Group One background checks in Texas

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I have been put into group one, which is a reporting agency that allows other healthcare facilitys to see why I was terminated. I was not given a chance to resign before termination. My question is, can I request to have it changed? Is this a type of discrimination? all this is making me want to get out of healthcare all together, seems like i will allways have a disadvantage being a guy and all.

There are "public records" that check your arrest records and while that is all fine and dandy, I do not want someone who has been arrested for child abuse to take care of one of my children or allow them to go on a "camping" trip with the church and one of the counselors is a pediophile. There is a fine line between public record and GO, GO should be in place on those instances where proof of neglect cannot be supported by law although witnesses can prove it. There has to be a way to avoid a one-sided all out blackball against healthcare workers who had an issue with the manager and she wants to be vengeful.

I am new to this site, but I originally found it to find out info about Group One...WOW! I found out more than I expected! I recently was "separated" from my employer that I feel was a wrongful termination as well as discrimination because the doctor that was involved had NO disciplinary actions against him..it involved no direct patient care and as I was being fired, I was told what a great nurse I was and that I had never had a parent or patient complaint on my record. I have always had an "oil and water" relationship with my manager, and I feel that this was the straw that broke the camel's back in this situation. My personnel file has no derogatory marks in it, and now I'm going to be listed in this notoriuos Group One!! I'm the type of person that doesn't lie down easily...this is my livelihood...thank the lord I had another PRN job already to sustain my income! But now, if I stay in the Metroplex and want to work elsewhere, I'm in trouble! I can only in my heart believe that this is a vindictive manger issue and nothing else!! Any thoughts??

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I am new to this site, but I originally found it to find out info about Group One...WOW! I found out more than I expected! I recently was "separated" from my employer that I feel was a wrongful termination as well as discrimination because the doctor that was involved had NO disciplinary actions against him..it involved no direct patient care and as I was being fired, I was told what a great nurse I was and that I had never had a parent or patient complaint on my record. I have always had an "oil and water" relationship with my manager, and I feel that this was the straw that broke the camel's back in this situation. My personnel file has no derogatory marks in it, and now I'm going to be listed in this notoriuos Group One!! I'm the type of person that doesn't lie down easily...this is my livelihood...thank the lord I had another PRN job already to sustain my income! But now, if I stay in the Metroplex and want to work elsewhere, I'm in trouble! I can only in my heart believe that this is a vindictive manger issue and nothing else!! Any thoughts??

Become friends with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Group One advocates itself as a consumer reporting agency and so falls under the auspices of that law.

That law requires certain things. They have to show you, upon request, what's in your file (think Financial Credit Reports - if you ask, they must let you see your report - same law).

You are allowed to appeal and each appeal must be investigated. And then you can appeal again.

And again.

And again.

And each one must be investigated.

They must allow you to put your own statement in the file (this is federal law).

There are ways to jack with them under FCRA - but it's a process and a game.

My advice, two can play the 'let's loophole the law' game. Download the FCRA from the Gov, find out your rights, and exercise them liberally. Bombard them. Make them think nice thoughts about telemarketers in comparison to YOUR tenacity.

Do you know why squeaky wheels get greased? So they shut up.

~faith,

Timothy.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.
If they're really trying to do something about Group One ... why isn't there anything on their website about it. Why haven't they made a public statement so RN's will know TNA is trying to help them. If, in fact, inroads have been made, why haven't they announced it? What "inroads" are they talking about?

I seriously doubt they've really done anything because, like the ANA, they probably don't want to rock the boat. How do you expect RN's to get involved and support TNA if they don't have the guts to come out against Group One publicly?

Again ... people aren't going to cough up their money and support unless they know there's leadership that will actually DO something.

:typing

Why don't you actually JOIN so you get updated? You know - they help both members and non-members alike. But I could not believe such a small percentage of RN's in Texas were members of their own statewide professional organization. I was just FLOORED by the number! Numbers do say something about whether or not people give a hoot - and honestly - I wonder if many nurses in Texas actually even care about their profession as a whole. Frustrating. That - to me - is even more frustrating than all this GroupOne stuff, because we wouldnt be having these issues with GroupOne if there were more people who bothered to stand up instead of lay down and let people just walk all over them.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

I know a lot of people think that Group One is only in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas - but they aren't - they are all over Texas AND they are growing across the country.

Just because you don't work or ever plan to work in Texas doesn't mean you have no need to worry about about Group One.

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Group One is growing. Like a cancer, it will silently spread to other parts of the Texas and to other parts of the country IF people do not take action. If we do not catch it early, it will take radical 'treatment' to get rid of it.

At the moment this cancer is killing of parts of 'the nursing body'. If the rest of 'the body' thinks it is not affected and can function without the missing part, it is deceiving itself.

I was wounded by Group One. Fortunately it was not a mortal wound.THANK GOD I had the gumption to fight and knew how to use the FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT to get them to remove the slanderous information from my file.

The leadership of the TNA can only be change if more nurse get involved and use their VOTING POWER to put in place effective leadership. The leadership reflects the membership. Change the membership and you change the vision of the leadership.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

The leadership of the TNA can only be change if more nurse get involved and use their VOTING POWER to put in place effective leadership. The leadership reflects the membership. Change the membership and you change the vision of the leadership.

