oneof5

Cyber Security

I have been a nurse for 20 years. I have done ICU, PACU, PreOp. I did travel nursing in Trauma ICU and PACU. I eventually ended up at the wrong place after 2 years of traveling. If someone wants to accuse you of something and report you to the BRN, they don't have to prove a thing and you have everything to lose. The board may hear your side but they don't take your side. They will take the side of the accuser every time, no questions asked. I am leaving nursing to persue a career in computers, particularly Cyber Security. I really like the job that I do now in PreOp but I don't like what other nurses have done to me and what the Boards of Nursing did. What one does, they all follow suit until one of them eventually decides they are the one to take your license. I have stood back and watched how these nurses, who I currently work with, berate and belittle others, especially ones that are new. There is no give in their relentless taunting. They may not do it to that nurses face but I see it. Looking back, I have seen it for 20 years, day in and day out. Now you may say that that is life, but I say that is a culture of bullying and administrators put up with it and never do a thing. In fact they engage in it themselves. I never saw it before because I wasn't the victim.....until I was the victim. I get along with the people that I work with but being falsely accused and bullied, left a bad taste in my mouth. My eyes have been opened and I decided it was time to exit right and put all of this nightmare behind me. I have no faith in the profession or the board that governs it.

When formal charges are brought against your license, in TN, it is not public until the board rules. When Ca brought charges against my license they made it Public the day they brought the charges up. So just because you don't see it on Nursys, doesn't mean they are doing it. I would be shocked if they don't. To be clear, MY licensed wasn't reprimanded because of what I was warning about. I just found it out in the Ethics class. Just because you ARE grown up, take responsibility, work hard, do your job and do it well even while working short, doesn't mean someone can lie about you and cause you to lose your license. Take that right there, to heart!!! It can happen and it did happen to me. Even when I had about 20 letters of support from doctors, fellow co-workers, and former managers.

LOVE this and all of the other comments that help the rest of us who have had misgivings or never had that "calling" or "love" of nursing. I say if you want to go back to school or can, to do something else. Do it. I am 53 years old and am in my first semester of a new career. I-am-leaving-nursing!

All of this was tragic for the nurse and for the family. She most certainly shouldn't be charged. No one else in that facility that lent to the mistake was charged. They basically threw her under the bus. I don't even think she should have her license taken away, but I suspect she doesn't want it anyway. If you never have had to deal with the BON, I hope you don't. Just to let you and EVERYONE on here know, the above comments can get you sanctioned by the BON for Unprofessionalism. I have been dealing with the BON for the past two years and am getting ready to lose my ability to practice. Not because my own state BON won't let me practice but because they REPRIMANDED my license and I have a Ca license. I never practiced in that state and was going to let my license go, but because it is still active and they have the right to formally charge my license and because I refuse to jump through their ridiculous requirements, I am having to surrender my license. How does that affect me here at my job? OIG. For my state BON, I had to take an ethics class and one of the things that I found out in that class was, the above posting can cause you to lose your license, at the very least, reprimanded. I went into that class very angry that I had to be there, this was all because of lies that were concocted to get me fired at a hospital. BON's don't really investigate unless you contest it and since they have the unlimited funds of taxpayer dollars you don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. The are going to do "something" to your license reprimand to suspend. Just like in this nurses case at Vanderbilt, no one is holding the hospital accountable for this. It is ALL on the nurse. The BON did not hold the hospital accountable for the lies that they told, they just accepted them as proof. The hospital didn't have to show any proof of what they were alleging. I walked into that Ethics class angry and thinking of leaving nursing. I walked out determined to leave nursing. I signed up for readmission to college the very next week. I am glad I did, because it is getting readto all go down the tubes. All of this has left a bad taste in my mouth for what can happen to you as a nurse and how there is no consequences to the employer. My message here is, be careful what you say, most certainly be careful what you do and most definitely be careful what you post online. The take away that I got from that ethics class was, your personal life and thoughts are not your own. It doesn't matter if you are on the clock. The governmental overreach that the BON and Medial Board is mind boggling.

