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.

a smoker nurse can get to that bed in time. a smoker nurse can lift, roll and do what is necessary for the pt. a smoker can reach across the bed. a smoker can get down to the floor and back up.

these are apples and oranges. can that 450 lb nurse stand on her feet for 12 hr shifts, ambulate and do everything for the patient that every other nurse can do? if not, the person has no business in nursing.

a smoker can function easily on the job. a smoker with emphysema, copd, lung cancer could not and i would now consider that any nurse affected to such a degree that they be off the floor as well.

this is not a simple matter of discrimination. we are not talking about the overweight nurse or the obese nurse. my point for this one student is that the student is grossly morbidly obese and that level of obesity affects functioning. that is a legitimate issue, not discrimination.

i agree about the weight issue. no one here is her instructor so we don't know what her nursing aptitude is or how she's performing in school. if the instructor's comment was based solely on her weight, that was unprofessional. the instructor could have taken her aside and talked to her about the challenges she is going to face as a working nurse if she doesn't start working on a weight loss regimen. i think in a nursing school where just about every teacher is a nurse with advanced credentials, there would be someone (a nurse instructor) who would advise this student about losing weight.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
Speaking as a smoker. I have often helped to educate patient's on smoke cessation. I have been honest with them in telling them of the times I have quit. I have honestly told them what seemed to work the best for me, what were my triggers and stinking thinking which got me back into smoking. They have appreciated my honesty. They have appreciated my being able to fully understand the process of addiction . They appreciate my being nonjudgemental with them.

Darn it, I knew my analogy comparing the obese nurse's credibility to the smoking nurse's credibility would go this way. Please understand that my comment was not about smokers. My comment was about what the instructor said to the student about her obesity affecting patient's perception of her as a nurse. My comment was meant to draw the reader to the conclusion that the instructor's comment was as judgemental as saying that a nurse who smokes cannot be credible to the patients she has to give smoking cessation materials to.

In other words, her assumption was biased and judgemental because it was not a rule that could be applied uniformly to all students with bad health habits.

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Specializes in Rehabilitation; LTC; Med-Surg.
These are apples and oranges. CAN THAT 450 LB nurse stand on her feet for 12 hr shifts, ambulate and do EVERYTHING for the patient that EVERY OTHER NURSE can do? If NOT, the person has no business in nursing.

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I completely disagree. You seem to be under the impression that the only jobs available for nurses are in the hospital or LTC setting.

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if your instructor based her comment on how this student looks that's despicable. i have a nursing instructor that is very large. she is a phenomenal nurse and an amazing instructor. size says nothing about who that student is as a person or a nurse. and one instructor's opinion is not the final judgment or even the correct judgment on whether or not this student should be a nurse. if that instructor thinks she is there to place personal judgement and personal bias's on her students than she has no business being a professor.

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
Stop right there. That's probably the issue. In which case it is the instructor's job to inform the student.

Of course, but to tell a student in front of an entire class that "they are not cut out to be nursing material" shows a lack of self control on the instructor's part.

That is what instructors are always preaching to use, "Remain calm" "Choose your words carefully in a time of stress", etc.

Well, I think some need to lead by example.

You praise in public. Reprimand in PRIVATE.

Instructors get respect by showing respect...not demanding it. It's a two way street.

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You praise in public. Reprimand in PRIVATE.

Instructors get respect by showing respect...not demanding it. It's a two way street.

SO TRUE

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Where did the OP say that the comment was made in public? The original post does not say that.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Of course, but to tell a student in front of an entire class that "they are not cut out to be nursing material" shows a lack of self control on the instructor's part.

That is what instructors are always preaching to use, "Remain calm" "Choose your words carefully in a time of stress", etc.

Well, I think some need to lead by example.

You praise in public. Reprimand in PRIVATE.

Instructors get respect by showing respect...not demanding it. It's a two way street.

Where is it stated it was told in front of class? In fact, from context, it appears it was told to the student privately and then discussed by the student with the author at some point thereafter.

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Specializes in None.

This is NOT discrimination. It is reality and realistic. Unless this woman loses about 200 lbs, it would be my opinion that she is not nurse material either.

"{Understand this....an ex-H of mine was an Air Traffic Controller. He developed late onset Type 1 diabetes. He could never work in ATC again. Not just for the safety of the passengers....ATC is SO stressful, it would bring out the complications of diabetes much earlier and in a much more severe condition. It is not discrimination....it is being reasonable, responsible and saving lives including his!}"

I was in the U.S. Navy. If you are not performing to physical standards of general health (not all jobs are physical labor), you are basically weeded out. It is important, on a personal level, for this student to not act hypocritical (unless she has a biological reason); practicing medicine (e.g. health; quality of life) and yet not take of herself.

"If the chef is skinny, there's something wrong with the cooking."

However, being a health hazard is another story...

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.
i agree about the targeting of overweight people. it's disappointing that even on a board such as this where people are often so self-righteous about being supportive of one another obesity is still seen as a matter for ridicule.

i don't see many of the comments as ridicule- rather, realisticaly a 450lb "slow moving" person cannot effectively manage many of the tasks required of a nurse in this market. i have nothing against blind persons but they make poor airline pilots, i have nothing bad to say about the mute but the make poor radio personalities. 450lb slow moving people may never be able to do 95% of the nursing jobs open to new grads. i will never require nurses be "role models" for health. that isn't part of our job. i however think at her weight and speed much of what is part of our jobs will be turfed to her peers. i wouldn't want to have her as my peer in my current unit. on top of that , unless i missed it, her weight wasn't specificaly indicated by the instructor as the primary reason she advised her against nursing. it may have been, and for good reasons, but there may also have been many other contributing factors that went into her opinion.

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
Where is it stated it was told in front of class? In fact, from context, it appears it was told to the student privately and then discussed by the student with the author at some point thereafter.

The post never said that....but in the end, that isn't the point.

The point is that an instructor is not the employer of a student. They are there to teach, report grades earned, and evaluate specific performance.

If that person never gets a job after graduating, then that is a risk all of us take when we get out of a program. I don't think that a single, individual, no matter how many years of experience, should ever tell a student something so cruel. If the student flunks out, they flunk out. I don't think an extra effort needs to be made to help push them along.

Given the student's weight, if I was that instructor, personally I would have been very worried about how my words could have been misinterpreted.

Obesity is now listed as a disease...and therefore, falls under legal protection under the ADA.

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Ok..lets take a survey...

Age of those who think the 450 lb thing is discrimination/ridicule

Age of those who do not

Age of those who think it is 'horrible' for any teacher tell someone something so 'cruel'

Age of those who do not.

Current weight of respondent.

I'll start.....

n/a

46

n/a

46

115

Ok...this was meant to be a tad facetious. I would bet those of us who are much older aren't sympathetic. We were raised and educated with a separate set of ethics.

BTW navy nurse....that Ex-H with the diabetes that had to leave ATC....was in the Air Force at the time.

One point...yes, there may be some nursing jobs out there where 450 may not be an obstacle (ie: insurance company) but (1) is that type of nursing OK with this person and (2) could miss 450 make it through clinicals without special exceptions that no other nursing student gets?

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