How many nurses here have their license currently suspended?

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been an RN for 5 years. Two years ago, a small hospital in which I was practicing reported to my state BON every mistake I had made during my entire 2 years of employment. This happened AFTER a doctor and myself got into a very heated argument over a pt. I made the mistake of questioning his orders. This doctor is known for his fury! He is NEVER wrong! He reported to the DON the incident and she informed me I should submit to a drug screen for the doctor had stated: "She has errated behavior".

Well, I firmly 'planted my feet' and refused a drug screen unless the doctor also took one. Well, this went over like a 'turd in a punch bowl'. After approx one hour of discussion, I resigned after telling them all how I felt.

My license were placed on 2 year probation and I had to sign an Agreed Order with my state BON. I had NO idea how serious this was. I had no clue r/g an attorney so I signed the agreement.

The probation would have been up in Feb. BUT, I recently went to work for a small nursing home. My job responsibilities were: passing meds to 38 residents, skilled charting, assessing the skilled residents, breathing txments, wound care, and any admissions which came in, take orders off from incoming requests the day-shift nurse had requested, ordering all meds for residents.

I eventually made two med-errors which consisted of a med not given to two residents.I filled out a med error form.I also faxed an order for a resident to our out of state pharmacy and failed to place her name on the order. The pharmacy called almost immediatly for the name inwhich I supplied.

After approx 50 days into this job, the new hires, one of which at been there 6mos, were place in one day orientation. I was fired a few days later for the above incidents. This facility reported this to the board.

What you all need to understand about this night-mare is this: I stupidly signed an Agreed Order with the BON stating I would be PERFECT. You all know as well myself, we as nurses are NOT perfect no more than any one else in this world.

As a student, this frightens me too!

Can you work with your license suspended? Do you have a grace period to get it reissued or something, or are you immediately terminated from your employment?

I didn't see where anyone answered your question, so I wanted to tell you that no, you can't work with your license suspended.

If you have no license you have no nursing job.

I knew a nurse many years ago who worked at the job I am on right now, and she also had a part time job in a nursing home. She got caught shooting up stadol under her tongue, on the nursing home job, and got her license suspended there, immediately. She also lost her other job, which was her primary job.

I haven't heard from her in years. I don't know if she ever got them reinstated or not.

I have NEVER made a med error which put a patients life at risk! I was employed with this facility for 56 days.......I don't feel 2 med errors are cause for this type of action.

Prior to working at this LTC facility I had worked for a OP dialysis unit. So most of my probated suspension was spent at the dialysis unit. My job performance was without error! The sad part of this entire journey is to get soooooooo close to being done with the board and being honest enough to even fill out a med error report :crying2:

Coumadin was one of the meds you listed as not giving, which PROBABLY won't have any ill effect, but there is potential for ill effect if one of the other people you work with made the same mistake and the patient goes without his coumadin for a while. Do you feel that a DVT or PE are not life threatening, because I sure do. If the patient has chronic Afib he is ready to brew clots to send off to lungs or legs, etc. and could be lethal. Don't assume a dose or two is ok to miss.

Specializes in Utilization Management.
Do you feel that a DVT or PE are not life threatening, because I sure do. If the patient has chronic Afib he is ready to brew clots to send off to lungs or legs, etc. and could be lethal. Don't assume a dose or two is ok to miss.

A-hem. If one of these patients is scheduled for surgery, they are taken off the coumadin for a few days, and taken into the OR based on their INR. So please give it a rest. It'd be much more dangerous if the missed drug was Vitamin K, IMO.

No offense but I really don't think we are hearing the full story. To my knowledge unless you had a med error which caused a death or an adverse reaction I don't see why the hospital would report it to the BON, there just simply is no reason to. If they started doing that I guaurauntee the amount of reported med errors would drop to near zero lol.

Two missed doses being means for action on your license? Well I guess myself and 99.9 of the nurses on this board need to turn in our licenses.

