I have heard from many nurses that where they are working is understaffed which is not safe for the patients. Those nurses put in a lot of overtime because they are concerned that if they didnāt, there would be fewer staff available to care for the patients. They also expressed concerns that if the facility is able to get staff from an agency, those people would not know the patients. This is a difficult situation. Many nurses want mandatory staffing requirements. However, I am not … [Read more...]
Questioning An Order
What would you do if your supervisor asked you to do something that you think may be questionable? Would you follow the order or would you question it? Let me give you some examples to consider: You work homecare and you never see your supervisor. She tells you to sign her name on your time card so you can get paid. What would you do? Your supervisor asks you to āfill in the holesā on the turning sheet because State is coming soon to inspect the facility. What would you do? Your … [Read more...]
When Your License Is Put On Probation
Each year 7,000 nurses have some type of discipline placed on their license. My home State of Indiana has the highest number of nurses on probation. Other top contenders for that dubious title are Texas and Ohio. If you would like to see the discipline imposed in your State, check out the National Council of State Board of Nursing website (www.ncsbn.org) which captures all of the statistics on nurse license discipline. If your license is placed on probation, the Board wants to watch you to … [Read more...]
BEWARE: The Board Can Suspend Your License As An Emergency
Your license is a privilege and not a right. Just as your driverās license can be suspended, so can your nursing license. The Board needs only to provide you with reasonable notice which could mean the day before or even, and I have seen it, the morning of a hearing. In the hearing the State must show that you are a clear and immediate danger to the public. If there is a situation with any concern that drugs are missing or you have criminal charges related to your honesty and trustworthiness or … [Read more...]
Tips To Protect Your Nursing License While Using Technology And Social Media
Brittney Wilson, RN, BSN Technology and social media have added many new benefits as well as many new challenges to the nursing profession. On the one hand we now can access patient data and chart on patient care more quickly and easily than ever and we have access to a nearly limitless online support system of nurses. However, on the other hand we now could accidently share protected health information (PHI) over social media in just a few clicks of a mouse. Because of this, nurses need to … [Read more...]
