Re: Retaliation after witnessing wrongful death of a patient

More | Report Post

On 12/21/07, Cind Crafford wrote:
> I am a registered nurse & I went to administration & told
> them about the things I witnessed that lead to the death
> of a patient and I was verbally instructed by the hospital
> CEO not to come back to work. When I asked him to put it
> in writing he refused. I obtain a witness, HR
> administrator, to witness his statement and he altered his
> statement to only "altering" my schedule. Do I have a case?

A case for what? Your schedule being changed? Probably
not. Unless you fall under very specific guidelines, you
likely aren't protected by whistleblower laws. In most
cases, you have to have reported illegal action by an
employer to a government or law enforcement agency.
Reporting concerns to your employer about what you witnessed
doesn't provide you with any protection.

In most health care settings, there are appropriate people
to whom you can report concerns -- quality improvement
staff, your direct supervisor, and so forth. Working
through the appropriate chain of command is likely to get
you further than going to your CEO.