I believe it. Unfortunately I've seen stuff like that happen. I almost had something similar happen to me. Long story but it started with the Dr starting an internal investigation to get me in trouble. This doctor had a strong dislike for me because I wouldn't put up with his b.s. ... but thats another story. Long story short he thought he got me on something .....didn't do his homework and the only person that ended up being put on suspension was his partner. I've seen trumped up charges on other nurses ... the worse I ever seen was a male nurse put up on sexual assault charges that I know he didn't do. This nurse not only lost his liecense he got jail time.

Sadly all it takes is someone in power who gets a burr under their saddle and they can start a campaign against a nurse...if she cannot find something to get 'em on, they can fabricate something...take a kernel of truth and twist it...create paper trails. Between system problems that increase potential for errors, our human nature and our innate role, it is easy for witch hunts to take place in nursing and I've seen it happen too many times.

I've also seen doctors who run off good nurses too...because they stood up to them.

I've heard whispers in the nursing community: 'so-and-so voluntarily surrendered her license this week'. They were good nurses, tired of the BS and someone just rode them too hard and they walked away...sick of fighting the system.

Wish someone would do a study on this to support what I suspect goes on. Many of the nurses who surrender their license do so in total disgust at the system they work in, I suspect. They just are tired of fighting....they work so hard in an unsupportive environment, for so little respect, that one day its the last straw and they walk away.

Sheba, I hope you get a nurse attorney and appeal this...I would. Best wishes.

Sadly all it takes is someone in power who gets a burr under their saddle and they can start a campaign against a nurse...if she cannot find something to get 'em on, they can fabricate something...take a kernel of truth and twist it...create paper trails. Between system problems that increase potential for errors, our human nature and our innate role, it is easy for witch hunts to take place in nursing and I've seen it happen too many times.

Unfortunately, this is a fairly common occurrence. I have seen these types of activities everywhere I have worked. Some places it was common, others it was rare, but I have yet to work in an environment that is entirely free from it. It is disgusting the way nurses treat one another sometimes. I would imagine their own idealism of "protecting the patients" is what helps them sleep at night. Personally, though, I wouldn't want anyone who behaved like that taking care of me or anyone I care about. Despite what they are able to think of themselves, they obviously DO NOT care about other people.

Well, your biggest mistake was refusing to take a UDS, unfortunately I think a refusal is considered an admission of guilt by the powers that be. I will take UDS any day, any time, any where. My job could call me up right now and I would drive up and take a UDS...its that important that you cooperate when it comes to some SBON's.

Its not that I don't believe, its the fact I don't want to believe its true lol.

I had a situation where I had a lung CA patient and a patient that had pancreatitis, basically hitting up the pyxis q1 hour for large doses of dilaudid, valium and demerol. I guess pyxis flags such behavior and my charts were reviewed. Well the chart reviewer decided I didn't chart well enough and I was basically told I was being suspended pending the results of a UDS (not your average everyday uds, the sent the sucker out for super duper test lol). Of course it came back negative, the hospital reinstated me and said I had to take charting classes etc. I explained I knew how to chart but having 8-9 primary care patients with only 2 aids for 30 patients on the floor was not conduscive to even the minimal amount of CYA charting.

I also felt guilty until proven innocent and was basically treated like a druggie by the DON and unit supervisor until my results came back negative. I gave my notice, that was the straw that broke the cammels back.

I wish you luck and pray you have a positive outcome, hell for every door closed another opens. Some days I feel like ripping up my nursing license and going and working at walmart.

