Blame the nurse!

[Tina, RN]

I just read this article. Good job throwing the nurse under the bus, everyone! *sigh*

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/dad-delivers-baby-doctor-nurse-flee-173317007--abc-news-health.html

[SanDiegoCaliRN]

If you'll read the small follow-up at the bottom of the story, it says after release of the publication and a hospital review into the situation, the nurse is claiming she WAS in the room at the moment of delivery but the couple still disputes that. The plot thickens...

[SanDiegoCaliRN]

We don't know the answer to any of those questions. But plain and simple, if the RN wasn't in the room, it's most likely primarily her fault. If she was, it may be no one's fault because emergency C/S's take priority over uncomplicated vag deliveries when push comes to shove.

The hospital should review this case, debrief with all of the involved professionals and put safeguards in place to prevent the incident from happening again. That's one way to make good come from a bad situation. Oh, and train their RNs to deliver if an OB isn't available. This will hopefully be a learning tool for the professionals involved if they can all quit the finger pointing

[MoJoRNBSN]

If you'll read the small follow-up at the bottom of the story, it says after release of the publication and a hospital review into the situation, the nurse is claiming she WAS in the room at the moment of delivery but the couple still disputes that. The plot thickens...

Curiouser and curiouser

[lub dub]

I read the same article, & my impression was that the physician and the nurse were being blamed. Why is the title of this thread "Blame the Nurse!"?

[MoJoRNBSN]

Because, as we all know, **** rolls downhill. As there was no real harm done to the patient, the doc will be absolved of any wrongdoing and the nurse will be reprimanded and maybe even fired.

[lovemyjoblandd]

I'm trying to figure out why this is even news. A nurse can only be in one place at one time. I routinely have more than one patient. Usually an induction/labor and an obs. If we have an emergency C/S usually it's all hands on deck. It sounds to me like this patient was progressing quickly, but we do not know what her dilation was when the doc left the room. I've seen em go from 6 to complete with one dry heave. Maybe the nurse went to grab a cool washcloth for her, or something she needed for delivery. It can happen that fast. If mom and baby are healthy, then I don't see why this should even be a news story.

[T-Bird78]

I was in labor and my L&D nurse was 20 weeks pregnant. She had to step out and drink some juice and let her counterpart know she was out. My husband grabbed my feet and counted as I pushed for my contractions. She came back after a few minutes but hubby was doing the work while she was out! I completely understand and it was a lengthy labor (12 1/2 hours total, 2 hours pushing--big baby) but when you're on that end of the stirrups, in active labor and your nurse leaves you, it's unsettling. Sounds like the hospital needs more L&D nurses on staff each shift.

[Tina, RN]

I read the same article, & my impression was that the physician and the nurse were being blamed. Why is the title of this thread "Blame the Nurse!"?

I used that title because the doctor points a finger directly at the nurse (Is quoted as saying that a nurse should have stayed with the couple, and that the nurse was likely nervous about being in the room alone). The dad also points a finger directly at the nurse (Said: The nurse said, "You have to wait". Is quoted as saying, "A nurse should be there with you.")

So, even if the doctor is partially responsible, to me it looks like everyone's first instinct was to blame the nurse.

[lovemyjoblandd]

Oh this is rich. Our hospital decides on when we can hire a new nurse based on how many deliveries ( and deliveries only) we do a month. Nevermind the endless amount of triages, the mag patients, the overnight obs, the nst's etc. apparently those patients dont require nursing hours. Our deliveries have been down and we have list a nurse on nights. We cant hire anybody new so we all end up working overtime and taking absurd amounts of call.

[dlcjrnlac]

I'm guessing her comments were truncated and largely taken out of context. I guarantee that had she even been able to stay to deliver the infant (she was maybe required to be in the emergency c-section?), she would have gotten in major trouble for performing medicine. I have seen nurses attempt to slow a birth to give the doctor time to enter a room to deliver. Why? Because delivering is outside RN scope. She was hosed either way. I find a significant part of nursing administration is finding a place to land blame. An RN pretty much always gets the direct hit of the backfire blast.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Oh, ha ha the "Bethesda" threw me off :)

This Bethesda is down in the general vicinity of the Ft.Lauderdale/ Palm Beach/ Delray east coast of Florida. Home of lg numbers of ForProfit hospitals, overly entitled pts, generally poor ratios, and an emphasis on LookGood Customer service is more important than good safe quality health. Hospitals that have nurses baking and passing fresh cookies, but can't provide adequate sinks in crucial to wash hands and refuse to mark (or tell the nurse) rooms that are on isolation precautions, because it might make the pt "feel bad". Of pts admitted on the medical unit, but actually being treated for major issues.... Mustn't put them on the Psych unit, it makes them look bad to their visitors.

I don't know this story but would not be surprised if the nurse was pulled in to assist or fetch supplies for the csection. I have yet to have known an MD from that area to do a procedure with at least 1-2 nurses required to assist them, no matter what else is going on in a unit.