What do I do now.

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I was fired because I was acccused of abandoning a patient. I didn't abandon a patient it was a tiff with the charge nurse. Nothing bad happened to the patient. Anyways I still lost my job. Now the State Board is investigating it. I met with a lawyer and he told me that patient abandonment is probation or termination my license. He wanted to charge me 13,000 dollars to maybe get me probation. If I pay him that much I don't want anything on my license. Anyways I cNt afford 13,000 so I'm preparing for the worse. I don't know what to do with career after this. I thought about being a teacher but I read that if you try to get another job with a license that they won't give me another professional license.

Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.
Is it worth keeping my license if you coworkers (nurses) are out to get you? I picked the wrong career because I was not apart of the mean girls and I'm not going to start now.

No matter where you are, there will be "mean girls". That is human nature, the human condition. How valuable is caring for the sick to you? How valuable to you are the hours you spent learning to be a nurse? The answers to those questions only you can give, and those answers will determine what you do regarding fighting for your license.

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Is it worth keeping my license if you coworkers (nurses) are out to get you? I picked the wrong career because I was not apart of the mean girls and I'm not going to start now.

That's a pretty bold blanket statement, which I'm sure is because you're so distraught over your current situation, BUT: not ALL your co-workers are "out to get you".

If you want to continue being a nurse, fight it. If not, just admit you don't like it and move on, playing the victim card will only damage you and your future relationships.

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I don't know if I should save it. If I'm going to be treated like this idk if I want to be in this profession

I'm a firm believer in learning lessons and covering your bases. Will you make another mistake again? Yes. But do you know how to cover your butt so that your mistakes don't result in loss of licensure? In the future just remember to do everything by the book. If you don't want to get accused of patient abandonment, ensure that you gave a full report to another nurse (they have to have the report...they absolutely cannot decline receiving report if they're going to accept the patient), that you don't leave that patient until the next nurse (who received your report) is ready to take that patient, and that the nurse who received the report and is ready for patient care accepted the patient assignment.

I know this is discouraging to you. I know you didn't mean to abandon a patient, and it sounds like the patient still had access to care. This whole situation will pass eventually. Just get through this to the best of your ability. If in the future you decide that you don't want to be a nurse, that's totally fine. But wouldn't you rather make that choice on your own than have it forced on you because you lost your license?

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I don't know if I should save it. If I'm going to be treated like this idk if I want to be in this profession

No one is treating you badly. You came to an online forum to get opinions from people. Everyone has their own opinion that you won't necessarily agree with & you can't control the responses you get.

But honestly, it doesn't make sense to just give everything you worked so hard for up. In that sense you are letting your boss win. Why lay down & let them walk all over you? Are you that weak? Or are you gonna show them that no one can take what you want away from you. You can pray all you want, but in the end you have your own mind & can make your own decisions. If you choose to not get a lawyer that wasn't God's choice, that was your own free will & you have to live with the consequences.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

If you have , call them for guidance. And get another lawyer consult because 13K seems excessive.

Pray if that helps bring you comfort. But IMO, don't rely on just prayer to carry you through, because the odds are 50% that it will work, and 50% that it won't work. With your license on the line (and BONs frown upon patient abandonment, BTW), are you really comfortable with those odds?

Best of luck.

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You asked the charge nurse to reassign the patient and she said no. You offered to take an admission, but were you not required to take admissions (as assigned) either way? You asked the charge nurse if she wanted report and she said no. The charge nurse "wrote her name on the board", but wouldn't it be on the board because she was the charge nurse?

It sounds like you were "playing dumb" and it worked a little too well. Were medications or other care skipped or delayed during this "misunderstanding"?

I do wish you well and hope you come out of this unscathed, but it doesn't sound like your behavior was reasonable ...and that's just from what you say- we haven't even heard the other side of the story.

That's exactly how i read it, too. And the other posts from OP is certainly not painting a prettier picture of the behavior.

Sorry I wouldn't want to work with this person, nor have her take care of me or my loved ones. Very rarely have I ever had a problem with the actual patients - it's usually the families and their unrealistic expectations that drive me up the wall. But that even if it were the patient, I would still not avoid the patient and then play dumb thinking I didn't have the assignment, and further cover myself by reiterating that nothing happened to said patient...

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I am pretty firm in my faith, like completely 100% resolved in it. I would almost bet though from what I have seen only in this thread, you're not going to be able to pray yourself out of this situation. Personally, I don't think that's how it works. However I suggest maybe pray for clarity in self reflecting and the ability to see what you might have done in this situation. If you're willing to throw away your entire career and all you worked for because of this bad experience, that might tell you right there if you're meant for this profession. Me? I would fight with all I had to come to a solution or do everything within my power to at least save my license. But Nursing is very important to me and I worked really hard and for a very long time to get it.

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.

