Nursing Law & Order

ANA 2008 Presidential Election Action Center

The American Nurses Association is providing nurses with extensive information about the 2008 Presidential Elections. ANA is encouraging nurses to learn about the Primary process, the political party conventions, and the Electoral College and to read about the candidates and their positions on the issues that are important to nurses. See http://www.nursingworld.org/Election2008ActionCenter.aspx.

Retain Your Sanity during Holidays

Holidays are stressful. I camped out overnight at HH Greg on Thursday night to buy a 50 inch plasma TV for $999. Why? I could have purchased the same TV online a Circuit City for $200 more and saved myself the stress and disorentiation that comes from sleep deprivation and power shopping after a one hour nap. From HH Greg I went to Old Time Pottery at 6am. Then to Value City. My 18 y/o son works at Value City so I have to be on my best behavior there at all times.

Then to Macy's and Dillards. Then to Big Lots. Then to Lowes. Then to Circuit City to compare prices with HH Greg and Best Buy.

I do this to myself every year and I love it! Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

If It Sounds to Good to Be True, Its a Scam!

A student nurse was approached through e-mail with a job offer. An artist told the student nurse she had customers in the U.S. and she needed help with cashing the money orders from her customers. The student nurse was supposed to obtain the money orders from the customers of the artist and send the money by western union to her art supplier. The student nurse was supposed to receive 10-20% from every money order. The student nurse was arrested trying to cash the money orders.

Law enforcement officers informed her that she had presented fake money orders. The student nurse didn't know the money orders were fake and she explained this to the police officers. She was arrested and taken to jail.

She was charged with misdemeanor forgery. She didn't have any money to retain a criminal defense attorney and was represented by a public defender. She pled guilty to a charge although she was innocent. 

If its too good to be true, then it is! This student was scammed. Use caution and common sense especially during this Holiday Season.

How Do You Characterize Yourself as a Nurse?

I attended the fall meeting today for the Democratic Nurses Caucus in Bellville, Ohio. I introduced myself a nurse attorney to the membership.

How do you introduce yourself? My name is LaTonia Wright and I am a nurse. This isn't accurate. My name is LaTonia Wright and I am an attorney. This isn't accurate. My name is LaTonia Denise Wright and I am a nurse attorney; I defend nurses in licensure matters.

I don't think as nurses we sing our own praises and by not doing so, we miss an opportunity to inform, enlighten, and educate healthcare consumers and the public.

Start practicing your 15 second elevator speech as its referred to in the marketing literature.  Convey in precise terms exactly what you do and why its important.

Retirement Planning: Have You Started?

I know alot of us as nurses plan to work "until we die" however this is not the best approach to retirement planning. Those of us who are self-employed should really start saving now for retirement.

The Center for American Nurses (www.centerforamericannurses.org) has a publication on its website developed by WISER (Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement). See http://www.centerforamericannurses.org/wellness/finance/wisewoman/11-07.pdf.

Don't wait or assume that your employer-sponsored plan and social security will be enough. Take a hard look at your finances now and develop a plan to save for your retirement.

Support Your Nursing Colleagues on Strike!

I am not a member of a nursing union but I am a nurse. I would ask that you consider sending financial support to the nurses of the Kentucky Nurses Association and West Virginia Nurses Association who are on strike with ARH. See www.ohnurses.org. The nurses are receiving support from national and state nursing professional associations and labor unions. See www.nursingworld.org.

Any donation that you can make will be greatly appreciated as these nurses are entering their 2nd month on strike. Mortages are due and the Holiday Season is approaching fast.

