I just got fired. Well, actually, my contract with the VA has been terminated, effective immediately. The reason given was that "nursing management" has decided that ALL employees of the clinic will now be RN's. Funny thing is, there is only one other RN in the entire hospital that has any experience running a Hyperbaric Chamber, let alone the entire department, and he is needed elsewhere. So far, I have fielded twelve calls from freaked out nurses asking me how to do various things, from transferring patients from other VA hospitals, to actually running the chambers!
To say that I am livid is an understatement. More than twenty years of experience completely set aside because of the initials behind my name. More than many LVN's, I, mistakenly, believed that I was a valuable component in providing quality healthcare to our veterans, and that I was immune from the struggles faced by so many other LVN's.
Yep sometimes things like this really suck, but if you look at the bright side at the exciting new opertunities that you have in front of you, there just might be one of these jobs that you will love just as much if not more then the one you left, and it had to take this happening to make you realize it.
I am so sorry this happened to you. You are a much better person than I am. Once an employer did something like that to me, I would not have continued training anyone, especially for free. I hope you find an employer who appreciates your skills. However, this has helped convince me that getting a BSN is a necessity. Its a real shame.
OP's hyperbaric credentials are very noteworthy. I was lucky enough to attend a Long Beach hyperbaric training class in the early '90's. It was very rigorous.
It's horrible that OP was caught up in the bureaucratic hairball that is the VA system... but those credentials are HIS. Maybe relocation is not an option but nurses qualified in hyperbarics are usually a hot commodity along the South Coast because many of the larger trauma centers have to maintain specific levels of hyperbaric services as part of their ongoing contracts with off-shore oil companies (to treat diving accidents). I know a couple of hyperbaric nurses & 1 physician who are also certified for deep-water rescue ... but I digress.
Hyperbaric equipment companies also maintain staff to install & support their equipment, including teaching those skills.
I would say they fired you cause your a contract worker. Not because your an LVN. As the Government tries to cut cost you got stuck in the middle, meaning they thought Va employees get first priority at the job rather than you.
This reminds me of an incident that occurred with a former employer of mine. In the incident, (during my LPN years), a toddler at a sister facility was given a lethal dose of morphine by an ER RN. The mother, believing that her child was feeling better, rocked her child into the afterlife. It was such a sad tragedy. The nurse made a mistake because of the packaging of the morphine tubex (she was used to seeing that tubex as a single dose vial as opposed to the multi-dose vial that it was).
Anyway, the organization reacted by preventing all LPNs from performing IV pushes ever again. This included not only narcotic IV pushes, but meds such as Pepcid, Toradol, Solumedrol, EVERYTHING. Mind you, it was an RN that made the mistake. It was a nightmare because no one wanted to take the time to do our pushes. And we could count on one hand the number of patients that did not receive any IV medications. After all, this was a hospital. It was 2 years before they actually changed to the safer, single dose vials.
I don't know what came of the RN responsible for the child's death. Those things were kept quiet. But the changes to the level of practice at this organization was the topic of discussion so much so, that it was believed than an LPN had hurt that poor child. I do know that we LPNs had a hard time after that because our patients' request for pain meds had a profound effect on their satisfaction with us LPNs not controlling their pain. I mean, how could we? We felt we were being held responsible for the unfortunate action of an RN. This may not be the case but I have long since felt that if there was an LPN in the building when something major went south, the handcuffs placed on us were tightened just a little bit more. It's just coincidental that current trends are requiring BSN for management positions, those former manager RNs (in some areas) are becoming floor RNs, and the floor LPNs are being pushed out the door. This has been happening at many facilities BEFORE the recent 'scandals' involving the Veterans Administration.
Here in the state of Georgia, the BON's website reflects far more complaints and reports involving RNs than LPNs. Why is that? One might say its because RNs has more responsibilities than LPNs. But another way to look at it is, everybody is always scrutinizing LPNs and their work while RNs enjoy more autonomy, which makes it very easy for would-be near-misses to become actual sentinel events. This is one of the reasons why I am so verbal when my employers try to put me in areas where I have no experience. Being in possession of an RN license doesn't mean that I know how to do all things nursing. Being an LPN didn't mean that my knowledge and skills were limited to the ability to only push pills either. Unfortunately, perception tends to out-weigh reality and innocent people are being hurt in more ways than one.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Here in the state of Georgia, the BON's website reflects far more complaints and reports involving RNs than LPNs. Why is that? One might say its because RNs has more responsibilities than LPNs. But another way to look at it is, everybody is always scrutinizing LPNs and their work while RNs enjoy more autonomy, which makes it very easy for would-be near-misses to become actual sentinel events.
