Complaint Review: Institute of Technology - Redding California

(IOT- REDDING) Great school if you don't like doing homework, or class assignments and teachers that let you skip out of clinicals early every day. Some days we would only stay an hour at clinicals, and the teachers would let us leave early. I can’t remember one day that we were actually given homework, and the majority of our theory class involved listening to the teacher read from the book.

I witnessed a teacher Tricia Weaver, and student Erzsebet Doughtry, work together to steal the medication ‘lidocaine’ from Copper Ridge Care Center’s treatment cart, so that Tricia could perform an unlicensed procedure on Erzsebet DURING class. She used the stolen medication to perform a minor surgery on Erzsebet’s toe under I.O.T.’S roof. I probably was the only person in class who realized how illegal this was for a nurse to steal medication, then perform a procedure that is normally done by a licensed MD. Tricia Weaver resigned shortly after I informed the school that she was sleeping with one of the students in our class. Tricia also had no problem talking openly about her sex life during class, and bragged about how she was a ‘pro’ at cheating on her husband Mike Weaver.

I witnessed students showing up to class and clinicals completely intoxicated and even passed out during theory class. When our teacher, Craig Sammons realized that said student had passed out during his lecture, he and the class laughed it off, and the lecture continued. The popular thing to do during break time was to grab a few beers at the local Applebee’s across the street from our school, and teachers had no problem with us grabbing alcohol during lunch times in the middle of clinicals, while the teachers ate with us at other local restaurants. I.O.T. also had the best marijuana for sale in its parking lots by its students. It came in handy with the stress that came with being a student here, so I couldn’t complain about that.

It’s also important to note one of I.O.T.’s biggest secrets. When you enroll, they assure you that if you miss more than two days, you are dismissed from the program. Everyone believed it at first. Then I would notice students who had missed 3, 4, 5, even 8 days or more of school, and yet no repercussions. The ONLY way to be expelled from this school is to leave voluntarily, or to fail the initial drug test. I overheard how easy it was to pass these drug tests, as one student admitted to carrying clean urine in a bag, and attached it to her leg, and she passed no problem.

On one occasion I witnessed a teacher, Jane, instruct a student, Solomon Schweitzer, to pick up the dirty catheter he had dropped on the floor, and place in inside the patient's bladder, as it was easier to use the dirty one the floor then to walk all the way down to the supply closet and grab a clean one, at copper ridge care center. I sure hope that patient didn’t develop a nasty UTI.  I was amazed that this was what IOT was teaching its students.

I had problems with teachers refusing to answer my nursing questions. One teacher in particular, T.W. would refuse to answer my questions when I mentioned that I wasn’t getting adequate answers from my other instructors. He maintained that he didn’t need to answer my questions as he was ‘only my clinical teacher’. Terrane had no problem answering other students questions during clinicals. In fact he gave most students special treatment. Towards the end of our program I was forced to fabricate information gathered from charts to use on my homework as T.W. took great delight in cutting me off from reading the charts. Yet he allowed the girls in our class to take as much time as they pleased to read the charts, and even sat with them during clinicals to answer all their nursing questions. I couldn’t help but feel discriminated against, as I was not a ‘top heavy’ female. Good luck if you’re a male at IOT. What kind of teacher picks and chooses which students he will teach?

$30,000 in loans and you’re expected to pretty much teach yourself at I.O.T.  School promised me tons of hospital experience but we spent most of our days in dirty SNF's doing CNA work. This school is so corrupt, maybe even more corrupt now then when it was called 'lake college'. If you want a real education, go to a real school, and you'll probably save a few bucks in the process.

It’s important to note, since I’m blowing the whistle on this sad excuse for a school, that I made NO attempt to fabricate, or exaggerate what I witnessed.