A few months ago, the facility I was working at had a patient who’s family member was in a very authoritative position. While in our facility, the family member abused my patient on numerous occasions (hitting, choking, screaming, numerous bruises of unknown origin). Several events were witnessed by myself and by a few other nurses and reported accordingly. Numerous events were swept under the rug by my director and we were informed that they were not considered abuse and that “a family member has the right to force the patient to do something.”
Finally, after a particularly heinous event, administration took control and reported the events. We were all counseled on what to say to authorities and essentially still being told by our director to lie and recant our statements. Even took it as far as ripping up witness statements from previously reported events. Thankfully I maintain copies of all witness statements I complete and have them co-signed by my charge nurse on completion. The facility ended up in a lot of hot water as well as the family member.
Fast forward to now. I am by no means a superstar nurse. Of course I am flawed. But I also know that I am good at what I do. My patients love me, my coworkers love me. I have never had a single complaint from a family member, patient, or coworker up until after the abuse was reported. I’m the 4 years I had worked at this facility, I have never received a write up beyond a written warning for showing up late. But yesterday I was terminated.
To make a long story short, a patient was prescribed a new medication we did not have in house. I needed to pull from emergency supply and did. I pulled said medication and filled out necessary documentation (was not a narcotic). Later, my director followed me and claimed the medication was not given due to issues with documentation and proceeded to write me up for a single medication error. I fought back, claiming my innocence. But yesterday they terminated me for “negligence.” They stated they didn’t think I would intentionally harm my patient and that I was a good nurse so they wouldn’t pursue it criminally or with the BON but decided to part ways.
I am hurt and angry. I have given my all to this facility since I became a nurse. I am good at what I do. But most importantly, I KNOW that I gave that medication. (Patient was A&O x 1-2 at best and stated he thought he received the medication). I can’t help but believe this is retaliatory for the abuse situation given that I’ve never once received a write up previously for anything. Ordinarily I would cut my losses as I was preparing to leave in the very near future for another job. But this is a very large corporation in not just my city but my whole state and such, being ineligible for rehire makes me ineligible for employment at all facilities in the company.
So my question is this; do I have any recourse for this since I feel it was in retaliation? Or should I cut my losses and take it as a lesson learned? Thank you in advanced for any and all opinions and comments.
Number one .They are not your friend,they are your employer and you should never ever trust them .In reality they dont care and you are not "special" in their eyes.
Two: If you just "feel" they were unfair and not have solid concrete proof to fight- then cut your losses.If you feel blacklisted now imagine after you lose your case.
I am sorry they did this to you,but sometimes it is a blessing to be forced to look for work elsewhere.
Good luck to you.
As I had stated before, I had another job lined up. I didn’t believe anyone was aware of it but I could (and more than likely am) be wrong. As far as concrete proof, I have significant proof (although I’m not attorney and whether it is enough or not is up in the air) that I haven’t stated on here for sake of being vague and keeping my remaining cards close to me to be played later if need be. But thank you for your advice and opinions!
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
On 5/30/2019 at 7:35 AM, nursehaley91 said:
So my question is this; do I have any recourse for this since I feel it was in retaliation? Or should I cut my losses and take it as a lesson learned? Thank you in advanced for any and all opinions and comments.
Fighting it should be off the table. They could just reinstate you and call it good. Personally I wouldn't want to work for an employer who pressured me to lie about what I had seen when I advocated for a patient who was being abused. They apparently care only about their own image.
Fighting it should be off the table. They could just reinstate you and call it good. Personally I wouldn't want to work for an employer who pressured me to lie about what I had seen when I advocated for a patient who was being abused. They apparently care only about their own image.
Yeah, I definitely don’t want my job back. At best I really just want a neutral reference and not to be blacklisted due to the repercussions it could have moving forward. It in all reality I’m realizing it’s far fetched so cutting my losses is probably what’s best.
I’m not interested in unemployment. Thankfully I already have another job lined up (I did prior to being terminated) so I’m not out much financially. My biggest concern is in the long term and my reputation. As I stated in my original post, it’s one of the biggest corporations in my state. In just a 2 hour radius of me, they own approximately 30 different facilities. It’s just frustrating. It’s not even about the money, it’s my reputation and job prospects moving forward that angers and scares me.
I would keep a copy of your statement about the abuse and any written statements of your former employer's attempt at witness tampering. You said they got in trouble so there should be some written record of this and hopefully it hit the news and you could then keep a news article so you can give your side for future job interviews if it comes down to that.
There is not much you can do about the situation if you don't want to get a lawyer involved. They probably have you as a no hire which will limit your job prospects since they are such a large corporation.
Just keep your references informed of the situation if they aren't already and at least you know you have solid friends and references and most importantly in your heart you did the right thing.
We are mandated reporters of abuse and I'm sure the state takes it seriously when a corporation tries to circumvent that and cover up abuse just because the criminal is a VIP.
Also keep a copy of all your evals. You should be able to go to HR and see your file and make a copy so you have proof that you were a good employee. Unfortunately, this happens many times where a person can have a glowing eval and shortly after is fired without cause or on trumped off charges.
You know you did the right thing! Hang in there and hold your head up! Your standing strong to your convictions may help prevent any future abuse of this person!
Typical. Nothing out of the ordinary, unfortunately.
I'm sorry you have to go through this. I wish you the best.
If anything like this happens in the future (the abuse/maltreatment and the cover-up by bosses), report anonymously. Say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to anyone at work about anything of import or anything personal. EVER EVER
Fighting it should be off the table. They could just reinstate you and call it good. Personally I wouldn't want to work for an employer who pressured me to lie about what I had seen when I advocated for a patient who was being abused. They apparently care only about their own image.
