Save a Life, Lose your License

[bobnurse]

Im just curious..........Say your placed into a situation that would require you to perform a procedure to save someone's life that could cost you your license. Would you do it?

Example: Mililtary medics always get asked this.............Your at a park and

someone gets choked...Basic Life support (abdominal thrusts) do not relieve the airway obstruction. Its been 6 minutes, and you know anoxic brain injury is Beginning to occur. You take something, penetrate the cricothyroid membrane, insert a tube of some type and the patient breaths and lives....You've lost your license because of it.......Is it worth it?

What would you do? Has anyone ever had to do it? What happened? Ive seen military medics carry around ALS kits in there cars....But using it is anothe question........

I know a nurse who got put on probation for suturing her friends lac....

Just curious on everyone opinion out there

[NurseFirst]

I choose.... LIFE of course!!! As far as losing licensure, it would not happen. And id it did,well, at least you know you helped some mother/ father/ spouse/sibling keep their loved one!!!

That is the whole question, isn't it?

Is what you do GUARANTEED to save a life? What if you did the procedure and the person died?? Would it have been worth it then? What if you did cause uncontrollable hemorrhage? Would it have been worth it (to lose your license) then?

NurseFirst

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I don't know how to cric. someone so that's not an issue with me. I would do what I had to do in the area of first aid and CPR that would save someone. All that would I would do fortunately is covered under the good samaratan act.

Would I suture a friend? No way. I'd clean them up, bandage them up, and send them to the ER. I'm not stepping out of my practice.

I'm still amazed at the number of people I take CPR with who say they would never give mouth to mouth out in the field because of fear of disease.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

I'm still amazed at the number of people I take CPR with who say they would never give mouth to mouth out in the field because of fear of disease.

Wow! That is a bit unbelievable!

I don't know how to do a circ so wouldn't even attempt it :uhoh21: I'd do all that I know and have been trained to do (while first ensuring that somebody has been delegated to make the Call).

Honestly, two incidents certainly would seem to persuade me:

1. Barely three days after I finished BLS Cert., I had the opportunity to perform the Heimlich on a choking customer at SubWay. I didn't even have my BLS card then, but that didn't stop me.

2. When I was 7 years old, I'd called in to report a fire. I didn't occur to me that people generally don't listen to kids on the phone who report a fire. But those firemen believed me. It left a powerful impact on my mind about the dedication of those chaps and the responsibility invested in every citizen of a community.

Even if my lisence be lost forever - I could never sleep another nights peaceful sleep if I knew that I could have done something more but didn't because I was afraid of losing priviledges.

[CarVsTree]

If you don't know exactly what you are doing, you could kill someone doing that. I was trained to do that years ago as a medic, but I wouldn't attempt it now.

Come on! It CAN'T be that hard. I saw Radar do it on M*A*S*H.

[jaimealmostRN]

I would never do something that I was not educated/trained to do (cric, open heart surg).

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

As far as me, I don't know the procedure, if I did you darn bet you if I felt it was the ONLY choice I would IF I had the proper equipment!!!! According to the Good Samaritian law, a person that has the knowledge must assist to the BEST of their ability...to the best of their ablility given they are the most qualified person available to render such aid, or something like that! (they do warn to only perform procedures you know about though!).

I mean, if I was out in the middle of no where and suturing a horrid gushing wound was my only choice vs the patient bleeding to death till I was able to get help was an issue..break out the sewing kit..I am going in! I would do my best to stabilize a patient to the best of my knowledge and get help as soon as possible (and believe me I would get help STAT!). And considering that maybe I can't see what is bleeding and shouldn't go willy nilly with the old sewing kit will also be a heavy consideration...but I would do my best...it is all I have!

How about being out somewhere and a woman goes into labor? Do we loose licenses for delivering a baby because we are not OB/GYN's? What if they are a breach and there is no one to help as two feet come poking out??? You do the best you can do..and hope for the best! If someone takes your license for that then that is wrong...because if you did nothing..surely the situation would be much graver for now TWO people!!!!!

If any of those situations and my actions gets my license revoked..then the State can have it...if doing my best in a given emergency situation isn't good enough for them..then I best be looking for a different career!!!

[jsauce]

yep, i would...

[rnmi2004]

No, I would not do a cric, no matter how many times I'd seen it on TV or in real life. There were many good reasons already posted here for not doing so, and I agree with them.

In general, I feel that if "saving a life" means by performing something out of my scope of practice, I wouldn't do it because I have not been trained to do so, and therefore would most likely cause more harm than good.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

Hmm... Life or License...

LIFE duh.

I think you could make a pretty good case to save your license also. It would look pretty bad in the press for someone to be penalized for saving a life. (doesn't Good Samaritan apply too?)

From what I've been told: the Good Samaritan Law applies only if you don't tell them that you are a nurse. If you say I have medical training not that you have a license then you are still considered a good samaritan. Acknoweleging your license is where you cross the line. Having said that I personally could not walk away. I did CPR once in a parking lot and saved a life. What a feeling !

[Nurseboy1]

From what I've been told: the Good Samaritan Law applies only if you don't tell them that you are a nurse. If you say I have medical training not that you have a license then you are still considered a good samaritan.

Actually the good samaritan law coveres health care professionals, as long as you act as a volunteer, and in an emergency situation, and you stay within the scope of your license and training. I did a project on this in nursing school, and the specific example of performing a cric was discussed as something that the good samaritan law would not cover for a general RN. I would continue abdominal thrusts until EMS arrives. The person may not even need a cric, a laryngiscope and Mcgill forceps can often be used to remove airway obstruction by the paramedic. Just my 0.02.

Ben

[bobnurse]

I personally think it all boils down to if the patient lives or not.....If your doing abdominal thrusts for 9 minutes without relief....You know brain injury is occurring. So you cric the victim and the complications are a minimum and the patient lives...Your on the front page as a hero.......He dies....maybe you never accessed the trachea or hemorrhage occurred.....Your the nurse/medic who made a bad decision. I was told the good sam law didnt cover you in those situations because its an advanced procedure.....As far as baby's being born....Your just standing there assisting with the natural birthing process......Your basically putting on the catchers mitt.....We had a LPN who delivered a baby in a car of the interstate...He tied the cord with a shoe string and then cut it.....It made the paper and news for days....