Nursing Law & Order

Nursing Bermuda Triangle: Educational & Legal Self-Help Service for Nurses™

Although these are tough economic times nurses need legal counsel and advise AS issues arise.

You know me and my need to offer "bespoke" legal services for nurses. This isn't the End of This Lawyer; Just the Beginning.  

http://www.ignitelaw.com/2011/03/bespoke-legal-services-in-an-off-the-rack-culture/

http://myshingle.com/2011/01/articles/myshingle-solo/ten-solo-and-small-law-firm-trends-2011/

http://www.susskind.com/endoflawyers.html. By the way, I love this book!!

This is why I am offering an Educational & Legal Self-Help Service for Nurses™.  The cost is $500.00.

Never boilerplate just bespoke here because:

1. You pay for the service;

2. You tell me what are your practice and legal issues;and

3. We develop the content for you.

* Don't know what you don't know. We can brainstorm by phone and/or email first.

* Have documents you can't make sense of but you know are important because its from the State Nursing Board?

* Need email consultative services.

* Need a legal opinion.

The service includes a 30 minute telephone or video teleconference with me to review the content with you and discuss your practice, situation, or matter. It may also include articles, podcasts, etc. depending on your comfort with technology. I can also point you in the right direction if you need legal services from a licensed attorney in your state or jurisdiction.

Nursing school and nursing practice does not prepare nurses IMO for strategies to address the Nursing Bermuda Triangle: The Application of Nursing Law, Ethics, and Professional Standards in the Nursing Workplace.  

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18524302

This is another service offered to nurses across the country. This service will be expanded in the near future to include other benefits.

Stay tuned because there will be additional products and services rolled out this year along with a redo of my blog and website.

Bespoke baby Bespoke!!!!!

See http://www.bookfresh.com/profile/157503739

 

 

Please do not retain me as your nurse license defense lawyer if......

Don't retain my services if you want:

1. A lawyer to tell you did nothing wrong and the Nursing Board Complaint is 100% factually and legally invalid;

2. A lawyer to tell you what you want to hear about your nursing practice;

3. A lawyer who allows the professional attorney-client relationship to become social, like a "Girls Night" or too personal. Like EPMD, I am Strictly Business when it comes to nurse license defense and the practice of law.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4LVRg_TNZo&feature=related

Don't get me wrong. We are involved with our clients but it is a professional relationship with personal aspects of involvement of course. You get enough personal about me on this blog don't you???

Also I don't subscribe to "mixing of personal, professional, and business" social media accounts like facebook, twitter, etc. that some of the marketing and social media consultants suggest.

http://www.jeffkorhan.com/stand_out_in_your_market_/2011/02/business-relationshiops-are-personal.html

http://www.jeffkorhan.com/stand_out_in_your_market_/2010/11/personal-vs-professional-social-media-accounts.html

Its all business for me with a personal twist here and there. Sorry but I am old school and not changing here because there are way too many issues with boundaries, ethics, and conflicts of interest when you become friends with your clients; afterall it is a professional relationship and it is a professional relationship for a reason.

4. A lawyer who just holds your hand and tells you its going to be okay;

5. A lawyer who does not ask questions and then more follow-up questions and then asks for documents, records, and other correspondence including but not limited to your first grade picture;

6. A lawyer who believes everything you say is 100% factually accurate and the Gospel, just because you said it;

7. A lawyer to tell you what you want to hear about your case;

8. A lawyer who allows you to run the case and the defense; its your license and its your case but we work together;

9. A lawyer who will not call you on your bullshit;

10. A lawyer who will not question you because:

A.  a APRN; I have a apron also.

B. You are doctorally prepared (to give enemas);

C. You have a three lines of certifications and degrees behind your name including but not limited to FAAN; I have a fan in my home office and I plan to buy one when I receive my tax refund for my real office.

D.  You are older than me. I am 39 y/o. If you want a boomer lawyer your age then find one;  

E. You are married to, dating, shacking, and/or fracking a physician, lawyer, and/or dentist?

10. A lawyer who you can spin; I have been doing this a while, no spinning.  

I am your Lawyer not Your friend. I don't do boilermakers: mix personal and business

Okay, here it is folks. I am a nurse and therefore I will do whatever I can for any nurse (if you pay me).

The attorney-client relationship is a professional relationship. Its not a personal relationship like a friendship.

