Dangerous nurses

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jan 20, 2009

and why then has she not been fired or terminated or promoted to an administrative position ? Would you care to elaborate for me on that situation ?

I had to laugh at the "promoted to administration position".

Some people are masters at lying, butt kissing and covering up to save their job. In some cases one has to have many write ups, verbal warning, final warning, etc. before management sees the light and fires someone.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Jan 20, 2009

I had to laugh at the "promoted to administration position".
Some people are masters at lying, butt kissing and covering up to save their job. In some cases one has to have many write ups, verbal warning, final warning, etc. before management sees the light and fires someone.

Very true! And I know of at least two cases where dangerous or lazy nurses were either quietly reprimanded or quietly "let go" after patient deaths that occurred directly due to their negligence. The hospital did not want adverse publicity or a law-suit, so did not report the nurses to the Board. Both are still practicing today.

diane227, LPN, RN · Jan 20, 2009

I just won't put up with it and I hold managements feet to the fire. As the 3-11 charge nurse I have to be concerned about patient safety. When I have a nurse who is not safe, I generate the appropriate documentation and then follow up with my manager to make sure she has spoken with the employee in question. Fortunately my manager is very responsive. However, I have had times where I would flat refuse to have the person on my shift or to take responsibility for supervising them. This will get their attention. I had two nurses recently that were terminated due to unsafe care in part because I finally told management that I would no longer have them on my shift and would not be responsible for supervising them. If the manager were to fail to take action, I would report the nurse to the board myself.

rnlately · Jan 20, 2009

It's best to have good control.
It is an emergency to have hypoglycemia. In other words, this is an immediate life threatening situation that requires fast action. Hyperglycemia is also dangerous, but you have more time to deal with the situation than you do with hypoglycemia. This is where the idea that hyperglycemia is "better" comes from. It's really not better, it just does not require the fast attention that low blood sugar does.
With low blood sugar, we're talking about minutes in some cases before the pt. may lose consciousness and need a glucogen injection. With hyperglycemia, you can page the MD and get new orders to increase sliding scale and/or Lantus, 70/30, etc. and then monitor blood sugars over the next several hours.
BUT, good control, 80-120, is best, without the extremes of either direction, and without the need to be constantly adjusting insulin. "Chasing" high blood sugar is never a good thing.

Been there; done that and have a lot of experience with "brittle diabetics" via LTC experience.

time4meRN · Jan 20, 2009

OHhhhhhhh Yeahhhhhhh !!!!!!!! You bet cha !!!!!

silmas RN · Jan 22, 2009

I once worked with a nurse in Neonatal ICU who came up to me and asked me how to tell if her patient had stopped breathing, or if the monitor alarm went off for no reason. She never even thought to look at the baby! I reported this, nothing was done, so I refused to ever work with her again.

habanero · Jan 22, 2009

I have not read everyones post so this may have been brought to everyones attention. It is our mandated duty by the Board of Nursing that we report to the Board any behavior or conduct that is harmful to patient's or others. If we are not doing our part then we only have ourselves to blame. We can't always leave it to our managers or directors. As a DON I don't know why any manager or director would not report some of the behavior that I have read in your posts. :confused: However, again it is everyone's responsibility to report misconduct or unsafe behavior. Please read your Nurse Practice Act. :yeah:

rabbitgirrl · Jan 22, 2009

Yes, in my first job I had 9 preceptors.

One was an agency nurse. She asked me to help change a patient's bed, The patient was elderly and combative, I was holding his arms and holding him up, but she got frustrated and slammed the pt against the side rails hard enough to draw blood. She immediately shouted that she had been an aide for 23 years, and knew what she was doing.

On another occasion at a different facility, a nurse accepted both the charge nurse and house nurse duties. She was running around in a martyred tizzy and verbally attacking one after another of the staff. By the end of the shift, she had a twitch in her eye and was "helping" by trying to medicate my patients (without asking me what was going on with them). She had just had a heart cath the week before and was complaining of angina, also saying that when she had angina, she couldn't remember what she said or did during the episode.

When I worked at an ECF, Many nurses simply didn't hand out all the meds, watching TV and talking on the phone instead.

All this, and I have only been working for a year and a half. I have read that medicine and law tend to attract personality disordered people. I believe it!

