The power of social media #NurseUp

If you’ve been following Innovative Nurse, and the other nurse bloggers and innovators out there, then you’ve probably gotten a dose of how powerful social media can be. Just a few short days ago, I heard about Amanda Trujillo’s story and decided to plant my feet firmly on the ground, my fingers firmly on my keyboard, and I took a stance. Drafting an open letter to the Arizona Board of Nursing on Amanda’s behalf  just seemed like the least I could do for her.

She didn’t reach out to me, I’ve never met her in person, and yet, it’s as if I actually know her. The connection is unbreakable. She’s a nurse. I know what that means. I take a lot of pride in who I am, and everything I’ve done as a nurse. I’m sure you know where I’m coming from if you too are a nurse. We are on the front lines, we are the armor, and together we’re impenetrable.

In such a short time, several of us in the blogosphere have taken the same stance and banned together to form a very powerful movement, a platform in which to elevate our voices, and unite. #NurseUp

We were already out “here” doing what it is that we do to impact change. You know, the things that most of us bloggers, vloggers, Tweeters, writers, speakers and Facebook fans do. We build online communities. Amanda however brought our communities closer together. Our blogs, our Facebook pages, our Twitter feeds, our YouTube channels, united. These are our digital podiums that carry our voices a great distance. And, we’re not backing down.

Amanda’s story united us, but it’s the cause in which our stance is cemented. A patient’s right to choose. A nurse, or any clinician for that matter, should never have to fear persecution for advocating and protecting a patient’s bill of rights by simply ensuring that they are able to make an informed decision about their care. These are the healthcare professionals that are working with great integrity.

It seems that regardless of our education, level of expertise, and scope of practice, our ability to truly practice collaboratively is being challenged. According to the International Council of Nurses, they represent more than 13 million professional nurses worldwide. Today, I further pledge my devotion to reach as many of you out there as I can, but I know I won’t be alone on this journey. The momentum that is already building around this movement is absolute. Together we will empower you to come from out of the shadows by raising awareness, elevating our voices, and uniting as one.

I stand with you now, transformed into armor, protecting the front lines of this cause, impenetrable.

 

Let your voices be heard. To have your blog posts submitted here, just reach out via the contact form over on the right, or reach out via Facebook and Twitter.

Tweet it, Google +1 it, Facebook it, get this message out there.

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Arizona State Board of Nursing
4747 North 7th Street, Suite 200
Phoenix, AZ 85014-3655
602-771-7800 Phone
602-771-7888 Fax
arizona@azbn.gov Email
http://www.azbn.gov/Default.aspx

To the Arizona State Board of Nursing:

I am a nurse, coach, nurse blogger and professional writer, and I have been following the case of Amanda Trujillo quite closely.

Having read the legal brief, Ms. Trujillo’s statements, as well as other facts about the case, it is clear to me that Ms. Trujillo was acting completely within her scope of practice as a nurse when she provided the patient in question with information regarding her choices vis-a-vis her pending surgical intervention.

The fact that Ms. Trujillo is now being forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation further supports the contention that no stone is being left unturned in efforts to undermine her credibility and her history as an exemplary nurse. It is ironic that the surgeon who demanded the suspension of her license and her ability to practice in the state of Arizona is undergoing no such evaluation or rigorous vetting process. The Arizona Board of Nursing and Ms. Trujillo’s employers easily caved to demands by the surgeon that Ms.Trujillo be fired and lose her license, an action that once again demonstrates how the disparity of power between physicians and nurses continues to undermine nurses’ ability to perform their duties according to a clearly stated scope of practice.

Ms. Trujillo was taken to task for “messing up” the surgeon’s “hard work” of preparing for the scheduled surgery. Why was Ms. Trujillo not praised for providing necessary education to a patient who clearly demonstrated a startling knowledge deficit regarding what this surgery would entail for her? Nurses are trained to provide education and resources to patients, and that includes situations wherein physicians themselves fail to educate patients properly. Ms. Trujillo may have “messed up” this physician’s “hard work”, but she refused under these circumstances to “mess up” this patient’s life by failing to educate her and provide the information that would elicit true informed consent, something that the physician in question clearly failed to accomplish.

The nursing community is rallying around Ms. Trujillo due to the facts that clearly demonstrate how Ms.Trujillo acted within her scope of practice and documented her actions clearly and concisely following her interactions with the patient. If the physician was inconvenienced by her actions, this issue could have been addressed by the facility’s ethics committee. Instead, the Board of Nursing and Banner Health agreed to the physician’s outrageous demands, allowing his power to prevent a measured and intelligent response to the situation at hand.

