What can we do?

[handyrn]

I work in a facility that has a lot of unfair and unethical things happening. I (and my coworkers) know that we need to find other jobs. Many of us are looking. The sad part is that we are ok with our jobs and we like working together, but management is awful and if the DON and ADMIN would go, we would all stay. Anyway, here is the situation. We are managed by XXXcompany. Famous words of the DON are: if you leave here, I will see to it that you never work in a XXXfacility again. And she holds true to her promise. Bad part is that she has many contacts and we are in a rural area where people talk. No one gets jobs after working at this facility because she not only gives a bad reference to XXXfacilities, she will call any place that she knows you are applying and give a bad reference-just between friends. This is illegal, but is happening. She knows that we are good workers, but will give a bad reference to keep us at her facility so she doesn't have to hire others. Because we are in a rural area, even if we ask the place we are applying at to NOT contact our current employer, they do because all the DONS around here know each other. Any ideas?

[Jeffthenurse]

You'll have to find out what is being said about you. There are internet companies that will call your current employer (for a fee) and send you the reference your DON will give. Once something is in writing, if its false, slander and libel laws still apply. I can't give legal advice here but an attorney can. Also, any way you can publicly humiliate her, like in small claims court could be beneficial. You have to document well, too, and be careful of HIPPA. There can be a lot of unethical things going on in health care; any time power, greed, and MONEY is involved, watch out! If you have some experience, try working for a home care company. You'll be out on your own and between good communication with your office-based nursing supervisor and good documentation skills, you might find it very rewarding.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

It is a shame that these heartless people are chaining you all to their abuse. It shows me just how horrible some nursing positions really are. I would take the suggestion of having an outside agency pretend to ask them about you to see just what they would say and how far they would go. Horrible!

[Freedom42]

If you're confident that this DON is saying about former employees is slanderous, then I would see an attorney and pay him or her to write a letter telling her to cease and desist or face legal action. Shouldn't cost much, and it ought to scare her sufficiently, especially if you have a copy sent to her employer. If she has written something about a former co-worker who can prove it was false, then that co-worker should sue. Most libel suits involve statements made by the plaintiff's former employer, not by the media.

[BinkieRN, BSN, RN]

If you're confident that this DON is saying about former employees is slanderous, then I would see an attorney and pay him or her to write a letter telling her to cease and desist or face legal action. Shouldn't cost much, and it ought to scare her sufficiently, especially if you have a copy sent to her employer. If she has written something about a former co-worker who can prove it was false, then that co-worker should sue. Most libel suits involve statements made by the plaintiff's former employer, not by the media.

Wow, what a great post.