Under what circumstances can a nurse LEGALLY refuse an assignment?

[Hellllllo Nurse]

For instance- a nurse is reporting to work in a hospital. She feels her pt load is too large for her to be able to provide safe care- OR- a nurse is assigned to an area where she does not feel competent, I.e., a medical surgical nurse w/ no L&D experience is assigned to L&D.

Please only answer these questions if you have the FACTS.

"I think" and "I heard" type of answers won't help.

Thank you so much.

[Straydandelion]

pnurseuwm said:

So it's almost like a Catch-22 thing, huh? So you mean to say that if (for example) a nurse manager wants to "get rid of" a particular nurse, all they have to do is to create a situation (like giving the nurse 15 cases) in which the nurse MUST refuse to protect her license, but she will DEFINITELY be fired and out the nurse manager's hair who wanted her to leave in the beginning?

Also, you say that jobs come and go, but being fired has GOT to look bad on a resume when you're searching for a new job!

I actually had something similar happen once, either "work the assignment or leave" (I felt it was an unsafe assignment not going into too many specifics) I chose the latter, so officially wasn't "fired" but "quit".

[MiaLyse, APRN]

This is the position I feel I am in, unsupported and unsafe. I am also the sole breadwinner for my family but I have no choice, I don't feel safe most evenings anymore. ugh.