This is one of my biggest pet peeves about this site. It seems like several times a day where someone (usually a new nurse) is working in a busy facility and fears that they are going to lose their license by making some kind of error. Most people even cite this as their reason for quitting their job. LTC and SNFs seems to be the biggest offenders.
So I did a search on the words "I lost my license" and read through several pages of posts about the subject. Guess what? Not ONE post about someone who legitimately lost their license due to a patient care issue. They were all related to drug use/abuse or a felony crimes.
I understand that there are some facilities that put you in unsafe working conditions. But it's really not that easy to lose your license. Even published stories about people who made fatal medication errors have retained their nursing licenses.
So please, let's get it straight that you're highly unlikely to lose your license because you're working in a busy hospital, or LTC, or a SNF with a high census. You might not like working in a busy environment like that, but quitting because you feel your "license is in jeopardy" is not a realistic reason. If you do this, you are probably denying yourself a great opportunity to learn and grow as a nurse.
The phrase I get sick of hearing on this site is "lateral violence".
The problem is, like with losing one's license, this is a very real problem. There are a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes lateral violence, just like there are a lot of misconceptions about what can actually cause a loss of license. The issue is that new nurses get criticism once from an experienced nurse and they start shouting "lateral violence," and never consider that the experienced nurse is trying to make the new nures a better nurse.
I graduated from nursing school in 2008. Being a few years out, I cannot remember my instructions ever saying "you can lose your license" or "protect you license" or something similar. Being a few years out, maybe I just forgot that someone said it. However, I am quite sure it was never "beat into us," "drilled into our heads," etc. I am certainly not saying that other schools don't tell their students this. I am saying that if the one thing people remember from school is "you can lose your license for the smallest thing" then the schools need to readdress their focus.
I especially get tired of it when a nurse says that about another licensed person that they are supervising. Even if you are the charge nurse the other nurses are working under their own license, not yours.
Not totally corrrect. As a nurse manager I am supervising your practice. If I find something that just doesn't seem right and fail to act, I am now sharing the boat with you. If I don't know what you did and you did not inform me, then it might be safe to say it is your license only, but nurse managers can get roped in a mess by people we supervise. Yes you have your own license, but my license is on the line to ensure that the patients are getting the care they deserve from all nursing staff and that state and federal regulations are being followed.
Well, while I was in Nursing school, it was hammered down our throats about covering your orifice or lose your license. I think is was a mixture of sheer terror/intimidation/uneasiness and basic schoolyard bullying. So many people that I went to school with were already terrified of losing their license and we still had a year of education left.
I personally feel that we should be instilling confidence, require classes how to deal with difficult families, how to react/respond to rude and obnoxious co-workers, not this paralyzing fear that many Nurses seem to possess. Add the fact that practically NOTHING can be done without an order. People just get scared.
Someone mentioned 'lateral violence' (I LOVE that phrase BTW)-people do get sick of hearing that, but if you haven't been on the receiving end-it really does sound like a silly cliche, but if you are the victim-it is very real and very serious.
I always wondered how difficult it is to lose one's license. Nice to hear that it is a lot harder than people make it out to be. I know one thing though: you steal any meds/drugs and that is it. You're gone.
I've seen the disciplinary section of my state's professional licensing website. The most common reason for nurses to lose their license is drug abuse. One nurse's license was suspended due to an insurance fraud conviction. A new grad who just didn't "get it" voluntarily surrendered his license.
In recent years, a handful of new grad nurses have lost their licenses because their school, a for-profit diploma mill in New York, did not meet my state's education requirements.
I always wondered how difficult it is to lose one's license. Nice to hear that it is a lot harder than people make it out to be. I know one thing though: you steal any meds/drugs and that is it. You're gone.
Unfortunately, even that won't always do the trick. I worked in a (really awful) facility where we had several nurses come through and get caught diverting narcotics.
They got fired but usually for something like "excessive call-ins" because the facility did not want to jump through all the hoops necessary when a nurse is caught diverting.
Worked with one nurse who went through numerous facilities, everyone knew about her, she already had a tag on her license for diversion, never lost her license and it practically took a staff mutiny to get her fired, in every single facility she worked in. Finally retired with her license still intact.
Unfortunately, even that won't always do the trick. I worked in a (really awful) facility where we had several nurses come through and get caught diverting narcotics.
They got fired but usually for something like "excessive call-ins" because the facility did not want to jump through all the hoops necessary when a nurse is caught diverting.
Worked with one nurse who went through numerous facilities, everyone knew about her, she already had a tag on her license for diversion, never lost her license and it practically took a staff mutiny to get her fired, in every single facility she worked in. Finally retired with her license still intact.
Makes you want to scream.
She was stealing drugs and didn't get her license taken away? Wow...that's pretty bad.
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psu_213, BSN, RN
3,878 Posts
The problem is, like with losing one's license, this is a very real problem. There are a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes lateral violence, just like there are a lot of misconceptions about what can actually cause a loss of license. The issue is that new nurses get criticism once from an experienced nurse and they start shouting "lateral violence," and never consider that the experienced nurse is trying to make the new nures a better nurse.