OK people, Not sure if anyone responds to these questions.
Completed my 2 years of ADN program, last day of clinical my patient has a bout of AFIB, i go to patient's room, and yes I am super distracted on this day, counting down the clock. I don't tell my nurse until 20 minutes later while the Dr is present. This was an unfortunate situation of course. Patient was stable, in fact I asked her and took vitals and she was WNL.
So later that day, when we are off the floor, that nurse went behind my back and told my instructor about it, and added a few extra lies about me, stuff that was completely preposterous. Anyways, there is a meeting held with me and director and teacher, and i'm dismissed. EVEN THOUGH I've come so far, it actually freaking happened based on the fact that I didn't notify my instructor about it.
My friend says I should sue for all the time money,etc that has been put in over these past years.
It should be noted I'm an A student and I have excelled at clinical. I'm really not sure why this nurse threw me under the bus, unless she was trying to cover her own ass. Also why they didn't look at my entire track record and just this one time....ideas???
thanks
oh I appealed the decision already via email with the Dean and VP of student services..no word back yet.
I've never heard of anyone successfully getting into a nursing program in the very last semester when she's been dismissed from another school. Prerequ classes will usually transfer but not the nursing courses themselves so I don't know how much luck you're going to have in getting another school to accept all your previous work done for another program and let you spend just one semester there before graduation. I think all colleges would require a certain number of credits to be earned at their own school before giving you a diploma with their name on it. I don't think this route is going to work out well but maybe I'm wrong.
State Labor laws dictate as to how many rights you have for legal recourse in wrongful termination cases.
And, if you live in Florida, you can forget about suing because you have no employment rights. Employers can basically fire you for anything and there isn't anything you can do as recourse legal wise unless you were discriminated against and can prove it, for your race, color, ethnicity, disability. We don't have any unions representing nurses and nurses basically are at the mercy of the doctors, the patients, (who google every diagnosis) and their family members. Then you get attitude from other nurses because everyone wants to act like they are smarter than the next nurse. (In Critical Care Unit) And on top of that, you have Management and administration. I have been a RN for almost 20 years and I do remember some good years earlier in my career but now you can put anti thromboletic pumps on a patient that the MD ordered for and patient can be perfectly mobile and remove them to stroll around and use the rest room and then, the asst Nurse Manager calls you to the side and writes you up for not charting the AT pumps on the patient. Really? Was I suppose to call the MD at midnight and get an order to D/C the pumps? That is ridiculous. It's all about the money that the government will re-imburse for the use of the equipment. It is becoming sickening. So, something simple as that may get you fired but you certainly don't want to live in the south and think you are going to sue someone because you can forget it. Now, about your patient with A fib. First off, is this patient in paroxysmal a fib? What this her first experience at having an arrhythmia? What was her heart rate and was she symptomatic? Was she already on a calcium channel or beta blocker? If you were smart enough to recognize A fib that early in your nursing career thats great. If your preceptor didn't notice it and address it, that isn't so great. I doubt anyone is going to defend you. Nursing all ways gets you because the question first asked is "did you follow the policy and procedure".
This is an RN student. Not a licensed professional and if you all haven't reviewed, the RN is accountable for all care of the patient whether its delegated to or not. In this case, the RN student was under her license so if something was not done, it's the RN's responsibility and I do believe the RN swas trying to cover herself up and did what she could to exaggerate the problem.
It's true that the RN is accountable for taking care of her patient even if she has a student assigned to that patient. It is NOT TRUE, however, that the student nurse is working "under her license." Nope! Neither does the student work under her instructor's license. That's another myth.
She should first just go through the proper channels with the college and find out through the college how to file a formal appeal. a classmate had an incident where a pt that was not the student's fell, while trying to help them to the bathroom at a hospital rotation. no one told them the pt was a fall risk and was not even an assigned pt to any of the students that day, the student was just helping out. The instructor wanted them dismissed and they were. all over that one incident! So student filed an appeal hearing with the school and student won! Student came back 2 weeks late into the next semester and immediately had to take our first exam of that semester, cause class had been in session for 2 weeks already and an exam was scheduled for everyone. They successfully passed and graduated with all of us. Had they not appealed to the college, not just the nursing dept, they would have failed out of the program and had to go elsewhere. Suing won't really get you anywhere. Appeal to the college cause the nursing dept does not have the final say, the college does. An email is NOT an appeal. colleges have an appeal process.
So if you become a nurse what kind of care can your patient expect if you are "distracted" with things at home? Your words not mine. being "distracted" because of things outside of the hospital is not going to cover you in the legal world.
Specializes in Tele, Interventional Pain Management, OR.
I'm not sure why there is a big discussion on this. Grounds for dismissal I will not argue for safety violations on the students part. Honestly though I'm pretty sure the RN was reprimanded or at the least a verbal or written warning. This is an RN student. Not a licensed professional and if you all haven't reviewed, the RN is accountable for all care of the patient whether its delegated to or not. In this case, the RN student was under her license so if something was not done, it's the RN's responsibility and I do believe the RN swas trying to cover herself up and did what she could to exaggerate the problem. I wish you luck on your journey and keep moving. No on is going to stop you. Learn from the experiences and learn to be extra cautious around these RNs. They are just as touchy about their patients as you are to your NCLEX. I've had lies told about me as a tech and I hear you deeply. People are people whether they are doctors or RNs etc. Keep you head up and remember to never trust anyone except yourself. Good Luck.
