At the recent TAANA (The American Association of Nurse Attorneys) Conference here in Minneapolis, one of the speakers told a story of a nurse who wanted to save some money and had her uncle, a real estate attorney, help her with her a letter she received from the State Nursing Board. His advice? Don’t answer … Read More
Drug Diversion and the Union Steward: Do You Really Want to Know?
You have an appointment in HR with Nancy Nurse. She is being investigated for 1) having the highest narcotic usage on the unit; 2) wasting the most narcotics of any nurse on the unit; 3) missing narcotics (removed from medication administration machine, but no record of administration); 4) medicating other nurses’ patients without their request; … Read More
To Have or Not to Have: Malpractice/Liability Insurance
Nurses frequently ask me whether or not they should have their own professional liability insurance. The answer is yes, you should carry your own insurance. You insure your home, your car, your health, why would you not insure your ability to practice your profession, your livelihood? Some nurses “have heard” that if you carry malpractice … Read More
But my Manager/Supervisor/DON/CNO/CNS Said
While nurses like to believe that the nurses in charge of them have the information necessary to make good decisions, often the decisions are not evidence-based or in the best interest of our patients, or our nursing license. Rather the decisions may be made to save time, thereby saving money (often from a non-medically trained … Read More
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) in Nursing
It has been documented that about 15% of healthcare providers have drug dependence at some point during their careers. This creates a risk of harm to patients because the caregiver may be impaired or may be stealing the patient’s drugs, sometimes replacing it with saline, or stealing the drug waste. Warning signs of diversion include: … Read More
Reporting Obligations Under the Minnesota Nurse Practice Act
If a nurse resigns, is it reported to the board? First of all, it is important all that nurses know what the reporting requirements are under the Minnesota Nurse Practice Act (NPA). I have had several nurses say that they were told by their union representative that if they ‘resigned in lieu of termination,’ they … Read More
Safe Controlled Substance Handling
Don’t be Accused of Drug Diversion: How to Safely Handle Controlled Substances Drug diversion is the act of intentionally, illegally taking controlled substances. As a result of the increased number of healthcare providers who divert and abuse controlled substances, employers have had to put practices into place to alert them to possible diversion. Nurses who … Read More
What to Do if You Receive a Letter from the Minnesota Board of Nursing
Receiving a letter from the Minnesota Board of Nursing is every nurse’s worst nightmare. Often nurses who are reported to the Board of Nursing have been terminated from their nursing job or ‘resigned in lieu of termination.’ (Both are reportable by law). As if losing your job isn’t bad enough, now you have to defend … Read More
