How likely is termination?

[bbcfan]

My boyfriend, also a nurse, has always had great evaluations but he made a big mistake. For reasons that he admits were due to his misunderstanding of something the nurse who replace him said, he failed to give a give the verbal report of his patients to this nurse or to the charge nurse. They could not reach him for three hours to get the report as he was traveling and turns his phone off when he is driving. He called when he got the message. As the HR person who handles this sort of thing was on vacation, he got put on paid administrative leave until she returns. He has never had any issues before at all. We are very worried he will be terminated over this. Totally ruined our holiday and he is very depressed. He is a perfectionist an the insecurity about whether or not he will be terminated is getting him down as well as his anger with himself for making such a mistake. (He really is hard on himself.) This limbo is hard on both of us. What do you think his chances of being terminated over this are? And do you have any suggestions as to how I can help him get through the week until he is able to talk to someone in HR? Thank you.

[brownbook]

Is this a long term care facility? The story about your boyfriend is very confusing and it seems like a system prone to errors.

If patient care depended on my not forgetting to tell the next shift something important about a patient or even on two nurses communicating well. Well......every patient would be in danger.

I can't think you boyfriend did anything wrong. And of course he is not required to be "on call" 24 hours. There needs to be a better system in place where he works.

Let us know what happens.

[pearybRN]

Not giving report? I've been a nurse for a long time and not giving report is something short of a nurse having a heart attack. Although a good excuse would also be easily acceptable.

[bbcfan]

No word yet. I do want to thank you all for sharing your thoughts with me. Reading them does help.

[Elle23]

I have had nurses forget to give me report before. Usually it was when a baby transferred to another room at the end of shift. Out if sight out of mind, I guess.

It wasn't that big of a deal. I had the kardex, doctor orders, charting, etc to use to get an idea of what happened and what needed to be done.

I can't imagine a nurse being terminated for such a thing! That seems extremely severe. I've never even heard of a nurse being written up for the occasional lapse. We just dealt with it and moved on.

[bbcfan]

Still no news. He was scheduled to work tomorrow and can't get hold of anyone either by phone or email to update him. So frustrating!

[bbcfan]

He got terminated. He caught many pharmacy errors and they didn't' t even get a hand slap. Glad I don't work for THAT hospital.

[krisiepoo]

It seems to me that there is MUCH more to this story than either you're telling us or your bf is telling you.

[bbcfan]

It seems to me that there is MUCH more to this story than either you're telling us or your bf is telling you.

He might not be telling me everything but he has never been disciplined or counseled for anything. But leaving the floor without giving a verbal report even if the nurse is there is reckless behavior and must be reported to the nursing board. Just wish he could have kept working until a decision was made. Maybe they were looking for an excuse to cut back on staff, don't like male nurses, don't like him, or something he isn't' t telling me. Time will tell I guess. Any ideas on alternative careers for nursing?

[krisiepoo]

just because he got sacked from one job, doesn't mean he can't find another unless he gets his license reported to the BoN? is that what they're doing?

Unfortunately, past behavior doesn't matter if someone makes an egregious error (I'm assuming this was since he got sacked)

I think he should see what happens before you start asking about alternative careers for him

[bbcfan]

You are right, krisiepoo. The incident will be reported to the BON. The director is required to report such incidents according to the rules. It isn't up to her to make the decision of the severity we realize. Of course, that doesn't mean any action will be taken or that he will lose his license or even get flagged unless the investigator deams it caused risk to the general public. And that will be left up to the discretion of the investigator. His brother is a lawyer and is advising him to not make hasty decisions about career changes, but since we didn't think with the misunderstanding termination would occur, he is expecting the worse for the license issue. You just never can tell. He is asking for copies of all documents submitted though so they can't lie about what happened. The hospital is in the process of changing ownership so things are being looked at with fine tooth combs.

Best to plan for the worst. He was such a good nurse, though. And there are drug addicts on the floor who get to stay because they are in a reputable rehab program. Ah well. What can you do? Maybe this is a blessing wrapped in barbed wire. I guess we just have to have faith things will turn out as they are meant to. He is still kicking himself for that mistake, though. He should never have left the floor without leaving a verbal report to someone no matter what his replacement nurse said to him. Guess that is a message made loud and clear here.

[bbcfan]

The rules do say his license is active until the time any action to suspend is made. But how can you honestly look for another position with that over your head? True, he can state on an application that he holds a free license, but he would have a hard time knowing he may have to rescind that. He just isn't that kind of person. Full disclosure. And that won't get him a job.

[bbcfan]

Thank you all for your posts. It did help us get through to the point where we know for sure. Now we at least know where we stand. You all made valid points. Thank you.