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Conflict or Vengeance? For One Future Certified Legal Nurse Consultant the Answer Should Be Clear

At the Philadelphia CLNC® Certification Seminar this week I counseled a CLNC student who had been unjustly terminated from her RN job at the hospital. She had a 25-year record that was flawless. Without getting into the details, I’ve heard similar stories over the years from other RNs who have been unjustly terminated for being whistleblowers (e.g., reporting an impaired or incompetent MD to administration).

In typical hospital fashion, administration doesn’t get rid of the doctor who is malpracticing on patients – they get rid of the RN who has the courage to bring this avoidable issue forward.

This same CLNC student was contacted by an attorney yesterday to consult on a case involving the facility that fired her. She asked if this situation would be a conflict of interest, but she wasn’t really asking. She wanted me to tell her the case wasn’t a conflict. I was sensing that she couldn’t wait to get her revenge.

The CLNC student argued with my assessment of the conflict, but I never wavered. I told her she was too angry about her situation and probably couldn’t be objective about the case. Her response, “So I’ve lost my first potential attorney-client?” My response, “Absolutely not! Go to the attorney’s office, explain that you have a conflict and tell him you’re ready to consult on a different case. Trust me, the attorney will respect you for not just grabbing any case that comes your way.”

I was surprised to witness this energetic, feisty nurse act depressed for the rest of the day because I didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear. I gave her the day to sulk and approached her the next morning. This time my advice was a little more buck-up than the day before, “It seems to me you are seeking vengeance. Vengeance is never a good motive. I know getting fired has been rough. But right now, while anger is eating away at you, the hospital villains probably aren’t even thinking about you. It’s time to snap out of it and make the appointment with the attorney or you’ll really have something to be angry about – that you let your emotions get in the way of your success as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.”

This CLNC consultant will have to decide between conflict or vengeance. I can only hope she heeds my advice.

I’m Just Sayin’

P.S. Comment and share how you control your emotional energy to make intelligent decisions in your CLNC business.

6 thoughts on “Conflict or Vengeance? For One Future Certified Legal Nurse Consultant the Answer Should Be Clear

  1. It’s true what Vickie says. We had an employee we terminated for good reason. She took a case against our hospital and because they brought up in trial the reason she didn’t work for us anymore, I truly believe it hurt her credibility and her relationship with her attorney. If you believe you were wrongly terminated, there are other more appropriate ways to seek justice than to try to testify against them in a case that may end up hurting an innocent client who doesn’t get good representation because of your anger and vengeance or hurt your credibility with an attorney because you didn’t disclose this to them. File your own claim against the hospital and put it in the hands of the justice system to decide.

  2. Vickie’s right. My anger hurts no one but me. Nobody cares if I’m mad. It’s just negative energy that brings me down and adds unproductive stress to my life. It’s a choice – as all of my emotions are. I can choose to be angry and to allow someone else to have power over me or I can choose to let it go. It’s not easy but it can be done. Read Your Erroneous Zones by Dr. Wayne Dyer. It changed my life when I was 21. It was the first major “God moment” I can recall in my life. I read it by accident.

  3. I feel for the young lady. When you work for an institution for 25 years and they dream up a way to fire you unjustly, it is a betrayal on their part. I know you say buck up Vickie, but it is not that easy. I know because the same happened to me after 35 years of service. But she has one advantage that I did not, your expert advice and the CLNC® certification. At least if she will grab the opportunity of being a CLNC® consultant, she may escape being blacklisted at surrounding hospitals. Also, she can be rehired in 6 months if no legal action is attempted. She may also have to go through the 7 stages of grief. She is a good nurse or she wouldn’t have had a conscience to be a Whistleblower. But vengeance is not the answer, diversion and hard work is the possible solution.

  4. I completely agree that this nurse should not have anything to do with a case involving her former hospital.
    Napoleon Hill once said, ” Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”
    There is something phenomenal going on with this nurse and she doesn’t realize it because she’s focused on the negative. She is experiencing PASSION, EMOTION, and ENERGY at its highest level. She needs to harness this and put it into her CLNC® business.

  5. Bravo, Vickie, on all counts and the response postings chime your message. How humiliating after 25 years; unfortunately administration has no loyalty. Moving forward (not to mention there is whistleblower protection out there), even when we are right we often still feel like an island. That is why it is so important to be part of something bigger than yourself, something that reminds you of how worthy you are. A prime example is CLNC® consulting and following Vickie’s inspiration (your staff is awesome btw). As far as the conflict of interest issue, no need to add fuel to the opposition’s motives to impeach testimony. I will thank you on behalf of our CLNC® newcomer.

  6. I have to agree that this case would be the wrong row to hoe. Focus on every second she is there at the CLNC® Certification Seminar to get all the information she needs to guide her in her new business as a CLNC® consultant and move forward. Most of us have been unjustly terminated for cover-ups.

    It is painful, but we do get through it. It takes a lot of manure to grow a beautiful flower (CLNC® consulting business). I always say, “get mad, get over it, and dig in.” In other words, do the positive things that make a great CLNC® consultant.

    I hope she does contact that attorney and explains why she must bow out and ask about other cases for her to do. The door was opened by that attorney and she cannot let the opportunity pass by. She could also refer another CLNC® consultanat to him which would give him the help he is seeking and in turn, will probably use her services now or in the near future. Beginning a positive relationship with that attorney is the best step in the right direction. Wonderful you were there for her Vickie.

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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.

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