"Loosing" my license

Nurses General Nursing

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i work in a very populous state on the east coast. yet when i look up actions taken against nursing licenses, i get a list of about 50 nurses who have had action taken, some of them going back as far as 2003! there are hospitals near here with over 1000 beds -- how many nurses do you think are employed in just one 1000 bed hospital? how many nurses do you think are employed in just one city like new york, dc, baltimore, philadelphia or boston?

when i lived in wisconsin, i'd get a newsletter quarterly with about 20-25 names of nurses with pending disciplinary action. only a few of those nurses had actually lost their licenses. so where is all this hysteria about "loosing" a nursing license coming from?

we have new grads quitting their jobs after mere months because they're afraid they might "loose" their license -- and by the way, the work is too hard, the hours suck and the other nurses are mean to them. now there's a thread about brutal doctors and calling them -- and someone brings up fear that they might lose their license. what's up with all of this? are nursing schools scaring people silly about the idea of losing your license? or is this just an excuse people are grasping to avoid things they'd rather avoid?

How? It's a small cartridge

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Personally, I do not irrationally fear losing my license. Like previous posters have stated, schools may have something to do with this pervasive myth.

This myth may also be fueled by lawsuits. I feel like this nation, in general, is "sue first, ask questions later (or never)." As such, this could lead to a hospital investigation that is very stressful for the nurse, even if the accusation is absolutely frivolous. Perhaps the thought is that a lawsuit means the BON will be involved, further spreading the "lose your license" falsehood?

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Out of curiosity, I went to my State's BON website and followed links that had Board of Regents disciplinary measures against everyone (not just nurses) who get their licenses through the State. Only ones not on this website were MDs and PAs; I don't know why they were separated but the site had chiropractors, vets, social workers, etc etc etc.

Most of the infractions that resulted in suspensions or probation, all kinds of fines, were pretty heavy-duty, IMO. Every so often I would read the description of the "crime" and wonder if there was more....had to be, since it seemed too petty for the process--let alone the sentence imposed.

I saw "failed to accurately record glucose readings" and what pops to mind is maybe she was faking it for a year or more....or making up numbers....I don't know. It does give those who jump to silly conclusions the idea that recording one number incorrectly would be the cause of her losing her license (temporarily). The small snippet on the website doesn't give the whole story, but I have to believe it was a series of intentional misdeeds, not a single unintentional error that ended in suspension/probation.

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My understanding is that the nurse hooked an epidural bag up to the patient's IV, yes?

Now that I read the article, yes, but this would have never happened in our hospital because the RN's in L&D don't even have access to epidural medication..if more is needed they have to get the CRNA involved. While a criminal prosecution is not warranted, I can understand the BON being involved. I made a medication error as a rookie RN, making a rookie mistake. While I made sure my rates were ok, it never occurred to me to follow the line from the IV bag, through the pump port to make sure that the rate I thought I was running, was actually running. I changed out the bags and got them mixed up. I can assure you no matter how busy I got, that was the first thing that I checked on my shift and I made double sure when changing out bags.

However, a 15-year veteran should know better.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.

Totally off subject and I do apologize, but I'm not very familiar with epidural medications as we dont use them in the ED. What types of medications do they use for that, and how did it end up killing the pt? I mean would it have caused respiratory depression, arrhythmias etc? This is purely out of curiosity's sake, sorry for the thread detour :-)

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Specializes in Emergency.
Now that I read the article yes, but this would have never happened in our hospital because the RN's in L&D don't even have access to epidural medication..if more is needed they have to get the CRNA involved. While a criminal prosecution is not warranted, I can understand the BON being involved. I made a medication error as a rookie RN, making a rookie mistake. While I made sure my rates were ok, it never occurred to me to follow the line from the IV bag, through the pump port to make sure that the rate I thought I was running, was actually running. I changed out the bags and got them mixed up. I can assure you no matter how busy I got, that was the first thing that I checked on my shift and I made double sure when changing out bags. However, a 15-year veteran should know better.[/quote']

I never worked L&D, but I used to manage epidural sites, lines and medications daily, including changing bags and titrating rates. In my hospital, however, it would be next to impossible to hook an epidural bag to an IV infusion set. In my workplace this would not have been an easy error to make and would result in serious consequences (although I don't think it would extend to criminal proceedings).

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Specializes in Emergency.
Totally off subject and I do apologize but I'm not very familiar with epidural medications as we dont use them in the ED. What types of medications do they use for that, and how did it end up killing the pt? I mean would it have caused respiratory depression, arrhythmias etc? This is purely out of curiosity's sake, sorry for the thread detour :-)[/quote']

The Epidurals I worked with (again, not L&D) were a mixture of narcotics and local anesthetics (usually hydromorphone and bupivacaine) so I imagine rapid intravenous infusion would cause both respiratory depressions and arrhythmias. Bupivacaine has cardiotoxic and neurological effects and should not be administered IV.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/Critical Care Nursing.
The Epidurals I worked with (again, not L&D) were a mixture of narcotics and local anesthetics (usually hydromorphone and bupivacaine) so I imagine rapid intravenous infusion would cause both respiratory depressions and arrhythmias. Bupivacaine has cardiotoxic and neurological effects and should not be administered IV.

Thank you for the explanation!

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Specializes in They know this too!.
Out of curiosity, I went to my State's BON website and followed links that had Board of Regents disciplinary measures against everyone (not just nurses) who get their licenses through the State. Only ones not on this website were MDs and PAs; I don't know why they were separated but the site had chiropractors, vets, social workers, etc etc etc.

Most of the infractions that resulted in suspensions or probation, all kinds of fines, were pretty heavy-duty, IMO. Every so often I would read the description of the "crime" and wonder if there was more....had to be, since it seemed too petty for the process--let alone the sentence imposed.

I saw "failed to accurately record glucose readings" and what pops to mind is maybe she was faking it for a year or more....or making up numbers....I don't know. It does give those who jump to silly conclusions the idea that recording one number incorrectly would be the cause of her losing her license (temporarily). The small snippet on the website doesn't give the whole story, but I have to believe it was a series of intentional misdeeds, not a single unintentional error that ended in suspension/probation.

"Maybe" is correct.

All you need is to make one mistake for anyone to make a complaint to the BON, for them to investigate it, and determine your fate.

I think people who work for the BON, the attorneys that defend nurses, and nurses that have experience dealing with their complaint against them know what is going on. The rest can only speculate.

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good post, too many think you cant lose your license if you did not do anything wrong.

that is not the case

the board of nursing do not care , not one bit .

i also think you arr fortunate that some nurses stood up for you , not always they case, the rest turn their backs.

good post.

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Am i the only one who thinks that it seems like it is easier for one to lose their license related to practice issues if they practice in a Southern or Western state?

I am comparing Nj BON actions to other states.

Any ideas why that might be true?

My own opinion is that it might be due to the Nurse Practice Acts in those states.

For example,in reading the Nurse Practice Acts of some Southern states it appears both Lpn's and Rn's are allowed to have a wider Scope than in Nj.

I know in one Southern state I worked in,Lpn's were allowed to work with Central lines,but in Nj that was not allowed.

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