Exactly Sunnyjohn. Not agreeing with an organization is not reason to NOT join, it should be *THE* reason that you *DO* join. So *YOU* can make a difference.

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Specializes in home & public health, med-surg, hospice.

My thoughts regarding ANA/TNA membership are very ambivalent.

While I believe the best way we can reflect solidarity within our profession is through membership in a professional organization, which fosters high standards of practice, promotes the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace and projects a positive and realistic view of nursing (btw - this is the ANA’s stated mission of purpose).

I also believe the ANA/TNA does not represent the current nursing population. First only (@ my last count) 6% of the nation’s RNs were members of the ANA. Secondly, while staff nurses constitute 60% of the nation’s registered nurses according to the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN), only 21.1% are staff nurses within the ANA.

I wonder though, if more staff nurses joined the ANA if we couldn’t infiltrate their ranks and make changes within the ANA to promote inclusion and unity? This is what I'm, personally, leading towards.

Here’s a thought to ponder:

In 1893, Edith Draper stated:

The difficulties to be encountered, one must truthfully admit, will be mainly of our own manufacture. What we need is energy of purpose, enthusiasm, a spirit of philanthropy more developed and ambition to lift our profession to a height, which the eyes of the nation shall look up and not look down. To advance we must unite.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Kelly - that is exactly what needs to happen. More nurses "In the trenches" so to speak need to infiltrate the ranks and take over the organizations *OR* a new organization needs to be formed.

One or the other. If the current org isn't serving the needs of the many then it may be time to do something else!

ETA: But if people don't join anything at all - nothing ever changes

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I just think of all the smart men and women who have posted BRILLIANT suggestions on this board. I don't agree with all or them, but just reading the ideas have been inspiring.

Folks on allnurses have presented EXCELLENT solution to the nursing shortage, staffing issues, nursing school education and waitlist issues, the ADN/BSN issues, nursing pay issues, nurse bullying and many, many issues.

These suggestions are practical would probably work IF they could be implemented.

Truthfully if more staff nurses joined the CNA or TNA and took over leadership of state BONs the nursing situation in this country would be drastically different.

More staff nurses need to join. More need to take over leadership of these organisations.

MORE STAFF NURSES NEED TO RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE AND PUT HEALTHCARE INTO THE FOREFRONT USING THE INSIDER'S POV.

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Specializes in Tele.

I agree with all of y'all (texas slang,) but we have to stand together, GO does not just affect an RN with a BSN or an ADN, a LPN or LVN, I was a Telemetry Tech!!!!!!!! Oh, and a nursing student, when my "business" happened. I have worked with "eggos" on all sides, the RN who thought she was better than the LVN, the LVN who passed her boards and now she is too good for her fellow CNA's she left behind. It should not be a matter of what initials we have behind our names, we should not only think of how it affects "me," but how it affects healthcare as well. We probably have all made "stops" in the ER and complained on how long it takes. While in whole this can be another HUGE debate, imagine if they were properly staffed. We didn't have to wait so long and trying to get DCed, oh my gosh!!!!!!!! I have never had a nurse not say, "I am so sorry it is such a crazy day, we keep getting admits and I am just spread thin." I have been to 2 hospitals that have said this to me. The problem....................under staffed!! So, it does not just affect my career, it affects me if I get sick, if my children get sick. When is enough, enough? If we can't learn to stand together, then we fall seperately.....one at a time. Is this what we went to Nursing school for? For a "consumer reporting agency," who can't tell the pericardium from the perineum, tell us where we can and can't work??? and yes to make changes, it will not do any of us any good to complain if all we are going to do is complain, we have to be proactive about it.

And if anyone is counting, besides myself, today is DAY FOUR that I have e-mailed all our favorite news personalaties!!!!

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Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Just bear in mind that the BNE or BON's are not meant to represent nurses - they are meant to represent the public and protect the public from harm. They are not set up nor are they intended to provide any sort of representation for nurses and they never were.

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I wonder though, if more staff nurses joined the ANA if we couldn’t infiltrate their ranks and make changes within the ANA to promote inclusion and unity? This is what I'm, personally, leading towards.

History might be a good indicator in this case. The California Nurses Association and the Texas Nurses Association were both founded at the about same time (1903 and 1907 respectively).

Yet, here we are today ... a hundred years later ... with two major differences between the two organizations. CNA has gotten a landmark ratio law passed and literally pummeled the governor and the hospital industry when they tried to attack it.

TNA hasn't done much of anything and, unfortunately, things have only gotten worse for Texas nurses with the Group One situation.

So ... what's responsible for the difference? In my opinion, it's because CNA broke off from the ANA in 1995 ... They felt the ANA was totally ineffective on both legislative and political issues and, quite frankly, they're right.

The same thing happened with the women's suffrage movement. The more active (some would say radical) members of the movement got tired of the stagnation within the parent organization, and broke off to launch their own campaign. The result was women finally gaining the right to vote.

So ... if history is any indicator (and it usually is), nothing is going to happen until TNA breaks away from the ANA and becomes a lot more aggressive on behalf of nurses. Maybe it has to come from the membership or, maybe people need to form an entirely new organization all together but, something radical has to happen before anything will really change.

Afterall ... I doubt anybody wants to wait another hundred years just to end up with the status quo.

:typing

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