Dangerous nurses

[funmom]

Have any of you ever worked with a nurse you would classify as dangerous ---- dangerous as a nurse and as a person?

[rolland542]

...and unfortunately, these are the types that tend to get promoted.

I agree.......maybe it's because the others that were promoted prior to them, all act the same. Maybe it is time to start changing the face of nursing. Stand up and take a stand.

Let your facility know that you are planing to report these incidents if they do not do a full and effective inquiry.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

A nurse in my Pedi rotation concerned me. It was LTC for kids. My patient was on oxygen, with continuous O2 monitoring. The sensor was the kind that clips to your finger, so I had to remove it to bathe her. It was off for 5 minutes max, while I washed her arm.

When the sensor was removed, it triggered an alarm at the nurse's station. One RN hated the alarm so much that she turned it off whenever it sounded at the station, without checking the room first. She even came into the room while my partner and I were bathing the girl and unplugged the wireless node that connected her oximeter to the nurse's station. I mentioned it to my instructor, adding "I'd rather know my patient wasn't coding."

[Melinurse]

I went into a LTC facility a while back and overheard the RN and a CMA discussing medications. The RN clearly had no clue as to the difference between alprazolam and a hole in the ground . I am glad the MA stood her ground, she was right.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

Yes but they don't last long. In my management day, I fired them and reported them to the Board. Now and write them up and my manager follows up. She won't put up with it.

[athena55, BSN, RN]

Once had a student nurse unplug a vent to plug in an IV pump and not realize it. Pt died. Massive lawsuit ensued.

To this day I still wonder how someone would even consider unplugging anything in an ICU! I'm glad I don't work in that particular hospital anymore.

I realize that I am reading this particular thread late, but I must agree with the other posters: Oh my goodness, so how did he/she document that excessively long period of apnea and the ensuing alarms from both the vent & cardiac monitor?? Where was the nursing instructor or rather, what was that particular nursing programs reaction??

[lovehospital]

I once worked with a nurse and the doc order seemed just whacko...too much insulin (I dont remember exactly how much was it but I think 18 units,!!!!) and I told the nurse I'm not going to give it and she replied with attitude "If the doctor prescribe it,you should give it"...I was in shock and my instructor told me to give her back the MAR....

[Jo Dirt]

I think the longer you work in the medical profession the more you will realize you have a lot to be concerned about. The nurses (or medical staff) who really scare me are the ones who are overly confident. I put a lot more trust in a nurse who second and third guesses his/herself and readily admits not knowing something than the one's who seem to know everything.

[inland18mempire]

I don't have experience with MSContin. Why can't you crush it?

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

I don't have experience with MSContin. Why can't you crush it?

Because it is a long acting/sustained release med. So instead of the pt getting the dose over the time it takes the body to absorb it, the dose is absorbed faster.

If not able to give orally due to need to crush Davis Drug guide states it can be given rectally.

[MaryAnn_RN]

If a vent is unplugged, it has a battery back up

Some of our older vents do not have battery back up, however they all alarm, the monitors would go wild both at the bedside and the nursing station.

[MaryAnn_RN]

Perhaps the true story got changed/elaborated/distorted and then passed along the grapvine?

There is a story about soldiers in the trenches in the first World War. A message was passed on verbally 'send re-inforcements, we are going to advance' and the message got changed as it was repeated down the line. The story goes that the message ended up 'send three (shillings) and fourpence, we are going to a dance'.

[medmar_mary1970]

although I am just a baby in the field of nursing, I sometimes feel that my lack of experience can sometimes make somewhat a liability. However, after reading some of the posts of you all that have seen these things, I can say that I have never done some of the dumb things you all have seen nurses do. Some days, I have pts. that have issues all day long, constantly calling the docs. But if its something I am not familiar with, whether it be a drug, or procedure, i look the drug up or I swallow my pride, fear, whatever and go ask a nurse with years of experience, even though I may be an annoyance, I can take feeling a little embarrassed on my conscious way better than knowing my ignorance killed or injured someone. Taking five minutes to look something or ask a question isn't a big deal, I am sure the patient would appreciate it.