To the Editor:
When you first read the title of this article, which I call Betrayed, you think, here we go again, another hard luck story. Here is someone who needs a shoulder to cry on.

This is not my intention, although to put my story down in words is therapeutic. The main reason for this article is to warn others there are unethical nursing schools out there whose main objective is not to produce caring, competent nurses, but to strip people of their hard earned money and humiliate them and leave them feeling very inadequate as to their ability to be nurses.

I know myself when I read articles in the past about a particular nursing school in the area I thought they were people who were not able to meet the grade, to meet the high academic levels needed to be nurses.

Now I know first hand this is not always the case. In this nursing school there were rules but they only applied to whom they wanted them to apply to. If desired students' grades were not up to par, then questions were dropped out so the student could pass the course and stay in the program, while others were sent home in disgrace to face family and friends with their heads down.

This was not my situation, however. My grades were more than adequate with A's and B's (a high percentage was A's). At my expulsion hearing I was told to apply to return next year. The ironic part was I was only two months away from graduation. At the meeting I was told good grades don't make good nurses. Myself, I want an intelligent nurse to care for me if I am ill. My downfall was that I was unable to function with an overbearing, critical, angry instructor yelling at me even when things were going fine.

When we were in the hospital patients would ask me what her problem was and why did she treat her students that way? I had no idea what to tell them or what answer to give.

I know different people have different personalities but when you are a nurse to have a professional, caring and patient attitude is important in my way of thinking. Perhaps I am wrong and have the wrong perception of what being a nurse entails.

In the March 29, 2008, Times Reporter, there was an article about patients in hospitals dissatisfied with hospitals because of many factors. One of these was crabby nurses and nurses who did not spend enough time talking to them or explaining procedures or giving them a feeling that they or their affliction didn't matter very much.

When doing my clinicals, I was told I was too caring and needed to be cold and hard. This is not my personality and feel if I was sick in a hospital bed I would appreciate someone showing me some kindness and tender loving care.

At my expulsion hearing, I was told I could not hold up to stress, plus even though no medication errors were made, if I had not been watched, they may have been made.

To be a nurse is the only desire I had for myself since my childhood. While in school, I gave my all, but found that not good enough. Before attending school, I worked a job where I gave medications, cared for my patients and received nothing but praise from my employer for a job well done with no errors, no regrets. My patients loved me and I still have the cards and letters they wrote to me stating their feelings.

I was born into poverty, raised in poverty and wanted to better myself while pursuing a love I have of caring for others. I can see I was put out of school for personal reasons and personality conflicts  rather than for sound concrete reasons. My main objective with this article is to warn others that having good grades is not a guarantee you will be allowed to stay in school and the desire to do a great job and make a positive difference in the lives of others counts for nothing in nursing schools that play by their own rules.

If you are considering going to nursing school, do yourself a favor: check into the background of the school you plan to attend. Find a school were you can flower and become the best nurse possible, where your grades count, where you are taught and not treated like dirt and criticized and humiliated and where the money you pay goes for supplies and you do not have to basically teach yourself in some subjects. In this school, there were some excellent instructors who truly care for their students, but the few who do not can make your dream of being a nurse a nightmare.

If you are someone who has a burning desire to become a nurse who wants to alleviate the suffering of others and make a positive difference in yourself, go for it. Just be careful and check out the school's past record or you may end up wishing you never set foot in the place. Find a school that does their students right and knows they are special, one that wants to help you realize your dream of being a nurse.

Kathryn King
Scio, OH 

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