Sanity is madness put to good use. – George Santayana
The War Against Amanda Trujillo
25Apr2012 Author: Mother Jones, RN
Many of my readers are wondering why I took a break from writing about the Amanda Trujillo case. The answer is simple. This case is getting very litigious.
Several weeks ago, the Arizona Board of Nursing made their allegations against Amanda public. In the past this would have gone against the board’s policies, so you’d have to be stupid or really naive to believe that this case isn’t going to court. If you don’t already know, there has been a lot of mudslinging going on. This case involves slander, libel, and defamation of character, and the board will have to answer for their actions.
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.
Unfortunately, unlike my friends, Amanda is fighting a corrupt nursing board that has close ties to her former employer, Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center. Amanda has also reached out to the Arizona Nurses Association for support, but their leadership is no help. Not surprisingly, the AzNA also has close ties to Banner Health. And then there is the American Nurses Association. They continue to “closely monitor” Amanda’s situation. I wish the ANA would stop giving lip service and actually do something to promote the nursing profession.
The Arizona Board of Nursing and Banner Health are trying to destroy Amanda because she refuses to remain silent about corruption in her state. I’ll keep you posted as new information becomes available.
12 Responses to “The War Against Amanda Trujillo”
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Disclaimer
There has been a lot of chatter in the blogosphere about medical bloggers and HIPAA regulations so let me make this very clear: I write composite stories about many different people that I've cared for over the years.
Rita Gillian Lawrence
April 26th, 2012 at 7:21 am
I would like to ask you to connect with the above cause on Facebook in addition to Rep. Tony Shipley (R-T) who has put through two bills to regulate the SBRN. I hope you can refer more politicians to him so that there can be a informed political community to bring about the necessary laws to help protect nurses licenses.
Greg Mercer, MSN
April 26th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
I’ve noticed the same trends; also, Jan Brewer has so many people angry with her at the moment that attracting morte attention seemed less productive for now, a good time to reflect and regroup. Arizona is swimming in such a stinking soup of corruption that it’s hard to see where to start, frankly: it’s a bit overwhelming.
The amazing things about this case, and Arizona in general? No one familiar with Arizona seems the least bit surprised the BON and most other state systems are broken except to the extent that they serve their members and their friends’ personal needs quite well, yet very few people seem the least bit interested in doing anything about it. Learned helplessness, perhaps: I’m becoming more familiar with the concept, I must admit, as I experience Arizona and throw up my hands in bewilderment and dismay.
I believe in democracy, I really do, yet Arizona strains that belief more than any other entity I can think of, given the lack of response to a system so clearly out of control and serving everyone except the public and the voters, with an outcry about it mostly from out of state and entirely on the fringe of political life. When will Arizona wake up? Or, to frame it differently, does Arizona care how it’s funds and reputation are misused? I feel blessed, truly, to live somewhere far, far away.
suki
May 6th, 2012 at 11:41 am
Reading some of the blogs where alleged “nurses” write so strongly against Amanda is very disturbing. However, I am not one bit surprised. The people that get on their high horse and verbally attack, insult and insinuate towards those that merely state what it is really like to work in Arizona are just typical of the bullying situation in this country. What I find most disturbing is these people will attack anyone that attempts to voice support for Amanda. What they don’t realize it is bigger than just one Amanda. There are many other “amandas” in this state and the country. This is typical schoolyard bully behavior. Banner and other corporations know exactly what they are doing. Nursing will destroy itself. Too many nurses love to bully other nurses. The gang mentality I am seeing on some of these blogs is just typical behavior that school age children do towards others. So many kids love to bully others. Then the followers side with the bully. The bully is seen as the powerful leader. When in fact they are just craving power. Will Arizona wake up? Truthfully, I do not think so. Too much political power is for the elimination of the middle class. Nurses were middle class. Arizona is putting nurses in their place. Stifle the nurse. They can do it because there is now an abundance of nurses. Calling out for the next nurse is a common intimidation tactic used at hospitals. They bully because they can.
Tammy Swofford
May 19th, 2012 at 10:07 am
I apologize that this is “off topic” but please change my site address on your link.
Best always,
Tammy
Candy Kinser, RN
May 27th, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Such corruption isn’t isolated to Arizona. When I lived in Oklahoma it became quite apparent that the Oklahoma Board of Nurses included nurses who were there because a large, financially powerful health care organization had “nominated” them. Certain of these nurses were therefore expected to support whatever legislation was financially beneficial to the powerful hospitals, etc. For example, I spoke in front of the board when they were under pressure to allow nurse’s aides to pass medications in hospitals. I met with significant hostility from the head of the nursing board as I advocated the cause and purpose of nursing. The corruption was shockingly apparent!
suki
June 1st, 2012 at 8:07 pm
It is all about the money. Power and greed is now in charge. These alleged groups, supposedly there to protect the patients,happen to be in bed with the greedy corporations. They have lost their way. Nurses are in the way of the money making plan. Because many nurses attempt to speak up on behalf of the patients, the nurses that will get ahead, the nurses that will be appointed to boards; will be the nurses that go along with the greedy plans! Our country and our nursing career are in a sad state of affairs.
Candy Kinser, RN
June 2nd, 2012 at 9:15 am
Suki gets it!
Diane@nurseshavechoices.com
June 9th, 2012 at 9:31 am
It does scare me that nurses can be so vulnerable at times. Even when you do everything right. I have to admit that I don’t know about this case, but I do know that Nurses Have Choices. Sometimes when you are so busy working and living, you don’t realize there is another way. We don’t have to work for a facility. We can be independent.
Judy wargo
August 1st, 2012 at 9:40 am
I support Amanda 100%. I have had dealings with the board and with the hospitals in Phoenix. I have talked with attorneys
on employment and the AZBN. I have had the experience where nurse managers had outright lied about me. I have had
a hospital report me for a zofran incident and they had no
evidence it happened and yet the board who also found no
evidence this happened continued to harrass me. Arizona
nurses need a union, with good attorneys to protect the
nurses interest. If the board thinks a zofran incident is a
danger to the public, you should see the nurses I have come
across with such poor didactical knowledge and let severe
arrythmia patients, or malfunctioning pacemaker patients go
undetected and unreported. Now thats a danger to the public.
The board will harrass a nurse on some of the most petty
complaints, that one can only laugh at their stupidity.
suki
August 7th, 2012 at 10:35 am
You are so correct! The whole state of Arizona is messed up, period. They need to obtain psych evals on everyone on that Az State Board of Nursing. I have a sneaky suspicion we would open up a whole new scandal then. Just saying. My gut instinct is telling me something is amiss in Arizona. Especially with the Board that is to protect the public. They are people that cannot get any power any other way. They take it out on the servants we call “nurses” in today’s society.
Advokat u Sarajevu
October 16th, 2012 at 7:33 am
Thanks for the post. I will certainly return.
Andrew Lopez, RN (@nursefriendly)
December 30th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
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