I had a patient in PACU after surgery tell me that her toe was itching, that she had a toenail fungus and wanted me to take a needle and scratch under her toenail. I told her that I could not do it, that it could cause her bigger problems than she had at the moment. After she left, she reported me. It was a hospital that had signs everywhere asking if the patients had had a 5 star experience. Thank God when I got called in to answer for myself, (of course her complaint was that I was rude), I told my side of the story and it was dropped.

I asked and was told by the cashier it was because of handling money. I rarely see them handle money, most people use a Debit/Credit card. Idk.

If your lucky, they will just fire you and not make up a story and report it to the BON like was done to me. Now $$K later, I am still dealing with it and will in every state that I am licensed in. This is all thanks to the BON will not investigate unless you go to court over it and the BON TELLS you that the outcome will be worse, with stiffer penalties and higher costs. So they bully you into not taking it to court. It is a messed up system, for sure!!! I am meeting with a college advisor this week, I am getting out of nursing!

I am going to tell you why we use so many narcotics, particularly Dilaudid. HCAP scores. The biggest downturn in scores is "pain isn't adequately controlled" Adequately to patients means "NO PAIN". So since reimbursements depends on scores and surveys, then if you aren't bringing out the big guns on pain control then you aren't getting paid. Thanks Joint Commission for making pain a vital sign. Patients will tell you that their pain is a 10, right before they respiratory arrest. I have worked PACU for 15 years! Patients aren't educated enough on what to expect from pain after a surgery. If doctors tell patients that they are going to have pain after surgery, if it is an elected surgery, they won't have it. We are a give me society and a no pain society. I will tell you this, the new laws that they have enacted in Tennessee about narcotic dispensing should be a crack down on all this pill mill crap. If you ask for a 2nd pain pill prescription after the original supply given after surgery, then you have to enroll in a pain clinic contract. All patients getting more than a 3 day supply of narcotics have to sign a contract with the facility that they are aware of the side affects and potential problems and that they don't have multiple narcotic prescriptions already. The doctors can look in a data base prior to giving a narcotic prescription to see if the patient has had a recent prescription. If they have, hopefully they won't give another. It is a big problem and everyone suffers. Boy do I have a book of stories that would cover this topic.

I was falsely accused of drug diversion. I was on a travel contract this past Spring and the whole assignment and staff was like being in an awful, awful nightmare. I was accused of drug diversion and fired by both the hospital and my travel company. I just got a letter today from the BON Assistant Attorney General, offering me a settlement of REPRIMAND for pleading guilty OR being formally charged by the Board and going to trial which my lawyers says, acts as the jury. So basically they ARE Judge, Jury and Executioner. My husband wants me to go back to school and get OUT of nursing but I am 52 yrs old!!!! I should be preparing for retirement not taking on more school debt. This is INSANE!!!!! I had letters from former colleagues, managers and my doctor basically saying this was insane and all that I have read on these boards is that once your name is sent to the BON, you will be found guilty of something and reprimand is the least of them all and look at this, you or I or anyone else won't be able to get a job. Where I was working KNEW I was not guilty of this, they KNEW their computer charting system was glitchy and unreliable. They KNEW that it dropped orders and lost charting, everyone there complained about it. The ENTIRE place was a hostile work environment. Like one of my colleagues told me, they want to give you a public reprimand but they NEVER put on your license all the good that you have done over the years. They never say how much $#!+ you put up with patients and other bullying staff and doctors and administration. This is NOT supposed to be how it works but this is government for you!!!!! This was done to me by a system that owns half of the hospitals in Tennessee and in half the states in the whole country. It would be nearly impossible to get a license in another state now and the ones that I do have in other states, will do the same. It won't matter anyone, no one will hire me. It has been heartbreaking and exhausting. I don't even want to be a nurse anymore. I don't want to care for anyone or about anyone, because no job has ever care about me.

