Word of the day: blame, and how I figured out these assholes were working together.

After Shipley’s rampage, I went home and bawled my eyes out. It was horrible just to fail the course, but it was absolutely devastating being subjected to her loud, berating tirade. I had already prepared myself emotionally for the course failure. I was pretty sure after what she had pulled during my performance check-off that she was going to do whatever she had to do to fail me. I wasn’t expecting her tirade, however, which took me completely by surprise.

*D did her best to comfort me while I tried to explain what Shipley had done. I knew that the next step was to make an appointment with the chairperson. *D had had the chairperson for NSG 220 and had nothing but positive things to say about her. She said that she was really “pro-student” and wanted students to succeed. Even with that in mind, I wrote the chairperson, Jan, a five-page letter explaining EVERYTHING. I really felt that I needed to do this, because I was completely caught off guard when Joseph tried to prove my incompetence a few weeks earlier.

My meeting with Jan was anything but predictable. Up until this point, I just thought that I had come across two separate people that lacked in the understanding of ethical and moral behavior. She also had my file pulled just as Joseph did. The same tacky approach was taken in regards to proving my incompetence. I gave her an example of a test question directly from our practice test that showed how unclear the question was (word for word from our school’s website):

The RN plans to do dietary teaching for the patient with CAD who select these foods more than 3 times each week. (Select all that apply).

a.       Olives

b.      Sugarless cookies with 3 GM. Transfats

c.       Scrambled eggs

d.      French fries

e.      Spicy salsa

The answers that they had were b,c, and d. The rationale given for allowing olive consumption is that olive oil is beneficial to the heart. My argument is that the student needs to know what kind of olives are being consumed. It is unreasonable to believe that with the information given that the patient is consuming fresh olives. Most people eat canned olives, which are very high in salt. People with CAD are taught to follow an American Heart Association diet, which says to “choose and prepare foods with little or no salt”.

Her response? “Susan- what is CAD?” The last thing I was expecting was a quiz so I was a little surprised to say the least. “Ummm… fats lining the arteries.” Jan said, “Lipids. Lipids are the lab that we evaluate in patients with CAD. Salt has nothing to do with CAD so your point is moot.” I didn’t say anything. I wanted to be sarcastic,, because that’s how I like to roll, but all I said was, “Well, Molly agreed with us and said that the question could have been written better.” She says, “You say you don’t argue with instructors but here you are arguing with me”. Seriously? I can’t DISCUSS rationale at all? Since when is having a discussion considered arguing? She was obviously not going to listen to anything that I had to say. She went on to say that I should stop blaming others and take responsibility for my failures. I started to tear up again. She said that it was her job to make sure that the testing software was functioning properly and that she would look into it. Right, I’m so sure you will, I thought. I left Jan  with the letter below:

3/26/12

To whom it may concern:

                I would like to contest my grade in NSG 222. I have spent too much time at Sinclair to just give up on my dream of becoming a nurse based on the outcome of one course. Before going into details, though, I think that it would be beneficial if I give you a brief history and explanation of my time at Sinclair.

Anatomy & Physiology and Pharmacology were never very easy for me. Before I started the Nursing Program, I had nothing to apply them to and found them to be tedious and boring. To be completely honest, I’ve learned more in my nursing classes in regards to content than I did during the time in which I was taking those courses. Those were the only two course subjects that I struggled with. During that same time frame, I had identified some academic weaknesses and made it a goal to improve. I knew that I would have performance check-offs in the program, and elected to take a public speaking class to overcome my “stage-fright”.  I also elected to take a few nursing/ pharmacology courses before entering 221 and 222. I learned a lot in those classes, but struggled with the final exams, which were full of short-answer questions that required me to find substitutes for certain drugs and dose them accordingly. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it at all and didn’t answer many of the questions. Since I was taking it for personal benefit and not a grade, I didn’t give much thought to “abandoning” those final exams.

1^st quarter in the Nursing Program- NSG 120, 121, Math 109, Micro, and A&P III (17 credit hours). This was a busy quarter for me. I was in my 3^rd trimester with my 2^nd child and worked double shifts on the weekends. I failed Math 109 and had to retake it during the summer. I was never given a grade for my final exam, and was told only that I had missed the mark by a few points. At the time, I was new in the program and didn’t think to question my grade or question my instructor’s grading methods. 

