Most shocking thing you've seen another nurse do?

Nurses Relations

Published

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 Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
The charge nurse with 20 plus years experience in ER gave the fake epipen injection to a resident having severe allergic reaction.

WOW! :facepalm:

A dialysis nurse rang the patient call light to let me know that the patient had "suddenly become unresponsive and had no blood pressure." I was the only nurse on the floor and was doing a dressing change in another room, but heard the call light going off for several minutes before I got in there. The patient was grey and obviously dead. The nurse was still fiddling with the dialysis machine.

BTW, can any nurses out there tell me what could cause a patient to suddenly die right after being hooked up to a dialysis machine? I'm thinking clot? Is it nurse error or just bad luck? Thanks.

A dialysis nurse rang the patient call light to let me know that the patient had "suddenly become unresponsive and had no blood pressure." I was the only nurse on the floor and was doing a dressing change in another room, but heard the call light going off for several minutes before I got in there. The patient was grey and obviously dead. The nurse was still fiddling with the dialysis machine.

BTW, can any nurses out there tell me what could cause a patient to suddenly die right after being hooked up to a dialysis machine? I'm thinking clot? Is it nurse error or just bad luck? Thanks.

Oh my goodness! Are there not code blue buttons!? Not that she could have made more of an effort even if there wasn't.

Specializes in Oncology.
A dialysis nurse rang the patient call light to let me know that the patient had "suddenly become unresponsive and had no blood pressure." I was the only nurse on the floor and was doing a dressing change in another room but heard the call light going off for several minutes before I got in there. The patient was grey and obviously dead. The nurse was still fiddling with the dialysis machine. BTW, can any nurses out there tell me what could cause a patient to suddenly die right after being hooked up to a dialysis machine? I'm thinking clot? Is it nurse error or just bad luck? Thanks.[/quote']

OMG!! What did she think was going to happen with the machine?! Crazy

Specializes in Hospice.

We had a nurse hang Primacor and run it in as an antibiotic (200m/hr). Thankfully he survived, when the nurse was questioned she stated she thought it was an antibiotic. It clearly stated on the bag what to run the gtt at.

Had a CNA take a patients o2 (6L hiflo)off to take him to the bathrm even though it was written on white board to ambulate with o2. The family was present and told the CNA the o2 had to be left on. The patient ended up on the bathrm floor not breathing. It was my patient and I was furious. The patient survived but ended up in ICU.

Recently during a code the patient was in v-fib and resident was calling it PEA, wouldn't let us shock. The code leader told him it was v-fib but resident said, "He doesn't have a pulse so it's PEA." Then asked if anybody had any suggestions, we all shouted SHOCK. Someone tried to explain that you don't have a pulse with v-fib but the silly resident didn't believe us. Needless to say the patient died and the resident was reported. What is really frustrating about this is our policy changed about 2 months ago and the nurses can not administer medications or shock without an order from the resident if he/she is present. Why are we ACLS certified then? Exception is in ICU, we can shock prior to resident being present but cannot admin drugs. Can anybody say crazy.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
On our paper MAR the insulin orders read:

Novolog 100 units/ML vial. Give XX units SC with meals provided BS is 150 or greater.

One morning our RN supervisor had to pass meds due to the LPN calling sick. (RNs almost never pass meds at our facility). A resident had an order for 8 units of Novolog with breakfast. This RN read the MAR, saw the part that said the vials were "100 units/ML" and thought the order said to give 100 units of Novolog. She drew up 100 units of Novolog and administered it...

Can I just say that I HATE the way nursing home MARS are written. You know, with the unit dose first and the dose to be administered second? When I have an admission from a nursing home, it takes me twice as long to review the meds because of that. I'm deathly afraid that I'll put the unit dose rather than the pt's dose. Like, metoprolol 25mg tab. Metoprolol 12.5 mg PO BID. Because a 25mg dose is not unusual, I wonder how often the wrong dose is administered inpatient because of the way NH MARs are written. It's scary.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
I once helped a nurse giving an enema... into lady parts. I was holding the patient on the other side, so I did not see where the tube was going. Only later when I leaned over to see what was going on, I was like, 'oh **** did she just put that in the wrong hole?'

Confusing urethra and lady parts is understandable, but orifice and lady parts??

Confession alert!!!!

I'll admit that a slick suppository slipped into the lady parts of a patient I had. Thank goodness she had a good sense of humor and said, "Um, honey. Wrong hole." Remember, they are only about an inch away from each other, and depending on how deep you have to go between the butt cheeks while the patient is laying on her side all squished up, it can be embarrassingly easy to do!

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.

Recently during a code the patient was in v-fib and resident was calling it PEA, wouldn't let us shock. The code leader told him it was v-fib but resident said, "He doesn't have a pulse so it's PEA." Then asked if anybody had any suggestions, we all shouted SHOCK. Someone tried to explain that you don't have a pulse with v-fib but the silly resident didn't believe us. Needless to say the patient died and the resident was reported. What is really frustrating about this is our policy changed about 2 months ago and the nurses can not administer medications or shock without an order from the resident if he/she is present. Why are we ACLS certified then? Exception is in ICU, we can shock prior to resident being present but cannot admin drugs. Can anybody say crazy.

I hope they're prepared for a lot more deaths. That is insane. Hmm, a nurse with 20 years of experience, who's taken ACLS 10 times, or some yahoo who graduated Medical School of the Caribbean (please bring your own cadaver) exactly one month ago? Who is better equipped to make a decision? Whoever made this decision should be personally held accountable for the deaths that are inevitably going to result.

Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
A dialysis nurse rang the patient call light to let me know that the patient had "suddenly become unresponsive and had no blood pressure." I was the only nurse on the floor and was doing a dressing change in another room, but heard the call light going off for several minutes before I got in there. The patient was grey and obviously dead. The nurse was still fiddling with the dialysis machine.

BTW, can any nurses out there tell me what could cause a patient to suddenly die right after being hooked up to a dialysis machine? I'm thinking clot? Is it nurse error or just bad luck? Thanks.

This has to be one of the scariest on here! I hope the dialysis nurse got reported

Oh my God. Glad you where there!

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
A dialysis nurse rang the patient call light to let me know that the patient had "suddenly become unresponsive and had no blood pressure." I was the only nurse on the floor and was doing a dressing change in another room, but heard the call light going off for several minutes before I got in there. The patient was grey and obviously dead. The nurse was still fiddling with the dialysis machine.

BTW, can any nurses out there tell me what could cause a patient to suddenly die right after being hooked up to a dialysis machine? I'm thinking clot? Is it nurse error or just bad luck? Thanks.

Some dialysis "nurses" are not nurses....they are technicians.

A technician torqued my fathers VAS cath in an attempt to get the cap off...after I warned her to NOT use two metal hemostats to get it off, AND told her I was a critical care RN....she fractured his catheter. I told them how to temporaily fix it..no one listened

It was a late Friday night and I was "assured he would be fine until Monday" and it wasn't "necessary to call the team in for this"......I told the MD (who I knew well) that I will hold him personally responsible if anything happened I had a bad feeling.....my Dad coded 13 hours later and died.

I miss you so.....

When i was a nursing student back in my home country, I had my duty at the medical surgical ward. My patient has a stab wound on his abdomen. Due to the limited amount of supplies to stop the bleeding from the surgery to repair his wound, they had to put a sanitary napkin on his incision instead of a gauze.

That's being resourceful:)

+ Add a Comment