Retaliation for voicing concern over unsafe pratices

Nurses Activism

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Hi,

I am looking for some insight into retaliation acts by employers.I am a RN in a ICU setting at a major teaching hospital.I have been a resource to my entire unit.I received a promotion only weeks ago.I received a email from my unit manager only hours before she fired me "thanking me" for my dedication to the new nursing staff. I have never been written up, never a verbal warning.My evaluations have been excellent in all my years at this hospital. Until this past month....

I voiced my concerns over some incompetency acts performed by a coworker-nurse. These were acts that were not merely mistakes...they were acts that could have resulted in patient death. I tried to set a meeting with my nurse manager to discuss this nurses incompetent level of function...and I was met with a date to come in for a termination meeting...mine!

This nurse was the nurse managers best friend and recently was her assistant manager.She had done office work for years and had not taken care of any actual patient in years. When she opted to go back into staffing she "refused " to "accept" any orientation....and so she was left to learn by trial and error.In a ICU setting...thats just wrong!Othernurses had complained to the nurse manager to no avail...but I am a lil different.I have a history of being a strong patient advocate and I had told the nurse who was functioning incompetently that I was left with no choice but to go to our risk management dept re: her unsafe pratices.Hours later....I was "fired" for an alledged documentation error. This same kind of documentation error has resulted in no disciplinary action for other employees.Secondly ...my chart had been altered after I left...so I actually never had a documentation error.I dont know what to do. I have been a model employee for years.I have asked for dispute resolution....but they keep postphoning the dispute resolution hearing. What actually happens in a dispute resolution hearing? Are they a sham?Do you have any advice? I feel like I have been incredibly niave.Like I should have seenit coming...but didnt.

Any advice/insights on what to do?:o

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

If your state is a hire/fire at will, then you probably don't have much action, see if they will allow you to transfer is that a possiblity? Talk to a lawyer. I have been thur something similiar, the new nurse manager just didn't like me, she micro managed and well I didn't do well with that kind of managing. When I went through our grievance it was a joke I was told that there was nothing I could do and that sometimes they just want to get rid of someone, I was offered a transfer, so I went to our sister hospital which i had previously worked at, it was the best thing I ever did. I hope everthing works out, this can be really hard. :o

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i did contact an atty.our state does have a quitam and common law tort that directly states you can not retaliate against nurses for "whistleblowing" on unsafe pratices. the nurse pratice act clearly defines my legal responsibility and the state law provides me protection from whistleblowing.this is one of the few exceptions to " employment at will". i am not quite to the point of filing a suit yet.i am still trying to resolve this matter by the hospital's dispute resolution process.the problem is they keep postphoning that hearing. however...i will not agree to a transfer. that is just wrong. patients lives are involved. a transfer would be a way of saying that patient safety doesnt matter ...and that "i have learned my lesson to keep my mouth shut" when it comes to a patients safety and life.if that were your mother/child in that icu bed...on the brink of life/death....how would you feel if the previous nurse had agreed to a transfer...rather than doing what was right. do you see what i am saying? its a ethical thing....and i dontstruggle with my decision on that point. i lost my job...and it was illegal. i am asking if anyone has ever been thru any type of dispute resolution hearing? can anyone tell me what kind of questions they ask? is this just a sham hearing?i am asking for advice or any insight from anyone who has been thru a similar experience or knows anyone who has.

thanks though...but a transfer....is just not a option id accept.and thats an ethical decision for me too.it would just be wrong.

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I don't have any help to offer, but I'm sorry that happened. I have heard of signatures being forged in nursing, though it didn't really relate to pt. care.

I don't think it's right that your supervisor also supervises her best friend. That's just asking for trouble.

Thank you for being willing to stand up for your patients.

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Specializes in ER/ICU/STICU.

I think the best bet would be to go ahead with the lawyer. I doubt the hospital will keep "postponing" your hearing when they learn that legal action is to be taken. Just having an attorney contact the hospital may be enough to get the situation resolved.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
I think the best bet would be to go ahead with the lawyer. I doubt the hospital will keep "postponing" your hearing when they learn that legal action is to be taken. Just having an attorney contact the hospital may be enough to get the situation resolved.

I admire you for taking a stand, and I agree, it's awful that you're being railroaded like this. But suppose you are reinstated...

Do you still really want to work there? Or will this manager have you biting your nails over every judgment call you make?

Or do you just want to clear your name, report the incompetent nurse to the BON, and leave that facility?

Questions only you can answer. But please know that you have our support. :icon_hug:

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My attorney has already been in touch...that's probably the only reason I am actually getting the dispute resolution hearing.I would like to think my hospital wants "to do the right thing"....and that they do want any unsafe practitioners gone.That is what I want to think. I worry about my coworkers. When they fired me...they all quit complaining.They are scared to death. Most all the experienced nurses left shortly before or after this occurred.I was the nurse with the most CC experience...and was always the nurse they went to when their patient was "in trouble"..or they needed an opinion or information.I was very much respected and valued. My email acct is filled with "thank yous" and "compliminets" ...not just from my coworkers ...but also from this unit manager. In the last 6 months I had phrases from the unit manager like "what a great leader"....thanks for your dedication....another exaMPLE of your leadership abilities etc etc. In the promotion I received 6 weeks before I was terminated I actually have a copy of the letters of recommendation for my promotion written by ...no other than my firing unit manager. I was describedas a " role model for nsg".Then I complain about her best friends unsafe pratices...and I find myself fired.I am devastated.

I can not elaborate on how the patients chart was tampered with ...without violating HIPPA...but I am known for my detailed documentation.I found another job in like 2 hours.....my strong work ethic and CC experience are impeccable. But I am just "sad at heart" bc of this. I know that sounds corny. But its how I feel...brokenhearted and still in shock. I did the right thing ethically. My only worry is that my old hospital...is not particularly interested in enforcing their compliance policy.I hope I am wrong.I just dont know how these "dispute resolution hearings" go.I dont know if they are truly a sham or not.To make matters worse...the nurse who was acting incompetently...has told the entire unit I was fired for documentation issues. I thought that was protected info. It is just a bad situation when your ex assistant manager steps down into a staffing position to be supervised by her best friend who is the manager. Whats even worse...I heard they are going on another cruise together.Does anyone else smell a rat here? Maybe I shouldnt worry about it....and just concentrate on filing a legal action.

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Angie.

I dont know.You brought up a point I hadnt thought about. Suppose they reinstated me and fired the incompetent nurse....Then what?If that manager was there still...she could make my life hell. The ICU I am at now is really an easy job...but I want my name cleared. It is just a mess.I never thought about being a patient safety advocate possibly getting me fired. I feel like a niave...idiot.Like I should have seen it coming.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
Angie.

I dont know.You brought up a point I hadnt thought about. Suppose they reinstated me and fired the incompetent nurse....Then what?If that manager was there still...she could make my life hell. The ICU I am at now is really an easy job...but I want my name cleared. It is just a mess.I never thought about being a patient safety advocate possibly getting me fired. I feel like a niave...idiot.Like I should have seen it coming.

Or you could look at it this way:

Forging that document was a great compliment because they really couldn't get to you any other way--they had to commit a crime to get rid of you.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
i did contact an atty.our state does have a quitam and common law tort that directly states you can not retaliate against nurses for "whistleblowing" on unsafe practices. the nurse pratice act clearly defines my legal responsibility and the state law provides me protection from whistleblowing.this is one of the few exceptions to " employment at will". i am not quite to the point of filing a suit yet.i am still trying to resolve this matter by the hospital's dispute resolution process.the problem is they keep postphoning that hearing. however...i will not agree to a transfer. that is just wrong. patients lives are involved. a transfer would be a way of saying that patient safety doesnt matter ...and that "i have learned my lesson to keep my mouth shut" when it comes to a patients safety and life.if that were your mother/child in that icu bed...on the brink of life/death....how would you feel if the previous nurse had agreed to a transfer...rather than doing what was right. do you see what i am saying? its a ethical thing....and i dontstruggle with my decision on that point. i lost my job...and it was illegal. i am asking if anyone has ever been thru any type of dispute resolution hearing? can anyone tell me what kind of questions they ask? is this just a sham hearing?i am asking for advice or any insight from anyone who has been thru a similar experience or knows anyone who has.

thanks though...but a transfer....is just not a option id accept.and thats an ethical decision for me too.it would just be wrong.

since my nursing license is from the board of nurse examiners for the state of texas i'm glad to know our nurse practice act provides protection for whistleblowing. i pulled out my bne nursing practice act book, and i wonder if you've looked at sec. 301.413. retaliatory action, lately?

sec. 301.413. retaliatory action

(a) a person named as a defendant in a civil action or subjected to other retaliatory action as a result of filing a report required, authorized, or reasonably believed to be required or authorized under this subchapter may file a counterclaim in the pending action or prove a cause of action in a subsequent suit to recover defense costs, including reasonable attorney's fees and actual and punitive damages, if the suit or retaliatory action is determined to be frivolous, unreasonable, or taken in bad faith.

(b) a person may not suspend or terminate the employment of, or otherwise discipline or discriminate against, a person who reports, without malice, under this subchapter.

© a person who reports under this subchapter has a cause of action against a person who violates subsection (b), and may recover:

(1) the greater of:
(a) actual damages, including damages for mental anguish even if no other injury is shown; or

(b) $1,000;

(2) exemplary damages;

(3) court costs; and

(4) reasonable attorney's fees.

(d) in addition to the amount recovered under subsection ©, a person whose employment is suspended or terminated in violation of this section is entitled to:

(1) reinstatement in the employee's former position or severance pay in an amount equal to three months of the employee's most recent salary; and

(2) compensation for wages lost during the period of suspension or termination.

(e) a person who brings an action under this section has the burden of proof. it is a rebuttable presumption that the person's employment was suspended or terminated for reporting under this subchapter if:

(1) the person was suspended or terminated within 60 days after the date the report was made; and

(2) the board or a court determines that the report that is the subject of the cause of action was:
(a) authorized or required under section 301.402, 301.403, 301.405, 301.406, 301.407, 301.408, 301.409, or 301.410; and

(b) made without malice.

(f) an action under this section may be brought in a district court of the county in which:

(1) the plaintiff resides;

(2) the plaintiff was employed by the defendant; or

(3) the defendant conducts business

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I'm going thru this same thing now. I blew the whistle on a Thrusday, and by Monday morning I was discharged because of a "patient complaint." It makes me absolutely sick to think they-nursing administration-can do this without consequence...I'm not the first this has happened to.

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:nono: :nono: :no: :no: :barf02: :barf02: :no: :no: :nono: :nono: I complety agree. It is horrible to think that nsg administration would just kinda " throw away" a dedicated valuable employee who is simply trying to do the right thing and ensure patient safety.There is NO valid reason for my termination.I was terminated within hours of notifying my HCF of the situation. It turns your life upside down.What makes it even worse is when they try to attach the stigma of me being "terminated". I mean...for a nurse she had called "dedicated" and a "role model" only hours earlier....I am going to be interested to hear the hospitals defense. I brought this forward to this HCF in the spirit of mainatining a safe environment for my patient...bc....thats my job.Thats who I am.I am a patient advocate.....and unfortunately right now.....thats not a "popular" thing to be.
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