I was left stranded continuously scrubbed into Surgery without a break for 12 straight hours on the worst occasion. That was 12 hours without water, without food, without a chance to pee, sit down or even scratch my own nose. This occured during a very stressful Liver Transplant Surgery where my patient was on bypass! You could not inflict such inhumane conditions on a working P.O.W. under the Geneva Convention, but in Maryland “breaks are at the discretion of the employer.”

When I complained about this abuse, because I worried that under such extreme conditions I might make a mistake, I was forced to take unpaid leave. What was their excuse? My admitted inability to cope with torture in the workplace meant that “I presented a danger to the patient.” When I refused to be bullied out of my job I was fired without cause. I was not permitted to even read the allegations against me that had been solicited from intimidated coworkers; I was barred any access to my own personal file, while fabricated charges were shown to several Government and regulatory agencies behind my back. I was even offered a bribe at an EEOC Meditation Hearing that was touted as “impartial,” while I was still denied access to my files. At Arbitration the Lawyer for my former Hospital asked preposterously: “did you think you were more important than the Surgeon?” I was disgusted and they were shocked at my reply:
“No one in that room is more important than the patient unconscious on the OR table!”

You are absolutely right, that is the one person left behind, ignored, abandoned: the patient. I could have given up my battle for justice years ago, I have no legal recourse to compensation, but I fight on for the patients and to enable my former colleagues to be allowed to function as conscious patient advocates as that is their duty. I started a Blog site called TRANSPARENCY for EQUAL ACCOUNTABILITY in MEDICINE – the TEAM MedTEAM at http://medteam.wordpress.com/

Medical Professional who try to report negligent practices are horrendously unprotected! My own case was typical of thousands where Whistleblowers are gaged by swift retaliatory tactics. So called “Risk Management” and phony Compliance Lines only mask the truth and provide an illusion of self-policing that does not exist. The Healthcare Professionals are trying to speak out on various Blogs like yours and mine. Please read the post on my Whistleblower Campaign: W.H.E.N? WHISTLEBLOWERS in HEALTHCARE EXPOSE NEGLIGENCE:
http://medteam.wordpress.com/category/whistleblowers-in-healthcare-expose-negligence-when/ Feel Free to adopt the acronym W.H.E.N?

This appalling situation is even stripping excellent Doctors of their careers due to “Bad Faith Peer Review.” Meanwhile the US Healthcare system becomes increasingly dangerous for patients, due in part to the Deliberate Negligent Understaffing of Medical facilities by greedy Healthcare Corporations. Many Nurses have left Nursing due to the toxic work environment where they are unable to provide proper care or protect patients from harm. America does not have a “Nursing Crisis” it has a “Nursing Exodus,” because no one is able to reverse the shocking trend towards unsafe care. I am launching a Campaign to demand an end to these unsafe working conditions and strong Whistleblower protections for Healthcare workers. To review the C.U.T! Campaign Goals please visit the C.U.T! Campaign to CONTROL UNDERSTAFFING TODAY: http://medteam.wordpress.com/

Long after I was informed by Maryland Unemployment Compensation that my Hospital had not presented any evidence to demonstrate that they had fired me for cause I was still suffering from their career sabotaging defamation. I tried repeatedly to report negligent practices in sworn statements to a number of Government bodies and regulatory agencies and I was ignored. I was told that my Arbitration was not binding, but this was untrue so I have no legal recourse anymore. Despite the lack of evidence, my prestigious Baltimore Hospital prevailed at Arbitration: how? The Compliance Line refused to protect me from retaliation while the Hospital continued to doctor my file behind my back. In violation of their fancy online claims to protect Whistleblowers this Compliance line still refuses to investigate my case. My online Petition has nearly 3000 signatures calling for an investigation, please visit:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/johns-hopkins-hospital-investigation-of-whistleblowers-dismissal-demand-compliance-accountability

I hope you will add you name and your comments regarding your case to my online Petition, where you can also leave the URL to your site. On my Blog I welcome comments from Healthcare Professionals like yourself who have been impacted by retaliation. The public needs to realize that we are not rare isolated cases we are the growing trend. Often it is difficult to imagine how you can fight back and make a real difference. I commend you on your Whisteblower site and the inclusion of this important guest post. I hope that both the site host and this guest writer will team up with me to help promote the new Campaign. The cause is vitally important to all Americans: Whistleblowers in Healthcare Expose Negligence. Lets make it work with the C.U.T. Campaign goals; please contact me soon,

My Campaign efforts could really use your help,

Many Thanks, Kim.

Please delete the previous post I needed to correct errors.