Preparing to Blow the Whistle: A Survival Guide for Nurses

Fear of retaliation and the stigma associated with being a “troublemaker” or a “whistleblower” contributes to the underreporting of problems in health care. Any nurses or nurse practitioners placed in the difficult situation of reporting a problem that an employer has not addressed need guidance to decide whether to report, how to report, and what they should do to protect themselves and their families when they do report. They need to maximize the effectiveness of their report and minimize the negative repercussions.