What did someone do that you knew to get fired or kicked out of school?

applepie2 · Apr 2, 2005

I've heard it said that most nurses who get fired are released for drug abuse. Do you find this to be the case in your experience?

Not all fires are for drug abuse, but some of them are. Just two weeks ago a fellow nurse that worked on the day shift was fired for taking drugs from the pyxis for the 2nd time. The first time she was sent to rehab, this time they let her go and reported her to Albany N.Y were they will have a hearing to revoke her liscense. This happens quite often we just don't hear about it.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 2, 2005

one guy in my class got kicked out for coming to a clinical site drunk. it was pretty embarrassing for the rest of us and the clinical instructor.

i used to work with a nurse who would call out sick at least once a week -- sometimes two hours after the shift started and from a bar! twice that i know of, she left in the middle of her shift and didn't come back. she'd "go off on" someone with amazing regularity and become increasingly shrill and incoherent. and once she aborted herself in the employee bathroom. she kept her job for a year before she went on "administrative leave" with pay for nine months. union hospital, working for the state.

apaisRN, RN, CRNA · Apr 2, 2005

I wear makeup daily, but if my hospital started requiring it, I'd show up with my pale blotchy skin naked every day! My hospital recently made a rule that forbade denim scrubs. I think the nice denim ones look just as nice as anything else, and better than sloppy regular scrubs! The RNs aren't required to follow it because dress code has to be bargained with the union. For a few days before the union stepped in, the managers were trying to enforce the no-denim rule. I don't own any denim scrubs, but if I did I'd have worn them every day, even if I had to do laundry every night after work. I'm not usually a rabble-rouser, but this control-freak stuff makes me nuts.

We had a traveler who wore teeny tanks under a scrub jacket, and she was not a petite lady. You could see a lot of cleavage with her upright and I hate to think what the patients must have seen when she was bending at the bedside. Management never did much, just didn't extend her contract.

KRVRN, BSN, RN · Apr 2, 2005

We had a nurse fired for writing and carrying out "verbal" medication orders that the doctor didn't and wasn't going to give. He complained and she was fired (ICU setting... she could easily have gotten "real" verbal orders).

We had another nurse falsify vital signs on a baby all night long... baby's isolette was found off by day shift and the baby was ice cold (like 95 degrees) and she had charted normal temps and normal isolette temps all night. This same nurse had already given a baby a 10-fold sodium overdose. It was suggested she leave.

We had another nurse fired for accessing Mediaagraphic websites from the hospital intranet. We are not allowed to access anything non-work related, it's mostly to be used to research meds and diseases.

spidermonkey · Apr 2, 2005

What if make-up's not enough?? Will they pay for plastic surgery?? (I've heard that strippers can get insurance to pay for breast augmentations) & what about hair?? Shouldn't the facility pay for it if we are going to be required to look a certain way??-- face lifts, nose jobs, etc. And we wonder why we're not taken seriously!! Give me a break!! :uhoh3:

I wear makeup daily, but if my hospital started requiring it, I'd show up with my pale blotchy skin naked every day! My hospital recently made a rule that forbade denim scrubs. I think the nice denim ones look just as nice as anything else, and better than sloppy regular scrubs! The RNs aren't required to follow it because dress code has to be bargained with the union. For a few days before the union stepped in, the managers were trying to enforce the no-denim rule. I don't own any denim scrubs, but if I did I'd have worn them every day, even if I had to do laundry every night after work. I'm not usually a rabble-rouser, but this control-freak stuff makes me nuts.
We had a traveler who wore teeny tanks under a scrub jacket, and she was not a petite lady. You could see a lot of cleavage with her upright and I hate to think what the patients must have seen when she was bending at the bedside. Management never did much, just didn't extend her contract.

LydiaNN · Apr 2, 2005

We had another nurse falsify vital signs on a baby all night long... baby's isolette was found off by day shift and the baby was ice cold (like 95 degrees) and she had charted normal temps and normal isolette temps all night. This same nurse had already given a baby a 10-fold sodium overdose. It was suggested she leave.QUOTE]
WHAT??? It was suggested she leave? I am sure this baby's parents had something else to suggest!

KRVRN, BSN, RN · Apr 2, 2005

:uhoh21:

WHAT??? It was suggested she leave? I am sure this baby's parents had something else to suggest!

