What to do?? I failed!

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ok.. I failed. basically I was 1% short of where I needed to be. My instructor told me to back up my answers so I did. He said well use the textbook and do it.. I did. - then he says well eventhough it's in the book it doesn't make it right. what we say in class is more important. This is bull.. so I appealled my case, had what I thought was a meeting today, only to be ambushed. I was told that they were not excepting my challenged questions, so move on. They want me to do there LPN program because I repeated a semester in the past and they will not let me repeat another. I should have graduated last week. What are everyone's thoughts? Anyone else have this happen? If so, what did you do?

Thanx :nurse::cry:

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
She was given good advice to do an LPN program when she was in her last semester of being an RN b/c some arrogant professor never bothered to read the book that he required the students to read?

ROFL actually your quote of mine wasn't even to the OP but to this although I stand by my thoughts that if they are offering up LPN I'd take it:

Originally Posted by LoriS viewpost.gif

Here's what a friend who is an NP told me when I decided to go to nursing school. "You will hear your instructors say things that you know are wrong. You will hear them say things that you know are out of date. You will hear them say things that directly contradict your nursing text. NEVER correct or challenge your nursing instructor. Just suck it up and spit back their information on the test. This person can literally end your career if you challenge them." Is that pathetic, or what? She told me it's just not worth it; she had seen too many nursing students fail or be forced to leave nursing school because they were "trouble-makers". I'm sure some instructors take constructive criticism, but I guess a lot of them have thin skins. I'll find out in September!

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She was given good advice to do an LPN program when she was in her last semester of being an RN b/c some arrogant professor never bothered to read the book that he required the students to read?

Actually, *I* was the person who was being referred to as having been given good advice regarding keeping my mouth shut when I start NS, not the OP of this thread or anyone else. :)

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ROFL actually your quote of mine wasn't even to the OP but to this although I stand by my thoughts that if they are offering up LPN I'd take it:

Originally Posted by LoriS viewpost.gif

Here's what a friend who is an NP told me when I decided to go to nursing school. "You will hear your instructors say things that you know are wrong. You will hear them say things that you know are out of date. You will hear them say things that directly contradict your nursing text. NEVER correct or challenge your nursing instructor. Just suck it up and spit back their information on the test. This person can literally end your career if you challenge them." Is that pathetic, or what? She told me it's just not worth it; she had seen too many nursing students fail or be forced to leave nursing school because they were "trouble-makers". I'm sure some instructors take constructive criticism, but I guess a lot of them have thin skins. I'll find out in September!

You can laugh all you want, but students have challenged and won these cases when an attorney gets involved.

To ASSUME that these cases cannot be won if challenged is what they want you to believe. A school is not an employer, so I could care less of who gets upset, especially if it's the last semester.

I'm sorry if you feel that just because of your limited experience, you have never seen a case won, it automatically equals that no one, anywhere, can win one.

If you stay on this board long enough, you'll find answers to the contrary from time to time.

There was a case that made the news about a year ago where two nursing students, I think in Oklahoma, had the HESI exam added to their graduation requirements...which was a NEW requirement that was not there when they started the program.

Both of these students had a near 4.0 GPA.

They challenged these "God's" (that you claim could not be challenged), and won their case when it went to court.

I am not going to sit here and police posts and decide who is giving us the entire story and who isn't. Everyone is here to get advice. I am going to assume that the facts are the way the OP states they are unless they post inconsistencies or post otherwise...if you need both sides of every story to have an opinion or advice, then message boards are probably not the place to post.

So, with that in mind, and I belive the OP is giving us facts...if she had priority based questions, you can't find those in a textbook. She would be SOL.

However, she doesn't have to look "everywhere"...she only has to go to ONE source....the textbook. If the professor stated something that is contractory to the textbook, and what HE said can be PROVEN to be incorrect, then she has an iron-clad case in court.

I firmly believe in standing your ground.