I love what I do for a living and it is my passion but I maintain boundaries between my law practice clients, my professional nursing and colleagues, and my personal life.

What are professional boundaries?

http://www.andrewskurth.com/pressroom-publications-SetYourProfessionalBoundaries.html

I was always told you shouldn't mix light and dark liquor, you shouldn't mix beer and liquor, and do boilermakers and therefore I apply the same principles to my professional and personal life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilermaker_(beer_cocktail)

My stomach turns when I read law practice management and marketing articles which encourage lawyers to be "friends" with their clients to increase sales, etc. Guess what? Being friends with a client IMHO causes you to lose your objectivity and to get too personal, emotionally invested, and lose sight of your professional obligations to a client.

I know alot about professional boundaries. Guess what if you have a professional boundaries complaint before the Nursing Boards in OH, KY, and/or IN, you should think about hiring me.

https://m360.centerforamericannurses.org/event.aspx?eventID=7426

http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=680674

http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=633454

http://www.americannursetoday.com/article.aspx?id=4686&fid=4662

http://advocatefornurses.typepad.com/my2cents/files/KYNurseprofessionalboundaries.pdf

http://www.spsscs.org/meeting2009/program.php

Also, why I may adore you as a nurse and as a client, you are paying me for a service not to be your friend, right? Do you pay someone a friend thousand dollars to be your friend? I would hope not.

More importantly because I am your lawyer, not your friend, I tell you things you may not want to hear about your case, your nursing practice, or your nursing company. But that's my role as your lawyer; I am not your friend.

I am not being mean but I am giving it to you directly in a world of political correctness and "friending" as one dually licensed professional to another licensed professional.  

RN and LPN Independent Providers in the State of Ohio: Stop, Look and Listen!

More and more nurses both LPNs and RNs are having billing, nursing practice, and other issues practicing as an Independent Provider.

Home care isn't for everyone and self-employment isn't for everyone. The combination of the two can ring disaster for nurses who just jump into being an Independent Provider without any preparation.

You are a licensed healthcare professional and you are a small business owner as an IP. You cannot just jump and then figure things out as you go. This is recipe for an ODJFS Notice of Deficiency, Plan of Correction, Ohio Nursing Board Complaint, and/or a certified letter from ODJFS saying "you owe us ten million dollars because you failed to...."

What is an Ohio Independent Provider?

 http://ohioip.net/

http://www.ohiohcp.org/provider.html#php1

If you are going to be an Ohio Independent Provider you need to learn the basics of home care before you just jump.

For example, consider taking a home care course to learn about the Ohio Home Care Program. See 

http://ochch.org/associations/11629/files/MarchHC101brochure.pdf

I am actually thinking about registering for this program as a refresher.

Also why not attend a coding and billing CE for home health to increase your knowledge?

See http://ochch.org/associations/11629/files/JuneAdvancedCodingBrochure.pdf. Oh, let me guess, you just have someone "do" your coding? Bullshit. That's like me saying as an attorney "oh, I just have someone do my billing, I don't have to know anything about it."

Nurses as a group do not support and join professional associations for a number of reasons. But guess what? As a Independent Provider, you need the support. You will probably not find it in a general national or state nurses association but you should at least attending CE and training offered by ODJFS and the Ohio Home Care Organizations. Its Risk Management, baby!!!!!!!

https://m360.ochch.org/frontend/portal/viewcalendar.aspx

http://www.ohpco.org/aws/MCA/pt/sp/education_homecare

Also as Ohio IP you should have the following professionals on your team:

1. Accountant;

2. Business Lawyer;

3. More experienced IP in your County; and

4. Nursing Law Attorney (that would be me).

Things are going to come up because you are a self-employed and you want to evaluate the situations as a licensed nurses and a business owner. Also for heaven's sake, BUY Professional Liability Insurance with a License Defense Protection Benefit!!!!!!

As an IP, you can pay it on the front end with risk management, paying for consultative services, etc. or you will pay it on the back end when mistakes (practice, billing, etc.) are made. and you have to retain a lawyer to represent you before the State Nursing Board and/or in an ODJFS matter proposing the termination of your provider agreement.  

Remember this isn't Disney World: you are billing the State for skilled nursing services and you are essentially your own agency: billing for services, scheduling visits, and providing care.

