Retaliation for voicing concern over unsafe pratices

Nurses Activism

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Hi,

I am looking for some insight into retaliation acts by employers.I am a RN in a ICU setting at a major teaching hospital.I have been a resource to my entire unit.I received a promotion only weeks ago.I received a email from my unit manager only hours before she fired me "thanking me" for my dedication to the new nursing staff. I have never been written up, never a verbal warning.My evaluations have been excellent in all my years at this hospital. Until this past month....

I voiced my concerns over some incompetency acts performed by a coworker-nurse. These were acts that were not merely mistakes...they were acts that could have resulted in patient death. I tried to set a meeting with my nurse manager to discuss this nurses incompetent level of function...and I was met with a date to come in for a termination meeting...mine!

This nurse was the nurse managers best friend and recently was her assistant manager.She had done office work for years and had not taken care of any actual patient in years. When she opted to go back into staffing she "refused " to "accept" any orientation....and so she was left to learn by trial and error.In a ICU setting...thats just wrong!Othernurses had complained to the nurse manager to no avail...but I am a lil different.I have a history of being a strong patient advocate and I had told the nurse who was functioning incompetently that I was left with no choice but to go to our risk management dept re: her unsafe pratices.Hours later....I was "fired" for an alledged documentation error. This same kind of documentation error has resulted in no disciplinary action for other employees.Secondly ...my chart had been altered after I left...so I actually never had a documentation error.I dont know what to do. I have been a model employee for years.I have asked for dispute resolution....but they keep postphoning the dispute resolution hearing. What actually happens in a dispute resolution hearing? Are they a sham?Do you have any advice? I feel like I have been incredibly niave.Like I should have seenit coming...but didnt.

Any advice/insights on what to do?:o

There is an ogranization called LEAP that is fighting whistleblowing in the medical field. It is presently organized by doc's and lawyers with money.

It's a start.

There is a link here:

http://thevalueofhumanlife.blogspot.com/

These are all fantastic ideas (from colleagues posting above this post)! I will check out LEAP, and perhaps we can also organize into a clearinghouse for incidents where the press can use them. I also have some contacts in media relations that can assist us in getting the right attention. OMG! We may be able to make a difference! I'm psyched!

Specializes in ER, ICU, Administration (briefly).
I think we should start a chronicle of incidents where nurses are retaliated against for speaking up, acting in best interest of patients, organizing, etc.

This way we can use these accounts to take to our legislators, administrators, newspapers and anyone else who will hear us to help support our cases.

If they are all in one place, factually and thoughtfully written then it will be a great tool for us.

I'll go first.

"Quit or be fired" that day my article came out in a major nursing journal.

"Released without cause" 2 weeks after going on NPR radio to discuss restructuring of the healthcare system.

Called into the "principals" office (DIrector and HR) to explain the audacity of throwing a graduation party (mine) for all the ICU nurses.

No, Im not paranoid.....yet:uhoh21:

hello,

If your state is a hire/fire at will, then you probably don't have much action, see if they will allow you to transfer is that a possiblity? Talk to a lawyer. I have been thur something similiar, the new nurse manager just didn't like me, she micro managed and well I didn't do well with that kind of managing. When I went through our grievance it was a joke I was told that there was nothing I could do and that sometimes they just want to get rid of someone, I was offered a transfer, so I went to our sister hospital which i had previously worked at, it was the best thing I ever did. I hope everthing works out, this can be really hard. :o

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Is their resolution process in writing and do you have a copy. Hospitals love policies even if they fail to follow them. You should in my opinion get a copy of that policy and then demand that they abide by it. I would bet there are time limits in place in the policy as to how long they have to hold the review and how the process takes place. Make sure all your communications is in writing and always send certified with a return signature card as managment and HR is full of liars and they will not hesitate to say you never ask for such a review.

If it does nothing it will at very least show that you attempted to resolve your issue according to their policy and they failed to abide by it. In my opinion this makes your original case stronger.

Good Luck. I am in the middle of a similar situation but cannot comment on the specifics at this time.

In a similar situation, I went to our manager regarding an incompetent employee. He wanted proof, so I gave him copies of errors (yes the nurse had actually charted many of her mistakes.)

Continued protests on my part led to disciplinary action on my part...I started getting cited on reviews as unable to get along with coworkers, too strong a personality, etc. So I quit complaining. Until, she screamed at me one more time, when she was trying to cover yet another mistake. I went to an outside neutral party after this, the Employee Assistance program. Best advice, don't engage, dont' complain, just file impartial incident reports (just the facts, no commentary).

Should have done that from the beginning. Bottom line though, I quit (before they found a documentation error on my part). I know this doesn't help you now. But keep in mind, without documenting her incompetence, it comes down to what documention they do have...sadly, it is against you.

It is wrong, believe me I know!!! But I don't think there is anything you can do. Except change how you handle problems in the future. Good luck to you!

most employers grievance procedures are a joke, they are simply a dog and pony show unfortunately. i was wondering if any of you guys had seen the web site of americansmadandagry...here is a link that will show some reasons why it is so important that we continue to speak out. the site /link is :

http://www.americansmadandangry.org/real_stories.php

this site is real life stories of events that should never have happened, much like ours here. if you are looking for hospitals to do the right thing it just doesnt happen 99.9% of the time. in this link somewhere there is a stroy about a little girl named josie king. she basically died (according to the story) of dehydration in one of out top hospitals in the us.the only...the only way the family found out her cause of death was from the md being forthcoming because of his guilt. the family said the md attended the funeral and that after the funeral the only...the only person that this family wanted to see at the after funeral gathering at her home was this md. the mother said she wanted him to understand that their lack of attention / errors destroyed a perfect family. this is why it was so important to the family that the md come to their home after the funeral.

in healthcare ...we are not perfect...but we must be accountable and forthcoming. if we are not...people die. the event that this josie king family describes took place in one of the nations top hospitals......my event took place in one of the nations best ( supposedly) hospitals and the climate at that hospital was not propatient.it said it was a patient safety priority hospital but it was in reality a polar opposite.:twocents:

keynurse.

I know it has been years now. Thank you for standing up. It gives the rest of us hope.

I am dealing with what I feel are unsafe practices at my workplace. Wanted to ask you

something. What did you tell nurse managers during interviews about why you were

fired? Did you go into detail? It seems tricky because they say you aren't supposed to bad

mouth a former employer in an interview for a new position but when you have been

let go unfairly how can one not be defensive in the interview? I feel like I might be

let go for a doctor's mistake and am trying to figure out how I am going to describe it during

interviews. thanks.

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