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Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C



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No. 30
Old Jul 07, 2009, 06:22 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
Originally Posted by dean4nea View Post
I think this is not the only crime he committed. Surely there is more to his case.
Why do you think this?
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No. 31
Old Jul 07, 2009, 06:43 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
Originally Posted by nu2id View Post
I just don't understand how a tech has access to fentanyl. This is awful. What a disgrace to nursing and the hospital. Rose Med Center was considered the elite of hospitals when I was in Denver 9 years ago. So sad that people become so self centered that they can't think of consequences. It seems as though the med center is negligent in not having proper procedure in place so a tech would not be capable of acquiring this med. It will definitely be interesting on how this all turns out.
There's no disgrace to NURSING. This was an OR Technician, not a NURSE. And Anesthesia are either MD's or APN's. There is no disgrace to NURSING or the great majority of NURSES who would never harm their patients.

As for self-centeredness, we are dealing with ADDICTION. An ADDICT would cut off his right hand for a fix. Would sell his baby or his own mother. ADDICTION is a terrible DISEASE. Not an excuse, I just want people to know that ADDICTION is horrible and it makes ADDICTS do terrible things. Mandatory withdrawal and rehab, then prison would be the right course of action.

I'm still wondering how the hospital could have avoided tghis. From what I recall seeing Anesthesia do when I worked OR, they would leave their machines unattended between cases. They had lots of meds drawn up in various syringes, which were just laid right on top of their machines. Not locked up. Everyone in the OR suite had access to them. Very careless. That's likely what happened, or else the Anesthesia staff were somehow in on this tech's behavior.
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No. 32
Old Jul 07, 2009, 07:23 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
They are calling here a NURSE all over the news here in Denver....why is it if you wear scrubs you are a nurse! I e-mailed the new channel and told them she was a TECH even worse they had a story talking about if they should regulate techs but were calling her a nurse the whole time :eyeroll:

One good thing is they are showing this women's face all over the news
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No. 33
Old Jul 07, 2009, 08:00 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
My friend who is a phlebotomist had a knee injury due to a car accident last fall, and she has been in a knee brace since, and she has been turned down phlebotomy jobs at the clinics and hospitals because "She is a liability", but a Surgical Tech with a history of drug abuse and Hep C can work in a hospital? What the French Toast?!?!?
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No. 34
from Jarnaes
Old Jul 07, 2009, 08:34 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
Yes, anesthesia providers always have meds drawn up & available on their carts, but those meds are not narcotics.
IMHO: If any provider is stupid enough to leave the narcotics out unattended, they deserve disciplinary action right along with the person who took advantage of the situation.
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No. 35
Old Jul 07, 2009, 09:26 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
Can a hospital/surgery center lose their accreditations over something like this? Not only the Tech is in trouble, but this can fall on the doctors and others in that place!
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No. 36
Old Jul 07, 2009, 10:41 PM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
I was thinking the same thoughts about the lack of control of a controlled substance. The narcs are never out of my sight.
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No. 37
from gentle
Old Jul 08, 2009, 12:57 AM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
Originally Posted by blueheaven View Post
A tech getting fentanyl???? Hmmm we only allow RNs to have anything to do with that drug. We keep tight control of our narcs.

I wonder if the employer knew she had a drug history?? Just because someone has Hep is no reason to prevent someone from working.

So does everyone else?????????????????????? What if she is one of those folks who is a non responder to hep chemo and she exposed all these people to the same strain????????

Sorry, she needs to go up for attempted murder. Granted it make take 20 or 30 years for these folks to get to end stage, but the result is the same!

Exactly.

I too believe a horrifying line has been crossed and now the question is attempted homicide. Not to mention that fact that families, partners, etc have now been infected or stand a chance of being infected by her chosen act. Not good.
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No. 38
from Ginger45
Old Jul 08, 2009, 11:04 AM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
I read about this and was just sick to my stomach. How could someone do such a thing. I worked at a hospital once where they had found several nurses in the bathroom using drugs. I was shocked. But this is just beyond words. This nurse needs to go to jail for a long time.
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No. 39
Old Jul 08, 2009, 11:20 AM

Default Re: Addicted hospital worker exposed hundreds of patients to Hep C
OMG... I can just imagine these poor patients begging for some relief from pain and being eyeballed as drug seekers... when they were in agony the whole time. SMH.
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