disciplinary nightmare

dphrn · Dec 11, 2003

To me, it seems like there may be more to the story. You state you were "misunderstood", but you put the RN after your name. What does the medical asst. making more money than you have to do with your situation? Focusing on other people may appear you are not taking responsibility for your own actions.

I know you did not "harm" a patient, but the responsibility of the RN profession begins at the beginning. The smallest of things may matter, even if we don't think they do at the time. If you didn't know the proper way to sign your name, what else may you be misinformed of? The board may be thinking along this line, not fair, but it may be the reality.

Please don't take this out of context. I want to look at this from the other side of the coin.

[email protected] · Dec 11, 2003

rosieposey,

Piewacket gave you the best adivice. Think your in the worst position possible?

Let me tell you! Became RN at age 34. Worked ER until last June. Some people decide they don't like old nurse, so they get security gaurd to make up story about wine bottle in locker. They fire 56-year old, 20-year ER nurse. Nurse can not get unemployment compensation or any other job, especially nursing job. Nurse feels your pain. Can you feel nurses pain?

Jon.

Sheri257 · Dec 11, 2003

Originally posted by rosieposie
Just for laughs to let you all know....Right now they are being audited by medicare for he 3 rd time for improper billing. He's facing loosing his lic to practice with mediacre pt's for 2 years......Im just trying to give you a picture about them....

It doesn't matter so much what they do, you're still going before the board and your license is still threatened with paperwork you signed.

One of my instructors really pounded on us about dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" not just on paperwork, but everything else. He kept warning us, over and over, that any little thing could jeopardize our license.

You can't be too careful in this business.

passing thru · Dec 11, 2003

Rosie. I have read your original post 3 times and read all the other posts.

Here is my opinion/advice.

First, the BON has NOOOOOOooooooo interest in any excuses that you had a baby,

"Maybe my head was in the clouds", or the previous employer is out to get you, "getting even", etc.

The BON has one objective: TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. ...

to protect the sick and vulnerable public from dishonest nurses.

And, to protect the public from stupid nurses.

So, start with telling yourself , " I wrote RN after my name because_________________________________________."

You must be able to finish that sentence prior to going before the board.

You do not need to tell us why.

If you say you thought you were an RN................then that will scare the heebie-jeebies out of the board members.

It would make me think you were either .....

lying or incredibly stupid. (See the role of the BON above).

You cannot shift the blame onto the folks who gave you an RN pin and say, "Hey, I thought I was an RN when I got that pin."

Hear the buzzer????? Wrong answer!!

From what you said, the paperwork was finished by the time you made your note and it was going into the files .... why bother to represent yourself as an RN on a meaningless note?

Who cared? The office secretary could have done what you were doing. It did not require a registered nurse to call and give a pt . their lab results.

If you had done it once, that would/could be "wishful thinking."

To continue doing it, you were misrepresenting yourself.

The BON is very strict about that. They do not take imposters lightly.

I think the board members are not going to focus on what you actually did - - -

the problem is you know what you did was wrong,

but you do not know WHY you did it.

Nor do you know why you did it over time.

The board is going to focus on your inability to explain why you did it. They know you know. Or they will hope you know.

Because if you go in there and tell them you do not know why you did that...............................

Self awareness - - - knowing what you are doing--is a big deal in nursing.

And accountability - - lord, was that ever preached to us !!

You must - - at every minute of the day, be able to explain (if asked) why you did what you did.

At this point, you cannot account for your actions.

That is the big red flag.

The board members will hear your situation, usually in a big and fancy office . They sit around a big table. You are at the head of the table. There's usually 6-8 men and women there. They all usually question you.

They've usually made their decision by the time you get there, by the correspondence they have had with you. ....their decision is 80 % made. That's why you need to have a persuasive story to tell.

One question:

Why did you feel you needed to hire an attorney?

How did you make that decision?

BarbPick · Dec 11, 2003

I know of a story, not as out there as this one, where a nurse has a travel contract , hired by phone interview. Met all the requirements , including a current physical. Came to the hospital, worked about 3 weeks nights and the hospital cancelled the contract.