 

 

The Liquor Store: Unemployment Compensation, Nursing Schools, and the Saturation of the Employment Market in Nursing

This is not legal advice because no one paid me to say this but:

 1. If you are a LPN, RN, or APRN and you were terminated from your employment with a healthcare organization, consult with a nursing law attorney BEFORE you apply for unemployment compensation benefits. 

2. By a consult, I mean pay for 30 minutes to 60 minutes of the nursing law attorney’s time and provide the attorney with your documentation to review. This is not the sixty second call you have with a nursing law attorney and the attorney is typing, eating, and listening to a podcast while taking your frantic call.  

3. Why? If you were terminated from your job and you are awarded benefits, your former employer may contest the award. I think someone in HR screams “1, 2, 3, 4, I Declare War” then the healthcare organization receives notice of a former nurse employee request for unemployment compensation benefits. http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/65396/i-declare-war. I loved this game as a kid. I grew up in a very competitive household and this game along with monopoly always resulted in a shouting match, fist fight, profanity (I learned early), or a promise for a rematch for the “title.” 

4. Why? If you terminated from your job, you may or may not be reported to the State Nursing Board if you are in a mandatory reporting state. You won’t know you are reported until you open the mail and “claim your prize” or you receive a phone call from the State Nursing Board.  

5. I had to calm a nurse down by phone yesterday who opened her mail and “claimed her prize.” I opened my own mail two weeks ago and “claimed my own prize.” I am 0.75 CLE short on my Ohio law license renewal. I have to pay $110.00 and take a one hour CLE class by April 31, 2011. This blog is Nursing Law & Order, not Nursing & Law Disorder, so I plan to take my CLE online this evening and mail the check and my CLE transcript in the morning. Yes, I know its horrible and that’s why my walkie talkie handle is the Nursing Law Bandit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkie-talkie. 

6. The interplay of unemployment compensation benefit appeals and procedures and State Nursing Board complaints is something I am seeing in my law practice over the last 2 years. I used to handle unemployment comp. cases (years and years and years ago) and this is where I “cut my teeth” (learned the ropes) with telephonic hearings. 

7. It is a tough job market out here for nurses in certain areas and the proliferation of nursing schools and colleges does not help. Nursing Schools are the new pills mills like law schools. http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com. 

8. Let’s see there are LPN, RN, RN to BSN, LPN to RN, BSN, MSN, post-MSN, and doctoral programs, schools, and colleges in nursing. Just in the Greater Cincinnati area, there are maybe 20+ programs. You can open a nursing school faster than you can open a liquor store in some states IMO. Nursing Schools are on every corner in some cities like a Pony Keg selling cigarettes, beer, and lottery tickets. Come here and get your nursing education; it is on sale for $35,000.00. http://www.ehow.com/how_4549219_open-drive-through-pony-keg.html.

9. The proliferation of nursing schools and programs across the states result in more and more new grads, new nurses, and not so new nurses competing for the same jobs. This IMO prompts more nurses who are termed from a HCO to apply for unemployment compensation benefits because you don’t know if you are going to get a job. It is not like it used to be when you could get fired today and start working somewhere else on Monday. The nursing employment market (in some areas) is more saturated than my 2 y/o niece’s Pull-Up at 7am.  

10. I attended a nursing function a few months ago and I was asked “where do you practice?” I replied “in a law firm, I am a nurse license defense attorney.” The nurse, who happened to be a “nurse educator” said “Oh, you represent those nurses in the Momentum.” The Momentum is the Ohio Nursing Board newsletter. I replied where you do you practice? She said “Proprietary XYZ Nursing School, Nail Tech, and Plumbing Program.” I said “Oh, you are educating those nurses in the Momentum.”

 11. Most nurses are repping themselves in the investigation of the State Nursing Board complaint as well as the unemployment benefits compensation process. This is a NO-NO.  Guess what? You may be excited and ready to fight the first 5 weeks but guess what you will move on after 2 months and this is the point where your former employer, the HCO has declared war and is ready to fight you to hell and back for those benes, baby. 6 months to 9 months later you are going to say WTF was I thinking? I don’t have the time and energy for this shit. Also you cannot be objective when you represent yourself. You just cannot.  Find an attorney who handles admin. law cases like workers comp and SSDI to represent you in an unemployment comp. matter. I am not taking unemployment comp. cases now because my nurse license defense practice is busy; but I may have to hire a Virtual Paralegal and start taking these cases again. Unemployment comp, workers comp and license defense are all administrative law practices. 

