Writing a letter on behalf of a nurse under investigation?

[flygirls2, BSN]

Hi!

I used to work with a nurse who has recently been fired and reported to the BON for suspicion of diverting. She has asked me to write a letter of reference to character for her to the BON. I strongly believe she is innocent of what she was accused - and want to help.

Question is- being that I work for the hospital from which she was fired and reported-- is it a bad idea to get into the middle of this? I don't want to jeopardize my own job, but on the other hand- I want to do what is right and try to help this nurse.

Thoughts??

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Moved to nurse colleague relations forum to elicit further response

[JBudd, MSN]

How would the hospital know if you wrote a letter or not? Write only what you know, but if you were in the same spot wouldn't you hope for support from your friends who were convinced of your innocence? She asked for a character reference, not a denial of the charges.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Personally, unless you were right there with the nurse in question and know for a fact she did not divert, I perhaps would not speak specifically to that. But if the nurse in question was someone who you admired for her skill set, then I would probably stick to what you know about the nurse, and not what you don't know. That you have strong thoughts that she did not divert should not be part of the equation. If the letter is going right to the BON, then how would the hospital know about this? But I would look in your employee handbook to see what constitutes "conflict of interest" and be sure you don't conflict with any company policy. And unless you are a friend, and know for certain facts about her character, I would be very careful. I would also be careful about naming the hospital that you worked together at--don't get them involved. " I have had dozens of patient interactions with said nurse and found her compassion and knowledge throrough and an exceptional leader" is much better than "at such and so hospital, where nurse x was charge, and we worked together on the evening shift, she ......" NOT at all meant to be any sort of legal advice, per TOS of allnurses, however, use common sense and don't get overly involved unless you can be factual and neutral in involving specifics to a hospital. I would also, if you are a union hospital, encourage this nurse to look to the union for assistance.