working under RN whose license is on probation

LPN01112005 · Sep 10, 2005

Hi, im in california, and am faced with a problem Ive never encountered before. Our new DON has her license on probation. She was effidently hired while license was on probation, and worked as an active RN for a couple of months before she was put in another position, we were told due to other reasons, Im uncomfortable working with this person as I feel it is wrong what our facility is doing. Any suggestions????

When I was in nursing school, one of our lead instructors had her license on probation for the first few months of our program during which time she was unable to accompany us to clinical, however, she was able to continue as classroom teacher. She was the smartest, most helpful instructor I had. After my first semester, the probation was lifted and she was able to go into clinical with us, and I don't mind saying that she proved the be one of the BEST nurses I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

No one really knows WHY her license was on probation. It was common knowledge that they were, however, she never told us why and to my knowledge no one ever asked. We heard through the grapevine at one of our hospital sites that she had been in rehab for an alcohol problem after being found impared on the job a few years earlier.

My point is, please don't dismiss your DON's ability as a nurse based solely on the fact that her license may be on probation. She may be nearing the end of her probationary period that could have been two years or more. In the end, we are all human, and we all make mistakes. Unless you know the full scope of details surrounding her probation and have found that it is something totally unforgiveable like patient abuse, then I wouldn't get too worked up over the fact that she may be on probation. She can still be an effective leader.

live4today, RN · Sep 10, 2005

LPN01112005.............Ditto to everything you just said! Amen, too!