Recently terminated- being reported to state BON

[nurseinthecity11]

I was recently terminated from my position in a hospital. I was accused of making 2 errors during my care for patients. I don’t want to give too much detail, but one was forgetting to document something properly and another was related to assessment. These 2 incidences occurred within a few day of each other unfortunately and my job terminated me. I recently became pregnant and honestly was feeling a little more tired and foggy to begin with. Now I’m worried something will happen to my license. Anyone else have experience with this? None of my patients had any effects from either situations.

[caliotter3]

I would advise you to seek legal counsel, particularly if you know that you are being, or have been reported to the Board. You can find an attorney familiar with dealing with the Board by using the referral service of https://www.taana.org. Contact your malpractice insurer to utilize your license defense benefit.

[Serhilda, ADN, RN]

Call your malpractice insurer ASAP. I'm sorry you're facing this.

I know when I was falsely accused of something, it was such a stressful experience. When this nurse accused me, it went no where with my manager initially. Once she threatened my license, an internal investigation had to be done apparently. I was cleared by my hospital and she faced repercussions for what was deemed bullying. My NSO insurance didn't and wouldn't give me legal advice during this since I hadn't heard anything from the BON. Still haven't and almost certainly won't. If you want legal advice before then, malpractice defense lawyers sometimes offer free initial consultations. I went on avvo initially to find local attorneys and read reviews. I would be cautious divulging any information regarding what's happened to anyone affiliated with this hospital until an attorney states otherwise. Hope some of this helps you out.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Call your malpractice carrier ASAP!

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

In addition to speaking to legal counsel, write down as much as you can remember (make it in the form of a nursing note where you sign off on it). Don't speak to anyone at work. You're legally prohibited from accessing the chart but you can, and should, write down anything relevant. Was there another patient who was more critical? Capture everything now because you may be asked about it later. Best of luck.

[traceyinphilly]

Whoa that awfully heavy handed approach (punitive), if this is your only transgression? Get legal representation.

[DCubed]

What a nightmare. Wish you the best, nurseinthecity11. Whatever happens, just remember this too shall pass.

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

Talk to an attorney when you get a notification from the BON. It will save you money and they generally give you time.

Just because someone sends a complaint to the BON doesn't mean they give a flip about the complaint. People don't lose their license for simple errors.

If this happened after you told them you were pregnant...that's why you really got fired most likely. This is another reason why I would NEVER advocate for someone to tell an employer about a pregnancy until it became absolutely necessary.

[Uroboros, APRN]

1. Seek an attorney that has experience with nursing board defense cases today. The BON will conveniently only give you 10 measly days to respond. They will not give you time or have any sympathy.

2. Do not talk to anyone from the BON or your former employer, defer all communication to the attorney.

3. And this is most important, trust no one except who you are paying to represent you. Above all, other nurses. This site will likely shut down or delete this thread since the admins frown on legal advice here as well.

Experiential knowledge by far surpasses the more often alphabet soup of fruitless credentials in academia.

"It is not what we don"t know, but what we think we know that we really don't, that get us into the most trouble."

-Mark Twain-

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

On 1/27/2020 at 4:47 PM, mja79 said:

1. Seek an attorney that has experience with nursing board defense cases today. The BON will conveniently only give you 10 measly days to respond. They will not give you time or have any sympathy.

This is very state specific and I have never heard of anyone being given only 10 days to respond. Once you knock out a couple of days for getting the letter and lack of Sunday delivery, that can cut it as close as 7 days. I would want to see imaging from an actual letter before I would believe this.

[Peterpan, CNA, LVN, RN]

On 1/27/2020 at 7:53 PM, Jory said:

This is very state specific and I have never heard of anyone being given only 10 days to respond. Once you knock out a couple of days for getting the letter and lack of Sunday delivery, that can cut it as close as 7 days. I would want to see imagingg from an actual letter before I would believe this. 

I have seen this with my own eyes and believe you me, they truly give you 10 days from the date of the letter which automatically makes it like 4 days considering the weekend and postage days to and fro, but the attorney can write and ask for an extension which is always around 10-15 extra days from the date of the request.

[Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM]

2 minutes ago, Peterpan said:

I have seen this with my own eyes and believe you me, they truly give you 10 days from the date of the letter which automatically makes it like 4 days considering the weekend and postage days to and fro, but the attorney can write and ask for an extension which is always around 10-15 extra days from the date of the request.

Can you show evidence that every state in the USA has the same limitations? Again, anybody can post "I've seen this". There are plenty of people on here who have had complaints filed. Just post a copy with identifiers marked out.

You are not required to have an attorney.