Dangerous nurses

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Have any of you ever worked with a nurse you would classify as dangerous ---- dangerous as a nurse and as a person?

Wow there is a ton of criticism here about agency nurses.

Hint: We aren't all stupid, drug addicted, or alcoholics, and we don't ALL neglect our patients. If it were not for agency nurses, where would the patients be?

I have had patients literally BEG me to return to the facility, because they know I care, and are aware that I do my job. Apparently this is not common, or they wouldn't be begging. I sometimes cry when I go to facilities because I know I cannot bear to return to them---they are nursing licenses waiting to be taken there. Dangerous facilities are something that has not yet been addressed here, so I won't go into that, but please realize that agency nurses are sometimes the only hope patients in many facilities have left.

Let me share a story with you...which my instructor shared with me.Once up a time she was a agency nurse and did some floating time on the unit..and she was working one day and was taking care one of the diabetic patients,guess what she found in the chart...the "regular" unit nurses were charting for four day that this poor man had a blood sugar of 400,and no action was taken,no insulin given,nothing,just charting..so my instructor (back then agency nurse) call the doc with the complain...

Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

We have a dangerous RN at my work. When her errors are discovered she tells lies, it's everyone elses fault, you all hate me because I'm a part timer and because I'm Asian and your all racist (I once threatened her with defemation of my character and she has never tried the race card on me again).

She takes no personal responsibility for her work, she has been a nurse for 30 years and quite frankly I can't wait to see the back of her. This nurse has been fired from other hospitals, one of the other units in the hospital had to let her go because she was dangerous in giving patient care. Now we have to put up with her.

Now I'm all for helping out people who have knowledge deficits. But when someone refuses to acknowledge constructive criticism, that it's never their fault I have no time for them.

We all had a blow up in the OR the other day because she brought a patient in with incorrect surname on the sticky labels. An enrolled nurse discovered it straight away and told me. Instead of being grateful that we picked up on her mistake, rectified the error she told us that we're checking up on her (ummm yeah I wonder why), we're bullying her and she ran home crying and told management that we are bullies.

Let me share a story with you...which my instructor shared with me.Once up a time she was a agency nurse and did some floating time on the unit..and she was working one day and was taking care one of the diabetic patients,guess what she found in the chart...the "regular" unit nurses were charting for four day that this poor man had a blood sugar of 400,and no action was taken,no insulin given,nothing,just charting..so my instructor (back then agency nurse) call the doc with the complain...

Didn't the doctor see his patient over those four days??

Didn't the doctor see his patient over those four days??

Apparently not,he was counting on the nurses to give him all the important info...not that this is any sort of excuse...

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Moderator's friendly reminder: please keep to the topic of "Dangerous Nurses" and avoid off topic posts which keep derailing this thread.

Thank you.

Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
Wow there is a ton of criticism here about agency nurses.

Hint: We aren't all stupid, drug addicted, or alcoholics, and we don't ALL neglect our patients. If it were not for agency nurses, where would the patients be?

I have had patients literally BEG me to return to the facility, because they know I care, and are aware that I do my job. Apparently this is not common, or they wouldn't be begging. I sometimes cry when I go to facilities because I know I cannot bear to return to them---they are nursing licenses waiting to be taken there. Dangerous facilities are something that has not yet been addressed here, so I won't go into that, but please realize that agency nurses are sometimes the only hope patients in many facilities have left.

My hospital uses a lot of agency nurses and let me tell you about the ones I work with: I love them, they are experienced ICU nurses, they are great team members. I wouldn't work without them.

Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.

intentionally dangerous??? no.

Lazy and careless that could lead to dangerous consequences, YES

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
Every anesthesiologist I've ever worked with will tell you this. They would much rather have someone be high than low.

Except the one that refused to put me under this year because my BG was over 200.

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
hmm,somehow I dont find it to be true...what apathy has to do with being safe,I'm confused....just because someone jumps from one place to another doesnt make them accountable nurse,please free to elaborate on your theory

apathy: Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
I don't quite understand why some think HYPOglycemia is safer than HYPERglycemia.

Nobody said that. What was said was that hyperglycemia is not BETTER than hypoglycemia. Hyperglycemia not only interferes with wound healing and causes microvascular and macrovascular damage, but can also progress to DKA or HHNS, either of which is at least as immediately life threatening as hypoglycemia, and it takes longer to correct than hypoglycemia. As was previously mentioned, tight control of blood glucose is, or should be, the goal. How this all relates to dangerous nurses is that a nurse who gives 18 units of we don't know what kind of insulin to a patient whose blood sugar we don't know is not necessarily an example of a dangerous nurse.

25 units of Novolog to a brittle diabetic who is NPO with a CBG of 95 might be a better example.

I guess what I meant was non sympathetic about patients. Just not caring...like not caring if someone was turned,got mouthcare,was in pain,got their meds...things like that. Seen a lot of it going on. Just nurses who don't do the job and still collect the check.

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