Code Gone Wrong

[h20rn]

First Time Traveler....half Way Through My Contract And Have Witnessed Multiple Patient Safety Issues And Two Sentinal Events. I Have Voiced My Concerns To The Dirrector Of The Icu And He Said, "i Wish People Would Just Show Up And Do Their Jobs And Not Worry About A Bunch Of Other Stuff". This Morning A 27 Y/o Female Was Intubated In The Right Mainstem And Despite All Of The Obvious Signs Pointing To Anoxia, The Md Refused To Reintubate Until He Got The X-ray Back...basically 45 Min Into The Code. X-ray Showed What All The Signs Were Pointing To And Pt Now Has Anoxic Brain Injury. Also Md Refused To Put In A Line, Order Gtts Or...ok You Get The Point. I Cant Stand By And Be A Part Of This Anymore So I Called My Agency And Asked To Break My Contract....they Will Charge Me 2500.00. Anyone Have Anything Similar Happen? Do I Really Have To Pay Due To A Grossly Negligent Hospital? Am I Over Reacting? Please Advise.

[herecomestrouble]

I'm not a traveler but I would definitely hand in my resignation along with a letter describing the problems and get out of Dodge.It seems to me there must be some way of getting out of paying all that money but even if it costs you it's cheaper than losing your license and livelihood.Best wishes in getting out of this horrible situation.

Terry

[GilaRRT]

You need to look your contract over. You should have signed a contract prior to taking the assignment.

The situation you describe is a serious problem. Anoxic brain injury related to airway management is a very big deal. This is such a big deal that there are airway courses all over the place designed to provide additional education and cover some of these issues. In fact anoxic brain injury from airway ,mis management is not an uncommon law suit.

This issue need to go up the chain of command. I would hope the entire event was charted very well. I see no problem with charting your findings, charting your multiple attempts to get the doc to realize a problem exists and rectify the problem, and charting the docs response to your concerns.

These are just my opinions and perhaps you may need to shut up and lawyer up if things get ugly.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

Forgive me if I sound judgemental, but I keep reading here about travelers who get stuck in contracts and complain about how the hospitals they get assigned to are inadequate and how they need to break their contracts because they just can't compromise their personal standards.

I kind of think that people who travel should realize ahead of time that they don't get to pick and choose the hospitals and if they have really high standards they should not be a traveler but instead carefully select a hospital they want to work for and become a regular employee.

[OC_An Khe]

Travel assignments can be either good or bad. But when they are bad they are usually a disaster. Learn from this expirience and look closely at your future contracts to see what type of recourse you have if you get in a similar situation. Hospitals that use travelers routinely raise a red flag in my mind as to why they can not retain enough staff. (Seasonal population shifts excluded). Try to ask your agencey about why the hospital needs a traveler and talk to fellow travellers to see if any have worked there before.

[Medic2RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

I wouldn't consider avoiding anoxic brain injury in a patient a "really high standard".

I'm sorry this is happening to you, I hope it works out in the end.

[GilaRRT]

Actually, some companies do allow you to pick your contract. I was able to research, interview, and think about the facility prior to taking the assignment.

I agree it is important to realize every place will have pros and cons, and you must be flexible because every facility has their way of doing things. You really need to be a "go with the flow" kind of person when you travel to other facilities.

With that, really bad situations happen and I see no problem getting out if things get out of control.

[Diary/Dairy, RN]

Document - Document - Document!!!

Hope you have some clarity about this situation soon.

[Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN]

And please don't capitalize every word in a post. It makes it VERY hard to read.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

And please don't capitalize every word in a post. It makes it VERY hard to read.

I think the software here does that if someone posts in all caps.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

Let Me Try It By Posting In All Caps. This Is A Test.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I was right!