Nurse as a Patient, treated badly, wanting to rant

Not to be a pain here, but I can't help but wonder. So many people here seem to be all about formal complaints etc. I know that you were not well and I don't mean to be insensitive, but did you try talking to your nurse or the charge nurse and conveying your feelings? I mean, are we not all about communicating? There is an old saying, "If I do something nice, please tell my boss, if I did something wrong then please tell me". I understand your frustration, but you are no regular patient. You are a nurse. A professional. I think your feelings were justified, but I am not sure signing out AMA was the right answer.

I am not sure what to tell you about the heparin and PICC line. I probably would not wake a patient IF we had made acquaintance earlier, but that is me. I agree regarding the PICC line. Sounds like someone is confused, but who knows what the hospital policy was regarding PICC lines.

I was a patient not too long ago and I did not care for the treatment I received. I did not complain to anyone but my caregiver. I wasn't confrontational about it. I just explained my point of view.
That interaction ended well. It might have gone south, but I wanted to give a fellow professional the benefit of the doubt.

Just my .02. Bottom line, I hope you are doing better, and I wish you a speedy recovery.
Ivan

I have to disagree with a previous poster stating that you can not use a PICC placed at a previous facility. Of course you can as long as it meets certain criteria.....which I wil state. Think about it for a minute....do you refuse to use other medical devices when patients arrive at your facility. Do you replace every urinary catheter,temporary dialysis catheter,PEG tubes.PIVs ...I could go on an on...but you get it. It is common practice now to in some way to confirm and document the status of the line. For example,if you told me the PICC was placed the day before and I did not have your record to prove the amt externally visible and a verified SVC tip placement and that there is no change in the amt externally visible....You order a CXR. This is a sample of what I would document..... Patient arrived with a dual lumen bard solo power PICC that has been placed in the right basilic vein. There is 2 cm externally visible and arm circ 9 cm above the ACF is 28 cm...the dsg is CDI and both lumens have a brisk blood return and flushed per protocol with ease. There are no s/sx of any PICC related complications observed. The MD was notified of the above and a CXR was ordered to verify PICC tip placement. The CXR was done at 1415 and the tip of the PICC has been verified in the distal SVC. Of course,follow your hospital policy and procedures for care issues. I can not begin to tell you haw many PICCs we place for patients going to SNFs to complete their course of IV abx,and all the other PICCs we place for other long term IV therapy needs such as chemotherapy. Many of these patients are in and out of many hospitals and keep their PICCs for months on end. A PICC should not be looked at as a PIV ( easy in...easy out). It is a time consuming,expensive procedure and patients should not be put through an unnecessary procedure b/c no one at the hospital know a how to deal with a patient coming in with a perfectly good CVC. I would have done the same exact thing you did. You are also correct in that it would have been considered battery if they forced you against your will and took out your PICC

I hope to not ever be taken care of by a nurse who would stick me with a needle with out first waking me up, telling me what they are doing and what medication they are giving me! I am dumbfounded that anyone would do this or defend this! The 5 rights and 3 checks were created for a reason, MISTAKES HAPPEN. Beyond ID checks you are supposed to tell the patient what medication you are giving them and what the route is and HEPARIN!!!!!!!!!Seriously!with all of the media attention surrounding this medication and things that have gone wrong wouldn't you if for no other reason than self preservation want to make sure that you followed hospital policy regarding medication administration.what if there was a medication error and the patient wasn't supposed to get heparin? everybody makes mistakes Dr's, Nurses, Pharmacy what if there was an allergy or the myriad of other things that could go wrong in this situation. And the patient has the right to REFUSE the medication, you have just taken this right away from the patient. And to stick someone with a needle without their permission, or knowledge etc is illegal and unethical. Can anyone on this thread honestly say that they would be ok with this happening to them or a loved one? And what does this series of events say about this nurse? and what other short cuts is he/she taking? And as nurses we are the lucky ones that have knowledge that lay people don't have about the goings on in a hospital so if these things are happening it absolutely should be reported in an effort to prevent these things form happening to other people, people that don't have the benefit of our knowledge, and experience, and may not be able to advocate for themselves.