Yes, the RN retains ultimate responsibility for patient care in every situation. That's why the RN is so "touchy" about his/her patients!
But the student nurse is NOT "under [the RN's] license."
This is a common misconception.
Student nurses have their own scope of practice and work within that boundary. Student nurses are also not "under" the clinical instructor's license, for that matter.
OK people, Not sure if anyone responds to these questions.
Completed my 2 years of ADN program, last day of clinical my patient has a bout of AFIB, i go to patient's room, and yes I am super distracted on this day, counting down the clock. I don't tell my nurse until 20 minutes later while the Dr is present. This was an unfortunate situation of course. Patient was stable, in fact I asked her and took vitals and she was WNL.
So later that day, when we are off the floor, that nurse went behind my back and told my instructor about it, and added a few extra lies about me, stuff that was completely preposterous. Anyways, there is a meeting held with me and director and teacher, and i'm dismissed. EVEN THOUGH I've come so far, it actually freaking happened based on the fact that I didn't notify my instructor about it.
My friend says I should sue for all the time money,etc that has been put in over these past years.
It should be noted I'm an A student and I have excelled at clinical. I'm really not sure why this nurse threw me under the bus, unless she was trying to cover her own ass. Also why they didn't look at my entire track record and just this one time....ideas???
thanks
oh I appealed the decision already via email with the Dean and VP of student services..no word back yet.
That's rotten! Of course you should have told the nurse, but I honestly think that SHE was more concerned with HER a** being on the line, potentially, so she said what she did. You should definitely stand up for yourself, but also take this as a lesson to not keep things to yourself (even if the patient is asymptomatic...who knows what could happen!). If I were the nurse I would have called the doctor, making sure he also knew the pt was asymptomatic, but as the student, you already know what you should have done and we're past that point anyway:yes:
That being said, "distraction" with home life isn't going to work out well in a court of law either, should you get called in in the future for anything.
I'm really sorry this happened and I hope things work out!
I've never heard of anyone successfully getting into a nursing program in the very last semester when she's been dismissed from another school. Prerequ classes will usually transfer but not the nursing courses themselves so I don't know how much luck you're going to have in getting another school to accept all your previous work done for another program and let you spend just one semester there before graduation. I think all colleges would require a certain number of credits to be earned at their own school before giving you a diploma with their name on it. I don't think this route is going to work out well but maybe I'm wrong.
You should be able to go to another school with no problem bigger than maybe repeating a semester or two. I screwed around in my first program (in the theory classes) because I didn't want to be a nurse back then (haha) and had to transfer with only two quarters to go before I graduated. I had to repeat OB (which didn't suck too much cause that was the only class I liked up to that point) and I got in without a problem because there were vacated spots in the classes seeing as some kids had failed out already.
Don't let that discourage you, if it comes to that.
Specializes in Flight Nursing, Emergency, Forensics, SANE, Trauma.
If you know what a-fib is and you know the risks of a-fib, there is really no excuse that there was a 20 minute delay in reporting this unless there is a known history of atrial fibrillation. Ultimately, the well being of that patient is in the nurse you were assigned to's responsibility and it is her license and your instructor's license you are working under as a student.
You may get dismissed from the program, but if something seriously bad would have happened to that patient, they could've died at worse and the RN who was responsible could lose her license and be sued. She has more to lose than you do at this point.
So should you sue? No. I really think you need to take a second to reflect. If you were the nurse who was assigned to the patient, you'd be responsible to notify the doctor in change of status immediately. As a student you are to report change of status immediately. Yes you can assess all you want but until you are actually in charge, you need to defer to the RN and physician who are caring for this patient.
From what you say, it ultimately was your negligence for not immediately reporting it. I'm sorry to be blunt but when you eventually finish school someday and take responsibility, you need to accept it in its entirety.
I am so sorry to hear about this. Nursing school is hard anyway and to have this happen is a hard thing to go through. Unfortunately, I have been there two times where I went to school and was almost done and had a similar situation like yours happen to me as well. It is extremely hurtful and it is almost as if restating the question "Why Me?" I have said that many times to myself. I am so sorry that happened to you. I absolutely know how you feel. I am glad that you are appealing your decision. I believe that is a wise choice. Unfortunately, with my situations, I was unable to appeal and therefore I could not do anything. The other situation led me to not wanting to appeal because if I did and do more clinical time, the turnout would either be the same or become worse. So, that is why I decided not to fight for my decisions. I recommend that you fight for your decision and another thing is to make a journal about all of the events that took place so that when they ask you questions about it, you will be ready. I know that you can fight this and fight hard for it. You deserve to be a nurse since you have gone through the long haul of it. I wish you the best. Marcy CNA
Does the pt have a hx of afib? If so, this is not something I'm going to get excited about as long as the rate isn't rapid and the patient is anticoagulated appropriately.
Maybe the RN felt like you were tossing her under the bus in front of the MD?
Extra Pickles
1,403 Posts
I've never heard of anyone successfully getting into a nursing program in the very last semester when she's been dismissed from another school. Prerequ classes will usually transfer but not the nursing courses themselves so I don't know how much luck you're going to have in getting another school to accept all your previous work done for another program and let you spend just one semester there before graduation. I think all colleges would require a certain number of credits to be earned at their own school before giving you a diploma with their name on it. I don't think this route is going to work out well but maybe I'm wrong.