12. Don’t have your unemployment comp. lawyer rep you before the State Nursing Board unless the attorney has experience with this niche. Yes it is all admin law but guess what? I am a nurse license defense attorney and I can take an unemployment comp case but I would not take a SSDI or workers comp. case because I don’t have experience or even an interests in these areas. 

13. If you want to play around and represent yourself, do so in traffic court. You can follow behind me when I am driving to Columbus, Indy, Lexington, or Louisville and I am sure you will get a ticket. The State Patrol are out this month!!!! You can appear and represent yourself there. But don’t do the monkey in an unemployment compensation case and a Nursing Board complaint investigation case.

Ohio Medical Board's Resolution Regarding Prescription Drug Abuse: And So It Begins!

Thanks, Jack "The Smack" Stem at http://www.peeradvocacyforimpairednurses.com/why.html for emailing this to me yesterday.

Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orXDu3Stb-c

The Ohio Medical Board issued a resolution regarding prescription drug abuse last week.

See http://www.med.ohio.gov/pdf/PrescriptionDrug%20Abuse.pdf.

See also http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20110311/NEWS01/103110309/DeWine-Ohio-medical-board-must-fight-prescription-drug-abuse-harder for an idea of what's coming for licensed healthcare professionals with prescriptive authority like MDs and APRNs.

Why is this important for nurses?

* Nurses who are prescribed controlled substances by their physicians or APRNs and practice nursing. Its a balancing act yet I don't think there is an appreciation of the risks and liabilities for nurses who take "prescribed" controlled substances and then report to work or who take meds while at work; and

* APRNs in private practice or who work for/with docs in private practice and have prescriptive authority. The State Medical Boards and State Nursing Boards go hard in these cases and unfortunately the majority of docs and nurses will represent themselves with the "I didn't do anything wrong" defense.

More about the "I didn't do anything wrong defense" and how it applies to me this week.

Guess what? I saw this coming two years ago and put together a webinar sponsored by the Center for American Nurses titled:

A Balancing Act in the Workplace, Managing the Risks When a Nurse Takes Prescribed Medication

This is one of my fav. Center webinars and I provide this CD to clients.

See http://www.can.affiniscape.com/storelistitem.cfm?itemnumber=13

What are you saying LaTonia? Just give it to me straight without the legal mumbo jumbo.

If you are a nurse (RN, LPN, and APRN) and you are prescribed controlled substances for chronic pain, a nurses back, etc.; is this affecting your nursing practice? What are the risks and potential liabilities for you and your nursing practice? Remember you are your own risk manager on Nursing Law & Order; this isn't Nursing Law & Disorder, not yet anyway.http://advocatefornurses.typepad.com/my2cents/2011/03/the-plan-do-you-need-assistance-with-revising-reviewing-or-developing-the-plan-we-can-help.html

If you are APRN with prescriptive authority, what does this mean for your nursing practice? How can you develop strategies to protect your nursing practice and your nursing license with the "heat" being placed on prescriptive drug abuse?  http://advocatefornurses.typepad.com/my2cents/2011/03/the-plan-do-you-need-assistance-with-revising-reviewing-or-developing-the-plan-we-can-help.html

Allegations involving the inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances are complex because multiple state, federal, and/or national agencies or groups are involved on various levels. The implications for MDs and APRNs who prescribe and for LPNs, RNs, and APRNS who use controlled substances and practice are really starting to take shape in the last 3 years. Get ahead of this issue if this applies to you and your nursing practice, its risk management, baby!

This isn't an issue where you want to be caught with your pants down with the pics on FB and the video U-Tube. Be proactive and manage the risk and if you need assistance managing the risks, seek assistance. This is just how licensed healthcare professionals should roll!

 

 

 

Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ is a Risk Management, Workplace, and Career Guidance Tool & Service I am offering for Nursing Students, NCLEX-Applicants,LPNs, RNs, and APRNs

Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™

The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ is Your Nursing Care Plan

I know you still remember nursing care plans even though the NCPs are generated by software these days.

 http://www1.us.elsevierhealth.com/MERLIN/Gulanick/Constructor/

I graduated from my ASN program in 1993 and my BSN program in 1994 so NCPs were done the old fashioned way: by hand.

