It might be considered as an interesting case of grade inflation (sort of but not really) but this student is suing her university because she failed two courses. Yahoo!
A friend texted me about this the other day since we both formerly lived in the W-B area. Misericordia has a pretty solid nursing program. I briefly considered attending College Misericordia (now Misericordia University) before I settled on UofS. The most striking this is that this young lady really wants to become an R.N. and yet her anxiety causes her to essentially break down and cry during a written exam. Were she pursuing a degree in virtually any field I would have a bit more sympathy for her. But at the end of the day who would want a nurse incapable of handling any sort of a stressful situation?
I sure wouldn't want her to be my nurse. Did she go through clinicals? I don't see how she could survive those without breaking down.
According to the original news article, the class she failed was Functional Health Patterns of Adults IV which, according to the Misericordia website is part of the senior year curriculum. The website is a bit unclear (please, someone correct me if you found the answer to this) as to when the actual clinical experience takes place. I have seen references to second semester senior year and some wording indicating there might be clinical work during junior year, as well. That said, I was speaking with a nurse the other day who was lamenting how nursing education clinicals are now a joke (her words). She said that students are no longer required to actually have direct contact with patients the way she was required to when she was in nursing school twenty years ago. She said that the nursing students she had encountered were more like kids on a field trip rather than clinical interns. I generally take "kids these days" rants with a grain of salt. And I'm certain that the experience likely differs from school to school (and likely between clinical sites). It sounds like this young woman's entire college experience has been a struggle and it merely came to a head with this final course. I suppose it is possible she made it through her clinical requirement by way of a number of accommodations. It's sad that her dreams were derailed. But if you can't take a written exam without breaking into tears I would be genuinely concerned about how you would respond to a medical emergency that required a level head and quick thinking.
My teaching nurse friend's experience differs. She shares her funny, bedside-manner stories mostly generated by her students.
One of the reasons I dislike "kids these days" type rants is that they are often based upon emotion rather than any objective analysis. I'm glad that her opinion is not typical of all nurses.
