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The entire 1995/1996 season was a major disappointment for Nicole. Fame and fortune got to Nicole's head, so she lost that urge and desire to train consistently. Some of the time she actually did train was just spent stroking around the ice. Ignoring Callaghan's advice, Nicole and fellow skater, Todd Elderage, joined a popular skating tour during the early season when most top skaters are in serious training. Nicole injured her ankle during the tour, but she continued to perform instead of nursing the injury. By that point, both Callaghan and Nicole had realized that they could no longer work together, so Nicole changed coaches once more. She trained to the best of her ability for the next National Championship being held that year. Her ankle was still bothering her, but she decided to compete anyway. She managed a somewhat-clean short program that gave her a third place finish halfway through the competition, yet she could not finish because the pain was too great. She still asked the USFSA for a buy to the World Championship being held about a month later, but her injury was considered to be to immense to heal in that short amount of time. Nicole would miss this competition. However, Nicole still wanted to go to another competition being held in Russia, The Centenial on Ice. However, she had missed a few weeks of training to heal her ankle, and she had also been trying to work in two new boots that were off balanced. She gave two poor performances that could rival those given by her two years before at the Goodwill Games, yet she never gave up hope that her career could be salvaged. She continued to train, and she toured along with the rest of the top skaters during the summer
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