Concerned daughter of an unemployed nurse!

[motherluver]

First and foremost, I am NOT a nurse nor have any knowledge of what I should disclose or not. I am writing this in regards to my mother who has been an RN for over 10 years. A couple of years ago my mother had an incident at her job which resulted in her being fired and landed her in hot water with her BON. She ended up having to pay a disciplinary fine, but was able to keep her license without any restrictions or limitations. However, since the incident, she has been in between nursing home jobs, which she loves, but she has yet to find stability. She has been on the hunt for years now, but oftentimes can't find work in hospitals or clinics which we believe is due to the prior incident.

Right now, my mother has been out of work for a little over two months now and is becoming discouraged. She is the sole provider for her mother, younger sister, and 2 kids. A well paying, stable job is what she needs more than anything. How can my mom go about achieving this? Would contacting the BON be of any help? Is there still hope for my mother in the nursing field? Should she go back to school? Any help or advice or words of encouragement would be amazing. God bless.

[caliotter3]

This is not going to be of much help, but many nurses with varying levels of experience are having trouble finding work or keeping at a stable position in nursing, even those who have pristine records. The best way your mom can deal with the employment situation is to develop genuine professional relationships with other nurses on the job. Develop relationships with people that she can call upon for leads, recommendations, and help. Especially concentrate on maintaining good rapport with supervisors and managers, so that when they are queried, they can give good references.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I am so sorry about your mother's situation.

Unfortunately, your mother is competing in the employment market with a mass of nurses who have no blemishes or censures on their licenses. Who do you think hiring managers will select first?

Contacting the BON will not be helpful. One of the main functions of the BON is to protect the public, not the nurses.

Nursing homes, private duty, home health companies, group homes for IDD clients, and adult daycare centers seem to be the most open-minded when hiring nurses with previous license censures.

Good luck to your mother!

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

How come she isn't able to KEEP a job once she finds one?

That is the question you should be asking.

As part of the hiring process, her past issues with the BON will be evident to the employer who confirms her license. She has evidently been able to be hired since the BON event, but she's constantly losing her job once she's been hired.

This tells me that the problem is NOT her old event, but rather her current practices.

Is she pleasant to work with? Do her coworkers like her? Do her patients like her? Does she do the work she's supposed to do? Does she show up on time every shift? Does she complete her work before leaving? Does she take only the breaks that she's allotted by company policy?

You need to be talking to your mom about this, not a bunch of strangers on the internet.