Help, I am very conflicted about turning peer into nursing board

[auntie72]

I have a floor nurse that administered medication to a patient after the order was dc'd, he failed to draw stat labs, and this patient ended up at the hospital with renal failure and anemia. That same nurse also initialed that he gave a procrit injection as a one time order, but the pharmacy never sent out the medication because it requires admin approval. These 2 instances where written up and given to the DON and the administrator. The MD was very upset and the administrator said this employee would be fired however he is still working and the write ups havent been issued to him. These write ups would have been his dismissal becuase he has already had so many and was given his final last week. I am torn. I feel like since our admininstration isnt doing anything about the unsafe care this nurse has a history of that I should report it to our local nursing board. I know everyone makes mistakes, however this is his trend and it puts our patients at risk. Please give me your thoughts.

[angie5310]

As a manager myself I can tell you that the termination process is long and involved to say the least. However that does not mean that your supervisor is not doing what they can. I think its best to discuss again with them and then make a decision. In addition I hope you have kept your proof at work becasue if you took it home it is a HIPAA violation. In addition sending to the BON may also be a violation so be careful or you could get yourself in trouble while trying to be a patient advocate.

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

How do you plan to turn her INTO a nursing board? Magic? Alchemy? What will you do with the nursing board y'all already have?

On a more serious note: If the Admin and MD are involved with this situation, what business is it of yours?

Well, I will try. He is very unreasonable, very forgetful, throws staff under the bus, he yells at staff for things out of their control. We got yelled out because the patients were sent to the hospital. No management staff wants to talk with him and every time he is in the room you could cut the air with a knife.

Thank you!

Oh, I see. Personal grudge. Nice.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

How does one report a peer to the BON? Is that even possible?

What evidence (other than your statement) would you have to support your claim?

In some states it's mandatory to report a peer who is a danger to self or others, known drug user, or anything else that can put patients at risk. If it's later found out that a nurse knew about the situation and did not report, she also goes before the board. Know the rules in your state :)

[dishes, BSN, RN]

auntie72

I understand that you are conflicted and posted unique details about the incident and your role at the workplace in order to obtain feedback from your peers, but what if your post is not as anonymous as you thought? Consider the impact if your DON or the patient's family (and their lawyer) have read your posts and have identified both the incident and you.

dishes

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

At what point is it a crusade rather than patient advocacy? Where exactly is that line? And even if the OP DID have a personal problem with this nurse - if he is truly, habitually unsafe and dishonest, do the personal issues even matter?

[talaxandra]

I totally get why the OP's conflicted, and I'm also concerned about the patients this nurse is looking after. However, as a couple of people have said, registration review by BONs is generally long and thorough - which I'm sure we all agree is best, albeit frustrating when you're working with someone unsafe. I'd be checking with admin that the process is underway before doing anything that could cause you being splashed by the fecal shower bound to come down.

[talaxandra]

PS You're far from the only offender, but: it's etc, short for et cetera, not ect. Thank you.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

auntie72

I understand that you are conflicted and posted unique details about the incident and your role at the workplace in order to obtain feedback from your peers, but what if your post is not as anonymous as you thought? Consider the impact if your DON or the patient's family (and their lawyer) have read your posts and have identified both the incident and you.

dishes

This. If it truely is as bad as the OP says, then she should have resolve. Posting such intricate detail on AN is evidence of total lack of ability to understand the ramifications of the entire situation for all involved. Actually, to me, this makes the situation suspect.

[RiskGuy]

i have read all of the posts and i would like to offer the following... in risk management i have the unpleasant task of dealing with these very issues. that said i would offer the following. 1) don't assume that your administration is doing nothing. because you don't see or have knowledge of actions taken does not mean that action isn't in the works. another poster was correct in that it does sometimes take longer than anyone would want to make change, but in fairness to everyone involved the steps need to be taken. 2) allow your system to work!!! one thing i have learned is that a person with all the "best intentions" can sure muck up a process! while this may not be the case here, but what if, the information you have about this peer was somehow incorrect, or what if your perception of what took place was somehow wrong? by you not allowing the process to work there could be information that could explain or justify actions taken.

in closing, i get your frustration and wanting to do the right thing for the patient, but in reality, you have done the right thing! you discovered an error and you reported it to your chain. now let the chain work! if the provider who was with you is half as angry as you described, then he or she should help to push for resolution! i would simply talk to either the provider, the don over the facility and or the administrator. express your concerns and again allow the system to work. good luck!

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

There is no way to know exactly what is happening, but the OP seems sincerely concerned and what a horrible situation to be in. If she just hated this person it would be much simpler to just go slash their tires than submit herself to all this and more.

Although I usually come down on the more jaded side of things I find this statement totally incredibly ridiculous:

"Snitches get stitches"

Seriously, are we a bunch of prison felons? Really? Implying someone will come to physical harm because they reported unsafe care that harmed a patient? Are you going to shiv the OP in the shower?

Stuff (and I really want to use a much more explicit word that means feces....) like that just highlights why nurses will never be taken seriously as professionals.

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

Can someone tell me more of what an MDS coordinator does? I do MDS's at work but I'm only going through the nursing part. I don't look at the MAR's to find errors. I thought (and I'm very new to the whole process) that is was basically keeping us on track with proving our billing mathes our pts and whats going on with them. Anyone with knowledge care to input?

[passingthru]

You have voiced some serious concerns, I agree with closer supervision of this employee and I would hold off on reporting him to the board. I would confidentially go to my unit manager and voice my concerns. I would also suggest, during this meeting you ask the manager to ask for a random urine specimen from this individual. It seems as though something is not right. We are the advocate for the client, something must be done, next time he could kill a client. Follow your chain of command, if your unit manager will not assist, take it further.

EAP may also be an alternative, he maybe going through some personal issues and he may need help. Reporting him is not the answer, he needs to be confronted with love, patience, encouragement, and concern. Start a conversation with him, stating that your are concerned that he seems to appear angry and offer your help.