Two nurses, Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle, settled with Winkler County, Texas and will share $750,000 in restitution following being fired and criminally prosecuted for upholding their duty to protect the public by sending an anonymous note detailing incompetent physician practice. The settlement is symbolic of both the personal vindication of these nurses and acknowledgement that the ANA Code for Nurses has prevailed.
This closes the book on this horrific experience that Mitchell and Galle endured. What's more is that there is a clear precedent which may discourage retaliation of this sort from happening to other nurses who attempt to blow the whistle whenever they observe substandard care.
Post by Karen Innocent, MS, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, CMSRN
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