really disappointed after my trip to the BON

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!

I don't see it as being tough, I see it as being morally and ethically unfair.

I read the list of disciplinary actions in our state last night when I had insomia.

Case after case of people on drugs, diverting meds, ALL allowed to keep their license and keep working. Some of them had been before the BON more than once...yet, given chance after chance.

Then there was one RN...She had been licensed for 14 years and was a nurse manager at her hospital. She went out of town on vacation and got a DUI and didn't report it.

It wasn't until she renewed her license, several years after the DUI, that they even "caught" it. When asked on the application if she had a DUI since her last renewal, yup....she messed up...she put "no" on the application for renewal.

Granted, she shouldn't have done that. But by golly everyone that has had a DUI in their lifetime doesn't have a major drinking problem or is an alcoholic. Sometimes (not always, but sometimes)...it's just a matter of making the mistake of driving...thinking you were ok...and to find out when the police pulls you over, that you are not.

Did they give her a warning? Nope.

Did they let her do counseling? Nope.

Did they suspend her license temporarily? Nope.

They just flat out revoked it.

No more practicing nursing for her....they have an abuse registry in my state...these are people that have ABUSED patients that are STILL working.

My question to the board would be: Who would YOU rather have working on you?

Someone with multiple infractions of abuse and drugs, or someone who made a serious error in judgment, ONE time...and it didn't even have anything to do with a patient or their place of employment.

The obvious answer is neither...but seriously.

I don't see how the BON justifies what it does.

Also, if you do a research of court cases that involve your state's BON...you'll find out that very often, when they are challenged in court for pulling licenses....the court doesn't side with them unless there is the same level of proof as you would need in any other court case...not the "he said/she said" crap that is causing some nurses to lose their licenses.

BabyLady I wish I could say I disagree about some groups of women, but what you say can all to often be true.