PROBATION with RESTRICTED RN LICENSE - NOW RN REINSTATEMENT : FORMAL HEARING

[JC4me]

HAS ANYONE EVER BEEN ON PROBATION & HAD A RESTRICTED RN LICENSE?

It's the most humiliating, embarrassing, depressing, angering, situation to be in-- especially when you lose your very first RN job right of school, and you are a person of high integrity and a true passion for nursing in the most safe & professional manner, with your patient being your priority.

It's already been close to 2 years, that I was told "we have to let you go". The 6 most dreaded words anyone wants to hear, especially a brand new nurse!

Dealing with the BON is a nightmare: their hearts are cold as ice & ears are plugged so tight, they lack compassion & listening skills. It is their way,or no way!

I can assure you, no matter if you have an attorney or not, they will NOT listen to your side of the story, PERIOD. They are that closed minded.

I have been sent documents with all of my personal information from the Board of Nursing(BON) several times without the envelopes being sealed!

Is that the way they represent how health professionals are suppose to keep confidential information private?

What about HIPPA? Anyone could have read my entire information, such as a nosey neighbor, or a previous patient. At this point, what I have dealt with these almost 2 years, with BON, I am not impressed with how they do things. They also take a very long time to work your case. Another interesting thing,to add,one of their orders for me, is to grant full permission to allow all BONs to have the right to obtain all of my current, past and future health care records & allow communication with my Healthcare providers!

When I questioned my compliance manager, she said for me "not to worry, they have no need to review my records because I have nothing in my case that would give cause for them to look at them." But it still remains on my orders.

So, I asked, why not remove that? Her answer was, "I think it should be removed, but its one of those generic things that we include." That makes me wonder if that's the reason they used the term: "unsafe nursing practice" in my record.They had no other choice of words in their "generic" vocabulary! You see, I was fired because I gave some late meds!! Do you hear me?

I NEVER came to work enumerated, never took any drugs, or gave any patient the wrong drug, or ever harmed anyone! I GAVE SOME LATE MEDS! On shifts that were crazy busy. Yet I'm labeled for the world to see I'm unsafe. It's on all the data bases! All on the world wide internet. No wonder I have not been able to get hired for a nursing position!

I have applied to over 60 nursing jobs & have hooked 6 interviews.Once they find out I was fired, or have a restricted- on Probation license, I am told , they cannot use me.

I am now very poor. I do not have any insurance, no workman's comp, no medicaid, nothing. I did get a minimum wage job at a local store, & that helps me eat, but in the meantime, I have to live like a bag Lady & stay at relatives houses.

If my nurse manager & DON would have offered me a choice to resign , that would have been better, but they didn't, nor did they want to hear my story regarding my my heavy assignment & what was going on on those shifts. No compassion there either. It's all business: the hospital was preparing to have a safety inspection relating to improvement of their poor past scores, so since I was the new graduate, all eyes were on me. They needed "clean" house, & I was their "dirt!" I sensed that, & it caused me anxiety. The more they watched me, the more anxiety.

*Bottom line: I need a nursing job. I want to do what I've always wanted to do. Be a nurse & use the education, skills & critical thinking I was trained to use, along with the true compassion I have for helping others.

I have to show my potential employer all my BON orders, & have them fill out a form stating what RN, NFP,MD will be in my building, their license number, & what my job description is.

Then they have to fill out an evaluation form every 3 months on how I'm performing.

If I have a good evaluation for 1 full year, my restriction & probation goes away..poof! That easy! The BON tells me they can't understand why I can't get a job. My x-employer tells me the same. Why can't a new nurse get a second chance?

So far, I cant even get a job because of all that mess. The longer I go without a nursing job, the more difficult it will be. All that hard work, financial investment, all to waste.

So much depression & financial burden this whole thing has caused. I'm telling you, the BON is NOT your friend, either is your x-employer.

If I were to do everything all over again, I would not go into nursing. All you students or new grads, like myself, take head to my warning. Healthcare is all business. They only look after their butt.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I'm sorry for the position that you're in. I don't understand how administering medications late can place a restriction on your license?

[AutumnApple]

I'm sorry for the position that you're in. I don't understand how administering medications late can place a restriction on your license?

This.

Its just not something that leads to loss of license in my experience.

Did any harm come to the patient? Did you try to cover up the mistake somehow?

There just has to be more to their case against you.

Either way, I do hope things improve for you soon.

BTW, I have heard that call centers at times hire people in situations similar to yours. They don't pay as much, but they pay better than minimum wage.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

The BON exists to protect patients, not to "care" about nurses or giving them second chances.

I sympathize with you, but I wonder if you might be minimizing the problem that led up to restrictions being paced on your license? People are sometimes more willing to give you a chance if you take full responsibility and have a definite plan to keep yourself on track.

Have you considered moving to an area with a greater need for nursing staff? You might have better luck finding something if you broaden your search a bit.

Best wishes.

**As a side note, it's "hipAA", not "hiPPa".

[SmilingBluEyes]

I am so sorry for what you are going through. I just cannot help wondering if there is more to this story. Late med administration does not usually lead to such harsh sanctions.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

HIPAA doesn't apply except to a patient-provider relationship where insurance is billed electronically.

Do you have a license defense attorney?

The BoN isn't there for the nurses but to protect the public.

Some nurses with restrictions have success in dialysis.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

It's very hard to believe you are in this situation because you gave some meds late. Very hard. The various BONs have so much to deal with just attending to nurses who divert, who use, who cause major harm to patients, etc. without getting involved in a situation of a few late meds.

There just has to be more to this story.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

HIPAA doesn't apply to your interactions with the BON. They aren't billing your health insurance company for anything.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I suspect there is a LOT more to this story. Late meds? Hardly

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

So what's the rest of this story? Because you don't get your license taken away or restricted for giving meds late. If they did then a lot of nurses wouldn't be working.

Please stop pulling our legs.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to Nursing Career Advice

[Labmom1118]

Why would an employer want to take on an inexperienced nurse with a restricted license when they undoubtedly have many qualified applicants without that baggage? And, like everybody has said, firing and reporting to the BON over late meds seems very extreme unless it caused patient harm. Rereading the OP it says late meds on shiftS that were busy. So a pattern of being late with meds?

Not once in your post did you take responsibility for yourself. You never admitted that you screwed up. You blame it on the hospital and the BON, and you the innocent victim of an unjust system. If that's how you report it in an interview, I'm glad that you weren't hired. I would not want to work with somebody who points fingers everywhere but at themselves because how am I to know you're not going to be pointing at me the next time you screw up? We all make mistakes. We have to own up to them and make a plan for that mistake not to happen to us again.