Donation can be mailed to:

Kentucky Nurses Association
ATTN:  Labor Program Director Dewey Parker
1400 South First St
Louisville, KY 40208

West Virginia Nurses Association
ATTN:  E&GW Chair Rue Hairston, RN
PO Box 1946
Charleston, WV 25327

Angry Nurses and $9.99

I was contacted by a nurse who is very angry about her situation. She was reported to the Board of Nursing and voluntarily provided a very detailed written statement with lots of admissions and damaging information to the Board of Nursing. The nurse received a Consent Agreement from the Board proposing to resolve the pending complaint. The nurse is angry. I could hear the anger in her voice through the phone. I receive at least 5-10 calls a month from angry nurses.

If I had $9.99 for every time, I have made this statement, I could redesign my lifestyle and work schedule. I could sit for the Nevada  and California Bar Exams and obtain my law license via endorsement in Arizona. I would practice part-time in the sunny states. I would spend my remaining years (I'm 36 years old) in 80+ degree weather year around. I would live in Las Vegas but maintain part-time law practices in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana also. I like this plan!

Here is goes....The submission of a statement to the Board of Nursing when you are the subject of the investigation, DOES NOT automatically resolve the complaint. The Board staff don't review the statement and say "oh okay that explains everything; this case is now over."

If you receive correspondence from the Board of Nursing stating that you are the subject of a disciplinary investigation, seek legal advice before you submit a written response or before you agree to a phone interview.

Are you an angry nurse? If so, why are you angry? Is it constructive or destructive anger?   

Did You get the Memo?

In an article called Nurse Police, published in Advance for Nurses, Nurse Attorney Taralynn Mackay stated:

The Boards of Nursing are getting busier every year and their regulatory powers are likewise increasing. It is crucial that nurses understand the seriousness of a board investigation. See http://nursing.advanceweb.com/editorial/search/aviewer.aspx?an=nw_07sep1_nngp31.html&AD=09-01-2007

My question, is why don't we as nurses understand the seriousness of regulatory and law enforcement investigations involving our nursing practice? Is something missing in our basic nursing education and training? Is this topic not being covered at nursing seminars, teleconferences, and conventions? Did we as nurses not receive the memo stating that your license is your livelihood and its your duty, job, and responsibility to protect your own license?

Did you get the memo? I admit, I didn't get the memo when I started and completed my nursing education. I didn't get the memo before I started working for a large teaching hospital where 80 of us nurses were told during orientation by the hospital risk managers that "you don't need your own professional liability insurance."  

Have you received the memo? When did you get the memo? If you haven't received the memo yet, review the posts on this blog and you will have an idea of what's in the memo. You have been officially "served."

The Nursing Police and Nursing Regulation

My colleague, Taralynn R. Mackay, JD, RN , a nurse attorney who represents nurses before the Board of Nursing, had a well written article published in the Nurse Grad Issue 2007 • Page 31 of Advance for Nurses. The article is titled "The Nurse Police." See http://nursing.advanceweb.com/editorial/search/aviewer.aspx?an=nw_07sep1_nngp31.html&AD=09-01-2007. See Taralynn's blog at http://www.nurseattorney.blogspot.com/.

This is a quote from the Nurse Police article:

It's important to note that the Board was not established to be the guardian and protector of nurses in their particular state. This is a surprise to many nurses, who often misinterpret the board as their advocate. The job of advocating for nurses is performed by professional organizations, such as the state or national nursing association. Boards are entrusted to protect the public, not nurses.

Think of the board as the "nurse police" or nursing regulators and a better understanding of their role emerges. The board is on the side of the public, and has the right to investigate the behavior of any nurse who may have violated the practice act.

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The article correctly notes most nurses are concerned about medical malpractice and nursing negligence although a nurse is much more likely to be reported to a State Board of Nursing than sued as an individual defendant in a professional negligence action.

What has been your experiences with your State Board of Nursing? How would you use to describe your interactions with State Board of Nursing staff?

American Association of Nurse Executives

ANNEX is a professional organization dedicated to supporting nurse executives in long-term care and its members include DONs, Staff Development Coordinators, ADONs, Nurse Administrators, Nurse Executives, and Corporate and Clinical Consultants. See http://www.aanex.org for additional information.