2^nd quarter- NSG 122, 123, and Pharmacology. Got a 78 on the first test in 122. After that point, “Lewis” became my best friend and there was a huge change in my test scores. I had a wonderful instructor, Tammy, who worked very hard to help her students succeed. Although she had us do extra assignments, it really helped you to really understand the content. I also contested many test questions in which the book said one thing and the test another. There were many times when Tammy told me that she would “take it back to her peers”. One question was even an N-CLEX question that was straight out of the book. I asked Tammy if I was going to get my points for it and she said, “Probably not”. I still passed the course, but I was pretty upset that my instructor would agree that I had the right answer, yet I wasn’t getting any points back. On the flip side, I bombed my first check-off in 123. It was completely unfamiliar territory and I had a panic attack right in the middle of my check-off. I didn’t even put on my gloves. I earned only 20 of 50 total possible points. After that, I made every effort to be successful in subsequent check-offs.  I passed my 2^nd check-off at 100% for 123 and passed my 122 check-off the first time. Unfortunately, I still ended up failing 123 by three points. After losing 30 points on the first check-off, there wasn’t a lot of room for error. This is also the time during which I learned that my math instructor was known for mis-grading and that she also wasn’t supposed to take away points for showing your work different from how she had taught. Upset, I went to speak with Marcia Miller who told me that they were aware of the issue and to save my emotional energy since I had already retaken math during the summer.

3^rd quarter- NSG 220. Content was very detail oriented. My instructor was very nice and helpful. I only “challenged” one question and I got my point back. I definitely liked that there was a system in place for students to challenge questions. It really made you feel that you were being treated fairly. Passed check-off the 1^st time.

4^th quarter- NSG 221. Great instructor. She was very passionate and gave excellent examples. Again, I only challenged one question. After hearing her rationale, that was the end of the discussion. My answer didn’t use therapeutic communication technique and I fully accepted it. I had to repeat the med-identification part of my check-off. You had to identify what med the pt. should be on for his/her condition out of a stack of about ten possible meds. The patient had anxiety. The only two possible meds for anxiety in my stack were Buspar and Librium. The scenario specifically asked for a benzo and instead, I picked Buspar even though it wasn’t a benzo because I had assumed that Librium was only used for alcohol detox. Other than that, everything else about my check-off was fine.

NSG 222- My instructor was nice. She had incredibly high expectations, and I did my best to meet them. I actively participated in class. Although I could speak the content pretty good and could recite my meds fairly fluently during med recall, I was still failing the tests. It was incredibly frustrating. My instructor was very good about going over my tests with me. After the first test, I started to challenge the questions. In some cases I was just wrong, but in other cases my instructor would tell me that she thought that they threw this question out or that question out. Other times it would take her six times to read the question and try to figure out what it was asking, the same number of times that it took me. A few times she even told me that I was right, but the answer that I had chosen wasn’t the one that they were looking for. I asked her if they could keep the scrap paper that we get in the testing center to write down rationale if we have any problems. She told me that they couldn’t do that. I was really frustrated. I felt hopeless. My demeanor completely changed. I honestly felt that I had a handle on the content and that the questions were too vague. Our entire class looked as if they had been to war. Everyone was struggling. We all had power points from another instructor and used those as well. There were some discrepancies, which unfortunately contributed to some missed questions. I can’t argue another instructor’s notes. Even though I think it would be terribly disrespectful to do so, it was still unsettling that there were so many discrepancies, considering that all the students were given the same test questions. I did good on my EKG test, earning 9.5 out of 10 points. I did have to take my math test a second time. For check-offs, I had to redo my IV push and scenario. The only test that I did pass was the final, which I only got an 85% on. My instructor’s biggest issue with me was my process tool. I did try very hard to navigate Epic and find all of my information. Epic was new to me, and we didn’t have a lot of time to find things, so I did have missing data. She also had issues with my plan of care. At the Atrium, patients don’t stay for very long and my patients were always scheduled to leave that day or the next. With that in mind, my interventions were only those that reflected their current state of health, not their admitting diagnosis. Once I figured out that my instructor wanted a plan of care based on the disease and not the patient, she was much happier and told me that she was very impressed with my care plan and the improvement that I had made. Had I known that earlier, I would have done just that. In regards to my missing data, I refuse to make something up just to fill in the blank. I’ve been advised by other students to do so and that the instructors didn’t know the difference, but for me it comes down to integrity. I don’t want to get in the habit of thinking that it’s okay to make up stuff I don’t know. I don’t think that it’s a quality that a good nurse possesses.            

