Paragraph 3.

Name Deleted College failed to follow policy for scheduling courses for Spring semester 2008.  Students in the Practical Nursing Program are not allowed to register for classes until they receive a schedule from faculty.  On December 21, 2007 I received a schedule for Spring semester 2008.  This schedule consisted of NUPN 1478-01 Refresher Clinical (course ID 000815), NUPN 1558-06 PN Clinical III (course ID 000805), and NUPN 1568-06 PN Clinical IV (course ID 000811).  This violates Name Deleted College Practical Nursing Program Policy Statements 2005 section IV. Satisfactory Progress Policy part R. which states “A student who has not attended a clinical rotation for one semester or more, must complete NUPN 1475, Practical Nursing Skills Review, (1Cr.), before returning to a clinical course.…”  This damaged me because it denied equal access to resources by denying the opportunity to train in a laboratory for skills that are required to succeed in the clinical setting.  This left me less than optimally prepared for clinical experience and thus denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 4.

Name Deleted College insisted on scheduling needless extra courses at the expense of Practical Nursing Program courses.  The schedule that I received for Spring semester 2008 included NUPN 1478-01 Refresher Clinical (course ID 000815) and NUPN 1558-06 PN Clinical III (course ID 000805).  The Refresher Clinical is not required by any policy and PN Clinical III was an orthopedic rotation on St. M’s Medical Center fourth floor east.  Name Deleted College clinical syllabi state that by the end of the program students will have rotated though each of these clinical areas (medical, surgical, orthopedic).  This worried me because I had already successfully completed an orthopedic rotation for Clinical II and this schedule left me without a medical rotation.  I addressed these concerns to Name Deleted College and was told that I had to take the Refresher Clinical and that the instructor for PN Clinical III could make it into a medical rotation.  This damaged me because the Refresher Clinical decreased my chances of successfully completing the Practical Nursing Program and failing to schedule a medical rotation denied equal access to clinical experiences intended for the practical nursing student.

Paragraph 5.

Name Deleted College failed to include my name on the January 14, 2008 clinical orientation roll for NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical.  As a result I was told to leave the clinical site and not allowed to participate in orientation.  This is a serious problem.  Name Deleted College Practical Nursing Program Policy Statements 2005 section III. Attendance part C. Clinical Attendance subpart 2. states “Absence on the ‘clinical orientation’ day may mean the student cannot attend the clinical and must drop or fail the course.…”  Because it was their fault, Name Deleted College allowed me to continue with the course after a briefing lasting about an hour on January 21, 2008.  This damaged me because it isolated me from the rest of the students in the clinical group and more significantly because it prevented me from learning the details about this course until it was too late to drop and because it denied equal access to clinical experiences intended for the practical nursing student.

Paragraph 6.

Name Deleted College failed to provide a course syllabus for NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical.  Instead I learned after it was too late to drop that they would apply the Clinical III syllabus.  This damaged me because it gave nursing instructor A. S. a pretext to apply an unreasonable standard in order to fail me from a course that would not count toward the Practical Nursing Program even if I passed.  This does not conform with the course description for NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 7.

Nursing instructor A. S. without cause removed me from the clinical site at St. L’s Hospital sixth floor west surgical ward on January 22, 2008.  This was the first full day performing nursing duties for this clinical rotation.  NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical was my fifth clinical rotation.  I had not been removed from any of the previous four at any time for any reason.  I had done nothing out of the ordinary on January 22, 2008.  At approximately 1100 Ms. S. called me aside, told me that I would never pass her clinical, and told me to leave.  The purpose of this gesture was to make clear that expelling me was a matter of ceremony: my efforts were destined to be futile.  This damaged me because it denied equal access to clinical experiences intended for the practical nursing student and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.  It caused me to miss post clinical conference, eliminated the first of two opportunities to turn in written work for feedback prior to evaluation, further isolated me from the rest of the students, was very discouraging, and destroyed any chance of establishing rapport with Ms. S.  But most significantly resulted in a grade of No Credit counting toward final evaluation in four out of five clinical evaluation categories even though it was the learning phase of the clinical rotation.

