whistle blowers & retaliation...

countrynurse · Mar 21, 2001

I was a "whistle blower"...I provided a resident with the number to the ombudsman when he asked for it. He hed experienced SEVERE psychological trauma at the hands of a nurse...and his story was backed by the aide. I guess I made a lot of people upset by doing my job and rspecting that man's rights...and my being his advocate. I was completely ostracized, no one came to relieve me for breaks, and I was threatened by the nurse who did this to the resident. YES I reported it all to my DON and administrator. Subsequently when another nurse involved had all 4 tires slashed on her car (11-7 shift..) I told the (new) admin I felt my personal safety was being jeopardized, as well as the safety of my license. I have now been out of work for almost 8 mos. The facility told unemployment I was "terminated", then changed it to "job abandonment"...which caused a 14 week review. They eventually had no written disciplinary, and it fell apart. HOWEVER, I recently found out that when I have been applying for jobs, and they call to verify employment, they are being told I was "fired for misconduct and insubordination"" among other things. HOWEVER...I would STILL do what I did. I could not sleep at night if I let a resident be abused...actually, looking back, I should have called the state myself, since it was pretty much swept under the carpet, and the nurse is still in and out of the facility per diem!!:eek

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^1^ Country Nurse ^1^

"don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things!"

rncountry · Mar 21, 2001

Lets see. I reported falsification of charting and patient abuse, expected administration to report it to the state appropriately. They did not, I threatened to report to the state myself if they did not follow the guidelines set out for them. I lost my job. Not only did I lose my job, I was accused of patient abuse when I stopped one patient from hitting another. Stepped in between them, got hit myself, actually slapped roundhouse style in the face, so I held the patients arm while I removed the other patient. This was a situation that occured everyday, several times a day. The two patients in question were married some 65 years, with abusive behaviors that went back years. In any case I was investigated by the consumer and health dept in Michigan, and was found to have acted prudently and appropriately. The paperwork submitted by the facility had my date of suspension 2 days prior to the actual date, as well as the date of termination 2 days prior to the actual date. The patients chart had been added to, with one entire empty page being X'd out to make it appear that the charting was done in an appropriate time line. I had copies of the complaints I had made to the facility. I gave the facility the originals of everything but kept copies for myself. I also kept a journel of what I had reported and who I had reported it to. I had all the dates and specifics. I sued under the whistleblower protections of Michigan. A year and a half later I got a settlement. Even though the oversight dept for LTC had been involved no sanctions on anyone in the corporation that knew what was going on happened. The administrator is still in the building doing his thing. I didn't work for 15 months. Would I do it again? Yes I would. It was one of my most difficult times in my life, but I can look at myself in the mirror and know that I did the right thing. I would tell anyone that is contemplating being a whistleblower to be prepared and make sure that you have all your ducks in a row.

st4304 · Mar 21, 2001

I experienced sexual harrassment by a male PA on a daily basis for about a year. When I finally got the guts to complain to my manager, I was transferred to another location per my request because I feared retaliation. Nothing was ever done to the PA, but the male MDs and PAs at my new location were unmerciful about teasing me. Years later I did not receive a promotion, the reason explained to me by a friend in HR -- the Medical Director did not want me working with him for fear I would misinterpret something and charge him with sexual harrassment. I left that job without looking back. I don't know why I stayed as long as I did. This happened a long time ago when I was in my early 20's (I'm now 40) Today, I would have handled it alot different. No job is worth the humiliation and damage to the self-esteem I suffered. Tell your co-worker to hold her head up high! She did nothing wrong but stand up for herself.

res04lly · Apr 24, 2001

I turned a place in for abuse and got black listed it took me 3 years to find another job i even had to leave the area to find work. what a joke, it protects no one but the paper it is written on.

mustangsheba · Apr 24, 2001

I reported problems with following another nurse who was doing damage with her dressing changes and was inappropriate. Our manager was no help. The nurse was finally banned by the caregivers of the patients. I confronted the nurse before doing anything else. Power to the patients!