Typical. Nothing out of the ordinary, unfortunately.
I'm sorry you have to go through this. I wish you the best.
If anything like this happens in the future (the abuse/maltreatment and the cover-up by bosses), report anonymously. Say ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to anyone at work about anything of import or anything personal. EVER EVER
Learn this lesson now.
I’m unfortunately learning this lesson the hard way. I liked to believe that because abuse is such a serious thing and it is drilled into our heads how serious reporting is from day one that this facility would have even basic human decency but I was wrong. I have zero regrets on advocating for my patient but I do wish I was able to have gone about it in another way. Live and learn, I guess. At least I know this happened due to doing the right thing.
I am really sorry this happened to you. As far as this company goes, it is lousy that they own such a large part of your market, but as they lack integrity and ethics, they are not a company worth working or in the first place. By your description, they are clearly unethical and I would fear not only for patients in such a place but for my license as well.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
On 5/31/2019 at 8:26 PM, nursehaley91 said:
I’m unfortunately learning this lesson the hard way. I liked to believe that because abuse is such a serious thing and it is drilled into our heads how serious reporting is from day one that this facility would have even basic human decency but I was wrong. I have zero regrets on advocating for my patient but I do wish I was able to have gone about it in another way. Live and learn, I guess. At least I know this happened due to doing the right thing.
Your being terminated was absolutely unfair and retaliatory. No question about that. The writing on the wall started when you first reported the abuse and it was swept under the rug. That should have been your first clue to start looking for another job asap.
The fact that they initially talked you out of resigning and then abruptly fired you on a phony pretext shows just what dirtbags they are. There is no way you could have not reported the abuse. Not only could you not have lived with yourself, but when it did come out and you were found to have looked the other way, your goose would still have been cooked.
By all means see a lawyer to find out if you can force a written statement from them recanting their "grounds" for termination, and maybe even a monetary award if it's worth pursuing. By no means agree to go back to work there, no matter what they promise you.
Beyond that, you just dust yourself off and forge ahead. Even if you get no satisfaction from your previous employer, know that you did the right thing. You will probably find this whole things hurts you less than you'd expect.
I do believe, by law, they cannot fire you within six months after the reported abuse; otherwise, it's considered retaliation. Did you scan the medication in the chart or at least made a nursing note for it? If you have all the documentations, you should definitely consult a lawyer. Even if you did forget to give this med to this pt, but this is only one occurrence and there is no harm to the patient occurred, it should not be a a ground for terminating you. Can you find the reason you were fired anywhere in employee's handbook or facility's policy?
I wonder if you could go to the media, just state the fact why you were fired and not make any judgement. you don't have to say this may be a retaliation. the community will judge whether this is a retaliation. Since the hospital made you not re-hirable in the state, you don't need to worry about any other facilities know about it.
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
On 5/30/2019 at 10:35 AM, nursehaley91 said:
A few months ago, the facility I was working at had a patient who’s family member was in a very authoritative position. While in our facility, the family member abused my patient on numerous occasions (hitting, choking, screaming, numerous bruises of unknown origin). Several events were witnessed by myself and by a few other nurses and reported accordingly. Numerous events were swept under the rug by my director and we were informed that they were not considered abuse and that “a family member has the right to force the patient to do something.”
Finally, after a particularly heinous event, administration took control and reported the events. We were all counseled on what to say to authorities and essentially still being told by our director to lie and recant our statements. Even took it as far as ripping up witness statements from previously reported events. Thankfully I maintain copies of all witness statements I complete and have them co-signed by my charge nurse on completion. The facility ended up in a lot of hot water as well as the family member.
Fast forward to now. I am by no means a superstar nurse. Of course I am flawed. But I also know that I am good at what I do. My patients love me, my coworkers love me. I have never had a single complaint from a family member, patient, or coworker up until after the abuse was reported. I’m the 4 years I had worked at this facility, I have never received a write up beyond a written warning for showing up late. But yesterday I was terminated.
To make a long story short, a patient was prescribed a new medication we did not have in house. I needed to pull from emergency supply and did. I pulled said medication and filled out necessary documentation (was not a narcotic). Later, my director followed me and claimed the medication was not given due to issues with documentation and proceeded to write me up for a single medication error. I fought back, claiming my innocence. But yesterday they terminated me for “negligence.” They stated they didn’t think I would intentionally harm my patient and that I was a good nurse so they wouldn’t pursue it criminally or with the BON but decided to part ways.
I am hurt and angry. I have given my all to this facility since I became a nurse. I am good at what I do. But most importantly, I KNOW that I gave that medication. (Patient was A&O x 1-2 at best and stated he thought he received the medication). I can’t help but believe this is retaliatory for the abuse situation given that I’ve never once received a write up previously for anything. Ordinarily I would cut my losses as I was preparing to leave in the very near future for another job. But this is a very large corporation in not just my city but my whole state and such, being ineligible for rehire makes me ineligible for employment at all facilities in the conpany.
So my question is this; do I have any recourse for this since I feel it was in retaliation? Or should I cut my losses and take it as a lesson learned? Thank you in advanced for any and all opinions and comments.
The facility deserves to be shut down. Thank you for doing what was right.
Definitely see an employment attorney. They do not charge you until you win or they get a settlement. They just won't take your case if they don't think it will be profitable.
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nursehaley91, BSN, RN
74 Posts
As I had stated before, I had another job lined up. I didn’t believe anyone was aware of it but I could (and more than likely am) be wrong. As far as concrete proof, I have significant proof (although I’m not attorney and whether it is enough or not is up in the air) that I haven’t stated on here for sake of being vague and keeping my remaining cards close to me to be played later if need be. But thank you for your advice and opinions!