It would indeed have a chilling effect on the entire nursing profession if the Arizona Board of Nursing sets a precedent that redefines our profession and the collaborative health care model that has been the touchstone of professional nursing for decades.

As you by now understand, the actions against Ms. Trujillo and the suspension of her nursing license have ignited a firestorm of criticism regarding how this case has been handled by both the Arizona Board of Nursing and Ms. Trujillo’s employer. The support is only growing, and those who are incensed by this situation will use the power of social media and the traditional media to bring the egregious nature of this case to the attention of the wider public.

I respectfully request that you consider dropping the complaint filed against Amanda Trujillo’s license and the case against her.

Sincerely,

Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, CPC

20 Comments

  1. Fellow Nurse in Jeopardy: Amanda Trujillo, MSN, RN, DNSc-NP(s) on January 25, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    […] – Here are some resource links where you can find out more: Vernon Dutton The Nerdy Nurse Innovative Nurse Digital Doorway Nurse Friendly Those Emergency Blues Emergiblog Facebook Group: Nurse Up for Amanda […]



  2. IVchat tonight…FYI « @IVchat (#IVchat) on February 1, 2012 at 11:23 am

    […] Innovative Nurse: http://innovativenurse.com/power-social-media-nurseup/ […]



  3. Del E. Webb Medical Center, Sun City Arizona AKA Banner Health Nurse Incident @BannerHealth – vdutton’s posterous | Nurse Up! on February 22, 2012 at 7:06 pm

    […] The power of social media #NurseUp […]



  4. Arizona’s attack on nurses: the Amanda Trujillo case goes viral - Three Sonorans on February 23, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    […] The power of social media #NurseUp […]



  5. GregMercer1 on March 9, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    In response to this corruption and the attack on Nurses’ ability to advocate and educate patients free of retaliation, we have put up a Change.org petition to boycott Arizona until we see some BON changes – please check it out & help us spread the word, next Hearing is 3/19 and AZBON reauthorization is still in the Legislature – we’re running out of time on this unusually opportune time for positive change.
     
    See http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-state-of-arizona-address-corrupting-factors-in-the-arizona-board-of-nursing
     
    and/or 
     
    http://wp.me/p278fi-iV
     
    Thanks, Greg Mercer, MSN



  6. GregMercer1 on March 9, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    Important News for Nurses:



  7. nursefriendly on March 9, 2012 at 5:17 pm

     @GregMercer1 @GregMercer1
     
    Hello Greg,
     
    Wouldn’t a Boycott “Banner Del E Webb, Sun City, Arizona” be more effective.   To simply boycott #healthcare in #Arizona, isn’t going to happen. People need choices. Their insurance often mandates what facilities they can or cannot receive care at.
     
    What compelling reason do people have to boycott tourism and other industries because of how the Board of Nursing is treating nurses?
     
    The facility that has gravely abused Amanda Trujillo, RN Is @BannerHealth Del E. Webb, in Sun City Arizona, is it not?
     
    Personally, I feel every nurse in the US should know about @BannerHealth Del E. Webb Medical Center 🙂
     
    With the power of social media and some motivated volunteers, have an excellent chance of making that happen.
     
    We have enough documented evidence of abuse at Del E. Webb (A few new whistleblowers have contacted us, confirmed Amanda’s assertions), to make our case in the court of public opinion.
     
    Think it would be far more impressive to shut down a hospital, and make it an example to other employers that would abuse their nurses.
     
    The State Board of Nursing in Arizona and the Nursing Association are next on the list.
     
    For more information, please visit: http://www.nurseup.com
     
    Andrew Lopez, RN
    Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
    38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051http://www.nursefriendly.com  info@nursefriendly.com Twitter: @nursefriendly 856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618
     
     
     



