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

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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.

Specializes in LTC.

Thats what I love about nursing ! It doesn't matter if she's 450 pounds if she wants to become a nurse thats her decision. The great thing about nursing is that she doesn't have to work in bedside if she physically can't do so. She can be an obese school nurse, work in a clinic, be a legal nurse, work in management, you name it ! She can even do home health. No, she may not be able to do bedside nursing but she can sure work else where as a nurse !

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I am a nursing instructor and have never told someone that they are not nursing material. I have asked students in the past if this is really what they want to do for the rest of their life. I based that question on poor clinical evaluations and performances in the clinical settings. I think it is how us instructors approach you students that are not doing well and we suspect that your desire to become a nurse isn't really there ,is what the real issue is regarding this matter. I am sorry some of you feel that we are rude. My goal is that everyone enjoys nursing as much as I do and when it appears that a student seems disgusted when asked to perform basic nursing duties and etc., I do questioned whether she really wants to be a nurse. Remember there is always two sides to a story. You are only hearing one side. Please don't judge until you have heard both sides.:yeah:

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

"I am a nursing instructor and have never told someone that they are not nursing material. I have asked students in the past if this is really what they want to do for the rest of their life. I based that question on poor clinical evaluations and performances in the clinical settings. I think it is how us instructors approach you students that are not doing well and we suspect that your desire to become a nurse isn't really there ,is what the real issue is regarding this matter. I am sorry some of you feel that we are rude. My goal is that everyone enjoys nursing as much as I do and when it appears that a student seems disgusted when asked to perform basic nursing duties and etc., I do questioned whether she really wants to be a nurse. Remember there is always two sides to a story. You are only hearing one side. Please don't judge until you have heard both sides."

Good point.

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Specializes in None.
But what none of us knows is whether the student has already lost 100 pounds and is on a program to lose more. No one knows if the student may be planning bariatric surgery or perhaps, has even had it recently.

You're right:

"Cada uno lleva su cruz"

"Everyone carries his cross."

It was presumptuous for me to over-generalize the situation. Perhaps she is working hard to improve her circumstances. And perhaps the instructor also gave her constructive criticism which directed her to her strengths in another field (proactive information instead of just discouragement.)

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care, OB/GYN, Peds,.

I am trying to remember my nursing school days after 42 years as a nurse and still going strong. I had one instructor tell me that I would not make it as a nurse because I was too sensitive, as I said I have been a nurse 42 years and now work in Hospice and Palliative care. My patients are very happy that I amd a sensitive nurse, they know that I really care. I think that I am a good nurse as do my superiors so I am so glad that her remark did not discourage me form becoming who I was supposed to be. There are nurses that probably should never had been and maybe went in for the wrong reasons, but they don't go the distance. :heartbeat

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Specializes in Case Managemenet.

To mitigate the instructors being your only employer in the health care arena, get a job in a hospital as a ward clerk or CNA/tech or whatever it is called at that facility. Do a summer job as an extern. One instructor's view might be bad and that can color the view of other instructors too. If you don't do well in any healthcare position it would be a good idea to get out. I had an awful mental health instructor that thought I was coming on to my bipolar pt that was in the maniac phase. I was just trying to do what I was suppose to do with out causing problems. The guy frightened me. She wanted to flunk me for it. That was 23 years ago in nursing school. I still get frightened of those in the maniac phase, I just know what to do about it now. I don't work on a psych floor either. I hope she doesn't let the words of one make her avoid nursing. If the instructor talks this way to her again she needs to make her explain.

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should they? NO

do they? YES

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The Nursing Instructor had no right to say that. With so many different positions for nurses, who is she to say this person isn't nursing material? She should finish the program, go for the NCLEX-RN and show her instructor that she IS nursing material. That nursing instructor is an ass!

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Specializes in Family Practice, Primary Care.

It's cute how people are saying the instructor had "no right" to say this. She had EVERY right! There are MANY fellow students I'd love to say this to because they have NO compassion for their patients and simply don't care. They AREN'T nursing material! Period!

Personally, I would not want a blind or deaf nurse (and I believe because of their disability they can't be, anyway). How will they change my wound dressing or hear my heart/lung sounds? I also wouldn't want a double arm amputee to be my nurse either...my member doesn't want them inserting a catheter in him!

As far as an obese nurse goes, let's be frank. A 5'5" female weighing 200lbs is one thing. The same female weighing 450 is a WHOLE DIFFERENT story. Let's be honest here. Should they lose weight? Hell yes. Sometimes it is a genetic thing, I agree. However, 9 times out of 10 it is poor diet/exercise habits. I would not take a severely obese nurse seriously if she/he told me I needed to lose weight or gave me any other health advice, the same as I would laugh at someone reeking of booze telling me to stop drinking. Practice what you preach!

