'Outspoken' Nurse Fired After Addressing Hospital Safety. Coworkers Say It's Retaliation
- Molly Zenker, an ICU and float nurse at Mission Hospital in NC, was fired after not administering a medication to a patient she felt was not appropriate to give based on the patient's vital signs.
- Zenker was outspoken against what she said were safety concerns at the hospital, and coworkers have called her termination 'retaliation,' and protested for her to be reinstated.
- Mission Hospital has faced a series of four federal sanctions for serious patient safety risks, and has until July 2026 to fix the concerns.
At Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, stickers featuring the smiling face of Molly Zenker became badges of solidarity. Nurses affixed the stickers to their badges after Zenker was fired for what many nurses say was retaliation.
Zenker, a dedicated nurse since 2017, found herself at the center of a storm when she was fired in February 2026. According to reporting by Asheville Watchdog, the hospital claimed Zenker was terminated for refusing to administer medication to a patient, a decision she maintains was standard nursing judgment based on the patient’s vital signs and explicit refusal of the medication.
Administrators argued this fell outside her "scope of practice," but coworkers say the nurse's dismissal was about something bigger because Zenker also happened to be a nurse who spoke up often—and loudly—against safety concerns at the hospital.
Fired for Using Nursing Judgment?
Zenker, an experienced nurse, was terminated in February 2026 after a series of allegations the hospital posed against her, including an alleged "lost" OxyContin pill that Zenker herself reported missing.
She was called into a meeting, where she received a reprimand for allegedly using hospital communication to discuss union activities.
During the same meeting, she was asked about an incident when she did not administer medication to a patient as ordered. Upon the patient's refusal to take the medication and Zenker's nursing assessment that revealed vital signs that contraindicated the administration, Zenker declined to give the medication, a move the hospital questioned and ultimately fired her over. (The hospital's stance was that the nurse refused to give the medication and did not notify the provider.)
"They’re just digging for something,” Zenker has said about the incident. “If you ask any nurse any day if they’ve held a medication due to blood pressure or heart rate or blood sugar, we have. We’re educated professionals that are taught about medications.”
Fired for Speaking Out?
Many colleagues believe her firing was less about a single decision and more about silencing a nurse who spoke up about safety issues. Zenker had been vocal about staffing shortages and safety concerns, even suggesting her committee might need to take these issues public.
Zenker and her supporters have noted her speaking up may have been an issue for the hospital, as it was already under federal scrutiny after its fourth "immediate jeopardy" sanction in less than a decade.
The most recent January 2026 federal sanction by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is one of the most serious sanctions hospitals can receive, meaning the hospital has risked patients' lives and safety. If Mission doesn't fix the issues the overseeing agency found by July 2026, CMS can terminate payments to the hospital.
“I do think that I am being targeted and being a little bit made like a show of because I do work everywhere. I know a lot of people and everybody knows that I’m very outspoken,” Zenker told The Watchdog.
The Sticker Scandal
After Zenker’s firing, nurses wore stickers with her face as a silent protest. Management was displeased, telling nurses that if they "stickered up" in support of Zenker, they too would face disciplinary actions.
The hospital followed through on their threats, suspending two nurses for wearing the stickers. Both nurses were later reinstated.
Others faced lengthy meetings to explain themselves. Nurses claim the hospital seemed more focused on silencing dissent than addressing the safety issues that led to federal sanctions.
These sanctions included findings of "systemic deficient practices" with life-threatening consequences, such as a cardiac patient dying after being disconnected from telemetry equipment for over an hour. Zenker and her committee had recommended increasing telemetry staffing, but their suggestions were ignored.
What This Means for Nurses Everywhere
Zenker’s case underscores the tension between nursing autonomy and administrative control. Nurses are trained to make decisions in the best interest of their patients. Yet, Zenker’s decision was reframed as stepping outside her role. No patient harm occurred, but her termination has made her fellow nurses wonder if they are at risk for speaking up against what they see as safety concerns.
It’s a wake-up call for nurses advocating for change. While some say Zenker’s visibility and willingness to speak up made her a target, her courage has also galvanized her colleagues and brought critical safety concerns to light.
As Zenker tearfully told supporters at a rally:
"We’re fighting something that is kind of existential in a way."
🤔Nurses, what do you think about this? Was Molly fired without just cause? Share your thoughts below.
If you have a nursing news story that deserves to be heard, we want to amplify it to our massive community of millions of nurses! Get your story in front of Nurse.org Editors now - click here to fill out our quick submission form today!



