Email the webmistress. Nurses, the press, students and members of the public packed into the hearing room to watch what many believe reflects the turmoil and dilemma of nursing today. As I searched the faces in the room, I felt a strong sense of pride in our profession. Yet, as the complaints of unprofessional and unethical conduct were dismissed against the nurse executives who had disciplined and fired staff nurses after we expressed concern for patient safety, I felt a deep sense of loss and betrayal. Betrayal not of me, but of all of us.
Many questions remain unanswered.
While the BORN members had court records, Department of Public Health investigations that found patient neglect, and the sworn affidavits of the nurses involved on the table in front of them, they rarely referenced this evidence. However, no standards of practice were identified or discussed. Yet, the most powerful evidence that supports that nurses were silenced in a way that violated professional and ethical nursing standards are found in the DON's very words. The transcript of the 1997 National Labor Relations Board hearing shows that the DON testified that she holds a master's degree in nursing administration. She also testified that she was pursuing a doctoral degree in nursing.