Nurses Hold Successful Demonstration
BORN agrees to reopen Adams’ complaint

Nurses and student nurses from Cape Cod to Pittsfield, hailing from 18 different hospitals and five different states, staged a widely publicized demonstration outside the headquarters of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in nursing on Nov. 10, 1999 to protest the BORN’s failure to hold all nurses equally accountable for the care they deliver. 

The demonstration coincided with the day the BORN had announced it would issue its final determination to pursue a complaint filed by nationally recognized nurse whistle blower Barry Adams against his former nurses executives.  Adams had filed a complaint of unethical conduct, unprofessional conduct and patient neglect against his former nursing administrators at Youville Health Care of Cambridge, who illegally fired Adams for blowing the whistle on deplorable staffing conditions that led to a patient’s death and harm to other patients at the facility. 

While nurses marched with signs and chanted their desire for “justice and accountability now,” the BORN once again delayed its ruling in Adam’s case.  Adams had been notified that the ruling on the case has been postponed.  That ruling is expected January 12, 2000.  The attorney for the BORN informed Adams’ attorney’s that the entire complaint as filed would be under consideration at this point.  At a previous complaint hearing in September, Adams had been informed that the critical components of his complaint that involved professional conduct and ethical behavior of had been dismissed.  

The BORN’s decision to keep open the entire complaint open is an important step in the process of having this issue be fairly evaluated and judged by the full Board of Registration in Nursing. 

At the heart of Adams’ complaint is the issue of accountability of all licensed nurses, including nurse executives, for decisions they make which adversely affect patient care. The case comes at a time when nurses across the nation have been voicing their concerns about the deterioration of patient care in light of chronic understaffing in America’s hospitals.  

In a letter to the Board of Registration in Nursing from American Nurses Association President Beverly A. Malone, PhD, RN, she places the BORN’s actions to date in clear focus.  Malone writes, “ANA believes that all RNs, including managers and staff nurses must be held accountable for the provision of patient care and the standards of the profession.  To merely discipline and scapegoat staff RNs who provide direct patient care without scrutinizing the system in which they work, including the deliberative process of those nurse who make the administrative decisions about workload, orient and patient staffing, is a myopic view that doesn’t focus on the critical issues surround the provision of safe, quality care and the protection of the public.

According to Julie Pinkham, MNA Director of Labor relations, “A decision by the BORN to hold a full hearing of this complaint, including a fair hearing of all the evidence, would signal to the nursing community that the BORN does in fact consider a complaint against a nurse administer or manager for allocation of resources and staffing worthy of their investigation and deliberation.” 

The demonstration was part of a “Campaign for BORN Reform” begun by the Massachusetts Nurses Association and other concerned nurses following the BORN’s actions at an investigative hearing held on September 22, 1999 when Adams was invited to submit information to the BORN’s Complaint Committee and to provide witnesses in support of his complaint.  

With the media and a number of nursing leaders in attendance, the BORN announced that it had dismissed the most salient components of Adams’ complaint and redrafted his complaint to mitigate the impact on the nurse executive. 

The MNA’s Committee for BORN Reform has been working with nurses from across the state and the nation since the Sep. 22nd hearing to raise awareness within the Executive Branch of their concerns for the Board of Registration’s ability to fairly and effectively carry out its mandate to protect the public.  A letter writing campaign has been initiated to request that the Governor’s administration conduct an immediate investigation into the policies and practices of the agency.  It also seeks a mandate that the BORN hold all nurses (executives and staff nurses) equally accountable.

Adams, with the support of nurses from throughout the nation, has retained Rosenfeld & Associates, a prominent health care law firm that specializes in consumer protection, to assist in seeking justice, not just for him but for all nurses and patients cared for by nurses in the Commonwealth.  “The need for this legal action speaks loudly to the gauntlet nurses must face when making well substantiated assessments in the patients’ interest and safety, “Adams said.  “The system in place to protect patients failed for me and for the patients in this case, from the hospital to the BORN I was blocked at every juncture.”

A petition drive calling upon the BORN to hold a full hearing on Adams’ complaint has also been instituted.  Call the MNA at 781.830.5717 for a copy of the petition or ...

Click here to learn more about the petition drive.

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