The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan ™is similiar to the nursing care plans we developed in our entry level nursing programs.

What is included in your Legal Audit:Nursing Career Plan™ depends on where you are with your nursing career whether its pre-licensure, post-discipline with the State Nursing Board, in an alternative to discipline program, in graduate school, going up (or down) the clinical ladder in a particular institution, etc.

Why do you need a Legal Audit:Nursing Career Plan™? Every nurse needs a Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ because it takes into the risks and liabilities and specifics of your education, licensure, practice area, specialization, certifications, and assists you with the self-regulation of your nursing practice. Essentially you are caring for yourself, your license, your practice, and your career by being your own risk manager and advocate. The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ involves you reflecting and assessing your practice with the assistance, advice, and counsel of a nursing law attorney.  

What is self-regulation of nursing practice?

http://www.cna-nurses.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/NN_Understanding_Self_Regulation_e.pdf

http://www.cna-nurses.ca/cna/documents/pdf/publications/SelfregulationFeb2001_e.pdf

I have wanted for sometime to offer a risk management product and service for individual nurses regardless of the state of licensure and the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ is it.

For nurses who are of course, in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ offered by my law firm can of course include legal advice and counseling.

For nurses in other states, the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ offered provides workforce and worplace counseling but no legal advice. Sorry, no legal advice but I can offer workplace and career counseling.

How will you benefit from a Legal Audit:Nursing Career Plan?

1. Let's say you are probation and monitoring with the State Nursing Board. The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ will review with you the strategies to work through this process establish goals, interventions, and tasks, address common issues, and review legal concerns.

2. Let's say you are in a State Board alternative to discipline program. The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ will review with your the strategies to work through this process, establish goals, interventions, and tasks, address common issues, and review legal concerns.

3. I hear alot, do I need my own professional liability insurance policy? This would be part of your Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ and along with reviewing your practice area, certifications, employment, licensure, and case law in your state to determine the necessary coverage offered by various nursing insurer if you identify this as an issue.

4. Let's say you are ARNP and you have an employment agreement and collaborative physician and a collaborative agreement. Your Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ could entail of a review of these agreements and with plans to review and discuss your areas of concern.

5. Let's say you are planning to start your own nurse owned business. Your Plan could review the basics and address some of the liabilities and legal issues presented.

6. You are a home health RN and you are also self-employed as an Independent Provider in Ohio. Your Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ could focus on the legal issues facing nurses practicing dually as home health nurses and as a IPs. Are you working as nurse for multiple facilities? Are working as a RN here and as a APRN elsewhere? Same for ICU, ER, Telemetry, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Ambulatory Care, Clinic, Self-Employed, Private Practice, etc.

7. Let's say you are work primarily as a charge nurse in a hospital, your Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™, will be different from a charge nurse in a nursing home or from unit manager or middle manager in a hospital.

8. The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ for APRNs will different from LPNs and RNs and certainly the same can be said based on roles such as Clinical Nurse, Nurse Educator, Nurse Manager, or Nurse Expert Clinician.

9. New graduates, Nursing Students, and NCLEX-Applicants. Your transition into professional nursing practice can be alot smoother with a plan because you don't know what you don't know until you know it and its usually the hard way. Why not start your nursing practice with a Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ that identifies the risks associated with your practice area, takes into account your strengths and weaknesses as a new nurse, and assists you with the transition to professional nursing practice and developing your career.

Every Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ will be different and there is no standard plan because the audit is based on the three issues and concerns you identify and is tailored to meet your specific licensure, education, certification, practice areas, etc. and the documents you provide me to review.

The Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ focuses on the three issues you identify and I assist you with addressing, reviewing, identifying, and mitigating legal, licensure, career, and other pitfalls in a 30 minute conference call.

This is a basic risk management service offered to nurses because the majority of nurses don't have a nursing practice counsel or nursing law attorney on retainer to assist the individual nurse with law, legal, workplace, career, or the legalities associated with nursing practice.

Also most nurses don't belong to a professional association which may or may not offer this type of service which is combination of licensure, career, employment, legal, workplace, labor, and "as otherwise identified" issues specific for RNs, LPNs, and APRNs.