Paragraph 8.

Nursing instructor A. S. falsified evaluation documentation regarding my performance at clinical site on January 22, 2008.  This is evident in the following three examples.

1)     Under clinical evaluation category Communication, Interaction, and Documentation Ms. S. gives me No Credit and writes “1/22 ineffective communication (with) (patient) staff and instructor…does not seek out instructor to (initiate) communication.  All communication started by instructor.”  Yet under clinical evaluation category Medication Administration she gives me a passing score of (3) for administering oxycodone.  This dose of Percocet was given on a “prn” basis which means it is only given if the patient’s pain level requires it.  In order for me to properly administer this dose of medication I would have to communicate with the patient in order to determine her pain level.  I would have to communicate with the staff nurse in order have the dose of medication approved.  And I would certainly have to communicate all of this to my instructor in order to received a passing score.  These evaluation scores clearly contradict each other.

2)     Under clinical evaluation category Data Collection and Theory Application Ms. S. gives me No Credit and writes “1/22 Name Deleted  is unable to transfer theory to clinical.  No surgical interventions identified on back of worksheet.  Safety concern.…”  But there are nursing interventions related to the surgical diagnosis on the “back” and the front of the worksheet and many of these appear on all of the worksheets that I have done for surgical patients.  These include the following:

detecting and preventing atelectasis (lung collapse) related to general endotracheal anesthesia by listening to lung sounds and cough, monitoring respiratory rate, monitoring oxygen saturation, monitoring temperature, monitoring pain level and administering pain control medication, and teaching the reasons for and encouraging frequent coughing, deep breathing, repositioning, and ambulation; detecting and preventing venous thrombosis by checking Homan’s sign, maintaining the placement and operation of sequential compression devices (SCD), and teaching the reasons for and encouraging ambulation; maintaining integumentary (skin) integrity by monitoring the condition of the incision and dressing, monitoring skin color, temperature, and moisture, monitoring extremities for capillary refill time, monitoring pedal pulses, monitoring extremities for circulation, movement, and sensation, monitoring for paresthesia, changing bed linen, monitoring pain level and administering pain control medication, and teaching the reasons for and encouraging frequent repositioning; detecting and preventing bowel obstruction by listening to bowel sounds, monitoring flatus, monitoring appetite and nutrition intake, monitoring for nausea and vomiting, and monitoring stool output; detecting kidney and urinary tract function and preventing dehydration and fluid overload by monitoring intake and output of intravenous and oral fluids, monitoring number and amount of fluid voids, monitoring pulse, monitoring blood pressure, and monitoring edema; detecting neurological damage by monitoring alertness and orientation, monitoring thought clarity, monitoring quality of speech, and monitoring paresthesia.

3)     Under clinical evaluation category Nursing Care and Safety Ms. S. gives me No Credit and writes “1/22 unable to prioritize assigned tasks. Name Deleted  did not ambulate (patient) as instructed by primary nurse.”  I learned from interviewing this patient that she wanted to wait for her husband to arrive so she could walk with him.  And she did ambulate with her husband around 1000 in reasonable accordance with plan and staff nurse’s instruction.  My actions conform with Itasca Nursing Education Consortium Matrices section IV. (B) Utilization of Nursing Process: Planning Behaviors for the Practical Nurse which states “Appropriately involves patient in the planning for his/her daily care.”   

This falsified documentation damaged me because it greatly reduced my chances of passing NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 9.

Nursing instructor A. S. failed to follow policy regarding clinical attendance. Name Deleted College Practical Nursing Program Policy Statements 2005 section III. Attendance part A. states “Attendance is expected at all classes, lab, and clinical experiences.…Absence should be for serious illness or emergencies only.  Please schedule outside appointments around your school schedule whenever possible.”  And part C. Clinical Attendance subpart 7. states “Snow days:  If the college closes due to weather, clinicals are also canceled.  Listen for the radio/TV announcement that ‘Name Deleted College’ is closed….  Closures are announced around 6 am.  If college classes are not canceled but you are unable to get to clinical due to weather conditions, it is still considered a clinical absence.…”  On January 29, 2008 Ms. S. canceled clinical in violation of these policies identifying ice and bad driving conditions as the grounds.  I was not informed of the cancellation prior to leaving at around 0530 and so drove to St. L’s and reported to 6W.  I found the roads to be entirely passable.  This damaged me because it eliminated the last learning phase post clinical conference and thus all opportunities for me to turn in written work for feedback prior to evaluation, further isolated me from the rest of the students, denied equal access to clinical experiences intended for the practical nursing student and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 10.

