Week 5 Project Managing Healthcare Work Force

Running head: EMPLOYMENT LAW FOCUS 1

EMPLOYMENT LAW FOCUS 5

Employment Law Focus

Angelica F. Davis

South University Online

HCM3046 Managing the Healthcare Workforce

Week 1 Project

Dr. Vincent Bulzoni

02/22/2021

Employment Law Focus

Employment law usually covers all areas concerning the workplace, whether working in a small or big firm. Therefore, employment law focuses on a complete cycle from hiring and ends at the cessation of employment, either forced or voluntarily. Additionally, it focuses on employee's obligations, rights, as well as duties. According to the case study, Nurse Shuffle was a registered nurse. Due to personal issues, the nurse became depressed and started using controlled prescription medication from the patient's medication drawers. She was later realized and was offered treatment in the addiction center. Later, she was employed in another facility but was caught in the same behaviour. She was prosecuted, and her license was revoked.

Due process is regarded as a legal requirement where a citizen should not be deprived of their legal rights without applying the law. Therefore, due process protections are a state clause that usually prohibits the State government from denying people the right to liberty or life (Garrett, 2019). Under due process, an individual cannot be jailed without going through the legal system where an individual is determined to either be guilty or innocent of a crime. When an individual is determined to be guilty, he or she is punished according to the law. In different countries, due process is regarded as essential.

In my opinion, it was fair treatment for Nurse Shuffle to be prosecuted and her license to be revoked. Even though there is no filed record concerning the nurse's previous offense on controlled prescription medication in a long-term acute care facility, it is clear that the nurse did not learn any lesson when she was first caught. She repeated the same mistake instead of seeking professional help. The professional individual would have helped Nurse Shuffle with her problems, and she would not have found herself in such a situation. Therefore, I support her license being revoked, and she should not be given the option of an addiction treatment program.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) usually provide specific employees with up to twelve weeks of protected job leave which is unpaid every year. Additionally, the Act requires such an individual's health benefit to be maintained during the leave. Therefore, the Family and Medical Leave Act is designed to enable employees to balance family and work responsibilities (Vohra-Gupta, Kim, and Cubbin 2020). This is achieved by allowing employees to take unpaid leaves that are reasonable for medical or family reasons. On the other hand, the Act seeks to consider legitimate employee's interests and promote equal employment chances for women and men.

The Family and Medical Leave Act can be used by all public agencies, secondary schools, and companies with more than 50 employees. Therefore, employers' responsibility is to provide eligible employees with unpaid leave each year of up to twelve weeks. The various reasons that can make an individual qualified for this leave include; birth and care of newborns, taking care of immediate family member who has a severe condition, and when an employee is unable to work due to extreme health conditions.

The Family and Medical Leave Act applies to the Nurse Shuffle situation because it allows an employee to be granted unpaid leave. In the large teaching hospital, Nurse Shuffle worked the night shift. She experienced strain because of working at night, and she could not deal with the strain. According to the Family and Medical Leave Act, Nurse Shuffle was eligible for unpaid leave because she was typically stressed and unable to conduct her duties.

Nurse Shuffle also had the responsibility of requesting unpaid leave by reporting her condition. During the leave, the nurse would have been able to rest and seek professional help. Therefore, the Family and Medical Leave Act is essential in ensuring employees can handle their issues.

The teaching hospital had the responsibility of credentialing Nurse Shuffle to determine whether she was qualified to provide medical services. When credentialing is done correctly, it protects the hospital and healthcare providers from incidents like Nurse Shuffle. Additionally, the teaching hospital was responsible for ensuring Nurse Shuffle was competent and regally qualified to work.

Therefore, the teaching hospital should have looked at Nurse Shuffle's experience, education, licensure, background, and training. If the teaching hospital were aware of Nurse Shuffle's background, it would have given her a job that would not strain her. The verification of an agency employee is usually expensive and time-consuming, while regular employees are not expensive since they do not require any experience. Agency employee verification is time-consuming and costly because much information needs to be looked at to ensure an employee is competent.

Reference

Vohra-Gupta, S., Kim, Y., & Cubbin, C. (2020). Systemic Racism and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Using Critical Race Theory to Build Equitable Family Leave Policies. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 1-10.

Garrett, B. L. (2019). Wealth, Equal Protection, and Due Process. Wm. & Mary L. Rev., 61, 397.