Do you report other nurses often?

Nurses General Nursing

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I never reported any nurse before and I am quite proud of it....It is quite alarming thou, that I see that some reports to managment are so minor and they still get reported..

Tazzi states the subject nicely and gives some very good advice for all nurses to take into consideration and follow on a daily basis. When someone brings something to your attention, listen to what they have to say, and don't automatically get mad at them. They have your best interests (and those of the patients) in mind. If they are out to get you, they will go to the boss behind your back over the smallest thing. Cooperate with other nurses and normally they will cooperate with you.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU,ER,ACLS/BLS instructor.

Ratting out,,,,,, incompetent nurses,,,,,, not very professional concepts.

Incident reports are tools for learning and keeping in house statistics.They r not legal documents and can not be called into court unless charted in the pt record.(that i know of!)

When we learn from each other our patients benefit in the long term.

"ratting" out is what children do, not professionals.

If someone is incapable of safely performing their job, or they are using /stealing drugs or alcohol, abusing or neglecting pts, diverting meds,gross misconduct(inside or outside work,ie illegal behavior), then report to a superior first and let it go up throu the chain of command. If this is not possible, all BON have forms that can be used to report such issues. Remember ,by law and licence, we are obligated to report certain things!

Repeated med errors and such,if incident reports are utilized, will be picked up by risk management and the employee taken to task. It is not a perfect science. Things will be missed and some people slip throu the system. But as professionals, we can deal with this in the proper manor. Calling someone incompetent, does not make them incompetent, u best have proof or be prepared for backlash. Being sloppy,slow to finish tasks,forgetting a task, or bad charting, does not make one incompetent.

Taking care of ur peers by protecting them is unprofessional in itself,and very reportable!

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Yep.

I have seen this attitude frequently in my classmates. Know what I mean? "I was on the floor today and the nurse did (fill in the blank). Can you believe that? How could they be so incompetent?"

The righteous indignation of a student who hasn't walked in the nurse's shoes yet. Let's see how fast you chuck the nursing school procedures when you have six patients of your own.

I dont think anyone has a good enough reason for a family thats lost a loved one due to a nurses negligance. How would you feel if you haddent reported a nurse who needed to be only to find out later their mistake cost someone their lives? I could care less about over worked crap. if you are taking the time to care for someone do it right. thats the kind of attitude im going to have as a nurse. now you can tell me this will change when I get into the field as a RN as opposed to a student but I doubt it.

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I don't think anyone would enjoy reporting a coworker, but if they are doing ( or not doing) their work properly, someone needs to hear about it so it can be corrected. If a nurse continues to not comply and cheeks are turned, it can destroy morale.

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

I take my responsibility very seriously that if I see (serious) errors or breakdowns in systems that things must be reported. I like what other people said, that if possible, the error should be addressed with the individual first if possible, but I often don't see the same nurses for weeks given my schedule. I also believe that if one individual is doing something wrong, there may be an education issue and more than just that one person may need to be enlightened on procedures or policies.

I have not needed to write-up an individual nurse for a long time. However, several times, I have written up incident reports when systems were not working. Here is just one case in point...we were not getting tube feeding formula for up to 12-16 hours after a Doc had ordered it, so the patient was not getting nutrition. Supposedly, they were out of the formula, well that was absurd, somebody could have gone out and picked it up or had it delivered. You have no idea what sending an incident report into the system can do, because there is now documentation and a "paper" trail to trace what is being done about an issue. Certainly makes a difference in my institution.

Don't underestimate the difference that ONE nurse can make, by being responsible for changing things. It really does happen!

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I seen med errors done by other nurses..I never did report them. If I was the one who did the error, I bet I would be in the DONs office being written up....I look at this way, there was no harm to the patient so why report..

I still would not report..I dont rat anyone out!

Why does this bother you? Do you have a problem accepting responsibility--- and the consequences--- for your mistakes?

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
I never reported any nurse before and I am quite proud of it....It is quite alarming thou, that I see that some reports to managment are so minor and they still get reported..

I think your "pride" is misplaced. Obviously you work with a great bunch of nurses that don't warrant reporting. How that's a reflection on you, I'm still unsure??

Bala, wherever you go, there you are. Think about it...please, for your patients' sake.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

For silly mistakes, and non life threatening things, no. For serious things, ie being drunk/under the influence while at work, serious med errors, and gross incompetance that could kill at patient, yes.

I also draw a distinction between an incident report and "ratting" someone out. Incident reports are meant to point out problems with the system/policy so things work better. They are not meant as a punishment tool.

Even if I had to report someone for something serious, I would talk to the person in question and to my manager. I wouldn't go right to the BON unless it was something very serious and dangerous to patients.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Originally Posted by Bala Shark viewpost.gif

I seen med errors done by other nurses..I never did report them. If I was the one who did the error, I bet I would be in the DONs office being written up....I look at this way, there was no harm to the patient so why report..

