Lame Duck or Damaged Goods?

tabbeycatt · May 2, 2006

:uhoh21: I really have no words of wisdom about your current situation. I just hope it all works out for you.

On the flip side...I know that you have 20 years in ICU and you have your advanced practice nursing degree.... but your role was an "RN" at this facility. I have to agree about practicing outside your scope. I know your qualified but just imagine the legal ramifications the hospital would be up against had the pt's family said that you misunderstood their wishes.... or they changed their mind.... I would have involved the doc and had papers signed, sealed, and delivered and let him remove the tube.

With hindsight being 20/20 and all... would you make the same decision if you had it to do over again?

RN Randy · Jun 25, 2006

I have my Advanced Practice RN that I received last year in 2005 from Pittsburgh.
I was still working as a RN not as an Advanced Practice RN at this facility.
Once the SLB decides what the disciplinary action towards me is, will I be able to get hired as an Advanced Practice RN (remember i was still practicing as icu rn)

Wow... well 2 things come to mind....

1. tabbeycatt's an RN now!! U go girl!

and 2. I gotta agree with her, looks like you answered your own question

three times.

You must understand that the issue is not that "I'm well trained, everything's fine and the family is fine."

The issue is, you stepped outside your job description on duty.

Quite simply... properly trained and properly licensed are two

different planets. Once that's done, factor in the direct supervision thing too. Judging from your post you seem offended that

your experience and training are being questioned.

They're not. It's your judgement that is in question.

Laws suck. Policies suck. But without them there is chaos.

I am a CRTT, RpsgT, and lately an RN.... so I do understand the autonomy feeling you have in your head while working... on the clock as an RT, I have to be VERY careful not to be sticking IV's or hanging bags and stuff that people ASK me to do because they know I'm an RN. Why? Because I am clocked into a job description, not an overall training description.

Most facilities won't take the time to write up a description for a Nurse/Therapist and find it impractical anyway, so I have to clock in as

one or the other.

However; I can work a job as an RN and take the place of 2 people, RN and CRTT [specific environments, like a sleep lab or PFT lab, etc] because the CRTT scope fits UNDER the RN scope. But, also realize that in the literal sense, even then I'm still only working as an RN. The RT job just gets abandoned due to lack of need. It's complicated and it sux 4 air, I agree.

You ran into trouble because advanced practice doesn't fit under RN, only the other way around.

Now I can't say much more because there is a bigger question....

when you say advanced practice, do you mean something like CCRN or do you mean Nurse Practitioner? Big difference.

If CCRN, then yeah, you are in deep doo-doo. Not for pulling the tube, but for making the *decision* to pull it [and then pulling it].

And if you mean NP, you've still got trouble, but why in the world are you working as an staff RN a year later anyway?

As a former manager, I can promise you that you will be considered "damaged goods" for quite a while until this all blows over. Surf the WV RN board site

for random names with short license numbers.... I found one right off that was issued in 1945 and expired/deceased in 1986, with 1 diciplinary action on file. So 20 years after this person was buried in the ground, whatever they did still follows them....

I'd advise you to be VERY humble and apologetic about your mistake if you want to regain trust and respect, get out from under this investigation, and secure employment again.

You need to keep a positive attitude, but turn down the heat a bit [lose the arrogant tone and hick references] and realize that you must've done something [whatever it was] or you wouldn't have this trouble.

We must be very very careful what we choose to do out there.

I'm truly sorry for your troubles,

Wish ya the best of luck and hope it turns out in your favor.

rb

pama · Jun 28, 2006

Randy,

Great answer! I am very proud of you. You are going to be a wonderful nurse.

Have you moved yet? Whitlea really hates that Carrie will not be in her class next year. Take care and keep in touch.

Pam

Redneckmedic63 · Jun 28, 2006

I'd advise you to be VERY humble and apologetic about your mistake if you want to regain trust and respect, get out from under this investigation, and secure employment again.
You need to keep a positive attitude, but turn down the heat a bit [lose the arrogant tone and hick references] and realize that you must've done something [whatever it was] or you wouldn't have this trouble.

I also have to say EXCELLENT advice. Having also been a managerial-type in healthcare prior to being an RN, "humble" will be the key to your success! Admit your failures, prove that you won't make the same mistakes again and eventually someone will give you that chance!

Good luck!

Joe

RN Randy · Jun 29, 2006

Randy,
Great answer! I am very proud of you. You are going to be a wonderful nurse.
Have you moved yet? Whitlea really hates that Carrie will not be in her class next year. Take care and keep in touch.
Pam

pama.... I'm an idiot, LOL... didn't make the connection on your name... Duh!

Yeah, how are ya? I'm done, passed a couple weeks ago, now the genuine

article. Spooky, eh?