Nursing instructor A. S. failed to apply a uniform standard for evaluation for NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical.  On February 11, 2008 at St. L’s Hospital sixth floor west surgical ward clinical site at approximately 1700 while I was gathering supplies for a blood glucose test I observed Ms. S. giving a female nursing student detailed instructions for a finger stick.  I also observed this student state that she had never done a finger stick.  In industry, finger sticks are routinely delegated to nursing assistants and proficiency as a nursing assistant is a prerequisite to enter the Practical Nursing Program.  At the close of the shift on the same day while I was waiting to meet with Ms. S. at her request I observed Ms. S. spelling medical terms for female students while they sat at computer terminals entering their charting.  Spelling is an expressly evaluated component of charting.  Under clinical evaluation category Communication, Interaction, and Documentation grading standards category NC (No Credit) part H. states “Consistent spelling errors with charting.”  Moments later Ms. S. was criticizing me for asking my primary nurse where the graduate markings were on a specimen cup.  Ms. S. refused to accept my explanation that the markings were very small and faint.  Under clinical evaluation category Data Collection and Theory Application Ms. S. gives me No Credit and writes “2/11 …Primary nurse states student asking questions regarding (patient) care that student should have known.  Example 1) how do I read this graduated cylinder?…”  This damaged me because this evaluation was used to remove me from NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical and this unreasonable standard denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 11.

Nursing instructor A. S. insisted on thwarting my communication with staff nurses during NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical.  Though she omits her instruction from the record until under clinical evaluation category Data Collection and Theory Application Ms. S. gives me No Credit and does write “2/11 …Instructor observed student asking primary questions about plan of care for (patient) and then filling in worksheet.  Student had been instructed not to do this earlier that day when reviewing student worksheets from previous week.”  But this instruction does not conform with Itasca Nursing Education Consortium Matrices section IV. (A) Utilization of Nursing Process: Assessment Behaviors for the Practical Nurse which states “Obtains information necessary to perform nursing care assignment from the nursing care plan and the clinical record, sometimes needing assistance in selection and interpretation.” or section IV. (B) Utilization of Nursing Process: Planning Behaviors for the Practical Nurse which states “Raises questions about the nursing care plan (in team conferences and/or in one-to-one communication with the nurse primarily responsible for the plan of care).”  This damaged me because it denied equal access to resources and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 12.

Nursing instructor A. S. falsified evaluation documentation regarding my performance at clinical site on February 11, 2008.  Under clinical evaluation category Medication Administration Ms. S. gives me No Credit and writes “2/11 at 1800 student instructed to talk (with) (patient) and primary regarding Tylenol dose.  At 1930 primary approached instructor….  Instructor asked primary if student spoke to her regarding 1800 Tylenol dose.  Primary stated student did not speak to her about 1800 Tylenol dose.  When instructor asked student about Tylenol dose at 2000 student states he could not find primary nurse.”  When I approached Ms. S. at 1805 about the 1800 acetaminophen (Tylenol) she told me she was going to dinner and that the medication could wait until 1900.  When Ms. S. returned we reviewed the medication administration record and determined that it was the patient’s choice between the 1800 acetaminophen or Percocet at 2100.  By the time I determined that the patient preferred to skip the acetaminophen in favor of Percocet it was after 1900.  When I couldn’t immediately find my primary I decided that I could inform her of the patient’s choice when I gave report at 2000.  This falsified documentation damaged me because this evaluation was used to remove me from NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 13.

