As nurses, we play a critical role in protecting patient safety and quality of care. We are often the first to witness potential problems making us key players in identifying and addressing any issues. Unfortunately, nurses face unique challenges when speaking up about situations we observe. We face concerns going on deaf ears or sometimes receive retaliation from employers and colleagues when speaking up.
Despite these challenges, nurses need to understand their rights and protections as whistleblowers. This blog post will explore what whistleblower protections exist for nurses and how they can best use them to speak up about important issues.
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A whistleblower is someone who reports misconduct, usually within an organization. This can include illegal activity, such as fraud or corruption, or abusive or dangerous working conditions. Whistleblowers may be protected from retaliation by law. Several federal and state laws protect employees (including nurses) from retaliation when reporting conditions that violate the law, public health, or unsafe working conditions. These laws protect nurses from being fired, demoted, suspended, disclination, and any other harmful actions perceived as retaliation.
The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) was initially passed...
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