Purdue University's bachelor's program in nursing is geared toward students who want to jump right into nursing education and clinical placements. During the four years of the program, students will complete enough courses and clinical hours to qualify for licensure as Registered Nurses. As such, it is incredibly important to the University that nursing students attain specific academic and professional achievements. When students are unable to maintain satisfactory grades or are accused of behavioral misconduct, the University will not hesitate to discipline them.
Essentially, nursing students whom the school disciplines are at risk of losing their nursing careers before they even begin. The best way to ensure you are not unnecessarily punished with long-term consequences is to work with an experienced student defense attorney. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has helped hundreds of students at colleges and universities around the country defend themselves from accusations of misconduct. Call 888-535-3686 today for help, or schedule a consultation online.
Your future is at risk; let the Lento Law Firm help.
Honor Code and Code of Professional Conduct
Before starting classes at Purdue, you will receive the Undergraduate Student Handbook, which outlines the professional behaviors the University expects nursing students to abide by. Such behaviors include:
- Attending and being on time for classes and clinical placements.
- Ensuring they do not discriminate against their patients and clients.
- Maintaining HIPAA and patient confidentiality policies.
- Striving to build and maintain therapeutic relationships with patients and clients.
In addition, students are expected to abide by the rules listed in the Purdue University Code of Honor, including offering respect to anyone on or off campus and always maintaining academic honesty.
If a student is caught performing any of the unprofessional behaviors listed in the student handbook, they risk being removed from the program. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team will create a strategic defense on your behalf, ensuring you get the best possible outcome.
Remediation Policies
Most universities and colleges require students to maintain a minimum grade point average to remain in the program. When a student in Purdue University's nursing program has a cumulative GPA that is under 2.0 and an average GPA of 2.70 or less in their core science courses, they could be dismissed from the program or prevented from progressing to the next year or course with the rest of their nursing cohort.
Purdue University offers nursing students a chance to remediate their grades by repeating the course, clinical, or examination. The faculty member involved in the course or clinical that the student is performing poorly in will be required to submit documentation of the student's issue and the expected timeframe they will give them to take things over again.
For example, if a student fails an examination in their pathopharmacology course, their instructor can create a remediation plan for them to retake the exam. The hope is that by giving students an extra chance to pass, they will use it to study harder, understand the material better, and become more competent nurses.
As remediation is very common for medical programs, if your instructor fails to offer you a remediation plan, it is important that you hire a student defense attorney immediately. The Lento Law Firm will contact the nursing program and request your remediation plan. If the school pushes back, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team will push right back.
Suspension and Dismissal
Students who violate the code of honor or the professional code of conduct at Purdue can face significant punishments, such as suspension or dismissal from the program. Misconduct that will incur disciplinary actions, such as suspension or dismissal, include:
- Academic dishonesty, like cheating and plagiarism.
- OSHA violations.
- Poor grades or failing classes or clinicals.
- Unprofessional behaviors include disrespect to others, failure to implement empathetic care to patients or clients, and being consistently tardy or absent from clinicals and classes.
It is important to note that suspension and dismissal punishments tend to be noted on your final transcript. So, if you try to apply to another school later, they will likely ask you about any disciplinary action at Purdue. Having to disclose this issue to other universities and programs can make it more difficult to gain admission. This is why it is so important to do everything in your power to defend yourself from disciplinary action at your university.
Appeals
Once the disciplinary hearing has finished, the hearing committee or Conduct Officer will review the information presented and determine whether the accused student is guilty of unprofessional behavior. If they believe they are, they will notify them of their punishment.
Under Purdue's Regulations Governing Student Conduct, Disciplinary Proceedings, and Appeals policy, students have a right to appeal the hearing committee and Conduct Officer's decisions. Specific instructions for the appeal will be written on the disciplinary action decision notice. However, the appeal must be made on one of the following grounds:
- There is new evidence that will change the outcome of the original decision, but it was not available then.
- There is evidence that the University did not follow its own procedures in this disciplinary action.
- The sanction assigned does not match the severity of the violation.
After submitting the appeal, the appeals officer will review the materials and determine the outcome of the case. Whatever their decision is, it is final and cannot be appealed further.
How the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help
Getting into the nursing program at Purdue University is very difficult, and the school is keen on weeding out any students it feels aren't meeting its stringent expectations. When you are accused of professional misconduct or academic dishonesty, it can feel like that future you worked so hard for is just going to slip through your fingers. To prevent that from happening, it is important to work with a competent student defense attorney.
Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or schedule a consultation online.