I am not sure that it makes sense for you to assume that the Charge was going to take the patient just because you got an admit. If it were me I would have clarified it with the Charge (since she already had told you no, she wasn't going to take the patient), given report to the Charge (or other nurse), and charted that patient care changed hands, and how the patient was doing at that time (in bed, A&O etc.) I am also not sure why you even wanted to change patients just because the patient was upset about not eating, this happens all the time where I work and its not really a reason to switch. I think we are missing some facts here, but either way I would check with your personal malpractice lawyers first if you have one, if not I would check around for different lawyers to see their prices and what they think about your personal case (outcome based on facts). This is a personal decision that should be considered carefully before you proceed. Weigh pro and cons, what kind of case do they really have (according to the lawyer), what is the probable outcome, how many years were you planning to work, how much money would it cost you either way (fight BON, new career etc). There are always going to be people who like you, and don't like you, no matter where you work so that should not be considered into your decision. Also not sure if you have ever been a Charge RN, but speaking from personal experience I know that some nurses think you are being mean to them because you tell them no (for whatever reason), when they really don't understand the full situation at that time (just something to consider). Either way I hope that you can at least think of this as a learning experience and not let it ruin your nursing career (if you choose to stay). Good luck!

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They fired me. In a nutshell i had a patient for 3 days in a row who had an appy. He was upset with his care because he couldn't eat (doctors orders). I over heard him telling the nursing director so I asked the charge nurse to switch me and I was willing to take admits. She said no at the time so then she gave me an admit so I thought we were switching patients. And she said me if she was taking the patient and I said yes. I asked her if she wanted report and she said no. I didn't chart any of this so kinda shots myself in the foot. Anyways she emailed our manager who spun it where I abandoned the patient. Nothing bad happened to the patient. It was catty nurse stuff. But this accusation ruined my life.

Can you make a late entry or two in the chart?

Do call around for different prices. And ask them exactly what they do to earn that fee. Is it a retainer that you pay up front or is it fees charged for services rendered, for which you pay weekly or monthly after they occur? In either case, you want to know what they will do for you and what each step of the way costs.

Is it $100 per 0.6 of an hour? Or what?

I once handed a guy $1000 to do some legal work for me. When I asked for a statement, he was so angry! He started sputtering and saying no one had ever asked for a statement. He even wanted the opposing attorney to tell me how my money had been spent. I felt so stupid for having trusted him with $1000 of my hard-earned money.

And will they return calls promptly? Have them define ""promptly". Will they be wanting to charge you if they make spelling or grammar errors ro other errors that you want corrected?

I guess it's too late to get insurance and have them cover this? How about a group of paralegals?

Hopefully, you have learned not to assume, to communicate totally clearlyl

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Specializes in NICU.
No one is treating you badly. You came to an online forum to get opinions from people. Everyone has their own opinion that you won't necessarily agree with & you can't control the responses you get.

But honestly, it doesn't make sense to just give everything you worked so hard for up. In that sense you are letting your boss win. Why lay down & let them walk all over you? Are you that weak? Or are you gonna show them that no one can take what you want away from you. You can pray all you want, but in the end you have your own mind & can make your own decisions. If you choose to not get a lawyer that wasn't God's choice, that was your own free will & you have to live with the consequences.

I don't think the OP was was referring to quitting based on the forum responses they were getting. I think they were saying if they were just going to endure this treatment (like the experience they had described), then they might just rather pick up a new profession.

However, my experience is of something similar. I despised nursing my first year. Absolutely hated it because of the type of behavior. It was very strange to me because in high school, I had a select few friends and everyone else didn't really matter to me, whether they liked me, talked TO me, or talked ABOUT me. Then in college, I had no friends at my school. Outside of school, yes, but in classes, I was pretty much a lone wolf. And I was okay with that! I still didn't care. I had my vices and just went to school for school.

Thennnnn I hit the work force. It was nothing like I had experienced. It was a catty, back-stabbing, manipulative environment. Not all of my co-workers, but the ones who were made work unbearable. The experience literally broke me, and all I could do was care who was saying what, how I could connect with people, and if I was going to get fired. Constantly watching my back. THAT FEELING IS HORRIBLE. I thought I would just go to work to work and be done. Nope. They were not letting that happen.

My solution was packing my **** up and getting a different job. It worked. I had spent enough time around a bad environment that I picked up how to fight right back by standing up for myself and always having a reason. This is all of course if this situation was a malicious attempt to betray a co-worker.

However, I still have moments of weakness where someone tries to treat me as I was still new, and it does bother me, but it's a fleeting feeling that I usually get past shortly and move on with my life.

I guess my whole advice to the OP would be if their license stays in good standing, obviously you will have to get a new job (and thankfully), but to learn and pick up on the little things people did/do. You will be amazed how you can navigate them in the future. Sometimes I can pick out exactly what someone is trying to do or imply before it even happens, and I nip it in the bud. NOT TODAY!

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
I don't know if I should save it. If I'm going to be treated like this idk if I want to be in this profession

I think you are just really upset right now, which is understandable. I think you should definitely take time to pray. Also, some people are being extremely harsh to you, which is very common for allnurses, and doesn't mean you deserve it.

You may have been unreasonable enough to get fired, I don't know, but you did not abandon a patient. There is a difference between a nurse who refuses to take patients and one who abandons them.

Take some time to pray. Ask God to help you with your feelings and to help you get the most growth out of this challenge. The answers will come to you. Give yourself time to really hear God's voice.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.
Can you make a late entry or two in the chart?

Fired, so not likely. Also probably a bit too late to look legit, given the circumstances of the situation.

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