I cannot believe a nurse did this......

[shellybsn]

My grandmother in law is a resident at a local nursing home. My husband took my kids to see her today (I was at home with the baby). The nurse there took the cotton packing out of the top of a bottle of medicine she was opening and tickled my 4 year olds face with it. My husband pulled him away and told me about it when he got home. I'm furious about this. No telling what kind of powder or residue was on the packing..it could have been a chemp drug or who knows what. My husband didn't think to ask, just wanted out of there. Am I crazy for thinking this is absolutely unacceptable? I'm actually thinking of reporting her to the nursing board (she's done a lot of other crazy stuff we've noticed while granny is there). We've talked to admin before about stuff this nurse has said and done, but this is over the top.

[kkostelnikPN]

This is too funny. Is this post a joke?? it must be. The best part is that the person who posted this is shellybsn........ Do u seriously have your bsn?? Either u are the dumbest nurse I've come into contact with or you aren't really a nurse.

[MBrickle]

Oh man, you're one of those moms.....

Dude, I would be more concerned about giving Grammy whatever nasty germs were on your kids face!

[Orange Tree]

This is the second post in a row tonight that sounds totally made up. Funny.

[sixela21]

My goal is not to patronize you, although this is an interesting post--when it comes to your children, you have a right to be protective and have certain feelings, but there is a limit to what you allow those feelings to lead you to do. I have also visited family members in nursing homes and worked in them in a volunteer capacity and have seen some shady things, but this does not sound like anything worth ending a nurse's career over. It was a light-hearted (albeit strange) attempt to curry your son's favor and make him laugh, and I'm sure it did just that. I work with children and have also done some "questionable" (although never crossing the line) things to make children laugh. The cotton is not a deadly weapon, and she did not assault him with it. It sounds like your husband shares your somewhat extreme concern over this matter.

Pills are created in the form they are in to avoid hitting the bloodstream like a ton of bricks and causing a shock to your system(reason why you should never crush certain pills or open up capsules to empty the contents). They are time released, so I am sure a cotton ball that happened to be in the same container as these pills (in whole form) would never contain any dose large enough to harm a child unless it was a bottle of powder or crushed pills. Even then, your son would not require medical attention. It is not airborne nor is it anthrax. I would agree with you, however, that a nurse should use better judgement, and in the future never put anything on anyone's face inside of a nursing home unless treating a specific patient. I am curious to know what other things she has done? Maybe this was sort of a last straw for you, as she has done other things that were unprofessional? Please share if she has, but if you are contemplating reporting her off of this one situation, I would say do not waste the time. Your son is ok, and that is the most important thing here!

[canned_bread]

It's unprofessional, even if it was just vitamin C or something, what if the little boy was allergic to the preservative? It sounds like she just wasn't thinking. That kind of behaviour I would report, if I felt inclined to, to the NUM or DON, not to the nursing board.

[violetgirl]

You are really going to report this? Wow, now I see why nurses are leaving this field. This is so unfair! I am killing myself to finish college nursing vs. teaching... but this is really scary stuff to hear and out of line in my point of view... The poor nurse, just trying to make light of her day and for your kid! Yikes! Are you a nurse? A student? A soft cotton ball, really. Give the nurse some credit please. Yikes!!!!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

And if the nurse had ignored the child, she would be reported for not being customer service oriented enough and not entertaining the young visitor.

Really, I'd be way more worried about the germs in that place than any "residue" on a cotton ball. Actually, I'd be way more worried about the germs OP's little darling carried into the place possibly infecting grandma and her fellow residents.

[Beautiful Mind RN]

The horror, the horror!

But in all seriousness, OP, this is a NURSE we're talking about. The very same one who is taking care of your other family member. The grandma in law. I am sure she has enough knowledge under her belt to know whether or not the cotton ball she is taking out of the medication bottle is harmful or not to your child. And it wasn't! You didn't report any side effects...such as a rash or the like there after

But as mentioned also, if you do not approve of such behavior, then report it to the manager. I am sure you will get a more stiff replacement that will not bother with trying to make your child's experience a bit more positive...

[rnwiz]

I would be furious if nurse wipped granny's behind in front of the child and asked the husband to help turn her on her side but the nurse's action of trying to entertain your son in a scarry environment was kind'a cute... IMO...

[sixela21]

It's unprofessional, even if it was just vitamin C or something, what if the little boy was allergic to the preservative? It sounds like she just wasn't thinking. That kind of behaviour I would report, if I felt inclined to, to the NUM or DON, not to the nursing board.

Usually, symptoms of allergies to preservatives in foods/oral medications do not manifest themselves unless a sufficient amount to cause a reaction is actually ingested. Unless he has some sort of rare allergy, (which she obviously did not state) it would not affect his skin or system significantly simply by her lightly "feathering" his nose with a cotton ball that may contain at most, a very minuscule amount of residue of whatever preservative he may be allergic to.

That's like me saying that I am allergic to MSG or high fructose corn syrup and someone "tickled" my nose with the lid of a can of Pringle potato chips or the wrapper of a piece of candy, causing me to break out in pus-filled blisters and hives before going into anaphylactic shock and dying a horrible death. Come on now--please do not entertain this rubbish.

[M/B-RN]

Seems like you are making mountains out of mole hills. Not to be mean, but as women we can be very dramatic sometimes for no reason. This sounds like it is one of your times.

Oh and by the way only bottles of pills or tablets have cotton. If it is an oral suspension or something of that sort that comes in powder form it would not have cotton inside the bottle.

[violetgirl]

It's unprofessional, even if it was just vitamin C or something, what if the little boy was allergic to the preservative? It sounds like she just wasn't thinking. That kind of behaviour I would report, if I felt inclined to, to the NUM or DON, not to the nursing board.

Really? Come on... Is this what nursing has come down to? Did this little child have a sad look in his face, a tear in the eye, or worst... A soft touch to ease his fear most likely! Mom has a problem with this... Did she or the husband ever speak to the nurse face-to-face? Hum, my gut tells me she was a pretty one! Did the child jump back in fear of the on-coming big fluffy cotton ball? Something tells me there is way more to this story that meets the eye! Sounds very strange to me! Next, a nurse will lose his or her job for smiling, coughing, and/or touching an arm to comfort ones fear! Really... 1-800-wha-whaa