goody goody nurse gets in trouble ??

Nurses Professionalism

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Hello! I am a three year nurse. Worked in LTC And was recently fired from an ICU (working nights)for wrongful delegation. I left the unit for a break, had an aid sit and watch the call lights. This is a very small unit(5beds) and the medsurg nurses were 10 feet away watching the monitors. They have terminated me and said they are going to contact the ohio board of nursing. What should I expect? I have returned to the LTC but don't know if OBN will contact them about my case. Please help. I've never EVER been in trouble

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.
Hello! I am a three year nurse. Worked in LTC And was recently fired from an ICU (working nights)for wrongful delegation. I left the unit for a break, had an aid sit and watch the call lights. This is a very small unit(5beds) and the medsurg nurses were 10 feet away watching the monitors. They have terminated me and said they are going to contact the ohio board of nursing. What should I expect? I have returned to the LTC but don't know if OBN will contact them about my case. Please help. I've never EVER been in trouble

I am a bit confused about the staffing situation in this case - I am assuming that some of those "ICU" beds were empty, right? What was the plan for licensed coverage for your breaks? I am very familiar with small/rural hospital standards, and it is not unusual to have only 1 RN in an area, but there must always be some sort of process to provide 'coverage' by a qualified individual. If so, THAT is the person you should have notified of your break in order to make sure your patients were covered.

FYI - every state is different but in my state (According the most literal interpretation of my our NPA) if you do not arrange qualified coverage & asked the CNA to 'hold down the fort' while you are off the floor, it would constitute 2 violations: improper delegation & patient abandonment. The employer would (at minimum) have to take this through Peer Review (employer process). If they decided to terminate, the employer is mandated to report it to the BON.

I do agree with PPs - hard to believe that you were terminated if nothing actually happened to the patient(s) and this was a first-time issue. Seems like counseling would have been more appropriate. BUT I urge you to take the time to recall everything that happened & make your own record of it... in case you have to face a BON hearing at some point in the future. If you have , and it provides legal services, you should give them a call for expert advice.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

One question. Was the med-surg nurse 10 feet away capable of handling ICU level pts?? That maybe part of the problem, not only was the tech/CNA left to hold down things, the other nurse was not qualified to care for that level of pts..

I am not sure how hard your previous employer will push this, if they do and the board contacts you, get a lawyer.

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I had 3 step down patients. And yes , the nurses on the medsurg floor were capable of handling the situation. No one got hurt. Yea I really feel scared

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I think that anyone who has to face the BON over any issues should hire an attorney -- just to be on the safe side. I would never face an investigation by the board -- or even a termination for a cause that could jeapardize your livelihood -- without professional legal advice.

I don't think the board is going to be very harsh (particularly as no one was hurt), but I would get proper legal advice and have an attoney represent me in all dealing with the board just the same.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/CVICU.

If the med surg nurses were qualified to care for the pts and they were the ones who were supposed to be covering your breaks and you gave them report which they felt was adequate to care for those pts then how is firing you justified?

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When my supervisor asked the medsurg nurses two days ago if I told them, neither of them could remember.... I'm kinda upset about it . They both are afraid of losing their jobs too I think. I called my super to see the end result of their decision to call the BON or not

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Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
When my supervisor asked the medsurg nurses two days ago if I told them, neither of them could remember.... I'm kinda upset about it . They both are afraid of losing their jobs too I think. I called my super to see the end result of their decision to call the BON or not

I'm confused. If you reported off to them, because that is the chain of command, why would they be in trouble? Who typically covers you when you need to go on a break?

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Hello! I am a three year nurse. Worked in LTC And was recently fired from an ICU (working nights)for wrongful delegation. I left the unit for a break, had an aid sit and watch the call lights. This is a very small unit(5beds) and the medsurg nurses were 10 feet away watching the monitors. They have terminated me and said they are going to contact the ohio board of nursing. What should I expect? I have returned to the LTC but don't know if OBN will contact them about my case. Please help. I've never EVER been in trouble
The question would be...did you follow policy and procedure and was the patient endangered. We cannot offer legal advce as per the Terms of Service.

My personal thoughts are...do not discuss this on public forums any further and contact your so they can provide legal advice. If you don't have malpractice insurance get some now...it won't help you now but it might in the future. NO NURSE should be without malpractice insurance especially in today's job climate. If yo don't have insurance...my suggestion is that you never deal with the board without a lawyer. If you can't afford a lawyer there are providers of pro-bono legal service in every state.

ohioprobono.org

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

If your previous employer does not tell you you've been reported to the BON, you'll remain in limbo for weeks. If they DID report you, you'll get a registered letter in the mail. If they didn't, you'll wait on pins and needles forever waiting. It's almost easier to get the letter.

If it were me, I'd call HR and beg them to tell me what their plans were, as far as reporting to the BON.

The waiting is agony.

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One incident is enough to get you fired? Is this normal in Nursing? If so then "We're a team" is nothing more than a catch phrase in nursing, huh? I only say this because I've read so many times on AN about "Teamwork" being so important as a nurse, yet posts like this tell me that your "team" will just throw you to the sharks... Great coaching, management :rolleyes:
the team phrase is just hr and management propaganda in most places. how anyone takes this seriously is beyond me.
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the team phrase is just hr and management propaganda in most places. how anyone takes this seriously is beyond me.

I guess I'm a little naive. Don't get me wrong, In the jobs I've worked I realize that "Teamwork" was a myth, but with compassion supposedly being a big part of nursing I guess I thought that teamwork would apply there. Frankly, I thought it would be essential, but I guess in the name of the bottom line the clever powers in charge have found a way around it. Gotta hand it to them, not only did they figure out how to make teamwork go obsolete, but they've also found a way to make the work environment so against teamwork that peers look for ways to criticize each other and not step up for one another for fear of losing their own job.

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I guess I'm a little naive. Don't get me wrong, In the jobs I've worked I realize that "Teamwork" was a myth, but with compassion supposedly being a big part of nursing I guess I thought that teamwork would apply there. Frankly, I thought it would be essential, but I guess in the name of the bottom line the clever powers in charge have found a way around it. Gotta hand it to them, not only did they figure out how to make teamwork go obsolete, but they've also found a way to make the work environment so against teamwork that peers look for ways to criticize each other and not step up for one another for fear of losing their own job.
I have only worked as a nurse for two years in the same unit so i have limited experience. I saw (seems to be less now) alot of coworkers run to management with every little thing . pointing out other's faults , so they seem to really care about pt safey when that was just a front for being a tattle tale,kiss up, or to be preceived as the better nurse. didnt happen to me or at least nothing was ever brought to my attention. once a few start this, pretty much everyone does. which obviously leads to less trust in the team or even asking for help. especially for the more observant and smarter. i know as a new grad i would only ask 1-3 nurses any questions and only after asking pharmacy . doctor or looking at the policy because i knew every little thing i didnt know might be reported to management. paranoia or not, i dont knowthe whole compassion being a big part of nursing is so annoying to me. i dont think it is any bigger in nursing than in most other jobs. some of the worst personalities at work can put on any amazing show for pts. loldont be too scared , i have also had many awful shifts not be as bad as they could have been because i was working with a group that actually helped!!! it was easier after the first year when i was more confident and knew where i stood in relation to others and disnt deel as incompetent for asking for help
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