Please don't send me hundreds of pages of documents and expect that this can be covered in a 30 minute consultation and video or conference call because I will refund the fee and cancel the appt. Sorry. You need to retain me if you have hundreds of pages of documents you need to be reviewed:)

We can skype your Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ as a video conference call or a just plain conference call.

My law office skype name is: nursinglawattorney

My law office skype number is 513-729-6989.

I am offering the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ service FREE to my law office clients. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to my law office clients.

If interested:

1. Pay for and schedule a date and time for the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ at  http://www.bookfresh.com/profile/157503739.

2. The cost is $250 for a 30 minute Skype video call or telephone conference call.

3. I will need an updated CV/resume and work history. You will receive an email listing the information and documents I need from you prior to the consultation based on the issues and concerns you identify.

4. If you have legal documents, contracts, or agreement for me to review. Scan/email, mail, or fax to me prior to the consultation please. My fax number is 888-580-1119.

5. Once you pay for and schedule the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™, you will review a packet of information for you to complete and return to my office.

6. Based on the issues/concerns you identified, you will also receive a packet or a package of informational and educational materials and documents by mail and information via email. Yes, there is homework because you will have to "stay the course" after the consultation. I want you to suceed (this isn't a scheme just to take your money) and I am going to provide you the materials to assist you with this process. I will be your Legal Cheerleader!!!

7. After the Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™ video call or conference call, you will receive your "plan" as a PDF file from me.

Take charge and grab "self-regulation of nursing practice" by its horns by identifying, managing, and mitigating the legal risks of nursing practice  while plotting the trajectory of your nursing career with your very own Legal Audit: Nursing Career Plan™.  I love it! This sounds so sales like; I am also selling a used car and a tattered blood pressure cuff if you are interested:) Just kidding!

 

 

 

 

Charlotte's Web and Drug & Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Dependency in Nursing

Are you weaving a web so thick that not even Charlotte could manage to migrate it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte's_Web.

I am writing an e-book, the New Charlotte's Web: Deceit, Deception, and Dishonesty, Drugs/Alcohol, and Nursing's Social Policy Statement.

Deceit, Deception, and Dishonesty is part of addiction and use. I get it.

Drug and Alcohol Use, Abuse, Dependency, and Impairment is no doubt an issue in nursing. I get it.

There are alot of nurses who are abusing prescription medication but think its "okay" because I have script. There is a thin line between using prescription medication as prescribed vs. using prescription medication prior to and while at work vs. impairment regardless of whether you are working 4, 8, 12, or 16 hour shift.

However, there are competing forces with drug and alcohol use, abuse, dependency, and impairment in nursing. Yes, there is a recognition that this is disease on one end of the spectrum and on the other end of the spectrum is the public and the State Nursing Board and Law Enforcement.

Guess what's in the middle? IMO, its Personal and Professional Responsibility & Accountability.

http://www.nursingcenter.com/Library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=492769

http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice-clinical-research/part-51-accountability-autonomy-and-standards/200972.article

http://ajcc.aacnjournals.org/content/19/3/296.full.pdf+html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03684.x/full

http://www.aspan.org/AboutUs/PresidentsPage/ArchivedPresidentsPage/PresArchive_102010/tabid/7404/Default.aspx

http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/hisham/Documents/Medical%20Education/English/Nursing%20Education/90.pdf

How does this apply in the workplace? Examples.

http://www.slhn-lehighvalley.org/docs/pdf/final%20professional%20practice%20model%20nov%2007%20_2_.pdf

So you know what this means? Yes, Alcohol & Drug Use, Abuse, Dependency, and Impairment are medical issues but as a state licensed nurse, you are personally and professionally accountable and responsible for your actions and inactions in accordance with American Nurses Association professional standards of practice and your State Nurse Practice Act and Board of Nursing Regulations.  

So guess what? You are a nurse and you are diverting drugs; you have a medical condition but you are accountable. You are nurse and you are showing up to work drunk; you have a medical condition but you are accountable.

You cannot be a state licensed nurse and NOT be accountable and responsible for your actions or inactions or conduct. This isn't Burger King and you can't have it your way. It works this way for most licensed professionals especially in healthcare, which is HIGHLY regulated.

The accountability and responsibility piece and the foundations for the legal, professional, and self-regulation of nursing practice is lost. This is what frustrates me is this connection is lost somewhere in the transition from nursing student to professional nurse to professional nurse and expert clinician.

