I am an RN in a busy emergency department. My title is Clinical Coordinator, which is a middle management position with administrative as well as patient care duties. We have a staff physician (neurosurgeon) who has become known for his verbal and emotionally abusive behavior toward the nursing staff. I have had several uncomfortable encounters with him that I made my immediate supervisors aware of. Two days ago, I commented to another nurse that I did not like working with this physician. I stated that I found him to be arrogant and that if I ever needed a neurosurgeon, I would prefer to be transferred rather than have him take care of me. These comments were made only to this one person and outside of ear shot of anyone overhearing our conversation. She repeated my comments to this MD's office manager who repeated the comments to the MD. By the time it got back to my hospitals' administrative staff in the form of a complaint, the comment was embellished to include that I called him an ass and that I hated him. While all of my comments were my personal opinion of him and none reflected my opinion of his competence, he became irate, insisting that I be fired as a consequence of my statement. Administration terminated me today as a result. I acknowledged the conversation with this nurse but denied that the conversation was as infamatory as they made it sound. Since I have been with this hospital for 17 years, I have lost my seniority, my pay, and my accrued sick time (546 hrs). I have lost the vacation benefits that I have earned based on my years of service (I earn 21 days/year as opposed to 12-14 days I will get with another employer). I had reached an hourly pay rate that I do not think will be matched by another employer. Also, my job was 10 minutes away from home, Monday - Friday with weekends and holidays off. Any other facility will be at least a 30 min drive from home and there is no way that I will be lucky enough to get the same hours. I am embarrassed and humiliated and feel my reputation has been damaged beyond repair. I am a single parent. What are my options? I have filed an appeal through our grievance committee with an appointment with the CEO pending however, now I am not sure if I want my job back, even if they offer, due to the embarrassment that I have already had. Do I have a strong enough case to proceed with a defamation case or should I move on?
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