Other feasible reasons that most BON complaints and sanctions involve RNs include:
1) RNs tend to work in specialty areas with higher acuity where more deaths and adverse outcomes are going to transpire, anyway. These specialties include the ICU, cardiac stepdown, telemetry, trauma, the OR, and so forth.
2) RNs outnumber LPNs by a wide margin. There are more than 3 million RNs in the US alongside less than one million LPNs/LVNs. Since RNs constitute the majority of nursing staff in the US, we can conjecture that they'll also outnumber LPNs in the number of sanctions they receive.
Specializes in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care.
This reminds me of an incident that occurred with a former employer of mine. In the incident, (during my LPN years), a toddler at a sister facility was given a lethal dose of morphine by an ER RN. The mother, believing that her child was feeling better, rocked her child into the afterlife. It was such a sad tragedy. The nurse made a mistake because of the packaging of the morphine tubex (she was used to seeing that tubex as a single dose vial as opposed to the multi-dose vial that it was).
Anyway, the organization reacted by preventing all LPNs from performing IV pushes ever again. This included not only narcotic IV pushes, but meds such as Pepcid, Toradol, Solumedrol, EVERYTHING. Mind you, it was an RN that made the mistake. It was a nightmare because no one wanted to take the time to do our pushes. And we could count on one hand the number of patients that did not receive any IV medications. After all, this was a hospital. It was 2 years before they actually changed to the safer, single dose vials.
I don't know what came of the RN responsible for the child's death. Those things were kept quiet. But the changes to the level of practice at this organization was the topic of discussion so much so, that it was believed than an LPN had hurt that poor child. I do know that we LPNs had a hard time after that because our patients' request for pain meds had a profound effect on their satisfaction with us LPNs not controlling their pain. I mean, how could we? We felt we were being held responsible for the unfortunate action of an RN. This may not be the case but I have long since felt that if there was an LPN in the building when something major went south, the handcuffs placed on us were tightened just a little bit more. It's just coincidental that current trends are requiring BSN for management positions, those former manager RNs (in some areas) are becoming floor RNs, and the floor LPNs are being pushed out the door. This has been happening at many facilities BEFORE the recent 'scandals' involving the Veterans Administration.
Here in the state of Georgia, the BON's website reflects far more complaints and reports involving RNs than LPNs. Why is that? One might say its because RNs has more responsibilities than LPNs. But another way to look at it is, everybody is always scrutinizing LPNs and their work while RNs enjoy more autonomy, which makes it very easy for would-be near-misses to become actual sentinel events. This is one of the reasons why I am so verbal when my employers try to put me in areas where I have no experience. Being in possession of an RN license doesn't mean that I know how to do all things nursing. Being an LPN didn't mean that my knowledge and skills were limited to the ability to only push pills either. Unfortunately, perception tends to out-weigh reality and innocent people are being hurt in more ways than one.
I posted in another thread about the real differences between an LVN and an RN, that I have known RN's that I wouldn't let take my BP, and LVN's that I was comfortable suturing me. In my particular case it's worthy to note that my nursing license was adjunct to my hyperbaric certification. In other words, the worldwide accepted credential for operating hyperbaric chambers is the Certified Hyperbaric Technologist, certification that I have possessed for twenty years. There is not now, nor has there ever been, as far as I know, a requirement to possess an RN license in order to effectively render Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. That I have a nursing license on top of my hyperbaric certification was a way to make myself more marketable in a changing healthcare landscape. To then be told that I was "unqualified" (their word, not mine) to operate the chambers because I was "only a LVN", defies all logic. Are MRI techs required to have an RN license? Are X-ray techs? How about phlebotomists, or Respiratory Techs? No, no, no, and no. As far as I know, this is the first instance of a hospital requiring a RN license to operate a hyperbaric chamber. And, in my opinion, it's a bad precedence. Unless a nurse actively wants to pursue a career in hyperbaric medicine, and instead, is forced to function in that capacity (as is this case), I see nothing but poor patient care, and worse, injury to a patient, in the future of the HBO program at the Long Beach VA.
