the antibiotic she replied that pt has pneumonia. Keep in mind that 8 other students are staring at me and I buckle under pressure. I replied that I honestly did not see that in her chart. Mind you, that when I was prepping the chart was taken from me several times by other staff members and someone even took the progress notes out of the chart. Also trying to prep on 2 others at the same time. After the 30 minutes of preconference I went to the floor to begin pt care. My instructor pulled me aside and said that she was sending me home and I needed to make an appointment with my advisor and the director of the nursing program. I sense that they are kicking me out. The environment is one of total fear, no encouragement, waiting for you to mess us and never pointing out the good. The fact that I'm a single mom of four and I worked my tail off for this doesn't count for a thing. My grades are always 3.5 and above, but I have to work very hard to do that. I'm in my 40s so the menopausal memory thing is doing a number on me. I'm in debt $15,000 in student loans and I really don't know if I'll make it:cry:. Missing this clinical will mean that I get an incomplete for the quarter which messes up my financial aid so now I have that to deal with. Honestly, I don't think I can take much more of this. I realize that I'm rambling, using no paragraphs, just hoping that there is "someone" out there to encourage me. I don't know what I'm going to do if I get kicked out. Thanks for "listening"...

[crissrn27, RN]

We had a few like that in nursing school. Kind of odd, but it seemed they picked on me, being younger (17-19 while in school), than they did on the older students. I wouldn't worry too much about this episode, no one is perfect.

I got sent home by the resident witch in school, b/c my pt had a cream ordered and no one could find it. I looked everywhere and had all the nurses look, even the instructor, but it was no where. The pt had an appointment, so she left (it was in a kids nursing home), after she left my instructor sent me home, for missing a med. I was like WTH, you couldn't even find it, what was I supposed to do? Still ticks me off 10 years later, lol.

Anyway, it happens to all of us, sending good thoughts your way!

[eccentricRN]

Just a suggestion but maybe for next clinical preparation, you could arrange to be there during shift change report and listen to report on the clients you are assigned. This may help you get started with your research. Hoping to hear that the school will give you a break.

I agree, we had to be present for report before we started clinicals. It's a shame that we have to live in fear of our instructors & everyone is an individual, so every clinical at least at my school I had to learn a new "best" way to do things.

So sorry you're going through a tough time... I almost got kicked out for something that happened... too long to go into... I fought hard... I had to better than better & finally I won her back over & ended up with an A. Don't give up... come up with a strong plan on how you are going to prevent another snafu like this one... you can do it, you already have traveled so far!!!

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Just a hug and some comfort.

[Bocephus71RN-BSN, BSN, RN]

I too had a problem with a clinical instructor once. She hated me for what unknown reason I'm not sure. Maybe because I was a male student. I never knew, but even all the other students in my clinicals joked about how she harassed me and every day of clinicals she got on top of me with her spurs on and rode me like you could never believe. She even attempted to have me speak to the director a few times. You know what, it made me a great critical thinker. I pulled up my boots, and decided I would NOT be beat by this woman or anyone else. I probably spent 4 times the amount of time getting ready for clinicals than other students and knew my **** frontwards and backwards and any way you could think of. I anticipated hell every day I went to clinicals, and it was all the way til the end. I made it tho. You will do the same. If you ever need ANY help with questions preparing, care plans, meds, critical thinking or anything please P.M. me and I will help you any way I can.

[BeaconRN]

My advise to you is also to keep fighting for your goals, you are almost there!!! I would like also to suggest to you that the night before your clinicals (when you go & review the chart), you may want to go & meet your patients if you are allowed to. Do a quick assessment & questions, and you will see how much more you can find about them...along with what it is already on the chart. Ask the RN in charge of the care of the pt that day......and I know, it is very difficult as students to review the pt chart especially around change of shift. Good luck to you!!!

[suzi-Q]

So sorry! I am 40+ too and just grew my first set. I hate confrontation...Sooo.... I think I would have confronted her right then and there and said "And what do I learn from that?"

Fight for it & let us know, babe!

:kiss & hugs.

[Fiona59]

I agree that it was harsh to send you home.

Linzz is right, you would have caught the diagnosis in report.

Having said that, working staff have the right to take charts from students who are prepping. Charts are needed for good patient care.

Also, it was your decision to attend school while being a single mother. I've been in your shoes and never asked for "special consideration" for my age, my children, or my marital state. Your future employers don't have to take this into consideration and school shouldn't have to either.