My instructor was aware that I had ADHD. In the beginning of the quarter, I had told her that I was having trouble getting my prescription filled due to a drug shortage, which was true, but mostly an attempt to hide my true feelings towards the test questions. She was very understanding and seemed like she cared a lot. I did everything that I possibly could, but I still ended up failing the course by about 7 or 8 points. I felt like I was not only a failure as student, but a failure as a mom as well. My kids spent many nights away from home for nothing. It truly broke my heart. My only saving grace was knowing that I wasn’t the only one having issues. Two, possibly three other students failed in a class of nine.

NSG 222 (2^nd attempt)- The class started out okay. I didn’t talk much. I was still jaded from my first attempt. Things started to go really bad for me after I challenged a question on the second test. Prior to starting the quarter, I was advised by others not to challenge anything with this instructor. Before speaking to my instructor, I consulted another nursing instructor that I know outside of the program. She told me that she thought my rationale was good and that I should question it. I approached the situation very carefully, and was delicate with my choice of words. The response that I got was anything but reasonable. She said that all of the answers might be poor but that I needed to figure out what the best answer was. No ifs, ands, or buts. She wouldn’t listen to my rationale and cut me off right away. I was shocked to say the least. I pay tuition to come here every day and work my butt off, not to be treated like a high-school student who has no choice but to come. I knew going in that she was probably going to be sarcastic and rude, but I still expected her to at least listen to me. Before this incident, she hadn’t written much on my process tool. Now all of a sudden, everything’s wrong and I’m incompetent. Besides not hearing me out, she wasn’t even reading my process tool. I have two examples specifically of this in regards to her not reading what was on it, and one good example concerning my performance check-off. I was given my scenario with no written or verbal instructions, so I just did what my previous instructor had told me to do. She said not to worry about the lines, and to just write down what you would do in order and write your rationale beside it. I had seven actions total, my five skills and two assessments. I was really trying to be as thorough as possible. I can’t remember specifics about my scenario, but the short version is that my patient had CHF and the respiratory therapist is in the room suctioning when I come in. So first I put “assess lungs and oxygen status” and then I put that I would give the Lasix IVP and so on. She sees my scenario and sees that I have seven “actions” and starts to get upset that I didn’t use the five lines. She’s also only reading it half-asked and starts loudly asking about the suctioning over and over again. Well, it was last, after my reassessment, and only if it was needed. She told me redo it only using the five skills. Since she had been so hyper-focused on the suctioning, I assumed that maybe she wanted me to take over for the respiratory therapist. So now that’s first on the list and the Lasix IVP is 2^nd. It was wrong. She said that I missed the priority which was the Lasix and that I have to come back and do another scenario. I tried to tell her that I had that the first time but she wouldn’t hear me out. Desperately wanting to get her back on my side, I fumble and fidget and lose my concentration. I can’t find the tuberculin syringe to do my Heparin skill, so I grab a 3 mL even though my med was less than 1 mL. Wrong. So I look again, and I still can’t see it. The only small one left is an insulin syringe. Wrong. I know this, but I also know that my instructor doesn’t have a high patience tolerance. Long story short, I really blew it. I was still reeling from the scenario that she wouldn’t read. I came back the next day and everything was perfect. I was not under the same amount of stress, which would explain my ability to function normally.

I got an 80% on the final exam. She asked what was different about this test that contributed to my higher score. I told her that I felt that the test questions were pretty clear, which was only half- true. After I got up and asked her my first question, I could sense that she was really irritated so I didn’t ask her my other two questions, which I ended up getting wrong. Even though I knew that I didn’t successfully pass the course for a second time and that it would result in my dismissal, I still wanted to go over the questions. I want to know what I’m doing wrong so that I can fix it. It’s true in every single course. I want to review every test so that I can get better. I would be concerned if the student didn’t want to review the test. A student who doesn’t want to know what they’re doing wrong obviously doesn’t care enough to change. I think that it’s incredibly unfair for me to be treated that way for the pure and simple fact that I wanted to learn. I think that it’s strange that I didn’t get my clinical evaluation until after the final. I also think that she had every intention of failing me for clinical if I had passed the lecture portion. My clinical evaluation was terrible. She said ( or yelled, rather) that I was unsafe to administer Heparin (even though I had done it just fine in clinical), my care plans weren’t specific enough to my patient, my med recall was terrible, and that a few weeks ago, my partner and I didn’t ask for a med reconciliation form. She said that it was HIPPA and that it was a patient safety issue and that it was a big deal that we didn’t ask for it. I told her that we assumed that there wasn’t one because it wasn’t in our stack of papers. The real question is, if it was such a huge patient safety issue, why didn’t she say anything when it happened rather than wait until the last day of class? That was an issue 3 weeks ago and I had other patients after that. Was she going to let us keep making the same mistake over and over again?