Yes, I have heard that one a TON! But they always have a story to tell about how bad it was last time and how the 'Head Nurse" had to come in and start it. Well I started telling patients that I was "Head Nurse" when someone came to me and asked me to try an IV that they couldn't get. Before everyone goes ballistic over me saying that, we didn't have head nurses or charge nurses at the surgery center where I worked. Even my manager thought it was funny.

You are correct! It has become a cultural issue. My stepdaughter refuses to potty train our granddaughter and she turns 4 in a few months. My husband has jumped on her several times and asked her how she is going to go to school wearing diapers and she just replied that she would be potty trained before then. How? On her own? It is LAZY parents!!! All 3 of my children started potty training when they turned 2 and was fully trained in a few weeks. L-A-Z-Y parents and then they produce lazy children.

http://www.Travelnursecentral.com You can leave feedback on hospitals on there. If the hospital isn't listed, add it. You don't have to be a travel nurse to do it and you remain anonymous. I urge everyone on here that has had a problem with a hospital falsely accusing you of something, rate them on this website. You can bet your bottom dollar that I rated the hospital that falsely accused me of this. If anyone wants the name of that hospital, I will gladly give it to them. I think hospitals need their cages rattled as well. There is no consequences to hospitals for falsely accusing people and they stand up and poke their chests out and beat on it like a gorilla, proud that they report nurses to the BON! Nursing has become ridiculous!!!

That is why when I am done with my current assignment, I am leaving bedside nursing. Amen to your post! This is what I have been saying for months. When people hear my story they say, "Well surely the truth will come out and you will be exonerated". Uh have you seen how hospitals act during JACHO visits? It becomes a completely different hospital and when they are gone, practices go back to the way the were for a few more years. Everything a hospital does can be changed to look pristine in the eyes of an investigator. I completely agree that hospitals should be forced to undergo the same when reporting a nurse falsely or over ridiculous charges. I am angry at hospital corporations for throwing the nurse under the bus at all costs to the nurse and her career, for ridiculous charges. I am angry at fellow nurses who would do the same just to move up the ladder. I am over it.

I am sorry, I don't see your response to someone else.

I am regretting it right now, because I have been falsely accused of drug diversion while on a travel assignment. I am regretting every hour that I spent in this career because I am bitter and angry AND heartbroken that an organization that loves to throw around that phrase, "we have a huge nurse diversion problem here at this hospital" is falsely accusing people of drug diversion. I am angry that I may loose my license, I am angry that I missed many things that my kids did while growing up because I was giving my all to this profession. I am angry that I may have to start all over again doing something else because I am 52 years old and never once took or stole narcotics and NEVER EVER even thought of doing it. I should be putting my income into my retirement not trying to figure out how I am going to pay for another college degree. I regret the hell out of it!!!! If I am lucky enough to keep my license, I will never take care of another patient again. I will do something completely difference until I don't have to punch a time clock again. Hospitals are battling the nursing shortage, THEY are the cause of the nursing shortage!

If you have been there, can you share your story? What was the situation, what was the outcome? I am there right now and the pain is crippling, not motivating. Yes I am heartbroken and angry at the same time. I am furious! But I want to hear other's stories.

I left ICU for PACU and loved it for 14 years and now I am bunt out!!! It can be a crazy busy PACU and you may never see a lunch, just like ICU or it may be slower paced. Either way, nursing has changed and more and more are put on nurses. I went on a travel assignment and they accused me of drug diversion because of their glitchy computer system. My hyper vigilance didn't protect me. You are dealing with a huge amount of narcotics. If you are a full time person and get along with the other staff and your manager, you should be fine. I have NEVER been question, or accused or asked about charting but traveling is more risky and I found that out the hard way. I am fighting for my license. I am over nursing and anything to do with patient care. But, I say try it. You might love it. I did, until now.

The BON can't just revoke your license with out you knowing it. It is a HUGE and long drawn out process. You would know if the BON is investigating.

