Most shocking thing you've seen another nurse do?

Nurses Relations

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SNF. RN supervisor summoned (overhead, at about 0300) me to one of her rooms. She was attempting to insert an NG tube in an alert man, about 40, alcoholic, with varices. Told me she felt a 'blockage'. She was holding the tube as though it were a fork, and she was 'stabbing' something. She rammed the tube down, pulled back, then rammed it again- until blood exloded out the tube. I suctioned him really quick and the suction tubing, canister and filters became packed with blood. I ran out and called 911, came back told her "Get the **** away from him! What are you DOING"?. I was suspended, for allowing her, an RN, my supervisor, to be so incompetent. Was told I should have known she was incompetent, and should have 'taken the NG from her and inserted it yourself'. Oh, really. Yes, he died. She was 'asked to resign', because her son was the medical director of the place. The panic on that man's face is clear today, and that was 25 years ago. BTW- I don't think an LVN should insert NG tubes, it's as crazy as giving TPN. Out of bounds, my opinion.

Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Float Pool/Stepdown.

[COLOR=#003366]Baubo516, Hopefully this helps answer your question and makes sense :sorry:

In my facility we often get orders to replace the amount of a patients NG tube drainage. The order will say to replace 1/2 of the NG output with NS IVF over 8 hours and will show up in the MAR at 1400, 2200, and 0600 and Here's how it goes:

NG tube drainage was 600 cc over 8 hours

Divide the 600 cc in half and then divide by 8 hrs = 25 cc/hr

Titrate Pt 0.9 or NS IVF to 25 cc/hr to help replace fluids lost from GI system

*The replacement fluids may be the primary fuid or piggy-backed into the primary fluids in which case only the replacement fluid is titrated and if piggy-backed into a primary IVF, that IVF stays the same.

This is why I hate threads like this-they always go down that road........I worked with an RN once who saw me flying into our patient's room with the crash cart and kept walking to the breakroom to apply lipstick after her lunch.Now what do her credentials have to do with anything? We have ALL worked with people who have done really dumb and dangerous stuff..Maybe I misunderstood your post-were you the RN supe or was the evildoer the RN supe? Why make the comment denigrating LVN's/LPN's? I think I'm done with this type of thread.Life is too short.

I was the LVN that the RN called for help- she's the one who killed the patient. I'm the one that was suspended, because they knew she was an incompetent mess from day one, and I as the polar opposite was thrown under the bus. I can run circles around lots of nurses- fact. But, NG tubes and TPN, are meant for 'professional nurses', as some like to be called- and their background in science, theory, A&P, etc. It can't be both ways- either the scope of LVNs is limited by their education, or it isn't. And if not, explain the constant pressure for RNs for 'more school', constantly? I'm relating what I have seen in 30 years, and why I make such comments. Hardly, am I denigrating anybody- much less myself. Not only that? In PN school I never even 'heard' of an NG tube, that was 'on the spot' training in a SNF. Uncool. Dangerous. Out of my scope, anyway- even by now I've inserted 1000 of them, maybe- but they are becoming as rare as the dinosaurs, fortunately. I hail from the Dark Ages- what, he won't eat? Shove an NG tube down his throat! We all have opinions, fine by me. Obviously the controversial ideas I create in here are being enjoyed by the audience. It's an educational process, called 'reality check'.

I am a nursing student and I'm happy that I understand most of the stories in this thread... but what does this mean?

"replace NG drainage IV q4h with NS"

I would read that as "replace nasogastric drainage tube every 4 hours with normal saline." I know what a nasogastric tube is, and I know that it can be used to drain secretions from the stomach... what does it mean to replace it with normal saline? Or does this mean something else completely? Just curious...

The tube is used to decompress his gut, maybe? And rather than return the stomach fluid back into the stomach, replace it with an equal amount of saline to prevent dehydration? I'm guessing there's something in his stomach they want to get out?

I walked in and witnessed a nurse (colleague) stealing narcotics. He thought he was clever. He withdrew Dilaudid, MS04 etc, via needle and replaced with normal saline.

Not to mention, can anyone spell 'camera'....?

I was new grad 4 months on the floor, the doctor put order for me to insert ng tube for a woman with esophageal varices vomiting blood. I told the doctor that I won't execute your order it is unsafe, he was mad. glad I refused.

Did he do it himself?

Specializes in hospice.

during my first and only hospital job, my charge nurse hung blood on the wrong patient. He didn't follow protocol, or it wouldn't have happened, but when he did realize what he did, he took it down and hung the same unit of blood on the correct pt. The first pt had a different blood type, but I think she was fine. He didn't tell anyone at first and tried to cover it up, that is what got him fired. Never saw him again.

Specializes in Peds PDN, Med-surg.
:eek: Oh my... these stories are crazy! And a little scary..tisk tisk.

So true, SuzieVN,

I wish I'd had a camera to catch the narcotic-stealer in the act. It hurt me to see it because I considered him a trusted colleague in a very stressful unit. I called the Nurse Manager immediately ("Please come to MICU stat"). He was fired immediately and reported to the BON.

Specializes in Tele.
Did he do it himself?

no he didn't, he did tranfer her to the icu.

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.
during my first and only hospital job, my charge nurse hung blood on the wrong patient. He didn't follow protocol, or it wouldn't have happened, but when he did realize what he did, he took it down and hung the same unit of blood on the correct pt. The first pt had a different blood type, but I think she was fine. He didn't tell anyone at first and tried to cover it up, that is what got him fired. Never saw him again.

That is scary! Wow just Wow!

Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

I was working in a med-surg floor one night. I had a newer nurse come up to me and tell me that the dynamap was reading her pt HR as 180. She said should I recheck it? (I said YES, and get the monitor off the crash cart just in case!). I got the monitor off the cart, and went to the room. She looked at me and said her HR is really, really fast. The pt appeared to look fine, but then said she had some chest discomfort. Hooked her up to the monitor and she was in SVT at 180-200. I had the house PA up there STAT, and busted open the crash cart for adenosine. PA gave her the dose and she converted. Had this nurse not come to me her pt would have been like that for a long time.

Same nurse asked if she really had to crush coreg to go down a peg tube because it was so small.

She also lied multiple times about her house catching fire and being unable to work. She lied about a family member dying too.

She was one scary nurse.

jeannepaul

In every facility where I have worked, the entire process of delivering blood to a patient is witnessed and signed off by two (2) nurses. How did this happen, that a "charge nurse" hung blood on the wrong patient?

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