Termination is not what happened. But that is how it felt to me. I was sent home "Incapable of Performing Duties of a Registered Nurse". It was not specified but the message was to get on medication if I wanted to come back.
I was unable to locate a union representative and was alone at the meeting. It was July 4, 2012. Employee Health was there, my Unit Manager and the next manager after her.
Basically, it started with congratulating me on my bravery to self-report a failure to perform duties. There was a strong recommendation from everyone present that I resume medication for Bipolar Disorder. Like a lot of these meetings the outcome has already been decided and the meeting is just to set the stage.
"I think that you will agree that you have been unable to fulfill your role as a Registered Nurse on the unit since your return to work and that your co-workers have been carrying you. This includes not being able to be in charge or assume other leadership duties. By your own admission, you are unsafe to practice nursing and we have no other options at this time than to send you home. We strongly advise that you look for treatment. As things stand here today, we find you Incapable of Fulfilling the Role and Performing the Duties of a Registered Nurse".
That is not word-for-word perfect but it is close. I wrote it down after the meeting before my memory faded significantly. I thought that they were doing the right thing under the circumstances. I was clearly depressed, was cognitively unsound and couldn't stand or be physically active....and I was unsafe.
While I thought that they were doing the right thing I was still very distressed.
I was escorted back to the unit. I said to the manager, "This is not how I want my career to end". In cases like this she was supposed to escort me from the building but out of respect I was allowed to find the door myself.
This ends the bad crappola. What we are going to talk about next is my road to recovery. Thank goodness. I have to do it one more time for the video series but then I can truly leave this stuff in the past where it belongs.
I was unable to locate a union representative and was alone at the meeting. It was July 4, 2012. Employee Health was there, my Unit Manager and the next manager after her.
Basically, it started with congratulating me on my bravery to self-report a failure to perform duties. There was a strong recommendation from everyone present that I resume medication for Bipolar Disorder. Like a lot of these meetings the outcome has already been decided and the meeting is just to set the stage.
"I think that you will agree that you have been unable to fulfill your role as a Registered Nurse on the unit since your return to work and that your co-workers have been carrying you. This includes not being able to be in charge or assume other leadership duties. By your own admission, you are unsafe to practice nursing and we have no other options at this time than to send you home. We strongly advise that you look for treatment. As things stand here today, we find you Incapable of Fulfilling the Role and Performing the Duties of a Registered Nurse".
That is not word-for-word perfect but it is close. I wrote it down after the meeting before my memory faded significantly. I thought that they were doing the right thing under the circumstances. I was clearly depressed, was cognitively unsound and couldn't stand or be physically active....and I was unsafe.
While I thought that they were doing the right thing I was still very distressed.
I was escorted back to the unit. I said to the manager, "This is not how I want my career to end". In cases like this she was supposed to escort me from the building but out of respect I was allowed to find the door myself.
This ends the bad crappola. What we are going to talk about next is my road to recovery. Thank goodness. I have to do it one more time for the video series but then I can truly leave this stuff in the past where it belongs.
