i have a "hypothetical" situation and i would like to get advice or feedback.
i have a friend who moved to another state and is a nurse. well here back in the "home" state i found out that her nursing license was suspended due to diversion ( not of narcotics, but one for a prescribed med and the other two were otc) and for falsifying work notes as well.
well she now lives in state b and has a current license in good standing. the two states are not part of a compact agreement.
should this be reported to state b or should i just let nature run its course and not say a word?
I used to think you would have to do something really horrible to have your liscence suspended or have any sort of action on it. I have sinced learned so many horror stories of people who were thrown under the bus and paid the price for others errors. people want things wrapped up in nice little bows, the world of nursing licensure is not. Like the police, they must investigate a complaint. Most smart people will throw as many charges as possible at the nurse in hopes one will stick. Ususally one does, they get a consent order which shows up on their record as "prior board action." Without knowing all the details, I would never judge someone with a board action on their record.
Should this be reported to state b or should I just let nature run its course and not say a word?
Perhaps she already reported to State B: the fact that her license had/has issues in State A doesn't automatically disqualify her from getting a license in State B. Perhaps she addressed the matter to State B's satisfaction and they went ahead and issued her a license. And if she didn't report it to State B, then it's her and not you who has to deal with the consequences of her actions...and they will catch up to her soon enough.
I also vote for "MYOB." Unless you are her, you don't know anything more about the matter than what the public BON sites have posted.
I don't get where everyone's negative attitude is coming from. Aren't we supposed to be advocating for patients? If this nurse diverted once, why wouldn't she do it again? If it was my mother being taken care of by this nurse, heck yes I'd want to be sure that she didn't have a suspended license elsewhere and shouldn't be allowed to practice in this state!
If the OP reports her and the current BON already knows, what damage is there? I don't see why it's a big deal. It's all public info on the internet, no less. It's not like the OP was going through past employee records...
Also, why are you (OP) assuming the "other state" wouldn't have the brains to figure out what her license in another state has on it? SHe can't just show up in a new state without accounting for where she originally got her license, if she started that new job previous to the actions on her license in the home state, then she had nothing to report, and why are you so wigged out about it? Do you think she is an unsafe nurse? Report that as a complaint or mind your own business. I am so annoyed by people who cannot answer their own ethical dilemmas. Ethics is very clear up. Patient safety takes precendent over friendships, enemy-ships and all of that other fodder for the barn.
It's happened before that a nurse got a license in another state when she shouldn't have and the BON effed up royally despite there being public records of said nurse.
If this nurse diverted once, why wouldn't she do it again? If it was my mother being taken care of by this nurse, heck yes I'd want to be sure that she didn't have a suspended license elsewhere and shouldn't be allowed to practice in this state!
this nurse diverted 1 prescribed med and 2 otc.
how many times have nurses 'borrowed' a med from another nurse?
that's diversion, too.
or giving someone a couple of tylenol...another case of diverting.
as to falsifying notes, tell me that doesn't happen every single day, by many nurses.
how many times have nurses documented skin intact, vss or some other task that actually wasn't done?
p-u-h-l-e-n-t-y, and we all know it.
boards of nsg do not take this lightly.
you're assuming something that you know nothing about.
WELL if you found out on the website, don't you think the place where she is now employed checked it also? Believe me every place checks most before you have an interview. Mind your business and you'll be busy enough.
Nurses have a duty to report things like this, regardless of how many states away she is. What I'm not hearing (except for one person) is our job as patient advocate. What if nurse B hurts someone? I know I would feel a bit responsible for that if I didn't say anything.
Also....just because something is done all the time does not make it right. If you wonder why nurses are having a hard time earning a positive image in healthcare.....just read these responses! WOW!!
Be the change you want to see in the world.......Ghandi
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
If it were up to me, only employers/potential employers would have access to information from the BON. It really bothers me that any Tom, Dick or Harry can look me up on the BON site and see where I live, never mind my license status. There are too many Nosy Parkers in this world.
Unless you actually witness some sort of misconduct, you have no duty to report anything. This nurse has already suffered the consequences of her actions, and you have no knowledge of what State B knows or doesn't know. I agree, MYOB.
DutchRN09
214 Posts
Employers check with the BON, perhaps the situation was already remedied.