really disappointed after my trip to the BON

I have been in the peer monitoring program where i had to call every day for 3 years to see if i had to go pee.

there is NO way in jose that she just missed calling by a few minutes and was given a positive. just wouldnt happen.

i probably forgot to call a handful of times during my contract. each time, i called my peer counselor or the on call counselor immediately and checked in with them. i was always tested the next day when i called unless they told me that it was my day to pee and go do it. the counselors can check for you if you forget to call.

something else had to be going on. my guess...she was not compliant more than once and tried to manipulate the peer people.

of course...i've been known to be wrong. but with my experience with peer...that just wouldnt happen unless it was a continual thing from her.

I would think hormones can drive many of the decisions there. I would hate to be before them for anything!

If not hormones, then inflated egos, or a deadly combination of both.

Why don't they rotate some practicing nurses onto the boards? It would make people less likely to suggest that those on the BONs are out of touch.

Just my opinion....

Among the 8 registered nurses on our Nurses' Board three are definitely current clinicians and I think three are in nursing management roles. I'm amazed that isn't a requirement everywhere, but suppose I shouldn't be surprised - academia and management are sadly so often divorced from the real world.

Don't forget politics....

Don't forget the people who work at the Board who do the bulk of the work, including investigations and managing the disciplinary actions. They are state employees. Some are RNs and some are not. They are the people with whom you would be interacting...

Can anyone go and watch the BON in action? Are these hearings open to the public?

The hearings are open to the public. I attended one while in nursing school. I think we found the schedule on their website. It was very interesting. I came away very favorably impressed with my BON. They offered a second chance to a nurse who seemed to have a one time lapse in judgement (med charting). They also asked direct probing questions when they thought someone was trying to BS them. I'd highly recommend going.

When my 2 now 10 year old daughters were very small, I looked around at the young adults our society seems to be producing and didn't want that for my kids. I decided on 3 lessons that they needed to really internalize to become self-sufficient adults. Here they are:

1. Live is not always fair: Deal with it an move on
2. Work for what you want because no one is going to give it to you
3. Actions have consequences: YOUR actions or inactions determine the course of your life.

I think that this falls under both 1 and 3. Was the BON unfair? Maybe. Deal with it and move on. Did the nurse’s actions and inactions lead to consequences? Yep. No matter what the LPN did or did not do is irrelevant. The RN got a DUI and then did not comply with the BON. Extenuating circumstances aside, HER action and inaction led to her problems.

Does anyone remember personal responsibility? I don't know about you guys, but I miss it!