Nursing schools are the new puppy and pill mills, teaching to pass the NCLEX and producing graduates who don't understand the role of personal and professional accountability and responsibility in nursing practice and the importance of legal, professional, and self-regulation of nursing practice. (Oh, snap, I guess I won't be invited to present on nursing law and rules for nursing faculty. Tear.)

This isn't picked up in the workplace of course and most nurses don't belong to a nursing professional or specialty nursing associations. So in my opinion the majority of us are showing up to work and just practicing until something happens and we are doing this without a plan for our nursing practice and without a healthy appreciation & understanding of JUST how important the legal, professional, and self-regulation of nursing practice is to our nursing practice and "the plan." 

Sections of the Nursing's Social Policy Statement: The Essence of the Profession (2010) will be required reading for ALL of my law office clients going forward.  http://www.nursesbooks.org/Main-Menu/Foundation/Nursings-Social-Policy-Statement.aspx.

If you are a law office client, take a guess what you will receive on your birthday, my birthday or around the holidays this year!!!

What's your point, LaTonia? Weave it, baby, Weave it! You can weave a web and weave it as thick, as sticky, as murky, and for as long as you can. Regardless of whether you weaved the web because of a medical condition, mental condition, etc. the "why" is a mitigating factor: you are responsible and accountable due to the professional regulation, legal regulation, and self-regulation of nursing practice.

Alcohol Use vs. Alcohol Abuse vs. Alcohol Dependency: State Nursing Board Renewals and DUI, OVI, or DWI. DEATH by Evaluation!

Nurses if you have been charged or convicted of a DUI, OVI, or DWI and you have to renew your Ohio RN license, Indiana RN license, and/or Kentucky nursing license (RN or LPN) this year, consult with an attorney.

Schedule an appt. with a nurse license defense attorney to discuss your situation before you self-report to the Ohio, Kentucky, and/or Indiana State Nursing Boards. This isn't legal advice because you didn't pay me to say this its just plain common sense.

Why would you self-report "anything" to the State Nursing Board without speaking with a nurse license defense attorney? Okay, I know I am biased but really? Would you walk into a police station and "confess" and admit to committing a crime verbally and in writing? Probably not, so why do nurses self-report to the State Nursing Board when anyone and everyone including but not limited to Direct TV  Service Technician to their friends tells them its the right thing to do. Its the good thing to do.

WTH, does that mean anyway? Save right vs. wrong for the 8 hour graduate level symposium on Ethics and Morality and Nursing's Social Policy Statement. Save good vs. evil for Sundays and you are welcome to join me at 8am service at a Baptist church.

You are not Luke Skywalker (actually Luke is here with me. My dog's name is Luke Skywalker and he uses the force on mommy) and the State Nursing Board or Alternative to Discipline Program in Ohio, ISNAP, or KARE does not represent the Dark Side of the Force. Let's turn it down a notch and focus on the issues.

1. You are a licensed nurse.

2. You were charged and/or convicted of a DUI, OVI, or DWI.

3. You may have been charged with other crimes along with the DUI, OVI, or DWI.

4. You are practicing as a nurse.

5. You are receiving more "helpful" advice from family, friends, foes, and strangers than a politician caught in a whorehouse.

Speak with a nurse license defense attorney about your situation. There are license defense attorneys in every state, see www.taana.org.

Don't fire off the 25 page handwritten letter to the Board (that you don't keep a copy of for your records) disclosing everything you have done right vs. wrong and good vs. evil since the 6th grade. 

You need advice and counseling and maybe representation. This is the role of a state licensed attorney just like its the role of state licensed nurse to provide nursing care. Don't bootleg it! 

I offer 40 minute legal consultations for nurses with licensure renewal issues. You can pay for and schedule the legal consultation online. This is for nurses licensed in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. I am licensed to practice law in these states only.

Also, a nurse emailed me this weekend and inquired whether I could obtain a license in State C and represent the nurse. The State Nursing Board applications for licensure pale in comparison to the Attorney Licensing Applications and the Character & Fitness Interviews. The Bar Applications make you cry like you are running a 10 mile marathon in a size 5 pump and you wear a size 10, in gym shoes. Yes, we have to interview!!!!