I can't even say for sure the parents knew about the temp thing.

LydiaNN · Apr 2, 2005

:uhoh21:
WHAT??? It was suggested she leave? I am sure this baby's parents had something else to suggest!

I can't even say for sure the parents knew about the temp thing.

Do you mean that these were negligent parents, or do you mean that they weren't given all the details concerning their baby's death? As much as I understand that some babies die, and it is almost NEVER because the hospital staff didn't do everything within its power to save that baby (NICU nurses rule!), if my baby died, I sure would need a full accounting of what happened, when it happened, and how and why. I'm not sure that could happen if the nurse took the hospital up on its suggestion that she leave until the investigation was complete.

KRVRN, BSN, RN · Apr 2, 2005

WHOA wait! The baby didn't die!

Mulan · Apr 2, 2005

....................

Mulan · Apr 2, 2005

I can't even say for sure the parents knew about the temp thing.

Do you mean that these were negligent parents, or do you mean that they weren't given all the details concerning their baby's death? As much as I understand that some babies die, and it is almost NEVER because the hospital staff didn't do everything within its power to save that baby (NICU nurses rule!), if my baby died, I sure would need a full accounting of what happened, when it happened, and how and why. I'm not sure that could happen if the nurse took the hospital up on its suggestion that she leave until the investigation was complete.

Who said anybody died?

mattsmom81 · Apr 2, 2005

A lot of this is hearsay, so in truth may not be accurate. How do we know for sure??

Only recall 1 student let go for failing grades in my class. But my school did a good job of prescreening. Most left voluntarily, or decided nursing was not for them. if they got into my diploma school, it had already been determined they were sharp enough to make it as a nurse.

I see many student nurses today let go on the spot for failing to obtain supervision on a med/procedure...this is a 'kiss of death' infraction with automatic discharge from the program. Students are well warned, so I cannot understand why they continue to do this stuff. That in itself tells me they won't make good nurses; they cannot follow a simple rule.

Numerous consistent med errors unresponsive to remediation (staff nurses).

ER nurse fired for putting his ER on divert without authorization.

Having an emotional 'meltdown' on the job and failing to recognize/deal with it properly, compromising patient care and disrupting the unit.. Even then she was allowed to transfer, but with a black mark. She was let go quickly from there.

Shocking a paced rhythm (thought it was VTach), with bad patient outcome in a small rural hospital with few resources. This was probably a justifiable firing; but many nurses lose their jobs for bad outcomes, even if its the docs or hospitals fault. A nurse makes an easy scapegoat.

A failed ICU monitor. It had been reported umpteen times, biomed engineering insisted they could 'find nothing wrong,' but it kept blacking out at intervals and resetting limits/alarms, etc... Management, docs and ER insisted we keep admitting to the room and some nurses caved to the pressure, unwisely. Then a patient died while the monitor failed. The nurse on duty was blamed and fired.

Sexual harassment. Everytime the whole unit is in turmoil by the time all the documentation is done properly to expedite this, and we have all had to go before risk management and deposed, etc. What a pain; this is likely why it is too often overlooked...people have been through the headache once too many times.

Many for drug diversion AND narc discrepancies without any proof of diversion.

Patient abuse...some reported by family but not witnessed. 'customer is always right'.

Developing a major health problem. A new grad who was sweet and well liked had a seizure on the job. First one ever. She was let go. Gotta love employment at will states...not.

Work injury, disguised. Managers may place you under a microscope, bully you, try to run you off, or dig up dirt even fabricated til they can fire. Its so easy to 'get something' on a nurse in today's hectic practice areas its a crying shame. I've seen so many nurses railroaded unfairly. Trouble is, hard to prove.

Failing to follow written hospital policy...even if its routinely ignored. This is one way a nurse get the boot when someone's got 'em under a microscope.

Failing to supervise a student nurse who gave a med incorrectly with poor patient outcome so hospital needed a scapegoat ...the primary nurse (who had been told the instructor would supervise meds.)

I can list more, but enough for now. Sadly, many hospitals feel justified terminating nurses (even wrongfully) because it makes them look good...they're protecting the public from 'bad nurses.' And CYA'ing themselves as well...they have their scapegoat.