Have you ever been wrongly blamed for a mistake or faced accusations of poor performance at work that you knew were unfounded? Enduring the hostility that ensues can be difficult, if you're even allowed to. In many cases, employees are discharged without being given a chance to defend themselves. But you may have recourse, as one Las Vegas nurse can attest.

The neonatal nurse, who was removed from her job in 2010, is excited to return to work after an arbitrator determined she had been wrongfully terminated. She was fired after a premature infant in her care died due to blood loss from a broken catheter.

The nurse and one other were named as possible suspects in an investigation into a series of broken catheter incidents in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. When the Metro Police Department later named them persons of interest in its own investigation, they lost their nursing licenses and their jobs. But in the year and a half since the probe began, no formal charges have ever been filed. Late last month, the arbitrator ordered the hospital where she works to reinstate her with back pay.

Although the decision is a big win for this nurse and those everywhere who have been wrongly accused of causing a patient harm, she does have some battle scars. The legal ordeal created significant financial hardship, forcing her to file for bankruptcy, clean out her 401k fund and fight vigorously with the hospital for unemployment benefits. Fortunately, she found a new job she loves and is determined to return to the one that she lost.

The nurse believes she will still have to duck the cloud of suspicion hanging over her head. The hospital continues to assist in the Police Department's investigation into the baby's death. But the nurse, who still questions why investigators never looked into the possibility that the catheters were defective, is confident that no matter how much more scrutiny she faces, investigators won't find anything to disprove the fact that she did nothing wrong, does her job well and deserves to have it.

Source: 8NewsNow.com, "I-Team: Fired nurse ready to return to work," Colleen McCarty, Jan. 18, 2012