If she was in first semester, she would be well-advised to repeat it and let it go...but not when a couple of questions stand between her and graduation.

She has absolutely NOTHING to lose.

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Actually, *I* was the person who was being referred to as having been given good advice regarding keeping my mouth shut when I start NS, not the OP of this thread or anyone else. :)

My post was disagreeing that Jules A felt that it was good advice to keep mum...so my post was correct.

I also believe in picking you battles carefully. I am sorry that you encountered someone that had just a bitter attitude toward nursing school before you even started. You have to learn to pick your battles and focus on the ones you think you can win and let go of the ones that are a lost cause.

You can challenge anyone on anything as long as it is done in a respectful manner. It's a talent that one has to obtain in nursing school, because there are going to be times when a physician is going to be wrong and you have to figure out how to handle that...especially when the hospital caters to them and not you.

If you go into every challenge of idea thinking that it's going to be a confrontation...then it will be. However, I can totally respect how some people are more comfortable being victims rather than to figure out a POSITIVE way to be heard....b/c that, after all, requires doing absolutely nothing.

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I really appreciate everyone's input. I met with one of the higher ups last week to discuss my appeal.. or so I thought. I thought I would state my case and then have an appeal process. Boy was I wrong. As soon as she shut the door she said that she wanted me to know that she will not be overriding anything that the instructors have done. She wanted to meet with me to put an end to it. She said even if I got my point, she was confident that I would not pass the boards.. if I did - well that would be a miracle and even then she would be concerned with the quality of care that I would provide. And then went on to say how great she heard I was in clinical.. it is all a lot of crap. She said that she needed to up hold the integrity of the school. So in my words screw the students that have sacrificed so much to get to this point. So start all over and we'll just keep taking your money.. They suck!

:yawn: I will keep fighting respectfully have I have until there is nothing else that I can do. I also had my directors write me recommendations which they have.. I am not sure how ugly this may get. I got rave reviews.. that's why I don't understand this. I am so passionate about this profession and I just want to be able to take care of my patients. :nurse:

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As soon as she shut the door she said that she wanted me to know that she will not be overriding anything that the instructors have done. She wanted to meet with me to put an end to it. She said even if I got my point, she was confident that I would not pass the boards.. if I did - well that would be a miracle and even then she would be concerned with the quality of care that I would provide.

Now you have where the source of arrogance is...with the person in charge of the program.

People in "lower" positions that go around thinking that they rule the roost do so because they can...and now you have discovered why. It's because they have a boss that will not even question their decisions...they will take them at face value and not even lift a finger to ask why something happened.

I would fight this every step of the way...and getting an attorney, if need be, is not nasty...for her to assume that you cannot pass the boards because of one point is nuts.

Think about how mindless her decision was? To me, that's laziness. Instead of investigating the situation (which her ENTIRE job calls for) she took the easy way out and took the stance of doing "nothing".

Your situation isn't about your point anymore..isn't about them being right and trying to prove you wrong. It also sounds like your instructor has something personal against you.

When you asked a respectful question when arguing your case, and for them to blow it off by saying, "What I say in class is more important"...again, is laziness...that required no effort on the instructor's part...the easy way out instead of pondering that they may, in fact, be wrong.

I am really, really pulling for you to win this one.

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Only the OP can make the determination if this battle is worth pursuing. As a Marine friend of mine is fond of saying, "Decide if that's the hill you're willing to die on today. If it is, then go for it all the way; if not, then back off and put your energies to better use."

TokieRN, I hope you have some time to reflect on this situation. If you decide to fight your school's decision, I wish you the best!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
She has absolutely NOTHING to lose.

I would disagree. The OP has the chance to attend a LPN program and with failing grades on her record that is something that might not become available with another school. I guess it depends on the area but here competition is very stiff for both LPN and RN programs. In my LPN and RN program no one had any luck with a lawyer and I can't say I have ever read anyone on this board that got reinstated but I'm sure there are some students that have sued and won. I would bet it is a very small percentage and I can't say I'd want to continue on with the same staff after that but that is just me. Ask one of your professors how well it would work at your school.

