I signed up for Google Alert so that any time there is an article published on the subject of nurse licenses or nursing boards, I get notified. Unfortunately, I have been very sickened by the articles that they have provided so far. The last 4 Google Alerts I received are quite disturbing. I guess there’s a proverbial “bad apple” in every profession but these situations are very troubling.
The first case involved a licensed practical nurse who failed to provide rescue breathing and CPR when a girl’s tracheostomy tube became dislodged resulting in the baby’s death. This nurse is permanently barred from caring for a patient with an artificial airway in a home health care setting or in any setting without the presence of other licensed personnel.
Click HERE for this article.
Another article blasted the California Board of Nursing due to investigation delays. A nurse was involved in a case of a toddler’s death. The nursing board acknowledged the complaint yet she was allowed to practice for 39 months without the nursing board taking action against her license.
Click HERE for this article.
The third case involved a registered nurse who temporarily surrendered his license after being accused of distributing child pornography in New Jersey. Click HERE for this article.
The fourth case involved another nurse who was found guilty of sexually assaulting patients at 4 D.C. area hospitals. Click HERE.
What is interesting about the articles that I am reading is that they don’t involve drugs but involve other unfathomable conduct. While I defend many nurses, I am choosey about what cases I take.
I would love to see more good press about nurses. Nurses every day are heroes. Why is the press only publishing the negative?
I have started using the hashtag #nurseheroes so that if you know of a nurse who needs to be celebrated for their great care, as long as it doesn’t violate HIPAA, please share it and let the media know.
There are so many good nurses out there and I am sad to see that these bad nurses are taking the spotlight. We need to reclaim our profession and show all the good nurses. Good nursing care should make good news as well. #nurseheroes.
I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
Laurie Romano says
I am fond of a book titled “From Silence to Voice” that addresses the (in)visibility of nurses and how to change that.
Teresa says
Thank you for giving the gist of the articles. I am happy to not read about blatant immorality in our profession.
I recently attended the aspan national conference in Indianapolis. Lots of information about anesthesia nursing. I have never attended a conference this specialized. It has been fun meeting people from all over with the same interest. I highly recommend doing this for your own specialty.
Now the interesting part I found was during the education when they brought up stories of nurse accidents. The gal speaking was the one who investigated incidents. Very sad, because many happened due to fatigue And from staffing shortages.
This is definitely something everyone attending had comments on from their home facilities.
And it does seem like it is time we got our government involved in mandating laws that would protect our patients as well as ourselves.