When ill equipped students affect your grade...

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I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced a similar situation as myself...Here goes: I got docked 5% of my grade because I refused to hold an incompetent group member's hand during clinicals and there seems to be no recourse. Is this what nursing school is really all about? Do I just have to bend over until I graduate? I was under the false impression that we are all responsible for ourselves and that we should be working with a group of equal peers. Silly me.

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While I do not agree with getting your grade lowered, I do wonder why you would not help out a classmate. Your clinical instructor must have thought that you were capable enough. And when you get a job as a nurse, it is always nice to be able to work as a team. I do not know the whole story behind your situation, but that's just my two cents :twocents:... Good luck to you! :)

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I got docked 5% of my grade because I refused to hold an incompetent group member's hand during clinicals

Does anyone besides me strongly suspect that the person doing the grading has a vastly different characterization of the alleged situation?

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Does anyone besides me strongly suspect that the person doing the grading has a vastly different characterization of the alleged situation?

No, actually, the other student is grossly incompetent and has demonstrated this repeatedly (failing 90% of validations repeatedly, egregious med errors, unfamiliarity with the basics of A&P, etc.) There is a certain frustration factor that takes place when you try to teach and explain and see that it is going nowhere. Shall I do your studying for you also?

Yes, the real world has teams, coworkers, fellow peers....but how much slack are you really expected to pick up behind someone who does not "get it"? How much responsibility can you really throw on the other students (as other students were also docked points for not helping this person enough)...We are in nursing school and it should be taken a bit more seriously as an individual also. At what point does a student nurse become dangerous to patients? Should everyone keep their eyes on the unsafe student at all times? Be for real.

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Not helping that person puts the patients in danger.

I wouldn't cover up for the student but I would do whatever necessary to take care of the patients. It isn't fair but the priority has to be the patient. If the other student is that bad, she won't pass the class.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

Teamwork is an essential nursing skill -- even if that means compensating for a colleague who is not carrying her own weight. As Saysfaa said, patient safety comes first. If our colleague can't do the job, that will have to be taken care of ... but in the meantime, the work for the patient needs to get done by whoever is on the scene. If it was "your turn" to help this struggling classmate, then you should have helped her.

You will find in the work setting, we often have to "pick up the slack" or "fill in a hole" or in some other way, bear a little more of the burden when a co-worker is not perfect. Anyone unable or unwilling to help out will not last long in the profession.

Every one of us has days (or years) in which we are not at our best. At those times, we need the support of our colleagues ... and need to be willing to give that support to others when we can. If your classmate is truly beyond hope for improvement, she will eventually be weeded out of the school and/or profession. But it's not your job to do that. In the meantime, the work needs to be and the patients need to be cared for.

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Just because a student is having trouble in one task doesn't mean they will be horrible in all other tasks.

Anyways.....

Clinicals are about the patient. To me, I think the teacher took off a percent because they knew you were capable of doing that task and since you were more concerned that it was not your job to pick up the slack, the patient suffered.

It's not about what the other students can or cannot do and whether you feel you should not have to pick up their slack. It's about what YOU do to ensure the patients receives quality care.

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Specializes in med surg home care PEDS.

I am suprised you are "allowed" to say no, in our clinicals the way it works is if you are competent in a procedure you are expected to show or help your clinic mates when asked by your Clinical Instructor, our CI's would have written you up and the consequences could be worse than just 5 points off your grade, all the way up to dismissal from the program at the worst to getting a bad rep with the other CI's at the least.

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Apparently my OP was not thorough enough and you have all gotten an incorrect picture of what went on. There were several students who had points knocked off for not overcompensating for this one particular NS enough during clinicals. All of us helped, but we also had our own responsibilities that kept us busy as well. Do none of you believe in personal responsibility?

So lets set the record straight here...nobody refused to assist this NS throughout the semester, just the opposite in fact. The problem is that this NS simply is unable to lean and perform any of the required skills independently....any of them. This is despite many attempts to teach and help this NS by fellow students.

Let me preface this post with the instructor comment regarding this preferred student:

"You know I have a soft spot for ----" And next with the statement: "---- was like a lost little dove"

It's interesting that the boatloads of time I spent assisting other students made no difference in my grade (although the instructor stated her observance and appreciation this). You all really cannot understand someone being upset because this ONE nursing student is expected to be catered to?

There is a huge difference between helping someone and covering up for them and/or doing all of their work. It's an unrealistic expectation.

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I do understand how upsetting this is, that kind of situation is very irritating even if it wasn't a teacher's pet thing. My answer doesn't change, though, it all still applies... other than the part about when that student will fail out of the school, it may be waste everyone's time (including that student's) and not be until a later class.

If there are more teachers than one teacher in on passing such students, it will probably show up in nclex pass rates of your school and its reputation in area hospitals.

If feel strongly that you should do something about it, it would be better to make an appointment with the teacher, then the head of the department, so on up the line.... expressing your concern for the safety of future patients if this student passes and your concern for the reputation of the school.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

It is hard to watch favoritism. It is hard to watch incompetence. The two combined are lethal, creating resentment amoung colleagues and almost guaranteeing the favored one will never improve. People in general have the tendency to achieve what is expected of them.

That being said, the above poster is right....patients come first. It sucks, absolutely. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get through. It is temporary and hopefully she won't be in your skills lab or clinical group next semester. Just play the game - it goes by fast. Should this person be accountable? Yes. Should you make her so? Nope. Not your job. You are there to learn, to get good grades, to graduate. If that means you have to hold a hand you don't want to, you hold the hand until you can move on.

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If feel strongly that you should do something about it, it would be better to make an appointment with the teacher, then the head of the department, so on up the line.... expressing your concern for the safety of future patients if this student passes and your concern for the reputation of the school.

I completely agree with your post. I feel that this NS is an enormous danger to any patient they come into contact with and I have expressed my concerns with my instructor.

I would love to express my concerns to the dean, etc. but I am afraid of repercussions (even if sent in anonymously, unless I do not explain specific situations in order to conceal my identity).

It's funny you mention the success rate of the NCLEX exam, the rate at our school has been dropping over the past few years. The selection process is very hush-hush, nobody really knows the criteria for acceptance.

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