PT Pulls out their NG tube...boss says I need to fill out an event report?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2012

This seems silly to me.....

It seems like a ridiculous waste of paperwork...

RNperdiem, RN · Oct 30, 2012

Well, it depends on the patient.

In most cases, if an NG gets pulled out, we either replace them, or see if the patient really needs one anyway.

Sometimes with complex GI surgeries, the NG tube is very important for the first few days post-op. It is not unusual to see a suture holding the NG in just the right place. A tube that gets pulled out cannot just be replaced by the nurse( I wouldn't want to be blamed for perforating anything), and is big hassle to deal with.

jschut, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2012

It may very well be a waste of time and paperwork, but I would do it just simply to cover you own a**. Trivial? Maybe...

nicenurselpn, LPN · Oct 30, 2012

We have to fill out event reports for lots of things. Gtubes get pulled out, or dislodged from deflated balloons. Scratches (even tiny ones). Heck, a new rec therapy person wrote an event report on me one day, because she thought I wasn't happy enough to be at work!! She was of the opinion that I was in a bad mood. Nice to know, that you can write them based on opinions. They have gotten out of hand at my place of employment....

IowaKaren · Oct 30, 2012

We have to fill out event reports for lots of things. Gtubes get pulled out, or dislodged from deflated balloons. Scratches (even tiny ones). Heck, a new rec therapy person wrote an event report on me one day, because she thought I wasn't happy enough to be at work!! She was of the opinion that I was in a bad mood. Nice to know, that you can write them based on opinions. They have gotten out of hand at my place of employment....

Oh my,...

nicenurselpn, LPN · Oct 30, 2012

Oh my,...

Yep, totally out of hand. Funny thing is, when a significent event occurs, there may not be an event report filled out. I talked with our QA nurse, and she gave me good guidelines on what NOT to write a report on. For instance, one of our kiddos pulled out his hair and ate the pretty big clump. That should have warranted an event report along with an IDT prompter for behavior issues, the IDT was written, but the event report wasn't. I am going to see if she wants to do an inservice for the newer nurses and staff members on guidelines for these reports.

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Oct 30, 2012

it is only trivial if the patient does not sue for injury. Better to document then wish you had

netglow, ASN, RN · Oct 30, 2012

Well that's just stupid. Just chart it like all else PIE, Problem/Intervention/Evaluation... ugh. Not an "event" sheesh.

WSU_Ally_RN, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2012

I work at a peds hospital... anytime anything we put in one of our kiddos comes out and it wasn't intended to come out yet, we have to write up an incident report. We also have a "huddle "with the attending or NP and charge Rn as to why it happened and how to prevent it in the future. They are really tracking our "unplanned device removals". Not sure if its a joint commission thing or what...

bellasage · Oct 30, 2012

Sounds about right. You would have to fill out an event report. "Event report" isn't just for things that happen but to bring attention to near misses or other situations. Your event report on the that might change a policy on monitoring of patients with NG tubes or other things. Don't see it as a negative or blaming.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2012

I'm a pediatric nurse and have never once filed an incident report for an NG that was pulled out. NGs being pulled out were a daily (if not multiple times/day) occurrence on my floor. Same thing with peripheral IVs. Usually once the kid pulled them out, we'd really assess if they were still needed. If they were, they got a new one. No incident report.

PICC lines or central lines, in some cases we would write an incident report for that... especially when, say, the child was in restraints WITH a sitter at the bedside because of the huge risk of removing lines/tubes and he still managed to pull his PICC out because the sitter was too busy texting/sleeping/daydreaming/watching TV.