On Call: Court Upholds 24/7 Availability For Behavioral Health Nursing Director.
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
October 2018
Misconduct includes intentional or negligent conduct, on or off the job, that is a serious violation of the standards the employer has the right to expect from the employee. COURT OF APPEALS OF MINNESOTA August 27, 2018
A registered nurse was hired as director of nursing for a facility that provides comprehensive behavioral health services to persons with chemical dependencies. As director of nursing she was expected to supervise the nurses and technicians, provide consultation for medical emergencies and make patient-care decisions for the detox unit of the facility.
Her position required her to be available on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Several times she did not answer her phone, did not return calls or did return a call the next day. She was terminated.
The Court of Appeals of Minnesota ruled the director of nursing was terminated for misconduct and was therefore ineligible for unemployment benefits. The Court upheld the administrative law judge’s decision not to accept the nurse’s excuses, that she unintentionally left her cell phone on silent mode and that her cell phone service was interrupted by her service provider. The administrative law judge also did not accept the nurse’s argument she was not told of a problem with not returning calls until she was fired. The Court ruled the nurse clearly agreed to 24/7 on-call availability when she was hired and that such availability to assist the nurses she was supposed to supervise was essential for safe and effective patient care. Johnson v. Center, 2018 WL 4055818 (Minn. App., August 27, 2018).
More from nursinglaw.com
http://www.nursinglaw.com/oncall.htm