People hold nurses in high regard because they are on the front lines. They battle life-threatening diseases and provide health care to patients for long and demanding hours. Not everyone has the skill and emotional threshold nurses have, but they are still human.
Constant exposure to stressful environments can compromise your health and mental well-being. As a nurse, you must deal with it daily while caring for others. What happens when the fatigue becomes too much to bear?
How fatigue can lead to unprofessional conduct in nurses
Unprofessional conduct refers to a variety of potential violations, and it can be subjective. Employers, patients and co-workers can bring claims of unprofessional conduct against you for incompetence or gross negligence. However, the law does not limit the definition. You can also face disciplinary charges for the following reasons:
- Expressing excessive anger and frustration
- Being rude or insubordinate to others
- Losing your patience with a patient or others in the workplace
- Complaining about your job or patient to others
Revealing any information about your patient, no matter how inconsequential, could be a breach of patient confidentiality. You could face license suspensions or revocations due to any accusation of unprofessional misconduct, even those you display in your personal life. License disciplinary actions can ruin your career and lead to severe consequences. But it does not seem fair to lose a license you worked so hard to obtain because of occupational burnout.
Defending your nursing license against unprofessional conduct
If you are a nurse in California, you should protect your right to practice nursing by knowing how your conduct can trigger an investigation. The California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) does not treat complaints concerning health care professionals lightly. Therefore, you should never ignore nursing license disciplinary charges. It would be best to talk to an experienced licensing attorney before speaking with a Board investigator to see how you can defend yourself and keep your license.