I have NO plans to sit for another bar examination or regurgitate every speeding ticket since age 16, discuss my credit report and score and why I was late 30 days late paying my Spiegel's charge 20 years ago (I loved Spiegels), and disclose every civil, criminal, administrative matter, case, issue, or thought or anything remotely legal (this includes purchasing a hotdog at the food stand next to the court house) and not to mention mental health issues on a State Bar Application for Licensure as an Attorney. 

When I say NO plans, I mean never ever neverland Peter Pan. Three Bar Exams, Three Bar Apps, Three Bar Charter & Fitness interviews, and Three times passing the Bar on the first try. I am stopping while I am ahead.

I am sure you have heard of Death by Meeting? Okay, I am writing an e-book titled DEATH by Evaluation and self-reporting is Chapter 1.  

Why? Hell just from my posts on this blog, I am sure the Bar Examiners if I wanted to apply for a law license in another state would want a psychiatric evaluation (forensic nonetheless) and maybe a fitness for duty  (I am sure my employer would not object:) not to mention maybe a chemical dependency evaluation because of my references to Long Island Iced Tea, Moscato, Bartles & James wine coolers (traditional, berry, or strawberry), Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft vs. Bud Light vs. Keystone Light (hint: only if your money "ain't" right this week) and my fav, Martini & Ross Asti Spumante over the years.  Also I have lost 35 pounds since November 2010 so they may want a medical evaluation or a return-to-work evaluation (before I can step foot in my home office or my traditional office) as well. After speaking with one or more of my clients, they may also want a behavioral examination.

Okay, I am just kidding here but you get my point about self-reporting without obtaining objective advice and counseling, right?

Oh, snap, the link for the License Renewal Application consultations:

http://www.bookfresh.com/profile/157503739

The cost of a 45 minute legal consultation (conference call) for 2011 nursing license renewals in Ohio, Kentucky, or Indiana is $225.00.

 

Nursing Nirvana vs. I am nursing just for the paycheck. I am Nurse Paycheck

If you work on a unit, floor, hall, or facility and there is a consistent amount of turnover between 25% to 85% of the direct care staff, ask yourself why are you continuing to work at the facility in a 1.0 or .9 FTE position?

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=14155122

http://roa.sagepub.com/content/28/4/454.abstract

http://www.longwoods.com/content/19594

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume122007/No3Sept07/NurseRetention.aspx

If you are working on a unit, floor, hall, or facility and this is your 3rd nursing manager in 14 months, what does this say to you about the work environment?

We all need money and everyone who is reading this blog is probably working full-time plus however working hard and working smart are two different premises.

http://can.affiniscape.com/associations/9102/files/October%202006-NTW%20Being%20a%20Self%20Advocate.pdf

http://can.affiniscape.com/associations/9102/files/November%202006-NTW%20Collaboration%20With%20Your%20Boss.pdf

http://can.affiniscape.com/associations/9102/files/NTW2008July.pdf

Is there a perfect work environment? Yes, but not when are you working for someone else. I learned this early in my nursing career and then again early in my legal career.

However as professional nurses its not about finding the perfect work environment because in the highly regulated and fast changing healthcare environment, nothing is perfect. Professional nurses MUST have a written career plan.

Is your current employment with Hospital A, Nursing Home B, or Home Health Agency C your career plan or a step or level in your career plan?

If you are a nurse strictly and primarily for the paycheck then it may show in your interactions with staff, patients, and families. There is nothing wrong with nursing just for a check but there is nothing right about it either. However the same can be said for any profession, occupation, or trade.

Are you Nurse Paycheck?

Did you transition into nursing just because the potential for high earnings when compared to the length of education (one to two years)?

If so, don't go in a patient's room and say I am _____, your nurse for 3-11. Be honest and say,

Hi, I am Nurse Paycheck and I will be working with you, hopefully for as little as possible and just enough to meet the basic standards of care. I am here today, just for the check.

IMO a Professional Nurse can become a Nurse Paycheck from burn out, despair, lateral violence, or just being "beat down" from working with a particular nurse manager, on a particular floor, unit, department, specialty, or specific patient population too long.

I never wanted to be a Nurse Paycheck and I certainly won't be Lawyer Paycheck.

IMO its about finding an environment where you feel valued as an employee, you are able to practice nursing safely, and you are fairly compensated. Having a "plan" for your nursing also helps; don't just show up to work, punch in, and work year after year. What is your plan for your nursing career?

Have you found your Nursing Nirvana? I am still working on mine over here.