Nursing instructor A. S. refused to allow me to attend training though I was enrolled and had arranged payment.  At the conclusion of our meeting on St. L’s Hospital sixth floor west surgical ward clinical site on February 11, 2008 at approximately 2030 Ms. S. informed me that I had failed NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical and told me not to return.  The result was that I was allowed to fully participated in only five of the ten days scheduled for this clinical rotation.  It is clear that Ms. S.’s goal was to eliminate me from the Practical Nursing Program. 

If she or L. F., the director of nursing programs for Name Deleted College, had any purpose to prepare me to continue via the appeals process they would have allowed me to take advantage of the two days remaining in the clinical rotation.  This damaged me because it denied equal access to clinical experiences intended for the practical nursing student and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

Paragraph 14.

Name Deleted College instructors failed to apply a consistent standard for evaluation.  This is evident in the following three examples.

1)     On January 29, 2007 during the learning phase of Clinical III on St. L’s Hospital sixth floor west surgical ward nursing instructor D. A. notes under clinical evaluation category Communication, Interaction, and Documentation “1/29 (patient) stated you were too quiet and shy.”  I was assigned another patient and given a passing score of (3).  On January 22, 2008 during the learning phase of Refresher Clinical on St. L’s Hospital sixth floor west surgical ward nursing instructor A. S. notes under clinical evaluation category Communication, Interaction, and Documentation “1/22 …(patient) and family requested not to work with Name Deleted …” I was removed from the clinical site and given a score of No Credit toward final grade.

2)     A worksheet that I made on February 5, 2007 during the evaluation phase of Clinical III was given a passing score of (2.5) under clinical evaluation category Data Collection and Theory Application by Ms. A.  Worksheets of very similar depth and thoroughness that I made on February 4 and 5, 2008 during Refresher Clinical were given a score of No Credit under clinical evaluation category Data Collection and Theory Application by Ms. S.  (Please note that evaluation phase for Refresher Clinical was scheduled to begin February 5, 2008 and that I had no opportunity to turn in written work for feedback prior to evaluation due to actions taken by Ms. S.)

3)     On February 12, 2007 during the evaluation phase of Clinical III Ms. A. notes under clinical evaluation category Medication Administration “2/12 (no) 3^rd (check) on oral med-safety” and records a score of (1.5).  (Please note that I did the 3^rd check after Ms. A. impatiently left waiting for the patient to finish using the restroom.)  On January 28, 2008 during the learning phase of Refresher Clinical Ms. S. notes under clinical evaluation category Medication Administration “1/28 did not ID (patient)” and records a score of No Credit.

This discrepancy in scoring essentially identical performance illustrates the unchecked power wielded by clinical instructors to fail students according to their whim rather than any standard.  This damaged me because it allowed clinical instructors to fail me for no reason and denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

(Please note the discrepancy in the rating scales provided in the Course Syllabus and the Evaluation Tool for NUPN 1558.  Clinical evaluation category Medication Administration states “A ‘NC’ in Medication Administration for the day also reflects in a grade of no higher than a ‘C’ (1) in Nursing Care and Safety for that day.”  While the syllabus specifies that a score of (1) results in a “D”.)

Paragraph 15.

Director of nursing programs for Name Deleted College L. F. wrongfully dismissed me from the Practical Nursing Program on February 12, 2008 citing Name Deleted College Practical Nursing Program Policy Statements 2005 section IV. Satisfactory Progress Policy part P. which states “A student who fails two Nursing courses will be dismissed from the program.”  However NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical is not listed on the Practical Nursing Program Planner and is not required by any policy. Name Deleted College Practical Nursing Program Policy Statements 2005 section VII. Graduation Requirements part A. states “Complete all college courses and total credits as identified on their Program Planner with a grade of ‘C’ or better.”  There is no policy that requires passing courses not listed on the Program Planner in order to continue or graduate from the Practical Nursing Program.  But the fundamental problem is the intent to deny me a fair chance to complete the Practical Nursing Program.  The same calculated hostility and lengthy list of policy violations that fouled the presentation of NUPN 1478 Refresher Clinical and culminated in wrongfully dismissing me could have been tailored for any clinical rotation.  This damaged me because it denied equal opportunity to complete the Practical Nursing Program.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands judgment against defendant as follows: