How likely is termination?

Nurses Safety

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My boyfriend, also a nurse, has always had great evaluations but he made a big mistake. For reasons that he admits were due to his misunderstanding of something the nurse who replace him said, he failed to give a give the verbal report of his patients to this nurse or to the charge nurse. They could not reach him for three hours to get the report as he was traveling and turns his phone off when he is driving. He called when he got the message. As the HR person who handles this sort of thing was on vacation, he got put on paid administrative leave until she returns. He has never had any issues before at all. We are very worried he will be terminated over this. Totally ruined our holiday and he is very depressed. He is a perfectionist an the insecurity about whether or not he will be terminated is getting him down as well as his anger with himself for making such a mistake. (He really is hard on himself.) This limbo is hard on both of us. What do you think his chances of being terminated over this are? And do you have any suggestions as to how I can help him get through the week until he is able to talk to someone in HR? Thank you.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I think that termination would very harsh. I hope things turn out OK. All you can do is wait and see. If he has been in no trouble before they should have a good reason to let him go.Let us know how he makes out.

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Thanks, loriangel. I think it would be harsh, too. Your words will help us get through the day. Will keep you posted.

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"due to his misunderstanding of something the nurse who replace him said"

What did the replacement nurse say?

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My boyfriend, also a nurse, has always had great evaluations but he made a big mistake. For reasons that he admits were due to his misunderstanding of something the nurse who replace him said, he failed to give a give the verbal report of his patients to this nurse or to the charge nurse. They could not reach him for three hours to get the report as he was traveling and turns his phone off when he is driving.

Are you saying that your boyfriend left without giving report, and that they were unable to contact him for three hours to get report? If this​ is the case, this might be a very serious situation.

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I would say like 0 percent chance of termination. He didn't abandon. The shift ended and they knew he was leaving. His replacement was there and you said there was a misunderstanding so he obviously exchanged a few words with her. You say he's a good employee, he will be fine. EVERYONE makes mistakes and this one resulted in zero patient harm. Verbal report is great and helpful but it's not the be all and end all--that's why the chart exists.

Also I know it's not exactly the same, but back when I was a tech there was a girl who NEVER gave report to the oncoming tech. She never even got a slap on the wrist.

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I would say like 0 percent chance of termination. He didn't abandon. The shift ended and they knew he was leaving. His replacement was there and you said there was a misunderstanding so he obviously exchanged a few words with her.

If taped or written report was available and all he neglected to provide was an update, I agree that termination is not likely. However, it was not clear from the OP so I asked for clarification.

In retrospect, I should have waited for clarification prior to posting an opinion and have removed that comment from my previous post.

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Well, he knows it is serious. He doesn't tell me exactly what the conversation was except to say he thought that she indicated she would get what get what she needed from his chart notes. And when he got home family was here to surprise him and he forgot to turn his phone back on. He called right away when he got the message and apologized to the replacement who also was sorry for the miscommunication. But in hindsight he realized he could and probably should have done a verbal with the charge nurse or someone else. His hospital doesn't do taped and written is chart notes. And he is kicking himself for the phone because distraction is no excuse. We expect consequences but are worried he will lose his job. On administrative leave now. I know answers have to wait. I think I am looking to see if anyone has experienced something similar and what happened. The unknown can drive you crazy and you grasp for ways to cope until you know.

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He really does not need to have his phone on 24/7. It's not the right of the hospital to be able to contact him whenever they want. He didn't do anything wrong in that regard.

He made a small mistake. If I were him I would be asking for back pay for this time off. It's silly.

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He really does not need to have his phone on 24/7. It's not the right of the hospital to be able to contact him whenever they want. He didn't do anything wrong in that regard.

He made a small mistake. If I were him I would be asking for back pay for this time off. It's silly.

Agreed. Silly indeed.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

I would never agree, as the incoming nurse, to "get report" based off of the notes made during the previous shift. There's no Q&A opportunity that way (just like taped report, I don't care for that either, but it is a step above getting report from charts!). My thought is that this is such an unheard of occurance that the immediate response was to place him on administrative leave until they can decide how to proceed.

There is a nurse where I work that will forget to ask about something during report and then call the off-going nurse at home to ask. She works days, the previous nurse is coming off of nights and has gone home to bed. And then she gets pizzed when the night nurse doesn't answer the phone. Um, that's b/c she's sleeping?! She doesn't replace me (different units), but she'd only call me once over something like that!

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Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.

At my first job, we had LDRP. We'd usually have a labor and a couple of postpartum for each nurse. When you got to the pushing stage, someone else would keep an eye on your new mommies. I came in on shift with another nurse also working 12's. The outgoing nurses gave us report (we did group report so you knew about everyone). As each one would tell about her patients, she would leave. Last nurse gives us report on patients in room 2 and 6. We begin our shift, do assessments, hand out drinks, etc. The shift is going just fine. At about 10:30, a family member emerges from room 5 and asks for a drink for the patient. I ask what room she's in, and she tells me "5." My partner and I look at each other like deer in the headlights. The family member departs, and we start asking each other if anyone knew anything about this patient. Nope. The last nurse to give report forgot to tell us about the new mommy in room 5. We had a "floor sheet" that would list each patient and a brief note, and when the forgetful nurse (also charge that day) filled it out, she forgot to put the patient on it. None of her coworkers were there to remind her that she had someone else. The patient was fine, thank goodness, and hadn't needed anything. We called our manager to explain why there would be a 4 hour gap in charting, and the patient never new the difference. I guess she thought she was getting some rare peace and quiet in the hospital, and the nursery nurse had been in a couple of times. After that, I checked every single room when I came on shift. All that to say that the forgetful nurse, as far as I know, never even got a slap on the wrist. But our manager was very laid-back and had an "all's well that end's well" philosophy of management.

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