Well.. I guess I am going to be canned

Nurses Safety

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Hi all

I am a new nurse 4 mos off orientation working on a med/surge nuero floor 6 patient ratio. Its a brutal floor and yet.. I manage to survive albeit exhausted and oft times just disillusioned with the Candy Land notion of nursing I had in school.

So, what did I do? I let someone work outside of their scope of practice under my watch. Yes and now I have to go to Human Resources to have an interview b/c said patient has a PTSD issue (pysch) and it could potentially turn into a law suit. A housekeeper applied tape to a bandage, that was the practice outside of scope and told me and I didn't report it to my manager, who later found out.

I apologized to the patient, management and see the error in my ways and am now feeling like a dang fool. So, pray that I can salvage my job, but I think I will get the boot.

Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.

Its a given that-"No the housekeeping staff doesn't do patient care."

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Its a given that-"No the housekeeping staff doesn't do patient care."

Better send the memo to Vanderbilt...:blink:

Hmm....I have a feeling there is more to the story here....

Specializes in Geriatrics/family medicine.

This reminds me of what happened to me, I felt like I was being ganged up on, educator,hr and unit manager all aganist me, they wrote on the paper despite three meetings no improvements, they said I lacked in every area, what about more education, I was a new nurse there, there were so many basics no one ever showed me or educated me about, they blamed it all my deficiences, not staffing or my lack of training that they were supposed to provide me in the first place. They failed me and didn't help me improve or accept their down points, not easy trying to master skills and do CNA work along with it because they didn't deem it necessary to hire more help. At first i was depressed but later realized someone would have gone to the board of nursing later on had I stayed on and not caught up in the areas I was weak in, which according to HR was everything. I pity the nurse that left a nursing home to go work at the hospital, I did pay her a warning but no idea where she is now.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Hmm....I have a feeling there is more to the story here....

She explained what happened...what more would you like to know?? Just curious about your comment... :whistling:

Specializes in PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho.

I have never seen the pictures. I am aware of the detail that the coffee bordered on molten lava. The serving temperature was under McDonald's control and was indeed too hot.

It also comes down to prudence on the customer's part as well. I assume that coffee is hot. I don't put the cup of hot coffee in my crotch. I put it in a cup holder. I also don't try to drink it while driving. There was certainly some ill-advised action on the customer's part.

I studied that case in a business law class & also saw the documentary referred to in a previous post. The elderly lady was not driving & the driver had pulled to the side in the parking lot before the incident happened to get their food distributed. She had to have skin grafts due to burns, never fully recovered after the whole ordeal & died within a few years.

Sorry, had to add my 2ยข cause usually comments regarding that case annoy me.

Specializes in Gerontology RN-BC and FNP MSN student.

Better send the memo to Vanderbilt...:blink:

live and learn :-)

I believe the suit is frivolous, but I thought the McDonald's coffee suit was too. Duh, coffee's hot. Don't spill it!

I think the patient & her lawyer could possibly make enough noise that the hospital offers them a settlement just to make them go away.

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And if you're a company that has been warned multiple times to stop selling coffee that's at RIDICULOUSLY UNSAFE temperatures, duh, stop heating it that hot! THAT is why she got the money, punitive damages. Because THAT is what it took for McDs to finally learn their lesson.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
I have never seen the pictures. I am aware of the detail that the coffee bordered on molten lava. The serving temperature was under McDonald's control and was indeed too hot.

It also comes down to prudence on the customer's part as well. I assume that coffee is hot. I don't put the cup of hot coffee in my crotch. I put it in a cup holder. I also don't try to drink it while driving. There was certainly some ill-advised action on the customer's part.

I know people who now don't order hot coffee at McDonald's because they find it too cool for their tastes. I prefer iced coffee drinks, so this particular issue never affected my coffee consumption. :-D

It's not a debate point. I think both parties were responsible for their contributions to what ultimately led to the customer's injury. I think the prudent thing to do would have been to cover medical expenses with no punitive awards.

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The only thing originally requested from McDonald's was for her medical bills to be paid. If McD's had done the right thing in the first place no one would have ever heard of it!

PS No cup holders in a Ford Probe in 1992. She was not driving; she was a passenger in a car that was pulled over in the parking lot. If I recall correctly, she spilled it while trying to take the lid off to add cream or sugar. (Or both. I don't remember how the late Stella liked her coffee.)

PPS Her comparative negligence was taken into account in the jury's original decision. (She was found 20% negligent for her part, which near as I can tell was to put a cup of coffee between her legs, spill it, and dare to be wearing pants that weren't waterproof.)

PPPS She never got the full jury award; the parties settled during post-trial appeals.

Specializes in Going to Peds!.

Guess I'm spoiled by my vehicle that seats 5, but has 8 cup holders.

I'll sit down & hush because I've spoken out of turn regarding the McDonald's coffee suit. It's much more complex than the initial glance. :-D I'm a big girl who can say I'm wrong!

They never do get the full award. Attorneys for both sides continue to file assorted motions and appeals and counters. Eventually, a settlement is reached. Or a higher court enforces, overturns or alters a lower court's ruling.

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Maybe the housekeeper read the Vanderbilt post about handing nurses a mop and bucket?:down:

(I'm sorry...just trying to make the OP smile, if that's possible.)

If you are fired over that, I would say your job did YOU a favor. I really wouldn't worry about it. But if management wants to know who puts tape on whomever, I would bombard them with it from this moment forward. I cannot count the number of times a housekeeper has walked into a room and actually prevented a patient from falling instead of saying, "hang on while I go get your nurse". But if a bandaid is worth your job, I say enjoy the vacation until the next door opens.

Okay this made me laugh out loud :) I wonder if the housekeepers are worried for their jobs now that the nurses have the mops? LOL!

Specializes in Consultation Liaison Psychiatry.

Unfortunately, litigation usually leads to out of court settlements because the cost of a legal battle is greater than a settlement. Frivolous claims still involve expensive resources ( lawyers) so settlement is the easy way out. This pt wouldn't even need to claim harm; she could report the RN to the board and there would be disciplinary action because there is no defensible reason for allowing an untrained, unlicensed person to touch a patient.

It's a hard lesson to learn but this involved a third practice issue and I understand the hospital's actions. Would it be preferable to discipline rather than fire the original poster? I certainly think so but they were within their rights to proceed as they did.

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