I was allowed to look at my final and ask questions about it. At question three, she yells, “I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about this. If you want to know because you want to know than fine, but….” I’m not sure why she’s so defensive about the questions, but some of them are eerily familiar to the way she asks questions. She’s unwilling to accept that other instructors require different things in regards to their process tools, and that some instructors even use their own parameters. She’s made snarky, passive remarks about my ADHD that I haven’t disclosed to her, which means either that she’s on the Reinstatement Committee, some faculty members may have some confidentiality issues, or both. Nonetheless, nothing she said hurt as much as when she told me that I needed to find a new career, because I wasn’t good enough to be a nurse. I might not be an “A” student, but I bend over backwards to change something if need be.

After all of this, you may think the purpose of the above story is to complain about my instructor. Honestly, I know that complaining is going to get me nowhere in this particular instance.

The whole purpose of the above story is to show you that I don’t just screw up all the time and that my concerns were ignored by my instructor. I’m asking for the chance to dispute test questions. I would like my tests printed out so that I can go through and identify rationale and references. After spending the last four years here, I think I deserve the chance to defend myself if I’m being told to get out. In addition, I would like an instructor who’s non-biased to look at it. I really believe that the 222 instructors are too emotionally involved, based on my experiences so far.

Thanks for your time,

Do you think that I received a call in regards to my harassment claims about Shipley? Nope. If I were the chairperson of the nursing department, I would want to know dates, times, whether or not there were any witnesses, ect. Not only was Shipley’s behavior forbidden in the faculty handbook, so was Joseph’s and Jan’s. At this point I’m pissed. There was clearly no justice within the nursing department. It was obvious to me now that these people had all talked about me and were using the same words and phrases, most notably that I was blaming others for my grades, which I was not. I just wanted to identify rationale. Period. It took a minute, but the only thing that I have done differently than other students was voice a safety concern regarding the eye washing. BAM! There it was. They were pushing me out the door to shut me up and convince me that I was incompetent so that I would doubt myself and not tell others. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but safety is HUGE in nursing and government requirements (later post).

 Again, I went home and cried. A lot. The crying just made me even more mad, and I decided at that point that I wasn’t going to let this go. This hasn’t just happened to me, it’s happened to other people, as well. You hear about these things, but it’s mostly swept under the rug and people forget about it. The student loses the passion for their fight and just gives up. Not me. Like Kelly Clarkson says, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. To be honest, it kind of is killing me (more on that soon!), but it will be worth it in the end. At the very least, I won’t have to look back and think, Gee…I wish I would’ve done something about that…

Next post: They probably shouldn’t have given me so much time to educate myself about the law and my legal rights.

She must need hearing aids because she sure as Hell isn’t listening to anything that I have to say

The class started out okay. I didn’t talk much. I was still jaded from my first attempt. I missed the first day of class due to my 3-year-old son turning off my alarm clock. As luck would have it, it wasn't the first time that that had happened to me. It also happened during my first attempt at NSG 222. Irony is a strange thing.... Anyways, I emailed her to let her know what had happened and got a generic reply. She had moved our classroom for the next day but did she tell me in her reply? Hell no. That would've been the NICE and PROFESSIONAL thing to do. Instead, I missed an hour of class the next day as well because I had no idea that the room had changed. Nice.

Things started to go really bad for me after I challenged a questionon the second test. Prior to starting the quarter, I was advised by others notto challenge anything with this instructor. Before speaking to my instructor, Iconsulted another nursing instructor that I know outside of the program. Shetold me that she thought my rationale was good and that I should question it. Iapproached the situation very carefully, and was delicate with my choice ofwords. Here is a synopsis of the question:

You have a laryngectomy patient. What intervention would you teach to promote mucous membrane integrity?

A. Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day

B. Take steamy showers

C. something

D. something

The answer that she had was A. My answer was B, because there was no mention of how long post-op the patient was and I had to go with patient safety. The response that I got was anything but reasonable. She said that allof the answers might be poor but that I needed to figure out what the bestanswer was. No ifs, ands, or buts. She wouldn’t listen to my rationale and cutme off right away. She said that I should have ASSUMED that the intervention was for a long-term patient. Ummm... okay.... maybe if we were talking about home care, but in the hospital setting I'm going to be teaching the patient how to stay alive. I was shocked to say the least. I pay tuition to come hereevery day and work my butt off, not to be treated like a high-school studentwho has no choice but to come. I knew going in that she was probably going tobe sarcastic and rude, but I still expected her to at least listen to me. The first time doing med recall with her was also a disaster. I was going over Heparin with her when she interrupted me by asking me what she called a "HIPPA rule". I kept saying things like, "Check the patient, check the ID band...". She wanted me to change the needle, which if I can recall correctly, has NOTHING to do with HIPPA. Before this incident, she hadn’t written much on my process tool. Now all of asudden, everything’s wrong and I’m incompetent. Besides not hearing me out, shewasn’t even reading my process tool. I have two examples specifically of thisin regards to her not reading what was on it, and one good example concerningmy performance check-off. I was given my scenario with no written or verbalinstructions, so I just did what my previous instructor had told me to do. Shesaid not to worry about the lines, and to just write down what you would do inorder and write your rationale beside it. I had seven actions total, my fiveskills and two assessments. I was really trying to be as thorough as possible.I can’t remember specifics about my scenario, but the short version is that mypatient had CHF and the respiratory therapist is in the room suctioning when Icome in. So first I put “assess lungs and oxygen status” and then I put that Iwould give the Lasix IVP and so on. She sees my scenario and sees that I haveseven “actions” and starts to get upset that I didn’t use the five lines. She’salso only reading it half-asked and starts loudly asking about the suctioningover and over again. Well, it was last, after my reassessment, and only if itwas needed. She told me redo it only using the five skills. Since she had beenso hyper-focused on the suctioning, I assumed that maybe she wanted me to takeover for the respiratory therapist. So now that’s first on the list and theLasix IVP is 2^nd. It was wrong. She said that I missed the prioritywhich was the Lasix and that I have to come back and do another scenario. Itried to tell her that I had that the first time but she wouldn’t hear me out.Desperately wanting to get her back on my side, I fumble and fidget and lose myconcentration. I can’t find the tuberculin syringe to do my Heparin skill, so Igrab a 3 mL even though my med was less than 1 mL. Wrong. So I look again, andI still can’t see it. The only small one left is an insulin syringe. Wrong. Iknow this, but I also know that my instructor doesn’t have a high patiencetolerance. Long story short, I really blew it. I was still reeling from thescenario that she wouldn’t read. I came back the next day and everything wasperfect. I was not under the same amount of stress, which would explain myability to function normally.

I got an 80% on the final exam. Sheasked what was different about this test that contributed to my higher score. Itold her that I felt that the test questions were pretty clear, which was onlyhalf- true. After I got up and asked her my first question, I could sense thatshe was really irritated so I didn’t ask her my other two questions, which Iended up getting wrong. Even though I knew that I didn’t successfully pass the coursefor a second time and that it would result in my dismissal, I still wanted togo over the questions. I want to know what I’m doing wrong so that I can fixit. It’s true in every single course. I want to review every test so that I canget better. I would be concerned if the student didn’t want to review the test.A student who doesn’t want to know what they’re doing wrong obviously doesn’tcare enough to change. I think that it’s incredibly unfair for me to be treatedthat way for the pure and simple fact that I wanted to learn. I think that it’sstrange that I didn’t get my clinical evaluation until after the final. I alsothink that she had every intention of failing me for clinical if I had passedthe lecture portion. My clinical evaluation was terrible. She said ( or yelled,rather) that I was unsafe to administer Heparin (even though I had done it justfine in clinical), my care plans weren’t specific enough to my patient, my medrecall was terrible, and that a few weeks ago, my partner and I didn’t ask fora med reconciliation form. She said that it was HIPPA and that it was a patientsafety issue and that it was a big deal that we didn’t ask for it. I told herthat we assumed that there wasn’t one because it wasn’t in our stack of papers.The real question is, if it was such a huge patient safety issue, why didn’tshe say anything when it happened rather than wait until the last day of class?That was an issue 3 weeks ago and I had other patients after that. Was shegoing to let us keep making the same mistake over and over again?