  8. GregMercer1 on March 9, 2012 at 5:49 pm

     @nursefriendly  @BannerHealth  @BannerHealth 



  9. GregMercer1 on March 9, 2012 at 6:07 pm

     @nursefriendly   I thank you for your input, and agree Banner’s abuses call for our action.  We decided to focus for now on the BON and Governor for numerous reasons:
    1) For the time being we remain focused on supporting Amanda, and her current problems are with AZ BON.  She has no desire to seek re-employment at Banner, and we are focused on positive change, not retaliation.
    2) Banner’s abuse of the BON system can only be addressed reliably by BON policy changes; as matters stand the law allows no tracking of complaints, and thus no way to monitor Banner’s behavior.
    3) We have no desire to interfere with health care anywhere, and there would be tremendous collateral damage to patients with any attempt to even temporarily shut down any facility.
    4) The current petition focuses on tourism, conventions, Nurse recruiting and education: outsiders crucial to Arizona’s economy deciding against involvement with the state, building on past scandals that leave Arizona vulnerable.  Clearly local patients cannot afford to avoid care, but outsiders can decide against visiting or moving to Arizona in response to unsafe health practices there.
    5)  Hundreds of messages, post, comments, etc. have already been filed on behalf of this petition.  Success requires focus on one target at a time, and we lack the time or credibility to suddenly drop a much-touted petition only to promptly offer another.  Bad tactics.  Also, to the extent the boycott is successful, it will hurt Banner financially and politically.
     
    We should certainly consider actions against Banner, but most health care is local, and I see no practical way to boycott hospitals, relative to the ease with wich one can boycott conventions, tourism, etc., bringing tremendous pressure to bear on AZ BON, AZ State government, and companies like Banner.  The actions that will be taken as a reason to end the boycott will, as a non-negotiable point, address Banner’s practices. 
     
    Thanks you for your input, and especially for all the talent and energy and resources you have long provided Nursing and Amanda.  You remain indispensable to all Nursing advocacy on line.   Keep up the good work!



  10. nursefriendly on March 9, 2012 at 6:32 pm

     @GregMercer1
     Hello Greg, see your points, wish you luck with the existing petition. 
     
    One fact you don’t seem to have considered is that Del E. Webb Medical Center politically has the power to make Amanda’s complaint go away.  They will likely do so if they see their hospital’s market share being decimated.
     
    Don’t understand how you think you are going to reach all those “would be visitors” to Airzona, if you don’t think you have a way to focus a message locally on a single Arizona facility.
     
    You can look to Nurseup.com for a demonstration of how to do that in the coming weeks. We intend to crowd Del E Webb Medical Center out of the search engines..
     
    If you don’t think you can focus and deliver a message locally, how will you distribute it nationally to every potential visitor to Arizona?
     
    Perhaps you have resources and tactics I’m not privy to 🙂 Would enjoy being pleasantly surprised by the success of your Arizona petition 🙂
     
    Petitions in general can be potent weapons.  Planning on putting them to use myself on the Nursing Association “Position Statement Requests”
     
    Best wishes,
     
    Andrew Lopez, RN Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation. 38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051 http://www.nursefriendly.com  info@nursefriendly.com Twitter: @nursefriendly 856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618
     



  11. #Georgia #Nurses, Could This Happen To You? Learn More Today or Risk Your License Tomorrow #nurseup #nursefriendly | Nurse Up! on March 28, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    […] The power of social media #NurseUp, By Kevin On January 25, 2012:”If you’ve been following Innovative Nurse, and the other nurse bloggers and innovators out there, then you’ve probably gotten a dose of how powerful social media can be. Just a few short days ago, I heard about Amanda Trujillo’s story and decided to plant my feet firmly on the ground, my fingers firmly on my keyboard, and I took a stance. Drafting an open letter to the Arizona Board of Nursing on Amanda’s behalf just seemed like the least I could do for her. […]



  12. nursefriendly on April 24, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    Hello Kevin (@innovativenurse),
     
    Want to thank you for your continued Tech Support on Nurseup.com (Wish Brittney Wilson, @thenerdynurse a speedy recovery as well).
     
    Working on a long-overdue blog honor roll.  You have your own page.
    http://www.nurseup.com/blogger.honor.roll.Kevin.Ross.RN.Innovative.Nurse.htm
     
    Kindly let me know if I missed any along the way. Hope you’ll continue to keep Amanda in everyone’s mind.
     
    Our work continues and we can use all the help we can get. The goal is let as many nurses know what is happening as possible.
     
    With thanks,
     
    Andrew Lopez, RN
    Nurseup.com, A Nursing Advocacy Organization
    38 Tattersall Drive
    West Deptford, New Jersey 08051
    856-415-9617, Fax: 856-415-9618, info@nursefriendly.com, @nursefriendly
     



  13. innovativenurse on April 25, 2012 at 4:24 pm

     @nursefriendly  @thenerdynurse Why thank you for including me on the Blog Honor Roll over at Nurseup.com. Happy to provide tech support. 



  14. nursefriendly on April 27, 2012 at 9:18 am

    Thank you @innovativenurse for following Amanda’s case, this is the latest.
     
