Should a nursing instructor tell a student they are not nursing material.

nikki.p · Feb 19, 2009

How do you know for sure that the comment was made because of the student's weight?
Sometimes, students need to hear that their chances of success are slim. It is cruel for a school to take a student's money, pass them along until the last semester ... and then find a way to flunk them so that they won't bring the school's NCLEX pass rate down. I know schools that do such things. They would be doing some of their students a favor if they would simply either fail them in their first year before they had invested so much in the program ... or counseled them out of the program early on.
Yes ... if the comments were because of the student's weight, the instructor was terribly wrong. But how do you know for sure that they were made because of her weight? The OP didn't say.

I agree with you. I have known people that were very smart but just didn't have what it takes. Nursing school is tough and if you are not prepared for the worst then you gotta go. I also think that a teacher would have to be stupid to make a comment based soley on a weight issue. That just beggs for reprimanding and if any teacher cares about her job she will use better judgement than that.

mstzydeco · Feb 19, 2009

Some instructors can be asses. And what so good about nursing is that you have a different choices, you can be a hospital nurse that is fast paced or a hospice nurse that is on snail scale. So you tell your class mate to keep her head up, I had a class mate that was narcoleptic and she went into group homes after we finished nursing school. Why are people so judgmental ?Remember the first nurses was prostitutes.

I love my cat! · Feb 19, 2009

A nursing instructor told one of my classmates that she is not nursing material. I think that she was wrong. She based it on my classmates appearance Im sure, she about 450lbs and slow moving. Her spirit is sweet but the instructor, I feel, is wrong. What do you guys think? If academically she's on it how can she judge her.

I think it is wrong for a Professor/Instructor to tell someone that they should/shouldn't be or do something when that is why the student is there in the first place.

Some superb Nurses were mediocre students. Some 4.2 students, with their Volunteer work and glowing recommendations are so-so Nurses.

I don't think it is fair to assume that the way a student is in school is the way they will be when they are working. There are way too many factors involved to come to such a black and white conclusion.

I also don't feel that it is fair when Nurses judge new employees, either. You would not believe how many times I hear Nurses whispering that a new person will/won't make it, but are completely off target.

greeniebean · Feb 19, 2009

I think if the instructor sees something that makes her quetion whether the person they should pull them aside and talk to them about it. not tell them they shouldn't be nurses, but tell the person that they've noticed these things and then tell the student how they could improve. But i mean if a student goofs off in class and is always late, etc.. then maybe they shouldn't be nurses, but since they arent dedicated to succeeding they probably already know that. But no they shouldn't just pick someone who is struggling and tell them they shouldnt be nurses.

Heather56 · Feb 19, 2009

This is a hard issue to answer as we don't know the circunstances. I know, though, that in the job qualifications for nursing jobs at my place of work is that the applicant have the "physical ability to perform the duties of the position"

UnchainedFever · Feb 19, 2009

I was told in 1976 that I was not nursing material. I had dreamed all of my life about becoming a nurse. I was told that I was not nursing material. This was said from a counselor at the college that I wished to attend... I had seen the sign showing the college entrance since I was 6. I went home and cried.... I had many jobs in motels and as cashiers... A man robbed the store that I worked in.. they kidnapped, raped and killed the young lady.

I tried one more time. Out of 300 applicants I was selected. Out of the 25 that were picked for the LPN program, only 10 graduated. I was one of them.

I moved back to my home state to be near family. I really wanted to be an RN.

I found that they had fired that counselor for derliction of duty.

I applied, got 2 2 year degrees and obtained an A.A. and an A.S. in 2 years. I then went on to get an A.D.N. degree. 5 years as an LPN and 21 years as an RN. I always tell the students that I precept... there are rules that everybody must follow. Count nobody out.

I was precepting an older nurse in an ICU... the nurse manager was also her instructor. I watched this nurse manger ride this student like she was a calf in slaughter. I, as well as several others knew when they saw this conversation was taking place advised her that she should complain... She got her instructor changed and excelled. Turns out she had been an LPN from my first school... I still get Christmas cards from her. Don't eat our young.

stasis_DC5 · Feb 19, 2009

yes, it is wrong. as someone previously mention, take it to one of the higher ups. the nursing instructor has no right to say such a thing nor does he/she have the right to pass judgment like that. so, take it to the higher ups and have them handle him/her accordingly.

