At the beginning of my nursing career I received a phone call from the nursing board stating that someone had reported me. I had a meeting set up with the Georgia Board of Nurses which was called off by the person that originally set up the meeting. Weeks went by and I did not hear anything. I called the board to find out what was going on because I was very upset and I wanted to clear up the problem. It turned out there was a mistake and I was not the person that was reported. There was another nurse that briefly worked part-time at my hospital with the same first name. When this person from the Georgia Board of Nurses called this person had quit therefore I was the only one with that first name. At first I was relieved to find out about the mistake then I was very annoyed and angry. Not once did I ever receive a cal or letter apologizing. I have always made a habit of checking the status of my license at the Board of Nurses to make sure all is well.

I would very much like to hear your story, since this happened to me two years ago, and it has left me with a great disrespect for the people who sit on our boards of nursing.

My supervisor at the time filed a complaint against me because I hung an IV without an order. Not a huge error, because I meant to get an order to cover me before my shift was over, however, things got a bit chaotic, and I never got it done. On the particular patient in question, I also forgot to document a Percocet, gave a Motrin 4 hours apart instead of 6 hours apart and failed to update my nurse's notes before I left. The patient was not harmed by any of these failures, however, when the board of nursing subpoenaed my chart, I looked very bad.

Now this incident happened in January of 2004, but I did not receive notification of this complaint until May of 2004. You have to file a written response to these complaints, usually within 30 days of the notice of the complaint, and right before I was due to file mine, there was an article in our local newspaper about how the Board was trying to "arbitrate" these complaints in a more friendly manner with the nurses, so I mistakenly believed that I was dealing with a "kinder, gentler" board of nursing. I discovered, through personal experience, that this was, in fact, a bald-faced lie.

As part of the process, I also had to make a personal appearance with one of the "arbiters" (who is a nurse). This was originally scheduled to happen in September of 2004, but the board postponed it until October. When I finally made my appearance, I told my side of the story as truthfully as possible, and at the end of my interview, the arbiter told me she was going to recommend a letter of reprimand to the board. She told me she could not get my case before the board until after the first of the year.

Well, I did not receive the results of the board's decision until the end of February 2005. I was shocked when I opened the letter and read that I was given a 2 year probation, and it was at this point that I was allowed to read all of the information the board had collected on me, much of which was hearsay. My reaction was, and continues to be one of absolute anger, because I was misled and lied to by the board.

Now, the other kicker in this story, is that my probation did not start until May of 2005. I have successfully completed the first year of my probationary status, and I am now eligible to apply for early release from my probation. My current supervisor has been very supportive, and has sent glowing reports to the board about me (evey 3 months). I've now moved into a management position.

If I allow myself to dwell on this situation, I become pretty angry. Needless to say, I spent much of 2005 considering other career options, and I am still considering leaving this profession, however, I have been blessed to find myself working with and for people who appreciate the skills that I have to offer.

Whenever questions like this come up, I always encourage people to protect themselves. DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING the board tells you. Dealings with the board are legal proceedings, and DON'T EVER allow yourself to be fooled by terms like "arbitration" or "mediation". Never say or do anything in response to these people without the advice of an attorney, and let your lawyer use the due process of law to protect your rights to work. And don't trust anything they tell you or promise you. They lie.

Why didn't I choose to fight it? How much time do I want to spend on an issue that happened 2 1/2 years ago? In truth, I believe that I have been vindicated, because I chose to walk the higher path, and get on with my life and make the best of things.

If I had it to do over, I would have hired an attorney when I first received the complaint, since it's my heartfelt belief that the complaint was filed as a vindictive action by a supervisor who was upset that I was offered my dream job and left her unit. I had seen enough of her to know that you didn't quit her unit without repercussions. This was certainly her way of getting back at me.

The better question is "Why stay in a profession that treats its own so badly?"

I definitely understand your concerns. Take whatever actions you need to protect yourself now. One of the things that helped me get through this was a strong belief in God and regular attendance at church. Last year, I had to write a huge amount of papers for the board, and it would have been impossible for me to do it (given how angry I was with them) in the right frame of mind if I wasn't able to cast that aside and take my message to a higher place. I spent a great deal of time last year reading the works of John Maxwell, and other Christian leaders. I'm not the first person in the world who has had to deal with adversity, and I won't be the last. How you handle adversity is a true statement about your character, and I believe that my character has come shining through, despite my problems. That means more to me than anything.

BTW, I have visited your site. You have my blessing to continue to tell my story. If my story can help just one person, then it will have done some good.

Blessing accepted
Thanx, stranger. I made a commitment to write one post a day for my blog. I hope I can do it. The complaint was actually a blessing in disguise. I realized that I am tired of living my life in constant fear. In fear of my fellow nurses, in fear of my CNAs, in fear of supervision physicians (I never feared my patients since I never did anything wrong by them). I AM INNOCENT and will have to prove it. Yes, it may take time and money BUT what is the alternative? Giving in would mean that the nurse who made up the whole story about me has won. I can�t simply allow it!