This is the statement I heard twice this week. These statements were made by a Hospital-employed nurse manager in a supervisory, management, and/or executive level position to a nurse who was terminated from the Hospital.
One nurse manager even went as far as telling one nurse to contact the State Nursing Board, self-report, and "take the high road."
Your manager, supervisory, and/or chief nursing officer in employment incidents and the workplace do not have any jurisdiction regarding your nursing license. Nurses are not licensed at the institutional level. Can you imagine the drama and legal nightmares nurses would face if licensed at the institutional level considering the one-side nature of at-will employment and facility grievances and investigations conducted by Human Resources?
Your manager, supervisor, and/or chief nursing officer can file a complaint with the State Nursing Board; they can even recommend your termination to Human Resources based on an "investigation" however your manager, supervisor, and/or chief nursing officer DOES NOT HAVE ANY jurisdiction regarding your nursing license. Their jurisdiction is the facility-based with Hospital V, Nursing Home F, Home Health Agency M, or Health Center P.
And honestly what's important? Your nursing license is what's important because it is your golden opportunity to employment opportunities. Its hard to see this when you are battling unit or employer-specific issues and you have worked at the facility for years and become entrenched in its culture.
Nurses with 22 years vested in a facility are terminated just as quickly as nurses with 8 months experience. Remember the Alamo and at-will employment employment. You have the real power in the situation. But that's a post for another day.
Don't sweat the small stuff. Your nursing license, not your employment with Hospital A, Nursing Home B, Home Health Agency C, or Health Center D.
You can and will find employment elsewhere. Your nursing license is your key to employment with Hospital Z, Nursing X, Home Health Agency T, and Health Center U.
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