Right after the heparin comment, I started to say, "You....". She then goes, "There you go... blaming others. You can't even take responsibility for your own mistakes". Had she listened to me, she would have known that I was just going to say that I was confused because she kept repeating "HIPPA" over and over again in the med room at clinical. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realized that she was talking about my performance exam, which isn't really even fair because she went out of her way to intimidate me during my check-off.

I was allowed to look at my finaland ask questions about it. At question three, she yells, “I’m not going to sithere and argue with you about this. If you want to know because you want toknow than fine, but….” I’m not sure why she’s so defensive about the questions,but some of them are eerily familiar to the way she asks questions. She’sunwilling to accept that other instructors require different things in regardsto their process tools, and that some instructors even use their ownparameters. She’s made snarky, passive remarks about my ADHD that I haven’tdisclosed to her, which means either that she’s on the Reinstatement Committee,some faculty members may have some confidentiality issues, or both.Nonetheless, nothing she said hurt as much as when she told me that I needed tofind a new career, because I wasn’t good enough to be a nurse. I might not bean “A” student, but I bend over backwards to change something if need be.

I've never encountered a more cruel and calculating instructor as Shipley. Her reputation out in the community is fierce, but it's nothing compared to having a front row seat to watch the devil rip your heart out.

Next post: Word of the day: blame... and how I figured out that these assholes were working together....

Five Weeks in Hell

NSG 222- My instructor was nice. She had incredibly high expectations, and we did our best to meet them. I actively participated in class. Although I could speak the content pretty good and could recite my meds fairly fluently during med recall, I was still failing the tests. It was incredibly frustrating. My instructor was very good about going over my tests with me. After the first test, I started to challenge the questions. In some cases I was just wrong, but in other cases my instructor would tell me that she thought that they threw this question out or that question out. Other times it would take her six times to read the question and try to figure out what it was asking, the same number of times that it took me. A few times she even told me that I was right, but the answer that I had chosen wasn’t the one that they were looking for. I asked her if they could keep the scrap paper that we get in the testing center to write down rationale if we have any problems. She told me that they couldn’t do that. I was really frustrated. I felt hopeless. My demeanor completely changed. I honestly felt that I had a handle on the content and that the questions were too vague. Our entire class looked as if they had been to war. Everyone was struggling.  Many of us went back to school after clinical to learn EKGs because we didn't feel that we knew them well enough to be tested on. J* was a lab faculty member and she is the only reason that we knew EKGs at all. Not only did she teach us EKGs, she would also talk about the content with us. On one day we were in the lab discussing the content that we were about to be tested on when another NSG 222 told us that what we had learned was wrong. We told her that Molly said that what we were saying was right, and she said, "Well, you can tell Molly that what I said is right and she can call me about it if she has any problems with it".We all had power points from another instructor and used those as well.  There were some discrepancies, which unfortunately contributed to some missed questions. I can’t argue another instructor’s notes. Even though I think it would be terribly disrespectful to do so, it was still unsettling that there were so many discrepancies, considering that all the students were given the same test questions. I did good on my EKG test, earning 9.5 out of 10 points. I did have to take my math test a second time. For check-offs, I had to redo my IV push and scenario. The only test that I did pass was the final, which I only got an 85% on. My instructor’s biggest issue with me was my process tool (care plan). I did try very hard to navigate Epic (the hospital's charting/ communication system) and find all of my information. Epic was new to me (I had never been to a clinical site that used it and neither does my work) and we didn’t have a lot of time to find things, so I did have missing data. She also had issues with my plan of care. At the Atrium, patients don’t stay for very long and my patients were always scheduled to leave that day or the next. With that in mind, my interventions were only those that reflected their current state of health, not their admitting diagnosis. Once I figured out that my instructor wanted a plan of care based on the disease and not the patient, she was much happier and told me that she was very impressed with my care plan and the improvement that I had made. Had I known that earlier, I would have done just that. In regards to my missing data, I refuse to make something up just to fill in the blank. I’ve been advised by other students to do so and that the instructors didn’t know the difference, but for me it comes down to integrity. I don’t want to get in the habit of thinking that it’s okay to make up stuff I don’t know. I don’t think that it’s a quality that a good nurse possesses.  
My instructor was aware that I had ADHD. In the beginning of the quarter, I had told her that I was having trouble getting my prescription filled due to a drug shortage, which was true, but mostly an attempt to hide my true feelings towards the test questions. She was very understanding and seemed like she cared a lot. I did everything that I possibly could, but I still ended up failing the course by about 7 or 8 points. I felt like I was not only a failure as student, but a failure as a mom as well. My kids spent many nights away from home for nothing. It truly broke my heart. My only saving grace was knowing that I wasn’t the only one having issues. Students who usually earned A's were struggling to get a B, and some were even struggling to maintain a C. Two, possibly three other students failed in a class of nine. This is NOT typical for students who are so close to graduating. Not to mention, NSG 222 has an incredibly HIGH failure rate (more on that later), which I was not aware of at the time. Once the grades were posted, it was official: I was holding my family back once again. In talking with my peers afterwards, I and two other students thought that it would be a good idea to talk to someone about NSG 222. It definitely turned out NOT to be helping hand that I was looking for.