PC_BC · Feb 19, 2009

I'd like to share my story, but I'll try and keep it brief. My one instructor in the LPN program always would say about the nurses on staff "They don't care how much you know but want to know how much you care". I didn't find this true at all when I got to my acute care practicum. I passed all my courses and assignments to that point and then all hell broke loose. It turned out my other instructor didn't want to see me succeed she made my practicum very difficult. I was singled out by this instructor and the staff on the acute care floor. It didn't matter what I did, I was never good enough. I ended up graduating with a care aide certificate instead of completing the last six weeks of the LPN program. I basically got screwed out of the program. After I was out of the program the college then admitted they were wrong and I was invited to come back and do the acute care semester over at no charge but the damage was all ready done. I was hurt too much to go back and deal with the same staff. I found the staff to have very strong personalities which made them very difficult to work with. I also found them to be cruel not only to students but to each other. Watch your back or you'll find a knife in it.

Equinox_93 · Feb 19, 2009

If the instructor truly feels that the student is not nursing material as part of a clinical evaluation then she has every right to gently tell the student this and why. If it is because the instructor has a predjudice against the student because of any issue- weight, age, skin color, sexual orientation, etc. , then it is wrong. Her weight is her personal concern, not the instructor's. Maybe when she has a decent career and medical insurance she can get some help for her weight. Who cares? It is her business and it should have nothing to do with getting an education.

I think that's the issue- there IS no "gentle" way to tell someone they aren't "nursing material". What IS "nursing material" anyway? If a student isn't making the grades or is incompetant with the skills- that means they aren't making the grades or aren't competant with the skills- it doesn't mean that the instructor should make a subjective opinion based statement to the student. Criticism is good and to be expected- however, IMO all criticisms should be *constructive*. Telling a student that they aren't cut out for nursing doesn't offer them anything constructive and is one instructors subjective opinion.

llg, PhD, RN · Feb 19, 2009

Let me remind everyone in this thread ...

We don't know what the instructor in the OP actually said to the student. The orignal poster was basing her post of 2nd hand reports and speculation. Many times, when a student (or employee) is given feedback about problems in their performance, they react defensively by telling themself and others that "The teacher (or boss) just doesn't like me because I'm ...." You fill in the blank. To someone who was not privy to all the details, who only hears that one defensive person's version of the story, it can seem as if that instructor or that supervisor is being unfair, cruel, disciminatory etc. when if fact, that may not have actually been the case. (Though it can be the case sometimes. Not every instructor or supervisor is in the right, either.)

So ... as someone NOT privy to the actual events or words in the OP's case ... the OP can not come to a firm conclusion and should be very hesitant to jump to making assumptions of wrong-doing that should be reported up the chain of command. If the student directly involved wants to file a complaint, then SHE is the one who should do so and be prepared to make her case that her performance has been satisfactory and that the negative feedback she received from the instructor is inappropriate. Such a grievance should NOT be filed by a by-stander who does not have all the facts.

shah · Feb 19, 2009

We had an instructor who rode the men real hard. She would make remarks about men coming into nursing for the money. She would see that all the men who could, would fail. Nothing could be done about her, because she was employed by the high faluting hospital where clinicals were scheduled. She was not an employee of the school. People just learned to avoid the hospital. Such a pity it is a major cancer center.

shah · Feb 19, 2009

I will always rememeber Mn. She was doing great in class. Nothing less than a B. She and her daughter were both enrolled with me in LVN school. Mn's problem was, she was over 60 years old.

The instructors could not do anything about her classroom scores, so, they colluded and gave her impossible tasks in the clinicals.

The first one of those tasks, I remember, was, giving out medications to all the patients on a floor one day. Up till then we had had only 1 or 2 patients each. She became very nervous. The more nervous she became, the more they put on the pressure, till she made a mistake. They failed her in the clinical and she had to drop out.

I met her last year. She is now a CNA (and a darn good one) at a nursing home.

If she was slower than the 20 somethings, she could have become a nurse at a doctor's office, or private duty, or an MDS coordinator. The nursing instructors had no business playing God. I will always be angry at them.