I have complete respect for my nursing professors and their opinion. My instructor last semester told me frankly that I had low self-esteem and it would eventually affect my practice; she thought I was a very strong student and didn't want me to sabotage myself. I APPRECIATED the advice and changed. My manager when I was a CNA told me I was not cut out to be a CNA, and to be honest, I'M NOT! I hated being a CNA, but love nursing. Some people need to take a good, long look in the mirror and realize life is not all candy and rainbows and bunnies and puppies. You can't always BE/GET what you want. For instance, I could never be a pilot due to my eyes needing corrective vision. I could never be president because I don't have the drive. I could never be a business executive for similar reasons. Realize your limits, accept them, and embrace what you're good at!

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Here is what I'm not getting. Most of the nursing instructors at my school are nurses themselves and I'm sure it's like that everywhere else so who better to judge a nursing student than a nurse themselves? Juse because they decided to stop nursing and teach to bring some more nurses into the profession. Nursing school is hard but you can't always be the nice professor letting someone slide through the cracks of school because you like their personality because them being a good person won't save someone's life. I would rather have a nurse who isn't such a great people person that knows how to administer an IV and take blood pressure than one that is the sweetest person in the world and cannot.

However, there is a fine line that can be drawn and some professors stick to their own biases which they really shouldn't do. If the students weight really wasn't bothering her, meaning she kept up like everyone else and had no problem being on her feet or any problems like that and it was a matter of the professor not liking the fact that she was overweight, then that professor was in the wrong.

For me though, professors should be allowed to criticize someone based on their professional experience. They have experience in the practice and why they aren't 100% right, I'd have to believe that they know a little about what they are saying. As it has been stated before, a lot of people can pass tests but that doesn't mean they are good nurses. The answers to exams are in books but there are no answers to clinical practice. A nursing student may know how to draw blood but that doesn't mean they will be able to physically do it themselves. If a job recruiter has the right to say someone isn't "what they are looking for" based on sitting down with the person for 10-15 minutes then how is a nursing professor not in the right under certain circumstances.

There have been instances on this very board that some people have been told that maybe they are not nursing material for some of the topics that they write. For example, awhile ago someone made a post about how they wanted to be a nurse but didn't want to work hard and a lot of people replied saying "this profession isn't for you". Now even though obviously nursing isn't a laid back profession, was it their right to "crush" her dreams? You have to look at it from both sides. I know a lot of people will reply saying that it is a completely different situation but is it really? Couldn't they have just bypassed the post or said no without throwing in their opinion much like people are saying this professor should have just not said anything and just failed the girl if she really wasn't great in her work?

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Specializes in acute rehab, med surg, LTC, peds, home c.

Thank You to all the people who said that the instructor does have the right to tell them. I am a new nursing instructor and while I haven't yet told anyone that they are not cut out to be nurse, I am seriously thinking about it. I am really struggling with this part of my job. But ethically, I have a serious problem with passing someone that I wouldn't trust to care for my dog let alone another frail/old or otherwise vulnerable human being. I constantly have to evaluate weather my conclusions about a student are based on fact or feeling. In fact sometimes it is the student that I don't dislike on a personal level that is the one I need to fail. Then my decision is even harder. What do you do about a student who is totally clueless. One who can't figure out how much heparin 5000units/cc to draw up in a 2cc syringe (when the dose is 5ooo u), One who can't do a basic head to toe assessment, who can't communicate without sounding like an ass either in written or spoken communication. This is what I am dealing with now. He has made it through to the last semester on pure charm and now it is up to me to either pass or fail him. Put yourself in my place. What would you do?

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.
Thank You to all the people who said that the instructor does have the right to tell them. I am a new nursing instructor and while I haven't yet told anyone that they are not cut out to be nurse, I am seriously thinking about it. I am really struggling with this part of my job. But ethically, I have a serious problem with passing someone that I wouldn't trust to care for my dog let alone another frail/old or otherwise vulnerable human being. I constantly have to evaluate weather my conclusions about a student are based on fact or feeling. In fact sometimes it is the student that I don't dislike on a personal level that is the one I need to fail. Then my decision is even harder. What do you do about a student who is totally clueless. One who can't figure out how much heparin 5000units/cc to draw up in a 2cc syringe (when the dose is 5ooo u), One who can't do a basic head to toe assessment, who can't communicate without sounding like an ass either in written or spoken communication. This is what I am dealing with now. He has made it through to the last semester on pure charm and now it is up to me to either pass or fail him. Put yourself in my place. What would you do?

Here's one for you, maybe you can tell the student to come into the lab when your there and work with them? Really, head to toe assessments are easy, but I remember when I first started it seemed like so much. Teach them/him before you reveal to him that he's not nursing material! Can't draw up units correctly, teach him in the lab. Be the instructor that isn't afraid or unwilling to go the extra mile. Maybe you will find a nurse underneath all of the fluff. Honestly, usually you can teach a good head to toe in just a few minutes. Do it with one or two students. Usually in class we had 28 students and one instructor showing us once. If youre not familar/comfortable with the hands on part, it will come. You can be the instuctor that students are grateful for even 20yrs down the line when you've long forgotten them.

If you have to hold him back, please don't tell him he's not nursing material. Let him know he needs to practice and tell him exactly what he needs to do to be successful. Guide and teach him. Sounds like other instructors may have dropped the ball and obviously did more harm than good.

Good luck!

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