Wrongful termination or being put between a rock and a hard place!

[jrstephens1]

To all RN's out there,

Has this EVER happened to any of you out there? What can an RN do when they are Wrongfully Terminated? In the state of Indiana if an RN is terminated and the notice of termination it is alleged that there was wrong doing. The terminated RN is required to notify the State Board of Nursing. Likewise, the terminating entity is also mandated to notify the state of the terminated nurse's status and is required to provide evidence to lend veracity to the grounds for the termination. Basically, this is to be done to justify the termination and to prevent the accused RN from continuing to practice. I did as I was asked to do and I notified the board. The board concurred that based upon the accusations made - the termination was warranted. The other interesting point is that when I was terminated - I was still working as a new trainee under a mentoring RN. We would go out and do home care visits. She and I would share the work load and document each other's care and assessments. That is what is so unexplainable to me. Her work was my work and mine hers!

As for the actual termination, I also informed the board that absolutely NOTHING stated in the notice of termination was truthful. Nothing that was said about me actually ever happened. I asked the board if the entity in questions had actually provided the board with the evidence to support these accusations. This is required by law as well. The board informed me that this company had not complied. The board asked me to secure this evidence. At this point I had already begun that process. I sent e-mail after e-mail. Each was answered and I was told by the firing entity did not have to provide any further evidence. Their simple accusations were evidence enough! My e-mails requests went on for months and all the way to the CEO of the company. He to also finally wrote back to me and said that they were not required to provide evidence to support their accusations against me. By this time I had already secured another position with the VA. It is a good job with benefits; but, it was not working directly as an RN.

The company that did this to me was NEVER required to justify their actions to the board. I also informed the company that fired me that if I had done all that they accused me of - then the entities that they cater to needed to know that various client assessment that I was a part of needed to be identified and re-evaluated. At that point the entity then threatened to sue me for tortious injury. I was required by the nursing board to appear before them to answer the claims against me by the entity in question. I was also required to provide my e-mail and correspondence traffic with the company. I did as I was instructed to do. Upon meeting with the board, the board then became very accusatory toward me when I could not explain the accusations made against me. They also did not understand why I was becoming more and more frustrated with the company that had fired me. I explained that I had been repeatedly for months asking that this company comply with the states requirements that they provide the evidence to support their slanderous allegations against me and that the company continued to refuse to comply and that is why I was upset with them. Most normal people would be! The board did not seem to comprehend this? The board stated that they all knew this entity and that they would not make things. My attorney and I both noted that this presented an obvious 'conflict of interest' for the board to make that statement. The board ignored this when we pointed this out to them. When I also pointed out that the entity had not complied with the states mandates to provide evidence to support their claims against me. The board informed me that in the case of this entity - they were not going to require them to do so?

The board then informed me that I was to be put on indefinite probation; to secure an MMPI-II to evaluate me for anger issues; and to demonstrate my continued nursing education; and finally to complete 6 additional months working as an RN with reports to be provided by my employer of the quality of my work. I again pointed out to the board that I had another good job and that I currently was not working as an RN. I also pointed out that even were I to quit my good job to try and go out and secure an RN position - no company is going to hire an RN with a status of probation on their license.

I have attempted to secure guidance from the board as to how I am to comply with this requirement to keep my good paying job and also secure a full time job as an RN while showing as being on probation. The board has thus far refused to answer my pleas for help and guidance here!

So..., I am very much as a loss as to how the board has actually done anything to even remotely treat this case in a fair, impartial and non-judgmental way? What am I to do? If there is ANYONE who has some idea what I can do here to remedy this situation - please let me know? I guess it really is true - Nursing Boards really do Eat their Young!

Thank you,

V/r

JRS, RN ASN

CPT, MS,

URAR

[Buyer beware, BSN]

OP:

"There but for fortune may go you or I."

Many of us should take pause before casting that first stone. We all understand the seriousness of the charge, but once the price is paid, so is the debt, in most instances.

Aloha, my friend.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Wow. What a convoluted story. I'm grateful that we have a mandatory Peer Review process - with clearly defined steps to ensure that due process is always followed. After reading OP's story, I can see that we are fortunate.

BTW, wrongful termination claims are covered by both Federal & State law. But the Federal relevance is pretty much limited to discrimination or whistle blowers. Employers are not given a pass in a "right to work" state - laws still apply.

[Buyer beware, BSN]

Buyer Beware, thank you for evoking the 5th. Would not Indiana's law be unconstitutional if it contravened the 5th Amendment?

The BON is a regulatory authority. As such they may have received an extra-legal jurisdiction of sorts given to them by the state to abridge your constitutional right not to incriminate yourself---maybe. But If the offense was so terrible and rose to a level of malfeasance as to warrant BON's attention, you would think it would be the licensed facility's perogative, or even obligation, to voice its concerns to the BON dumbos. Not leave it up to the nurse to self-report. This is why I question the OP's general veracity in relating this somewhat convoluted series of disjointed, difficult to comprehend events. (with alll due respect)

But as they say, first "follow the money." Someone in this narritive is not the happy camper.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I guess I couldn't understand why she was fired. I was trying to discern what the termination was for. But, honestly, it doesn't really matter. In IN, you can be fired for anything. They don't have to have proof or go through a union.

In IN, you only have to report your firing when you renew your license. There is a question that asks if you have been terminated or disciplined. There was a very interesting case that came before the board when I was there one day for school concerning an issue that arose from that question.

Bottom line is continually calling the BON and emailing them, just makes them mad. The OP was going about this wrong. I was not judging whether or not her firing was fair as I could not understand exactly what happened. I know the OP was very angry. It could have very well been justified, but she dealt with the BON wrong.

I think if she would use a cooler head, she may get somewhere. Let me ask, how many of you get defensive when a patient's family is yelling at you? How many of you get defensive and don't want to work with them, but if the family approaches you kindly from the start you are all gung-ho to help?

The saying you get more flies with honey applies here.

[Nursynursenurse, ADN, RN]

Bottom line is continually calling the BON and emailing them, just makes them mad. The OP was going about this wrong. I was not judging whether or not her firing was fair as I could not understand exactly what happened. I know the OP was very angry. It could have very well been justified, but she dealt with the BON wrong.

I think if she would use a cooler head, she may get somewhere. Let me ask, how many of you get defensive when a patient's family is yelling at you? How many of you get defensive and don't want to work with them, but if the family approaches you kindly from the start you are all gung-ho to help?

Had the BON taken her seriously the first time, she wouldnt have had to keep calling and emailing them. It is my understanding that they sided with her employer from the start while breaking their own law by not requiring actual evidence as to why she was fired. What was she supposed to do at that point? Let it go? Let years of hard work, sacrifice, loans, her career, and future go down the drain because some employer wanted to cover up the fact that they didnt have a reason to fire her? She has every right to be angry and if she wasnt, there would be something seriously wrong with her. Based on what she wrote, she acted 100% appropriate given the circumstances.

[feelix, RN]

In this case, the BON should have kept their cool and dealt with her case based on facts, not her demeanor. They were in a position of power and could have asked her to come back when she was calm.

[feelix, RN]

The state and state laws cannot supersede the constitution. A mere BON cannot be bigger than courts of law where people have a right not to self-incriminate.