Nurse Fired by HCA After 20yrs - Wrongful Termination Lawsuit Filed
Julie Stephens had worked in the ED at an HCA owned facility for 20 yrs when she was fired on what she says was a trumped-up charge
NursesGeneral NursingNews
It's hard to imagine what it must feel like to work for an organization for 20yrs, and then be fired. Not only fired, but fired on allegedly trumped-up charges. According to Becker's Hospital Review, Julie Stephens, RN, an ED nurse, was fired after 20 yrs of employment for "trying to help a patient with mental health issues escape".
Julie Stephens worked in the Emergency Department of Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire. Portsmouth is owned by HCA Health Services, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. HCA is a for-profit organization that owns upwards of 300 healthcare facilities.
Trying to help a patient with mental health issues who was being involuntarily committed to escape is an odd charge and the New Hampshire Board of Nursing did not lend it credence. In hopes of sanctioning Julie Stephens' nursing license, the complaint was reported to the New Hampshire Board Of Nursing, where it was dismissed.
Julie was guilty of reporting unsafe staffing conditions and clearly the administration wanted her silenced. Portsmouth Regional ED was chronically overcrowded and understaffed, allegedly resulting in a patient death. According to Julie, a patient with cardiac symptoms presented to the ED for help. Instead of being seen immediately and screened with an EKG, the patient was not screened, was not treated, was not seen, and died after waiting more than half an hour.
At Portsmouth Regional ED, lunch breaks were rare and understaffing was the norm. Julie tried repeatedly to advocate for safer staffing, making her concerns known to her Director, to no avail. In October of 2018, Julie wrote a letter to the Chief Executive Officer, Dean Carucci.
Here's the timeline:
In June of 2018, a new Director of Emergency Services was hired. Was Julie hopeful that things would now change? Instead, RN turnover rate increased, according to Julie.
In October of 2018, Julie wrote a letter to the CEO. Did Julie believe she could appeal to his humanity? That maybe he just didn't know about the unsafe conditions in his ED? If he did know, surely he would ensure safe staffing, right?
In early 2019, Julie was accused of aiding a patient with mental health issues to escape.
In February 2019, days after the accusation, Julie Stephens was fired.
Julie has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, "The lawsuit alleges wrongful termination, malicious prosecution and violation of a law that protects whistleblowers, according to the report."
Not surprisingly, the hospital has defended its actions and denies any wrongdoing. Portsmouth hospital spokesman, Lynn Robbins, says they are "comfortable" with the firing of Julie Stephens and the hospital claims it acted in "good faith".
Will other nurses at Portsmouth Regional or any HCA owned facility feel free to speak up? It's doubtful. Likewise, it's likely that managers and directors are in an environment where they are not able to advocate for patients and nurses.
Was Julie terminated for good reason? That's doubtful as well. It seems if the only thing they could charge her with was the "helping a patient escape" charge, then she must have been a really good employee.
What about the symptomatic cardiac patient who died after 30 minutes, untreated? Portsmouth Regional Hospital is a Chest Pain Center accredited by the Society of Chest Pain Centers. Healthcare professionals are taught "time is muscle". Heart muscle. What happened at triage to delay this patient's care? Thirty minutes is enough time to screen, get to Cath Lab, and inflate the balloon during angioplasty.
There are so many questions and we don't have all the answers, but on the face of it, Julie Stephens was fired because she persistently spoke up about unsafe staffing. How is that wrong?
