Many a nurse found in violation of nursing regulations have come to me saying, “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that!” Other times I hear, “Well, that’s the way we did it in our unit” or “That’s how I was trained!” But none of those are proper defenses to charges that could be applied to your license. You are responsible for knowing the rules that you are required to follow. If you don’t know, you have an obligation to find out. Even if you think you know, but your thinking is incorrect, you’re … [Read more...]

Okay, it’s not that drastic. But it’s important to always keep in mind the standards you are held to as a nurse, even on social media. As much as we’d like to keep our work lives and our private lives separate, the digital age has made distancing these two worlds ever more difficult. Our online presence gives anyone a window into our lives.  Access like this can be dangerous for any professional, especially nurses. Not only are we governed by the usual rules of social etiquette, but we must … [Read more...]

I am known for saying, “You can always get another job but not another license!” If you smell the handwriting on the wall, resign.  If you get terminated, on every future job application you will have to disclose that you were terminated.  Otherwise, not to do so is called fraud and material misrepresentation in obtaining a license. Some nurses will say, “Well, I was there only a short time.”  It does not matter! In fact, when you sign your employment application, there usually is … [Read more...]