Sometimes I feel very hopeless, but I just try to remember that as long as my intentions are good and my practice is the best it can be, at least my patients will be safe for the few hours I have them.

OBNurseInFL · Jan 22, 2009

I've been an RN since 1982, and in OB since 1985, and certainly have seen my share of dangerous nurses (AND docs).

I had a horrid incident with one in 1993, as well, who pulled the race card :angryfire when she was written up & turned in for sleeping on the job. She would also take those 1-2 hour lunch "breaks" and hang the wrong IV fluids, etc. Loads of errors, but when we finally made someone face the situation, I was terribly harassed afterwards and it was a truly miserable work situation. But then this was a place where our department head would start each staff meeting with "just remember, all of you can be replaced." I often wonder why on earth I stayed there for 5 years. :smackingf

Most recently I've worked in a military hospital. One RN that I lately worked with is dangerous, personally & professionally. He seems to believe he's smarter than anyone else, although he's only been an RN since 2004 and only has about 3.5 yrs exp. in L&D (which is in a unit only doing about 50 deliveries a month & very low high-risk population). When working nights, he would either not bother to come in 'til about 5 a.m. or would disappear with hours, and the other RN's he was working with let him get away with it. He spouted off a lot of ugliness about his wife at work, in front of everyone, and is still carrying on an affair with someone else who is active duty there (and she's also married). One of those guys who is your 'best friend' until you call him on the carpet. :argue: He's out of the military now, but both of them actually teach at a local junior college, as OB Clinical instructors. I can't believe it! Between them they have less than 6 years experience as RN's & maternal/child RN's PERIOD! It's a total disgrace. But I've found that charisma and B*S win over a lot of people, and you don't even have to know your field apparently. Sickening. :barf01:

rabbitgirrl · Jan 22, 2009

I've found that charisma and B*S win over a lot of people, and you don't even have to know your field apparently. Sickening. :barf01:

This is SO SO true in nursing. Also: whoever speaks most confidently and/or yells the loudest is right. I don't know why that is in nursing, but it seems way more so here than in other industries.

Dragonnurse1, ASN, RN · Jan 22, 2009

Does a nurse that thinks a 1 to 1 Insulin drip is 10CCs of insulin in a 100 cc bag qualify?

Or someone that reconstitutes rocephin with LIDOCAINE in an IV for an infant?

Someone that "instructs" new nurses in the ER that a high pressure infuser can be used on a peripheral IV site?

Or one that turns off the suction on an acute GI bleed, when caught the first time the suction was turned back on with no problem but did it again and that time - the NG clotted and it could not be removed?

Yes, I worked with these nurses and no I would never trust them with my enemies much less my friends.

By the way this all occured in the trauma area of the Emergency Room. :banghead:

OBNurseInFL · Jan 22, 2009

Yes, in my first job I had 9 preceptors.
One was an agency nurse. She asked me to help change a patient's bed, The patient was elderly and combative, I was holding his arms and holding him up, but she got frustrated and slammed the pt against the side rails hard enough to draw blood. She immediately shouted that she had been an aide for 23 years, and knew what she was doing.
On another occasion at a different facility, a nurse accepted both the charge nurse and house nurse duties. She was running around in a martyred tizzy and verbally attacking one after another of the staff. By the end of the shift, she had a twitch in her eye and was "helping" by trying to medicate my patients (without asking me what was going on with them). She had just had a heart cath the week before and was complaining of angina, also saying that when she had angina, she couldn't remember what she said or did during the episode.
When I worked at an ECF, Many nurses simply didn't hand out all the meds, watching TV and talking on the phone instead.
All this, and I have only been working for a year and a half. I have read that medicine and law tend to attract personality disordered people. I believe it!
Sometimes I feel very hopeless, but I just try to remember that as long as my intentions are good and my practice is the best it can be, at least my patients will be safe for the few hours I have them.

I think it is quite predominant in nursing to have these dangerous people. But I know as well it is found in other career fields such as law enforcement, military, etc. Seems it is wherever people are in a position to have power over another, or to care for others. I've been a patient very often, as well, so it's scary to see it from the other side. Really makes me be even more vigilant about my own care-giving!