hartmoon

You are far from alone. I think either the other staff has simply been there a while longer or they just don't want to admit that they have the same fears and nightmares. I think that having a mentor or else going to a smaller hospital where the nurse patient ratio is more manageable may help you. You seem like a perfectionist and that's not bad but if you are to remain sane you need to prioritize the care and documentation. Deal with the big stuff and if you forget something small then go back and admit it and do a late documentation. If society wants to keep nurses they must realize that in order to do so they must make our jobs less stressful . If your institution wants to keep good nurses they should help you. Ask for help, a mentor or a smaller work load til you get on your feet. Otherwise you may remain in a state of disillusionment and may give up. I hate to think of it also but am pondering the same thing for other reasons. Take your time making your decision.

I've previously posted my story regarding my wrongful termination and at this point need a referral to a lawyer who knows nursing and is willing to try to change a law(Precedent) which affects us all. I have spent 7000.00 in the last 6 months in legal fees after being told repeatedly by my Attorney that we have a strong case of defamation against my previous unit director and hospital because of false allegations to the state Board of nursing for which my license is now being investigated. The investigator sat down with my attorney and i and informed us that the unit director and Hospital were uncooperative and cut her off during a phone interview of their complaint because they refused a face to face interview altogether. She advised us to sue them and in turn report them to the State. This week my Attorney informed me that regardless of being vindicated by the state , we can not use their false allegations to sue them because any complaint made to the Board no matter how untrue, is considered priviledged. This was a lower court finding and I cannot believe I have absolutely no rights after they have tried destroying my career. Even if I am cleared of everything by the State the wrongful complaint remains on my record. Do Pennsylvania Nurses know how few rights they have? Please lead me to someone willing to take up the cause for us . it does matter. If we are to help make this career a choice we are willing to live with we MUST have the same rights afforded anyone else.

Because I have been through a similar experience. I was terminated after 24 yrs as an rn in one hospital following nothing but above ave reviews and no incidents. You sound like you are familiar with the politics in hospitals and you probably know others this type of thing has happened to. In our hospital there were three pages of nurses terminated who were over 40 in the last 3-5 yrs.Everyone who I've told about my case say I was scapegoated or hazed. The unit director who fired me is young and this was her first management position and she had her title for less than three months when she terminated me. The clincher is that not only did they terminate me they filed a complaint with the State Board of Nursing and the charges are completely trumpted up and nearly complete lies. The investigator from the State Board was completely disgusted with my unit director and the hospital because they wouldn't cooperate with the interviewer and she went so far as to advise me to sue them and in turn report them to the board. So 6 months later and 7000.00 for a good Lawyer, I've just been told that in the state of Pa anyone can make any complaint against you to the Board and even if there's NO truth whatsoever to it you cannot use it to sue them AND even if vindicated by the State, it will stay on your record forever.I also know by now that unless you belong to a union ,you have no rights as an employee. they can fire you for not liking the way you look.What does that say about our profession and why so many nurses like us want no more to do what they once loved.

I was terminated from my first and only hospital employment after nearly 24 yrs. in late Jan.I am an RN. I wanted to be a nurse since I was 10. I have never done anything to cause anyone harm nor have I acted in an unethical way and after going through my 23 years of employment records and evaluations, I know that I have nearly all above ave reviews with several ave reviews and nothing negativein my record. Despite all of that I was terminated as a result of having to use professional judgement which I and all of my coworkers and physicians are suppotive of rearding pain medication delivery to a post op patient. The patient was never interviewed by anyone other than myself and the floor nurse receiving her and that nurse has also agreed with my evaluation of the patient and provided my Attorney wth a statement.This patient received Duramorph following and uneventful , routine surgery. She c/o pain in shoulder area in rr. I attempted to provide the patient with medication. I had to find the anesthesiologist, obtain order, go to pixus, none of the orderes were entered, i spoke with the pharmacist for at least 5 min. to staighten out the roadblock, and by that time the hour of rr time was complete, patient was in NO acute distress and spoke to myself and visitors in normal way. My Unit director had told all staff the day before this that PAIN was no reason to override the med. admin. system, therefore knowing i had to begin the next surgery in very short time and all of the above I decided to move the pt to her room , give report to her receiving nurse and allow her to mediacte her knowing by then the med would be entered in the system. I informed the patient of all of this and I did just that. the patient received her pain med within 10 min after stating her pain scale was reduced from 5 to 4 without med. I completed circulating and recovering the following pt and then was asked to change clothes and go to HR where I was suspended pending termination. I was terminated three days later and then informed they would be filing a comlaint with the state against my license. The formal complaint is Improper prescribing without criminal action. I have received full support from everyone with exeption of administration. I have a new job, an expensive lawyer and a list three pages long of nurses over 40 who've been terminated. There is currently another case against the hospital for wrongful termination which is preliminarily in the employees favor.My current problem is one of depression which is becoming more severe and giving serious thought to leaving this career. I don't understand why when there is the nursing shortage, a hospital can unthinkingly and uncaringly hire younger nurses to pay them less and get rid of their more expensive nurses and all the experience we have and be so cruel to affect the rest of their lives.