Next post: Meeting with Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde

A (Very) Brief History of Events

Fall 2011- NSG 221, NSG 222, Cardiac Rehabilitation (Elective), and Disaster Preparedness (Elective)

At this point in the program, we have two classes each quarter. Each course is five weeks long.

1st five weeks- NSG 221 (Psychiatric Nursing)- Interesting but uneventful. I also took Cardiac Rehabilitation because I thought that it would be beneficial for NSG 222... not so much :)

Disaster Preparedness- This was a one day course that lasted seven hours. The instructor for this course, Sharon, is also a Preceptor for the nursing program. About an hour into the lecture, she stated that if you get any kind of chemical in your eye, you only need to flush your eyes for 10-15 seconds. WHAT? Did I just hear that right? I honestly would have let it go if it weren't for the fact that it was on her PowerPoint presentation as well. So of course, I raise my hand:
Me- "Excuse me, but did you mean 10-15 minutes?
Sharon- "No, 10-15 seconds is long enough to flush the eyes."
Me- "Ummm... it's just that every bathroom cleaner that I've ever read has said to flush the eyes for 10-15 minutes and I'd have to assume that your eyes would still be closed for the first 10-15 seconds while they're trying to adjust to the pressure of the water."
Sharon- "Well, it's 10-15 seconds, up to a minute. It depends on the chemical. I'm getting my doctorate in this and if Dayton is ever involved in any kind of disaster, I'm one of the first responders. I've given this presentation to my peers and they all loved it."

WHAT??? If she is one of the first responders, I want to be as far away from Dayton as possible. She's going to kill somebody. I was under the assumption that the eye washing thing was common sense... some sources even say to flush for 20 minutes or longer. I looked at my friend sitting next to me who has a degree in chemistry. He said, "You're right, she's retarded. I'm not even listening". I followed suit. At that point, I didn't believe anything that she had said anyway.

You might not understand why this is such a big deal, so allow me to explain: YOU COULD GO BLIND!!! There's a reason that labs have eyewash stations. Even restaurants have eyewash stations. Almost as bad as the negligent teaching is the fact that she gave this presentation to her peers and no one corrected her. Seriously? Adding insult to injury, there were so many spelling and grammar errors. Her peers must not like her very much. I was under the assumption that this information was common sense, and that surely there had been a time in her life where something got in her eye and she had to stand over the sink until her back couldn't take it anymore. If not, she really dodged a bullet because as soon as your eye stops hurting, your back starts hurting. It's just one vicious cycle.

Unfortunately, this course is very popular. It fills up quickly on registration day because there are questions on the N-CLEX that pertain to the course's subject matter. I don't know how long she's been teaching that course, but if even one student walks away from that class thinking that 10-15 seconds of flushing is adequate technique after an exposure, it's one too many. As a nursing student, I get calls all of the time for medical advice. People get chemicals and debris in their eyes all of the time. It's not a rare occurrence.

Not only is this negligence harmful to the community, it's harmful to the student. If my patient gets a hazardous chemical in their eye and I tell them to only flush for 10-15 seconds, I can't blame my instructor for my patient's resulting blindness. I will lose my license and the remainder of the settlement award that's not covered by my liability insurance will force me into bankruptcy. Thanks, Sharon!


