Nursing Law & Order

The writing is on the wall but you are pretending you can't read it: Is it time for you to develop an "exit strategy" with your current employer?

Sometimes its time to move on and for some of us RNs and also LPNs we adopt a philosophy of the following:

1. Its my unit;

2. Its my hall;

3. These are my residents;

4. I am innocent and I didn't do anything wrong so why should I leave;

5. I will "wait it out" until this DON, administrator, unit manager, CNO, etc. leaves;

6. You are right and they are wrong and you are staying here to prove a point and based on your principles;

7. Any other excuse we make to stay in a position we now isn't working out.

If its not working out for you, then move on. Its just that simple. Apply for other nursing positions with the same, similiar, or better pay, benefits, and hours and move on. Its your nursing license that's important not your employment with a specific facility because they will "term you and report you to the State Nursing Board" faster than you can say "But I have worked here for 10 years as a RN, 3 years a LPN, and 5 years as a CNA."

The writing is on the wall but you are pretending you can't read it.

I know you have friends and colleagues who you have worked with for years or decades but sometimes its time to move on and I see this with alot of nurses I speak with in legal consultations or representation.

You can't spot the signs, then I can for you. Schedule a consultation with my office and we can talk about it. No job (and its essentially what you have with your current employer) is worth being terminated and then reported to the State Nursing Board. You are a nurse and you can nurse anywhere in your state not just with your current employer. I can assist you with your exit strategy and I do it routinely.

Don't adopt a "do or die" or "do or die trying" approach if you are working in a dysfunctional nursing environment. Cut back to part-time or prn to keep your foot in the door and then secure employment elsewhere.

Honestly this is why I never worked as full-time RN with any facility because of the drama and the work environment you experience when you work in a female dominated profession like nursing. Its a roller coaster ride. I always worked part-time or prn with one or more agencies because if I want FT drama and soap opera like behavior I get plenty in my large extended family (the majority of us live within 10 square miles of one another); I don't need drama at work also.

Don't get caught up in the unit drama or if you are caught up in it, then recognize you are caught up and you need to transfer to a different unit or change employers. These types of work environments drain your energy and you are consumed with negativity which then starts to flow in your personal life and personal relationship.

 

 

What's best for my treatment? What's best for my license? What's best for my nursing career?

Okay, from the top, once more....

If you are addicted to prescription medication and/or illegal substances then you need help. Help is such a broad term. What kind of help do you need? I am not a counselor or therapist and this ain't legal stuff but

Door #1. You need treatment to save your life and get you started on the road to sobriety and recovery;

Door #2. You need counseling to help you figure out how and why;

Door #3. You need legal advice and counseling (and maybe representation) if you are a licensed nurse. Period. No conditions such as if, but or maybe. You need legal advice. To obtain legal advice usually means you need to hire a lawyer. No conditions such as if, but or maybe.

Now how you proceed after you are intervened upon by:

a. friends;

b. friends and/or family;

c. your nursing sup. and HR;

d. your unit manager and HR;

e. your nursing sup., DON, and administrator,

f.  your nursing manager and an investigator from the Board of Nursing; and/or

g. your manager, an investigator from the Board, and a detective from the county drug diversion task force

is totally your choice.

Do you proceed with Door # 1, then Door # 2 and then Door #3, Door #2 and then Door #1 and maybe Door #3, Door #1 and then taking a wait and see approach with Door #3 and only do #2 if your significant other threatens you with divorce, Door #1 and Door #2 together, etc.  

I can tell you this. Friends, family, and others (this includes the "medical" folks involved with you who give you "legal" advice) mean the best and I don't think anyone intentionally steers you towards Door #4 while meaning to steer you towards Door #1 and/or Door #2 but trying to tell you what will happen behind Door #3 (but trying to save you the cost of retaining a lawyer) but it happens.

Now you are probably asking LaTonia wt* is behind Door #4? I don't know wt* is behind Door #4 but that's what you will find out and when you find out what's behind Door #4 let me know:) I watched several vampire movies last week and I am scared to open Door #4.

Chemical dependency counselors are not lawyers and lawyers are not CD counselors. I have a typed sign on our one of our back doors which says I am counselor of law not a mental health counselor or therapist. The sign also politely asks you to keep your problems to yourself. (but that's another post. Remind me to tell you about my mother and her handwritten notes).

If you want medical treatment to fight your addiction, seek treatment.

If you want counseling and therapy, seek it.

If you want legitimate advice and counseling on your legal options when you have an addiction, seek out a nurse license defense attorney in your state. Really, you are treatment in Arizona and your Arizona based CD counselor is telling you what's going to happen in the short and long-term with your state nursing licenses in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, and New York? Really. You can get better advice by allowing a toddler to pick the proposed answers (given to you by the "medical" person and written on sheets of paper) out of a hat.

Also I am going to tell you what I want for Christmas this year.

Dear Santa:

My Christmas wish this year is as follows: I really wish licensed healthcare professionals who medically treat nurses (who are BTW licensed healthcare professionals also) would function within their job description provided to them by their employer and stick to the "medical" and not try to do the "legal." Santa, please grant me my wish because I have been  "good" this year in a general and broad sense of the word like for example "help."

Seriously. There isn't a horn book, cliff notes or a book titled "License Defense for Nurses with Substance Abuse & Use Disorders in all 50 States for Dummies" when a nurse has a substance use and abuse disorder and there are licensing, employment, career, regulatory, educational, return to work, tort, and/or criminal issues. No sir re Bobbie Jr.  

If you are a nurse and you are depending upon your CD counselor, therapists, and others involved in your treatment and recovery to provide you with counsel and advice regarding licensure, legal, and regulatory issues, slap yourself in face and wake up now because "Hey Dorothy, you are no longer in Kansas anymore."

http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Dorothy-Youre-Kansas-Anymore/dp/1589392388.

The Journey: Grandma Mabel. We love you and We Miss You!

My great grandmother who was the matriarch of our very large and extended family died yesterday.

I was so blessed and humbled to be there with her providing one on one nursing care throughout the night and part of the day yesterday. I was the hospice night shift nurse on November 1st from 10pm to 8am administering morphine and ativan every hour (I charted and documented appropriately of course; LaTonia D. Wright, RN), repositioning, assessing, and comforting my great grandmother on her journey. She died yesterday afternoon surrounded by family and friends.

Thank you Crossroads Hospice staff for the services you provided to my great grandmother and you are providing to my maternal grandfather and one of my great uncles. http://www.crossroadshospice.com/ 

Mabel Lee Wright: We miss you and We love you.

To God be the Glory....