I haven't written in awhile so i need to share my home health nightmares this year. I am a rn in so. Texas. I was the one fired from otto kaiser memorial hospital in kenedy tx for "knocking on a hospice patient's door too loudly, talking too loud, and turning on the lights" to give morphine sl.
So i am wandering around trying to figure out what a fired 58yo rn can do and who has limited clinical exp. I spent majority of 23 years nursing in home health which to me has gotten out of control with regs and paperwork!
I have worked only 1.5 months this year last august/september; this was for legacy home health/hospice in corpus christi tx. Warning: To all nurses and other medical staff, i am still trying to collect my full paycheck and some mileage; i resigned and my last day was sept. 14th. This agency was beyond dysfunctional. The wound care and follow up was unacceptable to nursing and medical standards! There is much more; however i am weary of repeating the facts.
In may this year i was told i have a job with texas health care solutions in san antonio tx. I called the next day to check whether the co. Would consider benefits from day one. The newly hired (3 days) don informed me that my job offer was rescinded!!!! Isn't that professional!!!
So i am broke in more ways than one! Needless to say i have no insurance and i do have the typical problems most american men have in their fifties, htn, hyperlipidemia, dm-2, and now a-fib/a-flutter. I am so damned frustrated with life right now!
Are unstable employers all located in texas now? And of course ,in texas, governor rick "pretty boy" perry coddles the businesses with watered down regs and seems to encourage unethical behavior.
Well thats all for now. Are there others out there with employer related difficulties? If so i would like to hear them and hopefully someone out there might know how to help. If anything, some government agencies that will make these unethical companies miserable and fearful of action against them!
Hey, czecher---glad to see your post! I am sure there must be SOMEthing that could be done. Have you checked the TX BON for any leads on reporting? Just a thought.....
Have you checked on the Jobs section of the site? (Top bar) And how far are you from any adjacent states?
And yeah, I have had some problems with the job. You DON'T want to hear about it; not pretty at all.
Can you apply for rehabilition/skilled nursing facility jobs? You might like it. Don't limit yourself to home care.
I did Home nursing and lasted 3 months because of the Oasis and awful paperwork.
cougarnurse, no I haven't checked jobs lately; I stopped looking locally. I get a sick feeling knowing I have to work for some entity for awhile to survive and fund a business. I believe my last firing was the last straw. It just took all the wind outta my sails! I must work for myself, but not in nursing at all. currently thinking of a mobile type cafe or if I had any money an actual biulding. Been doing some research on the net. A new truck/van cafe equipped is 100K. Everyday I kick my a$$ for not planning my future!!! A trailer is not practical cuz I do not have a powerful enough car to pull it around. Right now I am just coasting thru life. I know I am terribly depressed cuz I cannot seem to look for work or get much done. Plus I live in the great "do nothing" state of Texas; mental health here is the biggest joke since Nixon said he wasn't a crook!!! (naturally, I have no insurance and MHMR is ill funded and in as much disarray as the employers I have encountered the last several years!
I am so familiar with this type of treatment of older nurses. Some reason I sensed the need to upgrade my education to a master's before turning 50 years old. I realized there would be no way I could stand to work alongside a new nurse and keep up with her/him or possibly have her/him manage me. Therefore, I obtained masters as a nurse practitioner. But that was not good enough for the young and new nurses who were mostly Filipino working on Visa barely speaking English. I was terminated and reported to the board for drug diversion. I swear I never ever took a controlled substance. But my documentation was too shoddy. As the saying goes in nursing "if you didn't document, you didn't do it." By the time the board finished "investigating" I had spent all of my money saving a house that I later lost to foreclosure. I could not afford an attorney. I have since been underpaid for 1 and 1/2 years as a registered nurse. I lost everything including my mom and eldest brother during this period. I never had the chance to use my education and practitioner skills. I am currently on probation in NC for mishandling and improper documentation of controlled substances. No one would touch me for over a year as a practitioner writing drug scripts. I have since file a suit. Other employees who have since resigned are telling how they were told to lie during my investigation. WOW!!! Ethics.
I do not know how we can change this pattern. It boarders on abuse.
sassy sissy I am sorry for your situation. I have learned some info about getting legal help for nurses who are accused of allegedly using drugs, etc, etc. In Texas I know there are lawyers who specialize in representing fallen nurses in your similar situation. So there must be others in your state or a nearby state. If you are being railroaded then by all means look for these attorneys! Check the boards' legal dealings on previous cases and you should find some familiar legal names; and who knows, some nurses who can help advise you along the way. And most importantly your lawyer and you must convince your former coworkers to testify as to any alleged inappropriate behavior by former employer. Try not to subpoena them; it will surely antagonize them and jeopardize their jobs, etc.
Bottom line: You worked hard to get where you are today. Fight like hell for your right to practice nursing. If you haven't already, contact any physicians you know and visit with them; you may be surprised that someone will help you with gainfull employment. And of course you must repair your license first if it's restricted. Your lawyer should make that a priority.
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