Letter of Admonition...A Career Death Sentence? bv

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been an ICU Nurse for 15 years. About 1/2 way into my career, I was accused of being too rough with a patient while preventing him from kicking a co-worker. I quit that job the morning I was made aware of the accusation (which was a huge mistake in retrospect) and quickly got another ICU job. 18 months later, I received a Letter of Admonition from my state's Board of Nursing. For those of you who are not familiar with an LOA, it's basically a slap on the wrist stating go forth and do no harm. But it's a permanent mark on your nursing license and you must acknowledge it when applying for a job or a license in another state. When my employer found out about it, they did not fire me since they were happy with my patient care (I received large numbers of patient satisfaction letters). I quit my job in mid 2011 (another mistake in hindsight), and have not been able to get a nursing job ever since. Recruiters call me every day because they are impressed with my resume, but when I tell them about the LOA, they say "Good luck" and that's the end of it. Has anyone else faced this dilemma? I was told a LOA was not a big deal, but it seems to have ended my nursing career. No one out there seems to want to give me a second chance.

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Why did you leave the second ICU? Are you eligible for rehire? If so, can you get your job back there since you now regret it?

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I have been an ICU Nurse for 15 years. About 1/2 way into my career, I was accused of being too rough with a patient while preventing him from kicking a co-worker. I quit that job the morning I was made aware of the accusation (which was a huge mistake in retrospect) and quickly got another ICU job. 18 months later, I received a Letter of Admonition from my state's Board of Nursing. For those of you who are not familiar with an LOA, it's basically a slap on the wrist stating go forth and do no harm. But it's a permanent mark on your nursing license and you must acknowledge it when applying for a job or a license in another state. When my employer found out about it, they did not fire me since they were happy with my patient care (I received large numbers of patient satisfaction letters). I quit my job in mid 2011 (another mistake in hindsight), and have not been able to get a nursing job ever since. Recruiters call me every day because they are impressed with my resume, but when I tell them about the LOA, they say "Good luck" and that's the end of it. Has anyone else faced this dilemma? I was told a LOA was not a big deal, but it seems to have ended my nursing career. No one out there seems to want to give me a second chance.

Under normal circumstances a LOA may not prove a hinderance to finding another gig, but these are *boon* times for many facilities with so many experienced nurses (with excellent to good references) and new grads all without any mark on their escutcheon that they can set the bar very high indeed.

If you left your last position on good terms (other than up and quitting) see if they will have you back. However they may see you trying to use them as a place to cool your jets until a better offer comes along and not take the bait. Which brings up another point, what's up with all this waking up and deciding to quit a job all of a sudden? Are you giving proper notice and or taking advantage of offers to mitigate any *problems* that are prompting these decisions?

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I've had problems getting work simply from the fallout of being blacklisted in the nursing community or from being bad mouthed by a former manager who stated they would be a good reference, so I can certainly see how an official reprimand from your State board would put a wall in front of you. You just have to decide how hard you want to fight the stigma or whether or not it would be better to move in a different direction. Going without work is not a good circumstance, no matter what causes the problem(s) getting hired.

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Does a LOA ever go away?

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Hate to say it but you should call a lawyer. Perhaps it can be removed, especially since you've proven yourself since. Let it be a lesson to the rest of us to always fight such a ruling. Hope it works out for you.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

Hate to say it but you should call a lawyer. Perhaps it can be removed, especially since you've proven yourself since. It sounds patently unfair (or un-American) for you to be judged at a punitive process in which you were unable to represent yourself or present your side. That might be a legal angle. Let it be a lesson to the rest of us to always fight such a ruling. Hope it works out for you.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Does a LOA ever go away?

As far as I know, No.

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I am not suprised to hear that even with you experience in the high stress field of the ICU you are having a hard time. There are just too many nurses to pick from now. I would contact a lawyer asap and see what/if anything can be done. Best of luck.

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LOA's are a matter of public record and are permanent. It wasn't a matter of getting up and deciding to quit, it was a matter of reoccuring stressful situations (patient safety concerns) that lead to a panic attack. Also, I tried to transfer to another of the umbrella company's facilities but my manager gave me a bad reference even though I received so many customer satisfaction comments for 4 years in a row while in her unit. I wonder if their is a statute of limitations on the LOA? The incident happened 7 years ago, but the LOA was issued a little over 5 years ago. At the time the complaint was made, a nurse (meaning myself in this case) was not allowed to speak on their on behalf at the hearing. You had one chance to respond, in writing, to the complaint. I believe that rule has since changed.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Hire a lawyer familar with the BON in your state and see what recourse you have. Good luck.

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Specializes in Peri-op/Sub-Acute ANP.
LOA's are a matter of public record and are permanent. It wasn't a matter of getting up and deciding to quit, it was a matter of reoccuring stressful situations (patient safety concerns) that lead to a panic attack. Also, I tried to transfer to another of the umbrella company's facilities but my manager gave me a bad reference even though I received so many customer satisfaction comments for 4 years in a row while in her unit. I wonder if their is a statute of limitations on the LOA? The incident happened 7 years ago, but the LOA was issued a little over 5 years ago. At the time the complaint was made, a nurse (meaning myself in this case) was not allowed to speak on their on behalf at the hearing. You had one chance to respond, in writing, to the complaint. I believe that rule has since changed.

Thing like this just make me crazy about the nursing profession. If you killed someone you would be allowed to defend yourself in court, yet any Joe can walk in off the street and make an allegation against us and we have our livelihoods put at stake as a result. No other profession would put up with being treated this way, so why do we?

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