Troubled Nursing Board Defends Itself
Top leaders of the California Board of Registered Nursing sent a note of encouragement to their staff this morning following a Los Angeles Times-ProPublica investigation into problems at the board. Reporters found that it takes the board years to act on complaints of egregious misconduct, leaving nurses accused of wrongdoing free to practice without restrictions. All told, cases closed by the nursing board in fiscal 2008 took an average of 1,254 days. In Ohio, it took 90 days; in Texas, 173; in Arizona, 197.
Board executive officer Ruth Ann Terry and assistant executive officer Heidi Goodman did not take issue with the story’s findings, but told employees not to lose heart.
The California stat is based on data provided by the board itself. And the improvements cited in the e-mail below were put in place after articles written last fall by the Times and ProPublica about how the registered nursing board took years to discipline nurses convicted of serious or multiple crimes.
The board’s email:
Over this weekend the LA Times released their latest articles on the Board's Enforcement activities and the length of time it takes from receipt of a complaint through the Administrative process which they claim is over 1200 days or roughly 3.5 years. Attached is a link to the article that includes pictures, charts and a link to ProPublica's database used to compile the statistics that support the bases of their findings.
Ruth and I are aware of the grim picture painted by this article; however, the board members, managers and supervisors know that you work very hard to carry out the mission of the Board to protect the healthcare consumers in California and we appreciate all that you do. The following outlines a few of the Board's accomplishments since the Fingerprint Regulations (FP) were approved; hired eleven staff; BRN and OIS are working with DOJ to electronically transmit FP results to the BRN as well as dealing with all the internal issues that have been identified and addressed since the FP requirement started March 1, 2009.
In the event that we get media telephone calls regarding this article, please forward them to Administration at X-XXXX.
Thank you all for your continued support of the Board.
Ruth and Heidi
When Caregivers Harm: America's Unwatched Nurses
California has failed to protect patients from nurses who are incompetent and dangerous.
The Story So Far
In California, nurses accused of serious wrongdoing have often been left free to practice for years while their cases were being investigated—with patients unaware of the danger.
The board that oversees the state’s registered nurses has taken more than three years, on average, to discipline nurses with histories of drug abuse, negligence, incompetence and violence.
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1 comments
ROBERTO ALEJANDRO GLAUBACH
July 14, 2009, 7:28 p.m.
FIRST OF ALL,BEFORE ANYTHING,HERE GOOES MY DEEPEST AND WARMEST CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AUTHORS OF “WHEN CAREGIVERS HARM..” CHARLES ORNSTEIN,TRACY WEBER AND MALOY MOORE. THEY PERFORMED A VERY GOOD AND METICULOUS WORK OF INVESTIGATION. IT IS ABSOLUTELLY USEFUL TO KEEP POLITICIANS AND LEGISLATORS IN MOVEMENT TO DISCUSS AND ENACT NEW RULES TO GET A CLOSE CONTROL OVER THIS KIND OF “BOARDS” AND,AS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE IT WILL HELP TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE QUALITY.PATIENTS , THE “SILENT MAJORITY” I´M SURE,WILL GIVE A HUGE APPROVAL TO THE INCOMING CHANGES AND WILL BE MORE CONFIDENT WITH ITS HEALTH CAREGIVERS.I kNOW OF WHAT I´M TALKING ABOUT.THE CASE OF MY DAUGHTER VERONICA,MENTIONNED IN THE ARTICLE IS A CLEAR EXAMPLE .fOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS I HAD TO ARGUE WITH THE CALIFORNIA NURSING BOARD.DESPITE CLEAR EVIDENCE SHOWING THE UNSKILL AND NEGLIGENCE OF MORE THAN FOUR INVOLVED NURSES, DESPITE A TEN SHEETS REPORT SIGNED BY INVESTIGATORS AND SUBMITTED BY THE COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE POINTING NURSES´S AND DOCTORS´S GROSS FAILURES,WHICH HEADED VERONICA STRAIGHT TO HER BLOODY DEATH,DESPITE MORE THAN FOUR WITNESS EXPERTS´S REPORTS,DESPITE CLEAR EVIDENCE OF WILLFUL OMISSION OF ENTRIES AND OTHER IRREGULARITIES BORDERING THE LIMITS OF A WILLFUL FALSIFICATION OF THE RECORDS,LIKE “MISSING SHEETS”,DESPITE MANY PERSONAL VISITS TO CHASTWORTH FIELD OFFICE TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION WITH EVIDENCE TO THE SENIOR INVESTIGATOR BROUGHTON O´KEEFE WHO ACKNOWLEDGED ME ABOUT “FINDINGS”...AFTER THOSE YEARS,THE BOARD ALLEGED A..“COMPETENT CARE FROM NURSES” ...UNBELIEVABLE.MRS RUTH ANN TERRY,AS RESPONSIBLE OF THE REG.NURSING BOARD,IS RESPONSIBLE OF THAT “UNTRUTHFULL WORK OF ART” TO PROTECT WRONGDOERS. SHOULD I CONSIDER THE INVESTIGATION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE AND THE REPORTS OF 4 RENOWNED EXPERTS AS USELESS?? SHOULD I CONSIDER TRUE FACTS AS INEXISTENT BECAUSE MRS TERRY ORDERED TO HIDE AND PROTECT DANGEROUS NURSES ? IF THE DATABASE OF SAID BOARD DOESN´T REFLECT REAL BACKGROUNDS,THE BOARD COMMITS ,IN MY HUMBLE OPINION,A GROSS FAILURE THAT MUST HAVE A STRONG DISCIPLINARIAN ACTION AGAINST THE RESPONSIBLES.i READ THAT YOU RESIGNED TODAY MRS TERRY.CONGRATULATIONS
ROBERTO GLAUBACH
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