a med from transfer sheet missed caused injury

[leeposh]

MED ERROR: Is it right to terminate a nurse that had way too much on her hands to handle alone and accidently left out an important med that caused serious injury on a new admit in a nursing home? 2 admits, an emergency to attend, and all at the same time as

9p med pass? They let her work for 2 months before termination after the incident. It wasn't until she decided to go from part time to PRN that she was terminated and this was used as the excuse. Is this even legal.? SHould she have been put on probation or suspension until thoroughly investigated? Confidentiality was also broken, not speaking to a supervisor before all other personel brought it to her attention what had happened.When it finally was discussed, inservices, med error reports all necessary paper work was filled out with DON It was then that a new DON came into facility that terminated after it was already handled and thought to be done with with previous supervisor:nono:

What about asking to accept a letter of resignation but not working the 2 weeks, instead of having a black mark on record, is it worth it? Forget about finding a new job, this will cause problems

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

In most states you can ber terminated simply because they don't like you. It's called "at will employment."

I would hope the med was left out accidentally. That's why they're called med ERRORS.

[oramar]

The truth is that when they decide to get rid of someone they will always find something.

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

The truth is that when they decide to get rid of someone they will always find something.

This is so true. And once they make that decision there is nothing you can do about it.

[RN1989]

Most likely they felt that having her onstaff was a lawsuit risk. They may have gotten papers from an attorney which is why they waited the two months.

The nurse would have to have a lot of documentation to prove that it was a system error that caused the problem to even attempt to get some compensation from this. Chances are she is like most nurses and does not keep a running diary of EVERYTHING that happens at work to prove lack of education, lack of staffing, etc.

Best bet is to file unemployment and look for a new job.

[IndySkies]

A lot of places will 'write' nurses up or keep some kind of records of any discipline or complaints just to store them up until and when they decided to use them to either terminate or deny raises, or change in status, i.e. changing to or from part to full time or prn, etc.

It is a kind of insurance for the 'powers-that-be'. The only way two ways to prevent them form biting you later is to either 'suck-up' to managment or quit before they can be used against you.

[Simplepleasures]

I worked at a facility in which a nurse manager falsified a doctor's order ,which in turn caused the death of a resident .This nurse manager was VERY well liked by the facility and the rest of management. NOTHING was done until the family brought forth a lawsuit, a full month later. Then all hell broke loose and we were told that they (the managment)"regretfully" had to let her go, because of advice from their corporate lawyer. Some justice,hey? Nurses who make little mistakes but have been on someones poop list are booted out, while the "insider" nurses dont get fired until they kill someone.

[RN1980]

well you made a error, welcome to being human. try to learn from it, wipe your eyes, screw your former employer (that is if you feel like you're being shafted) and go get yourself a new job.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

We're expendable when we make a mistake. The nursing board nor your employer do not care how much a nurse has going on that might understandably lead to an error.

Sorry for the negative attitude, but it seems to be truth.

[Roseyposey]

MED ERROR: Is it right to terminate a nurse that had way too much on her hands to handle alone and accidently left out an important med that caused serious injury on a new admit in a nursing home? 2 admits, an emergency to attend, and all at the same time as

9p med pass? They let her work for 2 months before termination after the incident. It wasn't until she decided to go from part time to PRN that she was terminated and this was used as the excuse. Is this even legal.? SHould she have been put on probation or suspension until thoroughly investigated? Confidentiality was also broken, not speaking to a supervisor before all other personel brought it to her attention what had happened.When it finally was discussed, inservices, med error reports all necessary paper work was filled out with DON It was then that a new DON came into facility that terminated after it was already handled and thought to be done with with previous supervisor:nono:

What about asking to accept a letter of resignation but not working the 2 weeks, instead of having a black mark on record, is it worth it? Forget about finding a new job, this will cause problems

I have one wrench to throw into this, however. Someone with more knowledge of the legal system, please feel free to chime in here. In my previous life as a (non-nursing) supervisor, I was trained that if someone's work was substandard or unsafe, disrupting, etc., the employer is better covered firing the employee immediately. Though most states are at-will, it doesn't exactly sound legitimate to me to allow someone who was unsafe to work for another two months, especially with such a vulnerable population. Which, my point may not make any difference, just my

[RN1989]

Yes, it is better to fire them immediately. I have found in healthcare though that if there is an issue regarding being able to replace that person, they may wait until something happens.

I've had the unfortunate experience to be management in a hospital where I inherited foreign nurses that the hospital paid a fortune to bring to the US. They all required extensive orientation and guidance, more than what a new grad would even get. One of them just wouldn't/couldn't learn and was so scary but they would not let me terminate her because of the money they had paid to get her here. In the end, she was finally terminated after contributing to a pt's death. But it is a shame that it took a pt dying to get the CNO's attention. I am still waiting for that official attorney letter calling me for a deposition.

So there again, money is the motivating factor in firings.