2nd five weeks- NSG 222 (Cardiac)- There were nine students in my class, myself included. Of the remaining eight, there was only two that I'd never met before. The night before registration we had a huge storm that knocked out the power. We were lucky that we were safe and unharmed, because just down the street there were homes and apartment building that had whole roofs blown off. My laptop was dead so my awesome friend/ neighbor let me borrow her laptop so that I could mooch off of McDonalds' wi-fi and register. Low and behold, the rest of the world was there to mooch the wi-fi, too. Fantastic. By the time I actually got to sit down and log on, it was 10:01 AM. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is. One minute is the difference between your first choice and having to rearrange your entire life because you got stuck with night classes. Registration for nursing courses at my school is odd. In order to prevent students that are not in the program from registering for nursing courses, our classes are only open for registration for about three days. We get a letter in the mail detailing times and dates, like it's some covert mission to recover stolen art. Due to this, every student in the program registers at the same time.The whole process makes you want to gouge your eyes out. Long story short (no pun intended!), I had to be manually registered by the secretary of the nursing department. I wasn't happy that I was in this section. Our clinical site was out in the boondocks. It was almost mandatory that you had to take I-75 to get there, or a forty-five minute drive would become an hour and a half road trip- only without any company. For those of you who don't know, I-75 south is under some major construction. Not only does it play host to the world's most terrible drivers, portions of the highway do not have any kind of lighting before dawn. Long portions. One of my idiosyncrasies is that I think that I'm going to die while I'm driving on the highway.Clinical started at 7:30 AM and my kid's daycare didn't open until 6:30 AM, so clinical days were always a nightmare. During the first week of clinical, Sharon (who taught Disaster Preparedness) came into the room that we were in. My instructor, Molly, introduced her to our class and told us that Sharon was a Preceptor and that we have her for NSG 230. One student who lived nearby said that she would like to have Sharon as a Preceptor. I must've had some kind of look on my face because Molly smiled and said, "What's that look for, Susie?" Well, I'm an adult and I'm entitled to my opinion. Had I known that my next statement would be interpreted as a threat, I would have just kept my mouth shut (more on that later!). I said, "It's just hard for me to take her seriously. Not only can she not spell, she thinks that a chemical exposure to the eyes only warrants a 10-15 second flush. I mean, I make spelling and grammar errors all of the time, but I don't have an audience that I'm trying to impress, either. With so many errors, I have to assume that she just doesn't care... that and I don't want to go blind." We all laughed and packed up our stuff to leave. After that, I didn't laugh again for weeks. Life was miserable.

Next post- Five weeks of Hell

I May Have Lost the Battle...

I am a college student. Not just any college student, a nursing student. I go to a community college in Ohio that has a nursing program with an outstanding reputation. It is very hard to get into it and it is extremely hard to keep up with the amount of work involved. My program has a modified grading scale, meaning that is not based on the standard grading scale where 70% is a "C". Our lowest "C" is an 80%. This means that if a student ends the course with a 79%, they fail. If a student fails, they have to put in an application for reinstatement. After that, the reinstatement committee votes on whether or not the student can continue on in the program. As a student, you are only afforded this opportunity once. Sounds reasonable, right? It's a little harsh, but it does make for some safe nurses in the community, right? Well...maybe. The sad, ugly truth is that some of these nursing professors have huge ideas of grandeur. Their tenure makes them invincible and they will go out of their way to do damage control for one another. Simply put, they care more about their peers than they do their patients. Many of them haven't actually practiced nursing in years, yet they are the ones teaching students how to care for people. They walk all over students who voice their opinions or concerns, to the point that students not dare speak up about anything for the fear of being "targeted" or "red-carded".

I have been "red-carded".

Unfortunately for them, they mistook my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance, and my kindness for a weakness. I always treat others with respect, even if I want to dig their eyes out with a rusty fork. I don't care who you are: the President, the mailman, or the crack-head down the street. I will always treat you with respect. I have followed the chain of command outlined in my student handbook. I have suffered through meetings in which the main goal is to convince me that I'm incompetent. Nice try, but I can't be that stupid if I'm three quarters away from graduating. It only takes one person to make a change.

They may have won the battle, but...