Can I get Fired?

Nurses General Nursing

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Can I get fired for starting an iv on myself at work? Co workers and I were talking about it. Just a needle and some alcohol not even flushed just got in and took it out. Scared about getting fired now.

6 hours ago, Nurselexii said:

Lol true , but do they practice clean sterile technique , check for blood return , and then attach the extension tubing to their IV Catheter, To assure proper flow with such skill and precision??? Lol

I mean yes it is absolutely ridiculous to think a person obviously starting an IV on themselves as a prank is a junkie. Especially if nurse, u can get all the insulin needles you want, it will be less painful and annoying to use that.

But this is admin we are talking about they only think legal risk and often dont care for staff. Opiate issues are so hot right now i can easily see some administration acting as a premptive cya for some zero tolerance policy.

I agree likely NOTHING will happen but i would NEVER fool around in any way what so ever with this topic simply because of how hot it is in society. It's like joking about being a communist in the 50s.

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Just why would you want to even consider starting an IV on yourself. Are you that sick you need an IV? Hahaha If you have time to think about this you need another job or need to get your current job done to the standards of any professional nurse would!!!Lol

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Specializes in Tele/Interventional/Non-Invasive Cardiology.
9 hours ago, NooNieNursie said:

Srsly i think sometimes people come on here just to feel better about themselves by proving they are the most diligent, capable, super nurse in the world who would NEVER waste an IV start kit zomg.

Precisely. I’m not saying the OP didn’t do something incorrect. But my word, accusing him/her of embezzlement and not meeting the standards of professional nursing? Over someone starting an IV on his/herself?

I guess I should have my license taken away and made to do a perp walk when I drank juices and ate pudding from the nutrition room. ??

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It could go both ways.

I had a friend who fainted and had a rapid response called on her after she vasovagaled from her preceptees iv poke. She was just letting the new nurse practice. Both nurses kept their jobs. The incident was laughed off.

Another nurse at my work lost her job from starting an iv without an order on surgical patient.

I guess it boils down to if they like you or not.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
2 hours ago, cleback said:

It could go both ways.

I had a friend who fainted and had a rapid response called on her after she vasovagaled from her preceptees iv poke. She was just letting the new nurse practice. Both nurses kept their jobs. The incident was laughed off.

Another nurse at my work lost her job from starting an iv without an order on surgical patient.

I guess it boils down to if they like you or not.

"I guess it boils down to if they like you or not".

Bingo.

A guy in my former ED started an IV on himself because he was ill--I am not sure what the hell he thought an IV would do for him---although we didn't see it until he came out from the room that we used for family members to rest. Maybe he did give himself a bolus or......?? He didn't say. But we all told him...YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

I have no idea why you started this IV on yourself---but besides the fact that you literally stole supplies from the hospital and did a procedure on an unregistered patient, without an order---but it was foolish in other ways.

What if you had vagaled and fainted---cracking your head open as a result? Now you get to explain it all plus have a work related injury.

I worked at another place that fired a guy (and this was a unionized shop but he was a traveler)---for leaving work with flushes in his pocket. They chased him out into the parking lot and then fired him the next day.

It depends on whether or not they like you. Guy 1 and Guy 2 both got fired. One in a "right to work" state, with no union and the other in a heavily protected, unionized state.

You can get fired for something as nebulous as "not a good fit" in "right to work" states. So be warned.

The reason, IMHO, that some places don't fire those that need firing? Because it usually ends up in unemployment mediation. It takes time, money and effort for the employer to fight you at mediation if they deny your unemployment application. Some states have as little as 13 weeks of 66% benefits---so it's really not worth the employer to go to a hearing. They'll simply blackball you and put you on a "Do Not Rehire" list.

It's really curious to see the "theories" about how and why employers will or will not do something to rid themselves of a problem employee. Employers only do what they are legally bound to do---and past that? They will find a way around your legal maneuvering. This has nothing to do with what's "right".

Listen. Go to work. Do your d***n job. Seriously. Why in the sam hell, in this economic climate would you deliberately test the boundaries of what your employer "could" fire you for?

Being harsh, I know. But this was.....something that makes me question your decision making process.

There is no shortage of new grad nurses to take ANYONE's place here....so this sort of nonsense? Whether it's "fun" and "interesting" to do on a slow night? It's not the "killjoy" and "buzzkill" that you should even worry about--its the real consequences to your own safety (and your job) that should concern you.

Would you put an IV in on a patient that is not registered? Another co worker was fired for giving a neb treatment to one of our own who was having an asthma attack.

So, to answer you---even if you are unionized---YES. You can and may be fired for this. Depends on whether they like you or not.

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Specializes in Adult Primary Care.

OP never came back or responded!

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Maybe for wasting Hospital Supplies! If they really wanted to pursue it.

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On 4/2/2019 at 9:24 AM, Minniegirl0604 said:

Can I get fired for starting an iv on myself at work? Co workers and I were talking about it. Just a needle and some alcohol not even flushed just got in and took it out. Scared about getting fired now.

New member huh? I'm sorry, does anyone else thing this is a made up post?

I can only think of one reason why someone would start an IV on themselves at work...and it's not for practice.

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On 4/2/2019 at 9:24 AM, Minniegirl0604 said:

Can I get fired for starting an iv on myself at work? Co workers and I were talking about it. Just a needle and some alcohol not even flushed just got in and took it out. Scared about getting fired now.

No, you cannot get fired for this.

In order to get fired, you would have to be a real.

I am pretty sure you are actually just a collection of keystrokes.

Of course, that means there is something wrong with me, communicating with a fictional character.

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I got fired for riding in a wheelchair from one side of the building to the other. “Horseplay”

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On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 9:15 AM, beekee said:

Well, they can still fire you. They just have to pay unemployment if they do.

ETA: Regardless of the appropriate term, they can get rid of you. In the end, it really doesn’t matter as you don’t have a job. Unemployment is usually quite a small sum, if you qualify for it.

I have never been able to make my rent with an unemployment check or three.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
21 hours ago, caliotter3 said:

I have never been able to make my rent with an unemployment check or three.

For sure, unemployment doesn't come close to paying the bills. My husband used to be a seasonal worker and collected unemployment the off season. The money helped but if we had to live on it no way we could have made it.

But unemployment would be off the table in this case anyway, a person fired with cause doesn't qualify so if the employer has a valid reason for firing somebody and in this case they would the OP would just be denied anyway.

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