The Board Wants a Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation and Polygraph

The Board of Nurse Examiners has sent a nurse a request to obtain a forensic psychiatric/psychological evaluation and/or a polygraph examination, what should the nurse do? I have found that in some cases an evaluation and/or a polygraph are not warranted. The examinations are expensive and time consuming, so I do not recommend them unless there is a need based on the facts of the nurse's case.

I am also careful on which evaluator I recommend to the nurse. There are some evaluators on the BNE's list that will almost always find fault with the nurse. I prefer to use an evaluator that is middle of the road, that looks at the facts and findings and issues an opinion without taking the side of the Board or the nurse.

The best response to a request for a forensic evaluation and/or a polygraph examination is to contact an experienced Administrative lawyer immediately. See the post on "The best attorney for the job" and "Representing Yourself before the Board of Nurses".

Google ignores Nurses

Google set up a new advisory group on health care, but they failed to include a member of the largest health care providers-- A Nurse. See the press release at google. Lots of doctors, but not one nurse. Nurses continue to be left on the sidelines. This is another example of why nurses need to become politically powerful. Nurses need to join together and become a force to be reckoned with so that when someone is looking for input on health care issues, they automatically think of consulting with a nurse as well as a physician.

My employer will pay for my legal representation

I just spoke with a nurse who was under the common misconception that the employer will pay for the nurse's legal representation if the nurse is sued or reported to the Board because the employer carries malpractice insurance for the nurse. The glitch is that this nurse no longer works for the employer and the nurse is now without insurance coverage. It is too risky and costly to rely upon your employer's coverage, all nurses should obtain their own malpractice insurance coverage that also covers regulatory/licensure issues.

Recently I spoke with two nurses that were surprised that the malpractice insurance they thought was an unnecessary expense (but one they felt they should go ahead and pay) ended up paying for my representation of them before the Board of Nursing. I read in a forum post that this one nurse thought attorneys would cost around $40 -$100 an hour. However, most attorneys (depending on multiple factors like location, specialty, certification, years of experience etc.) charge $150 - $500 an hour. It is such a relief to be able to afford the legal representation you need and must have. Please get insurance today so that it is there if you need it.

You Have To Look At This...

Go have a look at the blog "Running with Scissors". There are some incredible pictures shown on the blog that were taken inside the Nurse's Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

Your Job or Your Conscience?

There is a recent news story about 3 nurses in Mesquite that were fired for refusing to accept patient assignments:

Fired nurses protest at Mesquite hospital

Mesquite: Hospital defends action as ICU patient ratio debated
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, June 16, 2007
By KIM BREEN / The Dallas Morning News
kbreen@dallasnews.com

"Three nurses who say they were fired from a Mesquite hospital after refusing what they believed was an unsafe patient load are trying to bring attention to what they consider dangerous understaffing.
Nurses Diana Sepeda, Nancy Friesen and Sandra Taylor said they were fired this month from Dallas Regional Medical Center – formerly the Medical Center of Mesquite. During a night shift in the hospital's ICU in May, each nurse refused to take on three patients because they did not think they could provide adequate care...."

The article continues with a discussion of what the nurses found, what they did, what others think they should have done and what they are doing now. One of the statements in the article references that the nurses should have invoked "Safe Harbor Peer Review" because this would protect them in the workplace and before the Board. There are multiple problems with this recommendation: Safe Harbor does not protect nurses from lawsuits; the Nurse Practice Act 303.005 also states that nurses cannot be disciplined by the Board while the Peer Review for Safe Harbor is pending, but if the Peer Review committee determines that a nurse's action does not apply or is not related to the Safe Harbor request, the nurse may be disciplined; and although the employer cannot take retaliatory action against a nurse invoking Safe Harbor, the employer tends to wait awhile and then find a reason to terminate the nurse. Safe Harbor may be helpful for nurses, but I have only seen one case where it benefited the nurse: the nurse was still terminated for her actions, but when the Board asked her during a disciplinary proceeding about Safe Harbor, she produced her copy of the form she submitted to the employer and the Board dismissed the case, but the nurse had still lost her job and the problems continued at the facility.

There are multiple problems that need to be addressed for nurses and it is very difficult to do this on your own. Please join nursing associations and then push the associations towards the issues that concern you. See my discussion on why nurses should join nursing associations. This is the only way nurses are going to gain the power required to enact change; nurses must join together and demand better conditions to improve patient safety.