I Need Some Advice About My College Being Unethical Towards Me?

I'm disabled and my college is trying to prevent me from completing my last semester as a nursing student due to my disabilities. I completed fall semester with a GPA of 4.0. They have been stalling and very unethical in their actions in the past 2 months. Should I fight or let them have there way and look the other way when it comes to rights, justice, and ethics? What do you believe is the right thing to do? Should I fight for what is right? Or should I do what thousands do, and walk away? Thank you.

They aren't allowing me to continue on in the spring- they will remove me from the program. They said my dx. aren't relevant nor really any of their business, yet they are charging me of violating self-care. They say it has only been two months since I've cut, but any professional knows not cutting in 60 plus days is huge. They haven't contacted my doctors for information. They won't learn about my diagnoses, yet they are nurses. I'm protected under the Disability Act. I just don't know what to do?

How are they being unethical? Give more info.

So you are a cutter. There might be a questions about the stress of the program causing you to do it again. And of course, they would rather avoid the situation then dealing with it.

You are very close to graduating. Check out the college network. Where I live, the community college is so full, that you have to get a number in a lottery to get in line to sign up for a course. If and your number is too high, you end up taking a semester off so you can sign up for the course the next semester.

So, a lot of students are finishing the program at the college network, they guarantee you pass the NCLEX after taking their exams.

I know this is not what you want, but if you start the program now, you could be an RN before the fall semester begins.

Good Luck!

How are they "preventing" you from completing your last semester?

Exactly how are they preventing your completion?

To your additional information. You want the school to make an exception for you based on a mental illness, and feel you should be accomodated under the Americans with Disabilities Act, when in fact mental wellness is essential to performing your duties as a nurse. If your next semester involves patient care, and it's only been 2 months since your last cutting episode then I feel that they have a valid reason (patient safety) to prevent you from enrolling.
Yes, we need to accomodate persons with physical/mental disabilities, but it does not have to be done at the risk to others.
Not cutting in 60 days is commendable, but it is not a long enough trend to say that you are safe.

I'm not trying to sound cruel or unsympathetic, but isn't it possible that your disability may actual prevent you from performing the duties of a nurse, and so they have decided to not let you finish? Obviously, if that were the case, it's a horendous mistake on their part to have even let you being the program, let alone get this far.

Assuming your ability in no way shape or form could prohibit you from performing your duties, then yes you should stand up for your rights, and fight to finish your course. If you actually aren't capable of doing what is required of a nurse, then you need to accept it and move on.

Please understand that we are all disabled in some way. Not everyone is able to do everything in this world. I'll never play professional baseball, my friend will never fly a plane, another will never be a teacher. Maybe you'll never be a nurse. That's just the hand you were dealt.

I hope you are able to finish your program, but if not at least accept that it may have been for a good reason that they refused to let you finish. Not knowing what your disability is makes it hard to tell if they were being realistic, or if it was an irrational judgment.

You should fight them to death, otherwise you'll regret it and it'll be too late. Obviously you took nursing because you liked it and are passionate about it. And it is your right to take whatever course your heart desire. So my answer is STICK TO YOUR GUNS

Nursing is one of those occupations where you not only need didactic knowledge but some psycho-motor skills so you can take care of your patients.

If your school has a list of those skills and you must be able to do them to graduate AND if that list was available to you prior to starting the program AND you are unable to do all of those skills, the school has a valid reason not to graduate you.

For example, if they listed the following as required skills to graduate and made the list available to you prior to entering the program:

Insert an NG tube.
Start an IV.
Give an IM shot.
Insert a Foley catheter (Male and female)
Pass a BLS course
Pass an ACLS course
Pass a PALS course
Pass a NRP course

If you can not do them due to physical handicaps, then they would have a valid reason not to graduate you.

However, you said college and college nursing programs, while very strong on the didactic, are usually weak on the clinical skills. I doubt they had such a requirement in place when you started the program. If the list came up after you entered the program, it could be seen as a deliberate attempt to prevent YOU as an individual from graduating.

You can fight them in one or all of three ways.

First, you can file a criminal complaint against them under the Americans with Disabilities Act or your state anti-discrimination laws. This would not cost you anything and if they have to defend against it in court, it will cost them a bundle. This alone may force them to let you complete your program.

Second, you can go to the press. Depending upon how liberal your local paper is, they may rake the college over the coals. Bad publicity hurts donations. This also may encourage them to let you finish your degree.

Third, if they do kick you out and do not let you graduate, file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against them for denying you your rights. This would be most effective if the first and second approaches did not work because those two will have made it known to them your views on their actions.

However, one last point, while you should insist on your rights, keep in mind that if you do graduate and get your RN license, one of the questions for licensure is about you having any disabilities that would impact your ability to do the job. If you can not safely or adequately do some of the job, then you should seek a nursing position that you CAN safely do. Psych nursing for example requires much more "brains" than it does "brawn."

Try this link...
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm...
It is a link to the US Department of Justice who are the people charged with enforcing the Americans With Disabilities Act.
They list contact numbers and you may be able to get some information and help through them.