Homophobic nurse?

Nurses Relations

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My partner was a pt in the hospital last week and I of course was there with him everyday until he was discharged. He had a nurse (female, RN, African-American, young) one day and she did and said a few things that I found not only offensive, but unprofessional too.

He had a PRN order for reglan IVP and he asked her if it was time for it. She went and looked at the MAR and said yes, he could have another one. As she was screwing the syringe onto the IV hub, she tugged at the IV line attached to his hand (on purpose mind you, I watched her do it) and of course my partner said "Ow, that hurt." Then, without fair warning or apologizing for pulling the IV line, she began pushing the med, but instead of pushing it over the ordered time, she pushed it over 5-10 seconds, and this caused him to jump and yelp in pain. She told him to "not be such a baby" and when he caught his breath he thanked her for the med, and then she said "God has a plan for all a' yall." Then exited the room. Needless to say, I was ****** and told the NM and said we don't want her again, and thankfully, they apologized and we never saw her again. I am a LVN and while I can not give IV meds, I looked up the med in an IV manual and it stated "push over 30 secs - 1 minute". What a mean nurse.

Now, should I take this further and report her or just be satisfied with what they did? I know I am a mandated reporter but I am not sure if this constitutes unprofessional practice or substandard care.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Sounds like she was unprofessional, substandard care, AND the biggie of them all, discrimination. The incident you described reeks of her personal feelings about homosexuality superseded her duty to care. You can always go up the chain of command, as well as file a complaint.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Shameful and unprofessional. I am sorry you and your partner had to go through this when you are feeling especially vulnerable. I would contact the patient advocate/patient relations/nurse manager/CNO/CEO. I think you need to indicate this on your patient survey. But, I think you need to allow the facility deal with any unprofessional conduct and reports to the BON. I think you are emotionally close to the subject and while she was not professional I am not sure this is BON issue. Allow this to be approached by an objective source....like the management.

Just playing the devils advocate here.......I am sure there has been some family member that you have cared for that you did not make happy....... that got upset over an aspect of your care that they felt was sub par in some way.....would you want them to go to your boss or the board? It's just a thought.

I hope you SO is feeling better and on the road to recovery.....all the best.

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Specializes in Pedi.

I would absolutely complain to the hospital's management/patient relations department/whatever they call it. This nurse's behavior was unprofessional and unacceptable.

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I certainly agree that it should be dealt with internally. If each BON were bombarded with complaints that could be handled at a lower level they would never be even close to up to date on serious questions like scope of practice.

It absolutely must be reported up the chain of command and it would be nice if a solution was offered as well as a complaint. "I am sure I can get a member of a group that speaks for and about LGBT issues for an in-service or supply information to be handed out." I would think that the unit manager would be able to stop this kind of behavior quickly. If not, the nurse needs to be away from any area where LGBT issues may arise. I actually cannot think of many nursing jobs that would not come in contact with these issues. I guess scrub nurse in OR, perhaps?

In reality we all see and interact with either LGBT or loved ones. Many people have opinions about LGBT or other identifiers like race, religion, etc. None of those things can get into a set of scrubs if you are a nurse. You either put aside your personal views or get out.

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Specializes in Flight/CCU/Ambulatory Care.

First of all, I'm sorry you and your partner had that negative experience. A lot of people in the world are JERKS, but it makes me especially crazy to hear that nurses are rude to ANYONE in their care. This should be taken to the patient advocate as nurse managers tend to take up for their employees.

On another hand, it is these experiences that make you a better nurse. I went through a similar experience with a family member who was in the hospital and because of that I'm very careful about my body language and how to I speak to patients and their families. In my 7 years of nursing, I have never received a complaint. That's something I can feel proud of.

Good luck to you and I hope your partner is well.

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Shameful and unprofessional. I am sorry you and your partner had to go through this when you are feeling especially vulnerable. I would contact the patient advocate/patient relations/nurse manager/CNO/CEO. I think you need to indicate this on your patient survey. But, I think you need to allow the facility deal with any unprofessional conduct and reports to the BON. I think you are emotionally close to the subject and while she was not professional I am not sure this is BON issue. Allow this to be approached by an objective source....like the management.

Just playing the devils advocate here.......I am sure there has been some family member that you have cared for that you did not make happy....... that got upset over an aspect of your care that they felt was sub par in some way.....would you want them to go to your boss or the board? It's just a thought.

I hope you SO is feeling better and on the road to recovery.....all the best.

You know, I never thought of that... everyone has off-days. I should know this, I used to be a waiter before I became a nurse. I guess I was just a little put off with her comment and the fact that I saw him in pain. Anyways, I think everyone's got great advice and I will make a note about it in the "patient satisfaction" survey, even though I hate those lol. Thanks for the advice and support everyone. :)

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Outrageous!! This is akin to your partner stating that he wouldn't want an nurse of color to take care of him!!

I just don't get what ails people, but that is a story for another thread.

I would certainly bring this to management, and note on survey. Inexcusable. And I dunno, even on an off day, I certainly would not be tugging on IV's and pushing a painful medication fast to cause pain. That is just really sadist, in my opinion.

A nurse can have whatever personal feelings and opinions they would like to, however, they need to keep that to themselves, and further not have any of this affect practice.

I love the idea of doing am inservice at the hospital regarding LGBT issues. It is definetely something that could be a great thing and disspell some "myths" that seem to be more and more prevelant. Also, most hospitals have patient/family advisory councils. You or your partner (or both of you) can ask if perhaps you can be part of that group. It is made up of--in part--former patients It is all about education, policy change, advocacy. And lastly, a gay/straight alliance group is also a great thing. These are all things that you can speak to HR/Nurse Educator/ bring it to the CNO if you have to.

Finally, I hope your partner is feeling better, and know that not all nurses are of the line of thinking of the one you encountered.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I'm so sorry that happened to you.

I find it very concerning that it appears her judgement about you and your partner jumped the track from a display of verbal hostility into the intentional infliction of physical pain. So it very much needs to be brought to the attention of higher authorities.

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Specializes in ICU.

I would definitely report her, and to multiple people.

There is no excuse for that sort of behavior in any profession, but especially nursing. Mistakes are one thing, but discrimination and intentional infliction of pain have absolutely no bearing in a caring profession like nursing and IMO she deserves to lose her job for that.

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