What if you authored and published memoir of your evolving self as a person?
What if you authored a book of your observations and experiences as a RN?
(Of course keeping within HIPPA standards for patients and employees)
What if the hospital or your respective place of employment terminated your employment because you wrote a book?
On January 21, 2008, I was terminated from my 26 plus year position as a RN on the renowned Open Heart/Heart transplant team at Cleveland Clinic.
I have/had a stellar record.
I had good attendance.
I was considered a great resource person.
No, the book is not pornographic.
Yes, I angered management.
Yes, I advocated for nurses and patients.
Yes, I give kudos to the National Nurses Organizing Committee for their advocacy efforts on behalf of patients and nurses.
Regardless of whether my book appeals to you or not (I cannot imagine that it wouldn't!)should a RN or any employee be fired for writing a book?
Should your employer censor and supercede your right of free speech?
Particularly speech that is not hateful, racist, etc. and so forth.
Please leave some comments at my site as well (many people at the place I worked like the book and read my blogs).
I welcome your questions and lively discourse.
Adrienne Zurub, RN,MA,CNOR
http://authornation.com/adriennezurub
http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
Thank You!
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January 24th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m hoping to publish my first book this year. It’s a no holds barred look at hospitals. To get around the legal issues, I’ve not named a place, person, or even city. It goes from New Zealand to London, from the ward, the ER, the psych plus four years temping in London.
I’ve mixed up all the stories with different places.
As for you, did you seek legal advice before printing? Have you since sought legal advice?
You could always sell your book as fiction (of course everyone will realize it’s not) and they can’t do a thing…I think. Get that legal team, or better yet, your nurses organisation working for you.
nursingaround.blogspot.com
January 24th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
My guess is you have already consulted with legal advisors and hopefully they will be able to help you with this issue. Have you taken your firing to the public via local newspapers, radio and TV? You might give it a go and in doing so you could promote your book. Good luck.
DIANEJ.WORDPRESS.COM
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
Did you tell them that you were writing the book? Did you offer them (as your employer in the field of medicine) the courtesy of reviewing the manuscript? Is the hospital named or identified in any way in the book? Is your employment covered by any restriction on disclosure of information about your employer or what happens while employed?
Have you said anything that could be considered to be derogatory toward your employer and/or the medical profession? Have you said anything that would cause the average person alarm about receiving medical service?
If you were fired because you “Wrote a Book”, you have been working for fools. This is possible. My sister, with a nursing career of 30 years, was told “You have impeccable nursing skills but I don’t think you will fit in here.”
June 1st, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I like Bulldog’s questions, they get at the crux of the matter here.
Suffice it to say, there’s two sides to every story and your perception of yourself as a nurse to this organization may not have matched up with the way the management perceived you.
I’ve written two books over the past two years and never was I threatened with any kind of action towards me for doing so, but both of mine were fiction and pretty much unrelated to healthcare. But an observational, experience tale, if done tactifully, I think would be perfectly fine. But you go on to say you angered management, that was your downfall. Obviously someone perceived your book as outrageous, even if you thought it wasn’t affecting anyone in a degrading manner.
But in light of this post, I think I’ll save my hospital stories, however benign they may be, for when I retire!
June 4th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Well stated Jason and Bulldog.
I have seen Adrienne Zurub pop up around many popular nursing sites. There are always two sides to any story. I would caution anyone who rushes to feel sorry for her. There could be a good reason why things turned out the way they did.