blams2004

A coworker of mine is being given a written warning for using vulgarity in a shift summary note in the electronic medical record. The nurse quoted statements made to her by the patient in a shift summary note and is now in trouble. This is significant because with a written warning she is no longer eligible for her clinical advancement bonus of 4000 dollars and is now not able to transfer to a different department which is something she has been waiting for. I have scoured the policies regarding documentation and see nothing where it states this is wrong. Now I personally would not have used specific vulgar language in my report but think she is being railroaded in this. Normally the corrective action policy states a nurse will be given a verbal warning for the first offense then a written after that, but it does leave some interpretation leaving it up to a manager to impose a written warning for a major offense. There is something that I read in the policy that states documentation should include subjective statements made by the patient. Anyone have any thoughts on this matter.