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

My advice. Contact your guidence counselor and tell her/him everything. Write it all down while it is fresh in your mind and if it gets bad, fight it. Tooth and nail, you pay alot of money for your education and what are you learning by getting sent home????

I also had a HORRIBLE instructor, my final semester. I despised her, I found myself thinking of 101 ways to torture her.

When she gave me an awful review, I made her change it, as it totally was untrue and i had saved all my paperwork through out the semester to prove it, which I did. I then went to my guidance counselor and told her everything, the good the bad and the ugly, I took full responsibility for what I did do wrong ( students do make mistakes, that is why they dont have a lic number!!)

Remember it is the instructors job to TEACH. THat is what you are paying for.

Best of best of luck, I have been in your shoes and they suck, but you will get through it. Be strong. You have worked to hard to let one bad instructor ruin your career.

Document everything, and always have a witness.

[colleennurse, ASN, RN]

So sorry to hear that this is happening. Maybe your teacher needs to be reminded that after all you are a STUDENT, which means you will not know everything. Besides even when you are a working nurse, you still won't know everything, and nobody with a sane mind would expect you to. I can bet that you will never not know why someone is taking a certain medication again. When you go to talk to whomever at your school, you could present it that way, that you have learned a lesson from a mistake (even though like you said the chart was not completely available to you). I don't know what it is with some nursing instructors and why they are like this. Good luck!

[hikernurse]

After reading your post a couple of times, I can't really see what you did wrong.

If you weren't sure about a medication you should have asked. It's easy enough for experienced nurses to miss something and we are familiar with the charts and patient care, making it easier to know what to look for and where. And people can be on abx for many reasons, some of which are less easily figured out than others.

Your clinical instructor is there to instruct and that is part of the job. Frankly, your classmates don't sound that supportive either.

Just a hint for your meeting; take full responsibility and say you learned from your mistake (at least after they tell you what you did wrong ). Ask how you can improve and take it from there.

NS is very hard and I swear, the first year of nursing is even harder. If you're not willing to ask questions, then it will be rockier, yet.

{{{{{{{Phill4:13}}}}}}}

You'll get there.

[Haunted]

Don't quit, don't worry. Your almost done and they will most likely have you remediate in the skills lab to make up for the time. You do have a lot on your plate with 4 kids, school and student loans. Just a few snippets of CYA advice, when your Instructor asked you about the antibiotic and you could not find any documentation regarding an infection, or with any med that you see on the chart and aren't sure of, just be honest and say " I am planning on researching that when I get to the floor, or asking someone why they are receiving this med" since it wasn't easily located in the chart.

Also, get some sleep! Get to bed before midnight. Get some rest. In this case, you are more important. Get your rest, eat right and ask friends and family for support. Your going to be a great nurse! I'll work with you any day.

[NurseCherlove]

So far, I like best the post about how an admitting dx can be SOB when something like pneumonia has not yet been confirmed. Perhaps this is the case here. Or maybe the patient was dx w/ pneumonia and it was written: PNA, causing you to miss it. I'm not even sure I learned what that abbreviation stood for until after becoming a nurse.

Another thought: it seems like a pre-conference would be the time to address loose ends before you actually hit the floor to do patient care. With that thinking in mind, I believe I would bring this up in your meeting at school, pointing out that the instructor obviously made a hasty assumption that you had not prepped for clinical. I would go on to add that it seems like poor judgement on her part to make that assumption on such limited information - a knee jerk reaction, which is a bad trait for a nurse to have!

Heck, turn the tables...Go on to say that you chose this school because you thought it was one that fostered a learning environment, etc. I would also tell them that you do understand the gravity of not knowing a patient's dx as their nurse, but that again, you thought you could explore that more in pre-conference.

As other posters have said, check your school's policy about passing/failing clinicals and be sure to nicely bring that up as well in your meeting, asking them to please show you how asking a question, once again in PRE-CONFERENCE, constitutes a reason to be sent home. If one of the reasons is "not being prepared blah, blah...", well, you then show them how you were prepared (labs and all pertinent patient data - even include some of those silly nursing care plans/dx you were already thinking about for those patients). Then show them the "Course Objectives" information for this clinical/course where is says something about "learning", "advancing critical thinking skills", and the like.

Fight this like you are your own attorney. Just make sure to be confident and assertive, but not to cross that line of being disrespectful.

Hugs to you. We're pulling for you!! :heartbeat:redbeathe:redpinkhe