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

Get back in touch (and bring your lawyer) with her and tell her you need what she said in writing. Save everything and prove that question from the test is in the book. If your going down, you might as well go down fighting. Just make sure you have everything ready. Please keep us posted. Good Luck

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I would disagree. The OP has the chance to attend a LPN program and with failing grades on her record that is something that might not become available with another school. I guess it depends on the area but here competition is very stiff for both LPN and RN programs. In my LPN and RN program no one had any luck with a lawyer and I can't say I have ever read anyone on this board that got reinstated but I'm sure there are some students that have sued and won. I would bet it is a very small percentage and I can't say I'd want to continue on with the same staff after that but that is just me. Ask one of your professors how well it would work at your school.

This is the way I see it...she is a point away from graduating from an RN program that she has already completed versus virtually starting over in an LPN program, which will take a minimum of another year to complete...and then if she wants her RN she'll have to bridge.

To me, that's crazy.

You are correct in the fact that it depends on where you live...neither program in my area is cut-throat competitive...then again, I live in a very rural area with a low population...lots of people wouldn't even live in a place like this because it is near nothing.

On the flip side, if both programs are extremely competitive, then she has even more reason to fight this one harder--because she may not get another chance.

Just getting an attorney to fix it won't help you unless you have a valid reason...in her case she has one that is concrete: The test answer directly conflicted with the textbook.

That is concrete, and it can be readily proven or disproven. Her teacher giving a flippant "What I say in class is more important"...is hogwash and everyone reading this thread knows it.

The purpose of nursing school is to prepare you for the NCLEX and a nursing career. The purpose of the textbooks is to ACCURATELY guide you there. The faculty selects the textbooks.

If they pick them, require you to purchase and read them, then they should be legally required to back them up.

This is a clear-cut case where the professor got busted in an error and won't admit it.

The reason I am so passionate about pushing further is the entire reason I got accepted to nursing school is because of an error an instructor made in advisement (very long story...read my threads dated around March 2007 in the pre-nursing forum).

My argument to the Dean was that these people are getting paid a salary to advise and if they advise you incorrectly, it can cost a year of your life re-applying for the program. To them, it's just a random error.

Because of MY case, all advisement in the nursing program as well as respiratory must now be made in writing...that way, there is no question of what a student was advised to do.

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Specializes in ortho/neuro, geriatrics, med-surg.

I know where your coming from... I have failed Adults II and now I am repeating that right now. I missed the mark by 2 points. I am scared to death that I am not going to make it, but I am trying my hardest to get through it. My BF failed too... she missed it by 1 point. We were suposed to graduate in August 08, but now we won't be done until December now.

I wouldn't give up if I were you. If you really want it, keep going. Upthread someone said something about doing the LPN first... if you can't make it this time, why not try that? My mom did it that way and she told me that when she went to get her RN, it was easy for her. You will get the experience that will prove to be invaluable if you did that, and it will only help you when you repeat the program later on. Don't give up though. You will get through it...

As far as the instructors telling you "It's in the book" and then the test reflects something else... I can totally relate!!! I was practicing in my Saunders NCLEX book the other day and found a few of the EXACT SAME TEST QUESTIONS that was on my last test. Instructors tend to use other resources I have found, when they are making up these tests. I agree that it's not fair... but all we can do as students is try to use as many reference materials as we can find.

PRESS ON!!! DON'T QUIT!!! We need some good nurses!!!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

Contact your state board of nursing, find out if you have enough clinical hours with the semesters you passed to challenge the LPN boards, there have been nurses on the floor that did this and worked as LPNs untill their class rolled around again for re-entry to RN and finished with alot stronger clinical base than other RN students who didn't have that added experience

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