    The War Against Amanda Trujillo, April 25, 2012, Mother Jones, RN, Nurse Ratched’s Place:”I still support Amanda Trujillo and some people who have read the allegations against Amanda have questioned my judgment. Frankly, I don’t believe these allegations because I personally know two other nurses who have been reported to their nursing boards by their former employers. One of my friends was reported to the BON after she spoke up about unsafe nursing practices at a shady nursing home, and the other was reported after he chastised hospital administration for placing psychiatric patients and staff in an unsafe environment. Their former employers cooked up all kinds of false allegations against my friends who are both stellar nurses. Their former employers crucified their character, but in the end they were both cleared of any wrongdoing by their respective state nursing boards. There is an escalating pattern of abuse as more unscrupulous employers are using nursing boards as the ultimate scare tactic to keep nurses “in their place. ” Amanda is just another victim of this ploy.” http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2012/04/the-war-against-amanda-trujillo/
     
    Kindly leave comments, encourage bloggers supporting Amanda to keep on blogging! motherjonesrn @nursefriendly 



  15. Who Is Discussing the #AmandaTrujillo, #MSN #RN #Arizona Case? Let #Nurseup.com Know! #nursefriendly #healthcare #tweetchats | Nurse Up! on April 30, 2012 at 10:36 am

    […] @innovativenurse, Kevin Ross, RN, The power of social media #NurseUp, By Kevin On January 25, 2012:”If you’ve been following Innovative Nurse, and the other nurse bloggers and innovators out there, then you’ve probably gotten a dose of how powerful social media can be. Just a few short days ago, I heard about Amanda Trujillo’s story and decided to plant my feet firmly on the ground, my fingers firmly on my keyboard, and I took a stance. Drafting an open letter to the Arizona Board of Nursing on Amanda’s behalf just seemed like the least I could do for her. She didn’t reach out to me, I’ve never met her in person, and yet, it’s as if I actually know her. The connection is unbreakable. She’s a nurse. I know what that means. I take a lot of pride in who I am, and everything I’ve done as a nurse. I’m sure you know where I’m coming from if you too are a nurse. We are on the front lines, we are the armor, and together we’re impenetrable.” http://innovativenurse.com/power-social-media-nurseup/ […]



  16. nursefriendly on May 20, 2012 at 9:09 pm

    Thank you innovativenu rse   for following Amanda’s  nurseinterupted  case, this is from TruthAboutNursing.org
     
    Fired for educating a patient? TruthAboutNursing.org, May 2012:”On February 1, the Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV ran a short but good item by Peter Busch about veteran local nurse Amanda Trujillo, who said she had been fired by Banner Del Webb Hospital and had a complaint filed against her with the state board of nursing because she had educated a patient about the risks of an upcoming surgery and scheduled a consult about hospice. A hospital spokesman reportedly said that “the doctor, ultimately, is the focal point that directs care for patients” and that “company policy” forbids nurses to order a case management consult. The report does not mention other accounts suggesting that these events were set in motion because the patient’s surgeon was displeased that the patient had decided against the surgery.” http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/news/2012/may/trujillo.html



  17. nursebebo on June 25, 2012 at 1:13 am

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  18. The power of social media #NurseUp | Innovative Nurse | BaseBox.fm Webradio Suchmaschine on July 27, 2012 at 1:12 am

    […] try {Histats.start(1,1591082,4,0,0,0,""); Histats.track_hits();} catch(err){}; http://innovativenurse.com/power-social-media-nurseup/ Posted in: Social Media   Tags: Allnurses, Amanda Trujillo, Business Technology, empowering […]



  19. LandonSmith on September 24, 2012 at 9:12 am

    We’re keeping Amanda in mind. <a href=”http://www.katondirect.com”>Nurse recruiting</a> is very rewarding. I hope all goes well.



  20. nursefriendly on December 30, 2012 at 10:28 am

    The latest on the case:
    Facing a Crossroads, #AmandaTrujillo, MSN, RN & the Arizona State Board of Nursing:”At the heart of Amanda’s case is Patient Advocacy. Her patient was having second thoughts about a Liver Transplant evaluation, and Amanda helped fill in the gaps. The doctor, Dr. Keng-Yu Chuang (Source AZBON public records), who had only offered the liver transplant, went ballistic when the patient asked for Hospice info instead. He demanded the hospital serve Amanda’s head up on a platter and that the Arizona State Board of Nursing be contacted.”
    http://nurseup.com/wordpress/?p=2850



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