What Should The Exam Board Have Done? Or the Judge?

[Grandma]

I don't understand what the problem is,the test can't be 9 hours long without lunch and bathroom breaks can it?Why couldn't she pump then?I nursed all of my babies and never had "medical complications"if I didn't get to nurse or pump my milk every two to three hours.I know it can get uncomfortable but that would not be any type of medical complication.
This woman sounds like she has it together,to have gotten this far and have 2 babies is a wonderful achievement,and to have dyslexia and ADHD too.But I still don't see the need for extra breaks.

[Nursing Spectrum User]

OBNurseJeanne said:

bonnie'sblue said:

Nursing mom complains about test-taking rules September 13, 2007 NEW YORK -- A new mother who wants extra breaks so she can pump milk during a nine-hour medical licensing exam has asked a judge to settle her dispute with the board that administers the test. Sophie Currier, 33, requested additional break time during the test, saying that if she does not nurse her 4-month-old daughter, Lea, or pump breast milk every two to three hours, she risks medical complications. But, board spokeswoman Dr. Ruth Hoppe said, 'If we are variable in the time that's allotted to trainees, we alter the performance of the examination." Currier has completed a M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard University while having two babies in the last two years. Currier also has a 22-month-old son, Theo, and has already received special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia and ADHD. AP Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. © Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group |Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Submission Guidlines She lost her court appeal. I wonder what she did. The test date is past. Does anyone know? I have mixed feelings. I can't see what it wouold have hurt to accommodate her but a lot of comments I've read are full of vitriol against her, expressing lots of jealousy.

[BlueBear.]

I agree with Grandma and OBNurseJeanne. I nursed all 3 of my babies and there were times that I had to wait to nurse/pump. Once was my dear friend's wedding, in which I was a bridesmaid. I did get engorged and uncomfortable, but did not suffer any medical complications. Her suit really sounds frivilous to me!

[Nursemommy]

This thread after the IVF one. Is everybody wanting special privileges and if not, let's sue. She is definitely setting back women and breastfeeding. She got breaks. And becoming engorged is not a medical complication. She should have pumped before test, during 45 minute break and then after test. For someone so intelligent, she sure isn't acting like it. I'll save my sympathy for the uninsured neighbor with cancer. That's who people should be bending over backwards for.

[Nursing Spectrum User]

Ryan,RN said:

bonnie'sblue said:

Nursing mom complains about test-taking rules September 13, 2007 NEW YORK -- A new mother who wants extra breaks so she can pump milk during a nine-hour medical licensing exam has asked a judge to settle her dispute with the board that administers the test. Sophie Currier, 33, requested additional break time during the test, saying that if she does not nurse her 4-month-old daughter, Lea, or pump breast milk every two to three hours, she risks medical complications. But, board spokeswoman Dr. Ruth Hoppe said, 'If we are variable in the time that's allotted to trainees, we alter the performance of the examination." Currier has completed a M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard University while having two babies in the last two years. Currier also has a 22-month-old son, Theo, and has already received special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia and ADHD. AP Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. © Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group |Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Submission Guidlines She lost her court appeal. I wonder what she did. The test date is past. Does anyone know? I have mixed feelings. I can't see what it wouold have hurt to accommodate her but a lot of comments I've read are full of vitriol against her, expressing lots of jealousy.

[lindapnp]

I agree with the rest of you, yes there would definitely be meal and bathroom breaks during a 9 hour exam which should allow her time to pump. I don't understand the medical complications? Is she referring to herself or to the baby?

[Nursing Spectrum User]

bonnie'sblue said:

Nursing mom complains about test-taking rules September 13, 2007 NEW YORK -- A new mother who wants extra breaks so she can pump milk during a nine-hour medical licensing exam has asked a judge to settle her dispute with the board that administers the test. Sophie Currier, 33, requested additional break time during the test, saying that if she does not nurse her 4-month-old daughter, Lea, or pump breast milk every two to three hours, she risks medical complications. But, board spokeswoman Dr. Ruth Hoppe said, 'If we are variable in the time that's allotted to trainees, we alter the performance of the examination." Currier has completed a M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard University while having two babies in the last two years. Currier also has a 22-month-old son, Theo, and has already received special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia and ADHD. AP Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. © Copyright 2007 Sun-Times News Group |Terms of Use • Privacy Policy • Submission Guidlines She lost her court appeal. I wonder what she did. The test date is past. Does anyone know? I have mixed feelings. I can't see what it wouold have hurt to accommodate her but a lot of comments I've read are full of vitriol against her, expressing lots of jealousy.

[KITTY1]

Frankly, I'm just tired of people asking for special dispensations all together.

[merleeagain]

Two questions - - was the test 9 hours BECAUSE she was already getting extra time for her disabilities? and could someone bring the baby to the test site so she could breast feed while taking the exam?

Just curious.......

[Texagain]

I'm less than sympathetic to her complaint, also.

She has already been allowed extra time because of her diagnosis of ADD.
At 4 months post partum, she should have a regular and established milk supply. She has generous breaks that allow time for pumping and all the other things she should need to do like eat and go to the bathroom. She said that she was afraid she would get mastitis if not allowed extra breaks for pumping or nursing, but at 4 months with an established supply, she would most likely just become overly full if she skipped a feeding/pumping session. This might reduce her next feeding or pumping by a small amount, but she could correct that within a few pump/feed sessions. I doubt, really, that it would cause her any problems at all at 4 months, though.
I think she's just fishing for extra priveleges which I don't think she deserves. If testing is so inconvenient for her at this time, she should reschedule.

[Jolie III]

I read in another article that she was being allowed to take the test over 2 days instead of 1 (due to her ADHD), and that she had been offered a private room for her test so that she could pump during the test session, but she declined.

I agree with the others that she has been offered accomodations that are more than adequate. The other article I read stated that she has already failed her boards once (before the baby was born). Maybe I'm just a skeptic, but I can't help but wonder if that is the reason for her special requests. What does she think she will do about pumping when she is working a full time job? I don't know of many in healthcare that allow for regular breaks every 2-3 hours.

[Peachy Keen]

After my son was diagnosed with ADHD this spring, I'm convinced I have it also, but I took my boards with no problem. Everyone has made such great points that I can't really add anything else to it! Maybe the max time allowed for the test is 9 hours. I know in GA the LPN NCLEX is allowed up to 5 hours, with three or four breaks thrown in, but most people finish their test early. I finished mine in one hour, maybe she could have finished hers early too. Sounds like having all those babies so close together has made her used to getting sympathy from everyone else. Wonder how she finshed school with all the "maternity leave" she had to take.

[cancelllllll!]

Sounds to me like someone feeling test anxiety (who doesn't) and looking for excuses to cop out of the test.

From the sounds of it, she has used her deficits all through her schooling as well, used them to get special benefits, and will continue to use them through out her life.

Should someone who has dyslexia be writing, reading and carrying out medical orders? I'm sure she is super smart--Harvard and all. But then I suppose she will have a personal assistant to help her along as well, if she ever does get through the test, thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia

[poliopilot]

Becoming engorged with milk is not a medical problem. Mastitis is a medical problem, barely, because it's easily treated, but I doubt that you get it from being somewhat uncomfortable because you need to nurse the baby or express milk. She sounds as if she has an overblown victim mindset, and the biggest fear (and regret) I have is that she'll pass it on to her kids.

[Mary Sue]

I don't know what her situation and diagnosis is. I do know that at many college campuses across the country, there is a huge crush of students asking for accomodations for ADD, and the majority of them have never been diagnosed before college. Translation - they are just trying to get more time for their exams.