I do have a lawyer and he let me know up from that fighting the BON is not a cake walk. Even being innocent. With the BON it is not up to them to find you guilty, it is up to you to prove you are innocent. You can not sue the accuser or the Board. The investigator goes into the investigation with the thought of you are guilty and that is what they are looking for. ANY minor slip in charting and you are guilty. The BON is a government entity and have you ever heard how it is to fight City Hall. Same. If I were a minority or could accuse them of discrimination then maybe, but I am not and have no special exceptions to me. You are correct Presumption is wrong and destructive. How many nurses on this website have you seen, when someone states they are having to possibly fight or are fighting an accusation of drug diversion, immediately presume you are guilty. Going through nursing is extremely difficulty to achieve and then your entire career you fight. You fight the eating of the young, you fight petty ******** and cliques, you fight back biting and back stabbing and you fight abusive patients and you fight bottom lines with administration. I am extremely tired of fighting my whole life. I am exhausted and now I am going through another frigging fight for what is right. I am fighting the board and I am begging EVERYONE that I know, EVERYONE to write a character letter for me. But even after all of that and if I get to keep my license.....I don't want to take care of another patient or pull another damn narcotic to risk all this **** again. DONE!!! The Board makes money in finding people guilty, by fines. They usually are in the thousands. I have seen them under the rulings of the BON in TN, thousands of dollars.

I was recently falsely accused of nurse diversion because of computer screw ups. The computer system was glitchy every single day, multiple problems. I have been a nurse for 17 years and never had issues with wastage, never questioned. I have ALWAYS been diligent about wasting narcotics, never leave them lying around, diligent about charting. Started traveling and went a this one hospital where I was told for 10 weeks, "We have a huge nurse diversion problem here", I got pulled in to HR and accused of drug diversion. It was stated that I pulled drugs on patients when the narcotic was never ordered, however, when I scanned the med, it let me chart it. I was told that my wastage didn't match my charting. So many red flags with this hospital on their accusations. My defense was it was their computer system because if it wasn't ordered, it wouldn't have proceeded with the documentation, it would have told me that it wasn't on the patients profile, they accused me of overriding the system, which I didn't know how to do. I was the only one drug tested, which it was negative so now the board is accusing me of stealing narcotics to resale. So YOU ARE guilty in the eyes of the Board AND if you are lucky, you will get away with a fine. Why do you think they try SO HARD to find you guilty. MONEY!!!!! If I come out of this, still with my license....I have NO DESIRE to continue in patient care. I don't want to pull ANOTHER narcotic for anybody. I have poured my heart and soul into this career, missed many things for my kids while they were little. Missed many things with my family, mainly 17 years. I discourage ANYONE from going into nursing!

I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you and the out come. I had something similar happen to me recently, but the drug test was negative and I was accused of drug diversion. They stated that my charting didn't coincide with my waste and that on multiple patients, I didn't have orders for the drugs that I gave. That charge is ridiculous! Every patient that came to me in recovery room had a narcotic ordered. We scanned our drugs into the computer charting, if it wasn't in the medication profile you couldn't give the med. The meds that I gave to the patients that they said didn't have an order for that med, allowed me to scan it and give it. There were 12 incidences. I am extremely diligent in scanning my meds AND wasting them. I never moved my patient out of the recovery room until my medications were wasted. I was told on day one of this job that they had a large nurse diversion there. Ok after 17 years of nursing, why would I decide to start stealing drugs and giving or selling them to someone in a place that I have never been before from a hospital that claimed over and over that they had a huge nurse diversion problem. This hospital let this go to 12 incidences before they pulled me into HR and fired me. I was a traveler at this hospital and had 3 weeks left in my contract. Even though my drug test was negative, I was told that it was reportable to the board because they had missing narcotics. Their narcotics wasn't missing, what they had missing was a competent computer system that didn't fail on a daily basis and didn't drop orders on a daily basis. I heard this complaint from nurses and doctors on a daily basis!!! Now I am awaiting notification from the board. This is ridiculous that we as nurses have to put up with crap on a daily basis from all sides and then have to fight a corporation for their lives due to some BS!! I will REFUSE to compromise on my license. I will not submit to scheduled drug testing or anything else. I will quit nursing if I have to do that. It isn't worth the BS. I AM INNOCENT!!!!