WHISTLEBLOWER Barbara McQuillan, BSN, RN, says she was a high performer for years before suddenly being fired after raising safety concerns.

A former hospital administrator and chief nursing officer alleges that she was terminated in retaliation for reporting substandard medical care at Sparrow Carson Hospital in Carson City, Mich., — including a tubal ligation patient who lost 400cc of blood and a patient with appendicitis who was kept waiting 8 hours while staff searched in vain for a physician to treat him.

According to her wrongful termination lawsuit, Barbara McQuillan, BSN, RN, says she was fired after raising a series of safety concerns with her superiors and with the state.

One of these involved an obstetrician who after a number of "negative incidents,"