YET.....

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, MICU/SICU.
I seen med errors done by other nurses..I never did report them. If I was the one who did the error, I bet I would be in the DONs office being written up....I look at this way, there was no harm to the patient so why report..

I still would not report..I dont rat anyone out!

Hmmm, I find your loyalty misplaced and dangerous. As a nurse, my loyalty is to my patient's safety. I agree with Tweety and others that it is better to point it out to the nurse making the error. However, that is not always possible. If that nurse is gone for the day and not coming back, I have to file the incident report, it gets filed. Here are examples of ones I've filed.

Heparin gtt: PTT drawn @ 0500. Not back until after 0700 we (oncoming nurse and I) looked up result together. Showed sub-therapeutic. Looked at bolus and change in rate req'd. I looked at her and stated, you're taking care of this, right. She stated of course, she would do it.

Came back 12 hours later, received report started rounding on my patients. Realized, she never gave me the last PTT. Looked it up. Only PTT in computer was mine from 0500. I thought she just forgot to get the 6 hour PTT. Go in to check rate on heparin gtt and it is the same as it was 13 hours ago. Look in computer to see if she bolused the pt this a.m. No bolus. By now pt. was sub-tx from 0500 to 2000, 14 hours. Pt. was on heparin for PE. I had know way of knowing if this would harm patient. So I submitted a pt. safety report as I am required to do.

#2 Received pt. from PACU on gravity tubing (standard for PACU). Settled pt. in, got VSS, etc. Gave pain meds to another pt. Then post-op was asking for pain meds. Go in with pain meds and new IV Fluids on pump tubing. Noticed gravity bag wasn't dripping. Flushed line to assure patency, so I could give morphine... Immediate precipitate :eek: SCARY!! I tried to pull back on line to get it away from pt. Had to d/c IV 'cause had no idea what was in line and if any was left in catheter. Called PACU nurse (who I went to nursing school with) to see if she had given any meds that may have been left in line. Turns out it was Propofol (per her) She doesn't like to use the port closest to the pt. 'cause sudden cardiac arrest in our hospital about 2 years ago seconary to Fentanyl IV Push incident. Not sure how being further from pt would really help... Anyway, being on a med/surg/low level floor we don't use Propofol.... I asked her if I should be concerned because I probably just gave Propofol IV Push. She said no, its no big deal. She was totally nonchalant. I tried to explain that I could've pushed an incompatible med... But she just did not get it. Now, she's a nice girl, was a good student. But she was the first GN to be hired straight into PACU and they decided not to do such foolishness again. Problem is PACU is pretty fast paced and all patients are critical. She never had time to learn ramifications for her actions. Had I pushed a drug incompatible with Propofol... 1. we would not have known that it was propofol just sitting there in the line (if it really was Propofol). 2. It might have had immediate lethal consequences.

So, both those cases required "reporting" the incident. I'm not reporting a nurse in either case. I just state the facts about what happened, what departments were involved and what harm (if known) happened to pt. Perhaps when the PACU nurse's manager sits down with her and discusses the incident she'll learn from it. Either way, it cannot just be swept under the rug.

My patient's welfare goes above and beyond any "trouble" a nurse in error might be in. If I do something and it negatively impacts my patient's care and someone elese discovers it I hope and expect it to be reported. Heck I've reported myself.

Bala, why do you call the above "ratting out?" Nursing is life and death. It is not a game and it is not a place to cover things up. SCARY consequences occur when ppl try to hide mistakes. I would never want a nurse that would cover up another nurse's mistakes.

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I seen med errors done by other nurses..I never did report them. If I was the one who did the error, I bet I would be in the DONs office being written up....I look at this way, there was no harm to the patient so why report..

YET.....

Is it really within our scope of practice to make that call?

Who are WE to determine there was "no harm"? And how do we do so? Sure, there may be visible/measurable effects, but there could very well be effects of these errors that might not be so immediately obvious.

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Specializes in critical Care/ICU-traveler.

Just a thought on reporting med errors...

I have worked at facilities that have a "no retribution" policy. When a med error is reported, (must be a non-life threatening error) the nurse that caused the error does not have to feel in jeopardy of loosing his/her job over it. The focus remains on doing what is best for the patient to correct whatever problem was caused by the error. This is not to say that sloopy nursing practice will be excused, it just encourages honesty on the part of the nurse who made the error and does not put others in a position where they feel like they are going to cause their co-worker punishment.

It is a useful tool for tracking trends in med errors. It also helps in preventing furthur errors of the same nature and improve quality care.

Of course if the error causes a sentinel event...it must be reported and then action may be taken.

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