Suspended from work for an investigation,can i resign and take another, will i look guilty

oneof5 · Aug 7, 2017

[my bold]
gengen54,
I appreciate the insights and good advice in the rest of your post, but I must vehemently disagree with the portion quoted above as it relates to the OP's situation. Please indulge my explanation because this affects every single RN currently working.
There are exceptions to what I'm about to say; such as situations that involve recklessness (beyond just being understaffed), intentional mishandling of of medications, true diversion, etc.
The idea that, as a general rule, all medication errors will be reported to the BoN in order to track potentially unsafe practitioners, is ridiculous to say the least. I struggle to restrain myself here!
Is anyone paying attention to the accelerating abuse in Nursing?? Come on, I've been doing this long enough to have seen a few paradigm shifts now. While there have always been nurses experiencing job dissatisfaction or worried about staffing-related concerns, the crap treatment is accelerating at a faster pace every day now; it comes from all angles. This latest totally disingenuous labeling of medication errors as "mishandling", "diversion" etc. for the purpose of reporting them, is one such angle.
Think about what you wrote. Do we need to protect the public by reporting situations such as those described in the OP? What public will be protected? What, exactly, does reporting HER situation protect the public from? Why would any good, conscientious RN be self-destructive enough to sign on to this job??! Your statement just means that going to work every day and not getting reported to the BoN is destined to become barely more than a crap shoot.
We can make every effort to be safe, but WE don't control the confounding factors. I have a very hard time when seemingly good/reasonable/smart RNs champion ideas that, by their very nature, punish us so that someone else can remain off the hook for their contribution!!
There are myriad ways that RNs can compromise patient safety. Singling out people for a simple thing like the OP's situation is INSANE. It *only* means that even excellent nurses are going to get caught up in it eventually. Meanwhile the facility will steamroll forward touting their exceptional commitment to patient safety.
It is a B U L L C R A P trend that I will only ever endorse when hospitals are forced to undergo comparable amounts of financial loss, pain, and inconvenience as the RN they reported. In other words, if we're ALL going to get serious about safety issues, fine. If the idea is to simply pin it all on me - - NO WAY.
I'm asking every one to think about this - at all levels.

That is why when I am done with my current assignment, I am leaving bedside nursing. Amen to your post! This is what I have been saying for months. When people hear my story they say, "Well surely the truth will come out and you will be exonerated". Uh have you seen how hospitals act during JACHO visits? It becomes a completely different hospital and when they are gone, practices go back to the way the were for a few more years. Everything a hospital does can be changed to look pristine in the eyes of an investigator. I completely agree that hospitals should be forced to undergo the same when reporting a nurse falsely or over ridiculous charges.

I am angry at hospital corporations for throwing the nurse under the bus at all costs to the nurse and her career, for ridiculous charges. I am angry at fellow nurses who would do the same just to move up the ladder.

I am over it.

Patient Safety Columnist / Educator · Aug 7, 2017

I totally feel your stress. I was recently fired for a patient complaint. It is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and I went through it alone, with no support. The biggest message: YOU ARE NOT ALONE! We work in a complex environment, with little to no job protections.

Memalicious · Aug 15, 2017

I would like to hear any updates if any