what crackerjack box did she get her license from?!

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Nov 12, 2003

What crackerjack box did her brain come from lol.

ERNurse752, RN · Nov 12, 2003

Brain? What brain? No one mentioned her having on of those...

sjoe · Nov 12, 2003

This kind of thing is all too common. You are right that YOU could well be left holding the bag--like the game of "musical chairs."

(Guess you're simply not a "team player." Me neither.)

carcha · Nov 12, 2003

will these idiots ever learn the consequence of their lax attitude. I swear some of them believe that no matter what happens they'll be alright, "it wasent me". I would have shown her the hospital policy.

mattsmom81 · Nov 13, 2003

but sometimes what we walk into is scary. I took over a patient in ICU awhile back that had 2 nurses documenting a heartrate in the 170's.... all day long...on a cardiac patient in a NSR.

Not only was the 170's rate not addressed as a 'potential problem causer', but these nurses were copying the rate off the cardiac monitor...which was counting all the tall T waves as a second beat....(patient's heart rate really in the 80's.)

Scary to think an ICU nurse might start Cardizem or even Adenosine without knowing how to correctly ascertain the rhythm and rate...without just reading what prints off the machine that is... :rolleyes:

Now I didn't make a stinkin' deal out of this, just showed them a rhythm strip, reminded them how to count a rate manually.....and pointed out quietly ghow this documentation looks in the patient's chart. These were supposedly fairly experienced ICU nurses too...

Now these two were the suckup types that LOVE to write OTHERS up... for much less problematic issues....so I had to bite my tongue hard, believe me.... :rolleyes:

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 13, 2003

I wonder whether the incompetents and uncarings are worse let loose on patients or training students who unknowingly go out and perpetuate the incompetence?

I worked a shift on ICU with a PRN who has since been hired fulltime permanent as an instructor in the local school of nursing, who drew a blood specimen (we never were sure on whom), labelled it with the wrong patient's name, sent it to the lab stat, called for results in 20 minutes and when the lab couldn't find the specimen (she asked about the patient she was SUPPOSED TO HAVE DRAWN instead of the one whose name was on the tube), first accused the lab of losing it, then the nurse extern who carried it down there (me). Later the lab said they hadn't found a sample for patient X, but they did have one for patient Y, and was that the one she wanted? She got exasperated, spat out NEVER MIND, attempted to nail me for entering the orders on the wrong patient (she'd entered them herself--on the right patient!), and just said, forget it, she would redraw them. She spent the rest of the morning verbally abusing me and the charge nurse (we were a tiny unit), and by noon I had had it. Called the UM who came up and worked a couple of hours with her and wound up staying the rest of the shift. I was never so glad to see someone consistently screw up in front of the manager as I was her. She soon was asked not to work on our unit (or the other unit the UM manages), and was last seen on a stepdown ICU--of course now she is teaching full time, as I said. Funny thing--my former classmates (I've transferred to Excelsior, TG) tell me when she takes roll, my name is still on the sign up sheet, and she keeps calling my name and searching through the "crowd" which has now dwindled down to less than 20.

Talk about dim!

Our instructors had difficulty pronouncing names of diseases and anatomical parts, contradicted themselves in lecture (one only dared to ask for clarification once--it was not pretty!), and were unable to define words in their own powerpointed lecture outlines. One was unable to correctly locate the vastus lateralis when teaching about injections! (It's OK, we showed her! LOL)

I guess none of us are saints. At least I haven't run across too many who were mean.....

Crackerjack box. Good one....

:chuckle

jschut, BSN, RN · Nov 13, 2003

I work in a small LTC on the 7p-7a shift with another nurse who has.....

1) asked me to help her move the big O2 tank (The one used to fill up portables) to a elderly woman's room, so she could hook her up to that and raise her O2. Mind you the woman had COPD and lung cancer. I refused.

2) turned off a residents IV because "it kept beeping", and she didn't know what to do. IV infiltrated and res went to hospital for a few days.

3) When CNA's were changing water pitchers, she asked if these certain ones were dirty or clean, when told they were dirty, she stated, "Oh well, I need some anyway." and proceeded to pour some (Whose? We don't know...) into a cup which she promptly gave to a resident!

These are just a few of the examples off the top of my head. And yet, administration won't do a darn thing about it! I have reported, CNA's have reported.....to no avail.

She is a dangerous nurse, and no one will do anything about it... :eek:

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 13, 2003

Hi, Julie--

You could do something about her! Write her up! Submit documented complaints to the board!

In theory, because you cannot legally be fired for whistleblowing, you have nothing to fear. But if it was me, I'd line up another job first....

My heart's with you! It kills me to see that kind of thing and feel helpless to do anything about it.

ShelleyERgirl, LPN · Nov 13, 2003

Originally posted by chris_at_lucas
I wonder whether the incompetents and uncarings are worse let loose on patients or training students who unknowingly go out and perpetuate the incompetence?

I worked a shift on ICU with a PRN who has since been hired fulltime permanent as an instructor in the local school of nursing, who drew a blood specimen (we never were sure on whom), labelled it with the wrong patient's name, sent it to the lab stat, called for results in 20 minutes and when the lab couldn't find the specimen (she asked about the patient she was SUPPOSED TO HAVE DRAWN instead of the one whose name was on the tube), first accused the lab of losing it, then the nurse extern who carried it down there (me). Later the lab said they hadn't found a sample for patient X, but they did have one for patient Y, and was that the one she wanted? She got exasperated, spat out NEVER MIND, attempted to nail me for entering the orders on the wrong patient (she'd entered them herself--on the right patient!), and just said, forget it, she would redraw them. She spent the rest of the morning verbally abusing me and the charge nurse (we were a tiny unit), and by noon I had had it. Called the UM who came up and worked a couple of hours with her and wound up staying the rest of the shift. I was never so glad to see someone consistently screw up in front of the manager as I was her. She soon was asked not to work on our unit (or the other unit the UM manages), and was last seen on a stepdown ICU--of course now she is teaching full time, as I said. Funny thing--my former classmates (I've transferred to Excelsior, TG) tell me when she takes roll, my name is still on the sign up sheet, and she keeps calling my name and searching through the "crowd" which has now dwindled down to less than 20.

Talk about dim!

Our instructors had difficulty pronouncing names of diseases and anatomical parts, contradicted themselves in lecture (one only dared to ask for clarification once--it was not pretty!), and were unable to define words in their own powerpointed lecture outlines. One was unable to correctly locate the vastus lateralis when teaching about injections! (It's OK, we showed her! LOL)

I guess none of us are saints. At least I haven't run across too many who were mean.....

Crackerjack box. Good one....

:chuckle

These people are teaching nursing to the next generation of nurses! :eek: I think I would rather have an instructor from the pits of hell who at least knew what they were doing than have someone who was nice but didn't know basic IM injection sites, geesh. Scaaarrryy!