TOP 3 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR NURSING LICENSE: TIPS FOR NEW NURSES

Congratulations! You are now a Registered Nurse. All of your sacrificing, studying and suffering have paid off. Take some time to celebrate your success – you deserve it. However, now that you’ve received your nursing license, you have to start thinking about how to protect it. 

Many State Boards of Nursing used send out publications with a list of nurses who lost their licenses and WHY they lost them. I can remember being a new nurse, reading those reasons and thinking that I wanted to make sure I didn’t make the same mistakes. I don’t think they publish these lists anymore (do they??).

TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: TOP 3 STRATEGIES TO PROTECT YOUR NURSING LICENSE

I’ll never forget the moment when my first nursing license came in the mail. I swear I stared at it for hours! I was never so proud of anything I had done up to that point. However, reality hit me when I started working in an acute care hospital.  I realized that I no longer had the safety blanket of my instructor to protect me - I was on my own as a professional RN and I was scared to death! After all, I worked really hard to get my license but I wasn't sure what to do to protect it.

We’ve all read the horror stories about nurses who lost their licenses and want to make sure that doesn't happen to us! 

TIPS FOR NEW NURSES: NEVER EVENTS

As a new nurse, you will be asked to witness a waste, verify a medication or co-sign blood administration documents. Sometimes when nurses are busy, they may feel compelled to skip the actual witnessing (as with an opioid waste) or verifying (as with blood transfusion orders) to save time, especially if they trust each other. However, witnessing or verifying without actually confirming not only has a negative impact on your job, but can also harm patients.