The four St. Joseph Hospital ICU nurses and one clinical supervisor accused of over-sedating patients and ignoring proper medication schedules while maintaining a “party-like atmosphere” during night shifts (see previous post here) have been officially fired, according to Wes Thornton, one of the terminated nurses.
Hospital administrators stated in each termination letter that they “may” still contact the state Board of Registered Nursing, Thornton said — a statement he interpreted as a threat designed to intimidate. “This [being reported to the BRN] would open a big can of worms for us and involve us in all sorts of hearings and such,” Thornton said in an e-mail Thursday afternoon. “They know this and are using this to keep us quiet. For me this works.”
According to Thornton, other nurses intend to file grievances with the California Nurses Association.
Meanwhile, St. Joseph Hospital Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Brannigan today issued this memo warning employees about media inquiries into the matter. A copy of the memo was leaked to the Journal anonymously. Of particular note is Brannigan’s assertion that the hospital’s “commitment to protecting the dignity of each worker remains at the forefront of everything we do,” a misstatement, presumably, since one would hope that patient care is at the forefront of their priorities.
Asked whether or not she could confirm that the nurses were indeed fired today, St. Joseph spokesperson Courtney Hunt-Munther said she could not, though she did issue another (non-)statement:
St. Joseph Hospital remains focused on ensuring the highest quality of care for our patients and their families, while maintaining a quality work environment for all of our employees. With respect to all personnel matters, we honor the dignity of each worker by not discussing or sharing information that is considered confidential. As with all cases involving questions or concerns about employee performance, St. Joseph Hospital treats each employee situation with utmost respect and we follow a thorough individual review process to ensure fair and consistent treatment for each employee. This process also provides an opportunity for each employee to speak on his/her own behalf. These standards of fairness were applied in the current case involving the ICU employees.
Any time an employee or patient raises concerns we treat each matter seriously. When a concern involving an employee is raised, we may place the employee in question on administrative leave until the issue can be reviewed expeditiously. If concerns are found to have merit, we will take appropriate actions in accordance with our policies and procedures.
The hospital’s parent organization, the Catholic order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, maintains a “news room” on its Web site featuring statements on such controversial topics as poverty, immigration and global warming. So perhaps, in addition to showing respect for their employees’ dignity/anonymity, the group’s uber-tight lips reflect a certain media savvy.
This article appears in California Renovation.
my goodness. the above info was in i thought confidential email. i have no wish to pursue any further matters with the st. joseph of orange corp.
as another correction, the grievances will be filed by r.n.’s to the hospital thru the union, not the board of nursing.
As a matter of public record, i personally have no ill feelings nor wish to speak in any negative way toward management of St. Joseph Hospital, although i don’t include the navigant corp. in this statement.
My hope is that as a nation we can move towards universal healthcare for all citizens.
What in the heck are you smoking or taking or drinking? You’re fellow four nurses must be loving you about now?! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot……………got em all in one open mouth!
yeah. in this case the reporter is the guilty party. great stuff ncj!
thank you for your well thought out opinion, mr/mrs ‘questioning’.
remember what they say about opinions…
Mr. Thornton, let’s be totally clear here. Nowhere in your correspondence to me did you request this information be off the record, nor did I lead you to believe it would be. I made an effort to contact you for permission before posting this story out of courtesy. When I didn’t hear back from you, I went with the information you provided. I’m a reporter; you knew this. None of our previous conversations had been off the record. If you regret speaking to the press, that’s one thing. But blaming me for doing my job seems a tad disingenuous.
“pyxis” not “pixis”.
Wow! Rack up another tally on the board for St. Joe’s. First you completely ruin a woman’s birth by giving her a cesaerian with no anesthesia, now some nurses got fired for intentionally over-medicating patients. Is there any actual on the job oversight in this place or is it everyone for themselves? Seems a little dangerous when lives are at stake.