LA Times - Problem nurses stay on the job as patients suffer

Interesting to compare these incidents to the employers who file false allegations with the Board against nurses that they have fired because they didn't want them around anymore.

Filing false allegations against someone is just as despicable (in most cases) as covering up real incidents.

I have been fired more than once because of falsified disciplinary reports, and in one case I really am surprised I wasn't reported to the pharmacy board. Maybe it was because they didn't have anything on me? IDK. And I am not the only person to whom these employers have done this, so no, I do not feel singled out or anything. There are pharmacists who will not move to the city where this happened because they know what could potentially happen to them. And yet nothing is done to the people who do this. You mean, HR can't figure out why turnover is so high in these departments?

The nursing board or hospitals aren't denying anything in the story. There's just the predictable finger pointing. Unfortunately in many situations, change happens only after a scandal is exposed. Maybe instead of lawsuit payouts, the hospital budget crunchers might figure out that the money would be better spent on hiring more good nurses. I think there are a few jobless nurses here that would make great candidates.

We recently had a male nurse working for us. He had originally rec'd his license in IN and then moved to FL and obtained a license there. In FL, he worked at a prison and assaulted the female inmates by groping them and saying things like "Who are you going to tell that will believe you. I'm a NURSE and you're just a criminal." He moved back to IN and went to work on our med/surg/ortho unit.

He was working on our floor SEVEN days a week 12-16 hour shifts. His stories about why he left IN didn't match up. Someone looked up his FL nursing license and saw it had been revoked. They printed the information out and gave it to the manager. He was fired from our unit for lying on his application, but... he still has a valid IN license because the state of IN does not have an official group that investigates complaints against nurses. You would have to file a complaint with the Attorney General and whoever filed would have their name listed on the document!

So..he's still out there.

Stuff like that scares me.

You have no BON anymore, they won't come in to work because they're not getting PAID!
Banks don't take your IOU's anymore. Sorry California, but do something....

Yes, When the patient was assaulted he should have been arrested, as long as the patient didn't start it. Then Felony assault on a healthcare worker law should apply. Pushing someone away is a defensive posture. We will never know who started it, but a pattern of behavior well documented would incriminate the staff not the patient.

Leave it to the lawyers....
Maybe the state prosecutor will come in for his IOU too.

After that investigative report, Governor Schwarzenegger took action in a big way by firing MOST of the members, including the President, of the Califorinia Board of Nursing. One member was so appalled by the firings that she resigned her position. Gov. Schwarzenegger had replacments already lined up for those positions. He cleaned house...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,5570676.story

Oh wow- he wasn't playing around huh?

That is the most pathetic thing ever. Why does the IN State BON not investigate those that they license? Hoosiers!

Sadly it comes down to filling shifts and not about pt safety.

What frustrates me about this article more than anything is the press and the public opinion of nursing that this writer brings about with his article.

Considering the public's idea of nursing comes from Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, and now Nurse Jackie, the last thing we need is bad press. Yes, there are bad apples in any industry, but to single out nursing frustrates me. By and large there are so many amazing people who are so under-appreciated for the amount of work they do and the knowledge they have. This article reinforces the image of nurses as sadistic and drug-abusing people who weren't smart enough to become doctors, when WE all know it's not that way.

Yes, I'm a California RN, and by all means, I think that those abusive people should have their licenses revoked, yesterday. But to write an article about it when we already have less-than-stellar press frustrates me.

Our BRN has been totally re-invented now, in part because of the ripples that article caused, which may have the desired effect of making the BRN act more quickly (I think not being furloughed a few days a month might also help, as well as having a state budget for the BRN...).
What worries me is what other ripples may come from that article, as far as public perception goes. I know so many intelligent, awesome nurses who truly care for their patients and do their very best every day.
Where is the article about them? Where is the article about the top 10% of nurses?
Where is the article that discusses all the physiological, pharmacological, psychological knowledge and just plain love we bring with us to work every day?
That's my question.

End soapbox.