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?

Specializes in PACU, ED.

The hyper/hypo glycemia banter seems to have started at post 81. Someone said hyperglycemia was better than hypoglycemia. This was in response to someone saying that good glucose control was better than hyperglycemia.

I think it's important to know you're patient's med history so you can ensure the order is appropriate. I give a lot of narcotics in PACU and the necessary level for pain relief for one patient could put another patient into respiratory arrest.

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Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.
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.

that is what I meant by "lazy and careless" and this behavior may lead to dangerous consequence....

yep, seen a few of them....

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This is a very frightening post,we all know some nurse out there who is dangerous...how many of them are there ?

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

too many.

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DANGEROUS... hmmm... we all are dangerous... Especially if we dont have a policy and a Good training... And, each individuality differs from another..

In every aspect, we are a Danger not only to patient, but to ourselves..

Incompetency, if not dealt with properly will be there and will grew..i.e. A senior nurse recapping needle seen by a new nurse can be absorbed and to cut it short will be a continues process..tsk tsk, scary..

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CRRT,.

Ok this is a little long, but worth the read :)

When i started nursing school (2 years ago), there was a girl in the class that we could tell was a little nutty. Noone really thought much of it, and i didnt really have any dealings with her until the 4th semester. It was then that i was placed in her clinical group. It was evident that she really was a nut..and an addict to boot (i am not downing addicts..i am saying that active addicts shouldnt be practicing). She popped pills all day long...a ton of them. Always had a backache, anxiety, etc. Went to OB clinicals, and she was assigned to a newborn that day..all day long she was falling asleep (sitting at the dest, standing, etc). The staff and physicians were commenting on her. The baby had some medical problems that the instructor wanted to talk to us about, so we gathered in the nursey. She was holding the baby, and almost dropped it because she was so high. That was bad..but wait..this is worse.

Fast forward a few weeks. We are in ICU. She is once again pill popping..no telling what all she is taking at this point. She is to give her patient PO meds. One of these meds is Potassium. The instructor, family and another nurse are in the room. She opens up the medication, pops it into her hand, puts it in her mouth, and reaches over the patient and takes the patients water to swallow it with..Yes..she took the patients potassium, with the patients water, with everyone watching. Her excuse..she "blacked out" and thought it was her pill, because she is so used to always taking something, and took it. No apologies, anything. Drug tested on site, sent home, disciplinary committee expelled her..thank GOD!!! The really sad part is, she is still calling myself and other students trying to score some pills!!! The nerve of some people!! I just graduated...but i am still at a loss for this!!

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OMG, yes how about some of the nurses who are like 80 and should have retired 20 years ago, not taking anything away from anyone, but really ok, there is a time when we must hang it up. This one nurse would either forget to give a med, give too much or too little of a med, the Narc count is always off, and she could somehow remember that she gave it and what time but could never remember to write it down???????

SCARY!

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OMG that is the craziest story ever, I cannot believe she took the meds, reached for water, etc.............that is hilarious........well not really but you know what I mean! LOL LOL

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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.

DKA dont develop immediately...

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
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.

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Sorry to have to say this, but your facility needs video surveillance! Did any of the administrators know about that nurse's heart history? If so, they would be liable should she fall critically ill or die on duty, creating unsafe conditions for herself and patients.

Then the footage needs to be sent to the Board of Registered Nurses.

Witholding meds from patients must be reported!

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
I am afraid that apathy in any occupation is dangerous. An apathic nurse is the same as the uncaring nurse - "Why take care of them - their just going to die anyway!:smackingf" that is an apathic nurse.

Sounds like a burnt out one, as well. I guess palliative care isn't something she does...... Counselling is in order!

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
DKA dont develop immediately...

DKA often develops within 24 hours. In 25% of cases, missed insulin is the cause, and in 40% of cases, infection is the cause. DKA occurs when CBG levels rise above 300, which is why many insulin protocols require a call to the physician for a CBG >300. Some patients are so advanced in their disease process that their CBG can rise above 300 in a heartbeat. Please do not underestimate DKA/HHNS and unneccessarily withhold insulin.

While hypoglycemia can occur suddenly, it is easily treated. A competent nurse always monitors their patients' response to insulin or oral agents, and knows the appropriate response in the instance that hypoglycemia occurs.

One way to determine whether an insulin dose is safe is to talk to the patient themselves. Unless they are a newly diagnosed diabetic or are cognitively impaired, they more often than not can tell you how much insulin they normally use. They can also tell you whether or not they can tell when their sugar gets low. I let them know that if they feel low or have any reason to be concerned, to please call me so I can do a fingerstick and treat them if necessary. My patients tend to like this approach, as it is collaborative and shows respect for their experience living with diabetes.

Most diabetics that I've worked with have experienced hypoglycemia at some point, and know exactly what it feels like and what to do if it happens, and will be reluctant to take an insulin dose that they think is too large.

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