The Hospital rep gave some verbal comments about the nurse's charting and said she had mood swings, Nothing written, all verbal complaints. The agency's compliance nurse did not buy it, she did the backround check of the nurse and it did not sound right. The Agency Compliance called the BON and their investigators swooped down like a swat team. They audited every word the nurse wrote, the main investigator said, they can tell everyting from charting, who is alert, who is missing a beat. They found in favor of the nurse, and after speaking with employees, it was a case of "working while being FAT" The nurse was obease and the hospital took her sigh unseen.

The hospital is has been cited. The charge people who made the allegations are appearing before the board.

This is in South Carolina

Agnus · Dec 11, 2003

You state you have a nurse attorney who is very costly and has said very little to you.

Yet you come to this forum for what amounts to legal advice and for opinions on your case.

I am sorry but I must ask, what are you paying for your attorney to do?

Who is paying your attorney?

If you are paying this lawyer then you need to REQUIRE her to answer the questions. She works for you. You are essentially her boss in this case. It is your money. Do I have your attention?

You are entitled to answers from your attorney. You are entitled receive communication from her.

Bottom line is we really cannot help you on this forum with this problem. All we can do is speculate from a very uninformed and not attorney perspective. Nothing said here will make a hill of beans of difference on you case. We cannot tell you the merits of your case. Only your attorney can.

Rapheal · Dec 11, 2003

I wish you luck at your board hearing. You have received some excellent advice in preparing to answer the question of why you did what you did. So I hope you are preparing an answer. I wish I could give you some advice on that one but I honestly think your honest answer will be the best.

I would like to point out that although the board CAN suspend your license for 2 years- they may not WANT to do that. So no need to have a fatalistic fear that they will attend the hearing with the only thought of suspending your license. Try to think positive because becoming more anxious about this is not good for your mental health. I wish you luck again and am praying for you.

LydiaGreen · Dec 11, 2003

Rosie Posie.. I feel bad for you, really. But, as was said before, we were PREACHED to about how we represented ourselves verbally and in writing. Big time, throughout the last two and a half years... at least once a month this issue was brought to our attention. My concern is that if your defense is that you did not know that you were a GN instead of an RN, that the BON will take a look at your school. The people in charge at your school are going to ask the instructors, the instructors are going to say this is when and where it was stated. I'm worried that if you use this as your reason (after the BON talks to your school) that you will be left hanging with no safety net. This is pure speculation, I have no idea if BON would talk to your school. But that's the problem with asking for advice on a BB.

As other posters have said... talk to your attorney.

healingtouchRN · Dec 11, 2003

I am so confused, how does one not know one is an RN or not? I mean this possibly can't be in the states..... :confused:

BarbPick · Dec 11, 2003

seems to be a case of the teenaged girl who wrote a boy's name down she had desires for and using his name , like Mary Jones has a crush on Bob smith, so Mary wrote "MrsBob Smith" and he caught her

showing off and getting caught, the board might buy that excuse

austin heart, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2003

I too find it hard to believe that you thought that you were an RN because you received an RN pin at graduation. Boy, do I wish it were that easy!

At one time I worked in an office and was the only RN. There were several MAs working under me. There was one MA in particular that would tell people that she was a "nurse" and would give nursing advice. I did not feel comfortable about this. Legally, she is working off the license of the doctors that we were working for. I informed my employer that she was doing this, and nothing was done. I eventually quit the job before my license was put in jeopardy, because poop does roll down hill. So your actions could have not only affected you, as they have, but if you were not turned over to the BON like you were, the MD you worked for could have faced consequences as well.......Something to think about.

Also, while I was working in this same office they hired another "RN" for the research department. But after she was working with us for over a month, the office manager finally got around to checking her credentials and she had let her RN license expire, and did not renew, therefore the was not an RN. She put our entire research department in jeopardy. She had put RN behind her name and in doing so we could have lost thousands of dollars in research grant money! It was a huge mess and a large headache and scare for the doctors in the practice! She too was turned over to the BON.

I don't know how everyone else feels, but I worked and studied hard to be able to put RN behind my name. I find it an honor, not a privilege. When someone does this illegally, I feel they deserve to be punished.

flashpoint · Dec 11, 2003

I have to agree with austin heart. Did you honestly think becasue you were given a pin at graduation that you were an RN? Certainly your nursing school had to teach you something regarding this issue! I don't mean to sound nasty or anything, but I hope that you have a better reason than ignorance when you talk to the BON. There are some things they are very forgiving about, but misrepresentation is not one of them.