Currently in Lexington scouting out the area, and I start at UK in a few short-short weeks! I'm about to die.... can't start soon enough, LOL.

No idea what Robin and I are gonna ultimately do, but I'll be starting here and doing a 5 month orientation program in their trauma ICU, transitioning to the ED towards the end for permanent employ. Might just wait on moving the kids till then. Plus I want to do a buncha stuff to the hacienda before I try to sell it.

So I'll be a workin' fool for a while, saving those bux.

Keep an eye on the board and I'll be poppin' up here/there.

Good to hear from ya, I'll tell K-lynn Whit sez howdy, and u say hey to Big B [that's Bill, not Boss, haha.] for me.

take care!

rb

pama · Jul 17, 2006

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I've been on vacation. Back to work today.

It's great to hear about your and Robin's new jobs. They sound great. Something I would truely love to do, especially the ED. You both will really love the work.

I'm glad the "little one" will be staying for awhile. Bill says hi and he said to tell you congratulations!

Sue heard from Polly Friday. We have had 39 to test and 39 to pass, so we are on a roll.

Take care and keep in touch.

Trauma Columnist · Jul 18, 2006

UNEMPLOYEED - I am so sorry for the mess. However, I have been (and actually currently) in the same situation. I graduated in May 06 with my clinical nurse specialist, but continued to work as a staff RN in the ER for three months while I got an APN position. It was made very clear that as a staff RN, my role was subordinate to my APN and I could not practice as an APN until in an APN position.

Have you contacted your state board of nursing? I wish you the best. I do think this will be a very hard lesson for you. Take care.

slml1578 · Jul 20, 2006

Unemployed,

I definitely understand your question. I myself (an RN) have just went through the whole investigative process of the SB. Their investigation of my license took 12 months from the time that they started until they finished. I was unemployed (as an RN) for 2 months prior to their starting to investigate my license, unemployed (as an RN) for the 12 months during their investigation (in which there weren't any restricitions on my license to work as an RN), and I am still unemployed to this day as an RN, which is 4 months after the SB's investigation was completed and they rendered their decision, which for myself and my situation was that they were not going to take any disciplinary action (no fines, reprimands, probations, suspensions, or revocations) against my license.

So now you might be wondering why I am still unemployed 4 months later, or after the fact. Well, I myself am not completely sure, but the one most popular answer that I have gotten when I'm told by a prospective employer that someone else was given the job (even a....[no offense to new grads]....no experience-new grad gets a job before someone with experience) because none of my experience is current within the past 12 months and they then suggest that maybe I may want to think about enrolling into a "refresher course", but how is the amount of time that I've been unemployed any different than that of a woman who has been off for close to the same period of time due to the birth of a child, or a major surgery. I mean really, is every woman who decides to take off the last month of her pregnancy and the sequential first year of her newborns life told or suggested to that she should think about enrolling in a "refresher course" every time this occurs and she wants to go back to work, which by my research costs about $1,000.00 and my SB does not know of anywhere in my state that it is offered (this price is based on ones that I've seen offered in other states). Trust me, I tried to find a job during the investigation, but I encountered the problem of places not being willing or able to hire persons whose professional licenses are under investigation for anything. And I've been continually trying to find a job since then and have been unsuccessful. I had nothing restricting my license during investigation, and have nothing against my license now after the investigation has been over and done with, and I am still yet unemployed. I have been working 2 to sometimes 3 minimum wage jobs at a time since the whole thing started. My parents have had to help me financially, in which I've been staying with them and also at my brothers house, just depended on where my job was closer to for saving on gas. I have no medical insurance, so I had to apply to a charity program at my local hospital because the car wreck that I was in 2 and a half months ago which totalled my car and wasn't my fault had resultant medical bills in excess of $1,000.00, that I definitely could not afford on a slighltly above minimum wage job that I only got 20 to 25 hours per week from and had to make a car payment and insurance out of and a monthly physician offfice visit and monthly Rx plus gas and food. My parents picked up the tab alot in the past 18 months.

I had a friend who got in trouble years ago for drugs and got 6 years of probation from the SB for it, and she was employed the whole time.

My parents have recently began to suggest that they can only afford to pick up the tab for a short time longer and that I need to start considering other options like maybe going back to school to do something else besides nursing because realistically I and they can't wait forever which is true, but neither I nor they can afford that at this time. So for now all I can do is keep working my barely above minimum job.

One other thing I don't get is that where is the nursing shortage when I can't get a nursing job? I've applied to positions at 6 different hospitals which are within a 50 to 60 mile radius of where I live. And I have applied to more than 35 positions between the 6 hospitals in the past 4 months and only got one interiview, which was a month and a half ago, but at the end of the interview they told me that I should not expect to hear anything one way or another about the job until the end of July. So, now, all I do is wait..........................

Good Luck and Wishes and a many Prayers........