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.

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

What do you think his chances of being terminated over this are?

Does he have a union? If so, and he doesn't have any other disciplinary actions on his record, his chances of being terminated are almost zero. I'd say a written warning would be in order.

If he doesn't have a union his chances of being terminated on any given day are 50/50: he either will be or he won't.

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

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.

Sorry to hear that. I agree there must be more to the story. I inadvertently left after a crazy evening shift without giving any report to a coworker on one of my patients. While I would like to put it in some other way than, "She covered for me," but...she covered for me. This is one of the reasons I stay on my very demanding floor: we help each other out.

Truth be told, missing out on a verbal report is not that rare of an event.

[schnookimz]

This is ridiculous. Something else must have happened. I mean, if this is grounds for immediate termination, I would like to see it specifically stated in my job description that I must do this every day.

[bbcfan]

Our state does not allow unions for teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen, etc. And this WAS his first infraction. Hospital was recently acquired by another and I think the interim director is trying score points. Our concern now is his license. The director says this was technically patient abandonment and withholding information. He had started to give the info to the nurse but then she took off. He understood her to say she was going to admit a patient and was good to go. His license will be flagged if the board considers this risking public safety. The director said that since he assumed, she no longer felt it was safe for him to work on the floor. To me it sounds like a personal vendetta. Sounds like she putting her own spin on things. Best not to work under people like that. He has to travel to the state capitol to pick up in person any papers filed. But we will do that. Now if we had a union, we wouldn't be at the mercy of those looking to make themselves look good. Most nurses can't afford lawyers. We are lucky to get advice from several of his family members who are attorneys. So at least we know to get involved in the process at the beginning. My fear is that he is a male nurse and here in the bible belt some make assumptions and let their prejudices cloud their environment. I am female so their assumption would be wrong but that shouldn't matter. Just my feeling at this point. Not saying this is the case. I am in my disappointment phase.

[bbcfan]

Suppose to read judgement, not environment. Auto correct is rarely my friend. Thanks y'all. Will let you know how the license issue goes but it will be a few weeks to a few months. Hope your new year will be happy and stress free and that all you do is appreciated.

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

Our state does not allow unions for teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen, etc. And this WAS his first infraction.

Well there ya go.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Suppose to read judgement, not environment. Auto correct is rarely my friend. Thanks y'all. Will let you know how the license issue goes but it will be a few weeks to a few months. Hope your new year will be happy and stress free and that all you do is appreciated.

I'm sorry for your troubles, but your post is so frustrating that I feel irked with you.

You have not clearly stated what your boyfriend did or did not do wrong. You are dancing us around in circles.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

He needs to make sure he has a lawyer representing him if he does go before the BON, especially one who deals with Nursing. I think it's frustrating for us since we don't have a full story. Why didn't he give report to anyone?

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Look at http://www.taana.org the American Association of Nurse Attorneys. They have a nurse attorney referral service. If he has malpractice /professional Liability Insurance, call the carrier that is what they are there for and well worth the $100/yr or so in return for a $1M/$6M policy. He needs at least a consultation with an administrative law attorney who has experience in going before the BoN. Perhaps the family member that's an attorney knows one on the referral list.

[bbcfan]

Sorry I am irking some of you. But the incident truly was just that. He left the floor for the night without giving a report. When the other nurse left she SAID she was going to go admit a new patient. That takes quite along time. What she did was just take the vital signs. When she returned, my bf was gone. She tried to call him but he always turns off his phone when he drives. Takes him an hour to get here. His sister was here with her kids to surprise him for the weekend. Forgot to turn the phone back on. When he got the message he called the nurse and apologized and she did also. She admitted the miscommunication. Honestly, that is the extent of what happened. No patients suffered. His co workers are quite shocked at his dismissal for this. The hospital is continually fighting to keep its accreditation and was almost forced to close. The new hospital is trying to cross all the ts and dot the I's to get on solid ground. I think that is a big factor in this. If they want t to dismiss for this, fine. If they want to cover their butts by reporting it to the BON ,fine. Could be the board will taB-)ke no action, issue a letter of reprimand or a docs. They won't flag his license during the investigation unless he is considered a public risk. His brother is partner in a law firm and does have access to nurse consultants. We cannot get the papers to evaluate until he is legally notified a complaint has been made. Then he himself has to travel to the state capital to pick up the papers. That is just the way it is here. It is frustrating and irksome to ME too because this IS the whole story. So sometimes nurses do get railroaded. I will admit my bf isn't a social being. He goes to work and comes home. There may be other reasons they wanted him gone but they should have TOLD him and given him an inkling of what they were unhappy with and given him a chance to change. He does not want his job back. He just wants to protect his license.

[caliotter3]

I am surprised that no action was taken against the oncoming nurse who walked away from him instead of taking report.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I've worked several non-union hospitals, but each had a stepped system and a grievance process. I'd suggest following up every avenue, covering all bases.