I have to agree here. I've only been a nurse for 2 years now, and i'm already on burn out. I actually quit nursing and moved to a new state (to live with friends and try something new) and did so with absolutly no interest in getting back into it. And it's all because of the crap we deal with, with absolutly no support. The straw that broke my back was the night one of Resp. Thereopists tried picking a fight with me at the nurses station. She actually grabed my arm infront of nurses, MD's and pt family members. Later that night I was being pulled down to the nursing office and questioned about what happened. I got writen up and told that I could be fired for it. It took them a week to do anything to her, and from what I heard she got almost nothing. I had half of the witnesses saying I could have pressed charges with the police assalt. It all goes to show it's also who the bosses like. Now a few months have gone by and I'm more relaxed again and am now working on getting my license transfered and thinking about a nursing job again.

Well, your biggest mistake was refusing to take a UDS, unfortunately I think a refusal is considered an admission of guilt by the powers that be. I will take UDS any day, any time, any where. My job could call me up right now and I would drive up and take a UDS...its that important that you cooperate when it comes to some SBON's.

Its not that I don't believe, its the fact I don't want to believe its true lol.

I had a situation where I had a lung CA patient and a patient that had pancreatitis, basically hitting up the pyxis q1 hour for large doses of dilaudid, valium and demerol. I guess pyxis flags such behavior and my charts were reviewed. Well the chart reviewer decided I didn't chart well enough and I was basically told I was being suspended pending the results of a UDS (not your average everyday uds, the sent the sucker out for super duper test lol). Of course it came back negative, the hospital reinstated me and said I had to take charting classes etc. I explained I knew how to chart but having 8-9 primary care patients with only 2 aids for 30 patients on the floor was not conduscive to even the minimal amount of CYA charting.

I also felt guilty until proven innocent and was basically treated like a druggie by the DON and unit supervisor until my results came back negative. I gave my notice, that was the straw that broke the cammels back.

I wish you luck and pray you have a positive outcome, hell for every door closed another opens. Some days I feel like ripping up my nursing license and going and working at walmart.

Read my story entitled "Down And Dirty In The Oklahoma State Board Of Nursing" on this forum, employers and now private citizens are realizing any offense can be reported to the Board and the nurse will be sequestered, it is the new world order of governemnt agency incursion into the Constitutional Rights to Freedom we have enjoyed for many years, my license-career was taken away from me by one OBN nurse investigator, with a total disrgard for my Due Process Rights, Protection from Double Jeopardy, Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Excessive Punishment, it is all true, I am in the process of filing a Motion with the ACLU Judical Compaints Dept. against the Oklahoma State Board Of Nursing, they have totally destroyed my life, over an incident that ocurred totally outside of nursing and caused no harm to anyone, now I suffer and my children suffer, the senseless destruction of careers by the boards, should shock the conscience of a civilized and free Society, what you are seeing is the beginning of the slow chipping away of your Civil Rights and Freeedom, as gauranteed by the U.S. Constitution, Inaliagnable Rights.Good Luck

GOD'S my BOSS, and HE LOVES ME... Thank you GOD for being GOD and GOD all by YOURself. In the Name of Jesus.

I live in KY

I do have an attorney at this time. I only wish I had gotten one 2 years ago..

Huggs to you all for responding....no can know how devastating this situation is to me BUT a group of nurses who had their lives turned upside down going through nursing which at times was sssssoooo over-whelming it was as if we 'walked through hell with gasoline britches on'

May God have mercy on some of these DR,s. I went nose to toes with a DR.

He tried to have my license pulled. I had documented an order that he had written. While looking at the "evidence" I found several mistakes he made and

now He is defending his license.

I will keep you in my prayers. I used to think nursing was a great place to be, however the BON and Dr,s have somewhat of a God syndrome.

Keep your chin up and your head held high. Rember, vengence is mine sayeth the Lord.

To Chad 75

I have seriously thought about going to work at Wal Mart. I can stand at the door and talk until my tongue falls out (yes I am a woman). I am after all a senior citizen, no I refuse to tell my age. Just think all the coffee you can stand, talk all day, get a discount, and still get paid.

No license to defend, no family members to call you ugly names. You can just smile and say Have a (not so) nice day.

I have come to the conclusion that Nursing is not so nice. What was I thinking?:uhoh21:

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