Other feasible reasons that most BON complaints and sanctions involve RNs include:
1) RNs tend to work in specialty areas with higher acuity where more deaths and adverse outcomes are going to transpire, anyway. These specialties include the ICU, cardiac stepdown, telemetry, trauma, the OR, and so forth.
2) RNs outnumber LPNs by a wide margin. There are more than 3 million RNs in the US alongside less than one million LPNs/LVNs. Since RNs constitute the majority of nursing staff in the US, we can conjecture that they'll also outnumber LPNs in the number of sanctions they receive.
Agreed.....All facts that were completely ignored when rumors were allowed to run ramped that an LPN was the cause of the death in the scenario that I provided.
I can't help but wonder if the organization's response was in fact intended to create the LPN-was-to-blame reaction so that its appearance of addressing the problem by limiting us even more, meant that they had corrected the problem when, in actuality, they had not.
In the OP's situation, I would much rather have him to operate the machine if I were the patient, than a very seasoned RN who had never placed a fingerprint on the thing (specialty area or not). I've never even seen one and would pitch a fit if I were to be thrown in that area because the only of qualified to be there was deemed expendable.
I posted in another thread about the real differences between an LVN and an RN, that I have known RN's that I wouldn't let take my BP, and LVN's that I was comfortable suturing me. In my particular case it's worthy to note that my nursing license was adjunct to my hyperbaric certification. In other words, the worldwide accepted credential for operating hyperbaric chambers is the Certified Hyperbaric Technologist, certification that I have possessed for twenty years. There is not now, nor has there ever been, as far as I know, a requirement to possess an RN license in order to effectively render Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. That I have a nursing license on top of my hyperbaric certification was a way to make myself more marketable in a changing healthcare landscape. To then be told that I was "unqualified" (their word, not mine) to operate the chambers because I was "only a LVN", defies all logic. Are MRI techs required to have an RN license? Are X-ray techs? How about phlebotomists, or Respiratory Techs? No, no, no, and no. As far as I know, this is the first instance of a hospital requiring a RN license to operate a hyperbaric chamber. And, in my opinion, it's a bad precedence. Unless a nurse actively wants to pursue a career in hyperbaric medicine, and instead, is forced to function in that capacity (as is this case), I see nothing but poor patient care, and worse, injury to a patient, in the future of the HBO program at the Long Beach VA.
I know how you feel. I can't help but to wonder if you were to shred your LPN license, figuratively speaking, would they allow you to keep your job. After all, you ARE certified to work in that area. LPN appears to be the new UFO.
I agree with BSNintheworks, you met the criteria as Certified Hyperbaric Tech, the LPN was extra. The position clearly needs a trained tech NOT RN. Why were you reporting to nursing to begin with, it seems like Other techs you should have had a different reporting structure.
Have you heard from any elected officials? Now that you have clarified, this job does not belong within the LPN or RN scope of practice. the nursing license was a great addon to the patients but ended up leading to your termination. I can not imagine anyway is more qualified then you.
where is the medical staff they should be helping you!
Specializes in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care.
I agree with BSNintheworks, you met the criteria as Certified Hyperbaric Tech, the LPN was extra. The position clearly needs a trained tech NOT RN. Why were you reporting to nursing to begin with, it seems like Other techs you should have had a different reporting structure.
Have you heard from any elected officials? Now that you have clarified, this job does not belong within the LPN or RN scope of practice. the nursing license was a great addon to the patients but ended up leading to your termination. I can not imagine anyway is more qualified then you.
where is the medical staff they should be helping you!
I did hear back from my representative. They required me to sign a disclosure statement, so it looks like he might actually look in to it.
mvm2
1,001 Posts
Yep sometimes things like this really suck, but if you look at the bright side at the exciting new opertunities that you have in front of you, there just might be one of these jobs that you will love just as much if not more then the one you left, and it had to take this happening to make you realize it.