Purpose of State Boards: Protect the Public or Organizations?

I was recently introduced to a problem a nurse had with their State Board of Nursing and their employer, a hospital. The nurse was placed on probation after self-reporting they had sought and received treatment for alcohol addiction. Since then this nurse has been unable to find work. The conditions of probation exclude many places to work and limited to hospitals, doctor's offices and nursing homes. In several instances the hospital was interested in employing this nurse, but had a policy to not hire nurses on probation. The nurse informed the Nursing Board of this situation and was told 'We don't have any control over the hospitals.'

After pondering the situation, I wondered if that was true. Hospitals are the main source of complaints to the Nursing Boards. Therefore they must have some relationship with them. To reinforce that concern an article in the February, March, April issue of the Nursing Board's Newsletter entitled Reporting Final Disciplinary Actions. Two things caught my attention when reading this article. 1) Hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers were mandated to report. Wouldn't that constitute a working relationship? 2) A list of types of incidents that don't require a report to the board. That list is:

Rudeness

Tardiness

Absenteeism

No call no show

Personality Conflicts

Employees not being a good fit for the organization based on personal beliefs and values.

Time card violations

The stated purpose of the article was to inform the newer mandated reporters and limit the unnecessary complaints.

I don't mean to read too much into this, but does this imply these were 'incidents' that are no longer investigated by the board?

Especially personality conflicts and employees not being a good fit for the organization based on personal beliefs and values. I only mention these because it is well known that many health care institutions are 'for-profit' and their goals are to increase shareholder value which may not be shared by the nurse committed to more humanistic values. Such as 'what is best for the patient' which may not coincide with 'what is best for the organization'.

Recent nurse polls have indicated a majority of nurses are dissatisfied with working conditions. That said, they may not be performing at peak performance. I don't know about you, but when I or my loved one is under the care of a nurse – I would like that nurse to be at peak performance. Pride in workmanship is universally recognized as a good indicator of job performance. If a nurse can have pride in their work, then they do a better job.

As the nursing shortage continues in most parts of the country does this effect the number of nurses who leave nursing? The Nursing Board is mandated in most states to be the public protector. Are they relying too much on organizations for their disciplinary reporting that may not have the public good in mind? If so that would explain why the US health system is ranked lower in quality and higher in cost than many other world health systems. Maybe it is time Nursing Boards review their disciplinary procedures so there is no conflict of interest regarding their stated purpose.

 Very Interesting dlatimer...its seems like the honest people are being penalized, while the one's with the real serious drug/alcohol problems and who REALLY need to report themselves go on and continue working.

CarriD, I'm very to hear about the problem's at hand...You sound very determined.Keep trying and keep us posted..I'm glad that you were able to clear your name.. Teresa

CarriD. yes, I agree with the comment below, But please keep us posted.. Teresa