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..

Specializes in ICU, SDU, OR, RR, Ortho, Hospice RN.

Depending on your reason to report what ever error or unprofessional behaviour you have witnessed.

Remember Nursing is a profession and we are governed by laws.

Reports are in a sense QA tools. We learn from other's mistakes.

There is a way to report an incident I am sure. I do not believe there is such a thing as 'ratting' on anyone.

If it were me and I was doing something unsafe or injurious I would certrainly want to know before things got out of hand.

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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!

So just because there was no harm this time means there will not be the next time?

Reporting med errors is not "ratting out," which in itself is a rather juvenile term. It is putting patients' safety first, and THAT is your job as a nurse.

I just realize this OP is the same one who started a similar thread about "backstabbing" and "ratting out" fellow nurses. Can't imagine why she is starting a whole new thread on this subject unless the old one was locked?

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, MICU/SICU.
3. "Bala Shark does not know what correct blood pressure is.."

From doing research on blood pressure by text books, it can range from 90/50 to 135/90..Most people disagree with me on this but I have the papers to back it up with..Still people would not listen and think I am clueless..

A little OT, but what do you mean by correct? Do you mean that is a normal range? The bottom & top numbers you chose are both abnormal. Not nec. need to be treated, but not normal.

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3. "bala shark does not know what correct blood pressure is.."

from doing research on blood pressure by text books, it can range from 90/50 to 135/90..most people disagree with me on this but i have the papers to back it up with..still people would not listen and think i am clueless..

there is a lot more...

this is directly from the familydoctor.org site:

what does my blood pressure reading mean?

normal blood pressure is 120/80 or lower. high blood pressure is 140/90 or higher. if your blood pressure is between 120/80 and 140/90, you have something called "prehypertension" (you are in the beginning stages and at risk of high blood pressure). only your doctor can tell you whether you have high blood pressure. most doctors will check your blood pressure several times on different days before deciding that you have high blood pressure. if you have high blood pressure or prehypertension, you need to check your blood pressure regularly and keep in touch with your family doctor.

systolic (first number)diastolic (second number)normalless than 120less than 80prehypertension120-13980-89high blood pressure: stage 1*140-15990-99high blood pressure: stage 2160 or higher100 or over*if you have diabetes or kidney disease, high blood pressure ranges may be lower than it is for other people. talk to your doctor about what is considered high blood pressure for you.

hypotension, or low blood pressure, happens when your systolic pressure is consistently (several blood pressure readings over several days) below 90--or 25 points below your normal reading. hypotension can be a sign of something serious such as shock, a life threatening condition.

this is from webmd.com:

high blood pressure (hypertension) guidelines

millions of people have what is called "prehypertension" according to high blood pressure guidelines from the u.s. national institutes of health.

the guidelines are included in the seventh report of the joint national committee (jnc 7) on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure.[color=#006699]1

high blood pressure guidelines blood pressure classification140/90 or abovehigh120/80 to 139/89prehypertension119/79 or belownormal

key points from the guidelines:

  • if you have a blood pressure of 120 to 139 systolic (the upper number in a blood pressure measurement) over 80 to 89 diastolic (lower number), you are considered prehypertensive. you need to begin lifestyle changes to lower your risk for stroke, heart disease, and other complications of high blood pressure. lifestyle changes include losing excess weight, exercising, limiting alcohol, following a heart-healthy diet, cutting back on salt, and quitting smoking.
  • the increase in stroke and heart disease risk begins at blood pressures as low as 115/75 millimeters of mercury (mm hg) and doubles with each increase of 20 mm hg systolic blood pressure and 10 mm hg diastolic. for example, if your blood pressure were to increase from 115/75 mm hg to 135/85 mm hg, your risk of stroke and heart attack would double.

also from webmd.com:

understanding low blood pressure -- the basics

what is low blood pressure?

hypotension is the medical term for low blood pressure (less than 90/60). normal blood pressure is usually in the range of 120/80 (systolic/diastolic). in healthy people, especially athletes, low blood pressure is a sign of good cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) health. but low blood pressure can be a signal of an underlying problem-especially in the elderly. in this population, low blood pressure may cause inadequate blood flow to the heart, brain and other vital organs.

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

Ok define "normal",,,lol,,,,just a bit of humor this early morning!

As we all know what is normal for one is not for another.Relative hyper or hypotension. So many parameters to look at. What meds are they on? Cardiac issues? Athletic? Very happy?..lol ..Content beyond our imagination? Goes down to the basic saying, treat the pt, not necessarily the numbers! Have a great day all!

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Here are some of my reports that were given to managment on my performance..Most dont deal with patient safety I believe:

1. "Bala Shark did not chart for several patients on so and so day."

My explanation: The reason why I did not chart because the physical thearpist had the charts so I am not going to stay over time for two hours and wait for the charts to come back on stable patients who are in a nursing home..I would get into trouble for staying so long..

2. "Bala Shark did not clean the medication cart and it has a big stain.."

Yea, I tried cleaning it but the stain would not come off..

3. "Bala Shark does not know what correct blood pressure is.."

From doing research on blood pressure by text books, it can range from 90/50 to 135/90..Most people disagree with me on this but I have the papers to back it up with..Still people would not listen and think I am clueless..

There is a lot more...

I think honesty and humility are essential in life and in nursing. From the tone of your post, (and previous posts) it sounds as if you are in fear of being reported for what you consider to be minor infractions and as a result have adopted an attitude that mistakes made by other nurses should not be reported (or "ratted out") because you expect the same of them. In my opinion, this is not an appropriate attitude in life or nursing. Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes, ranging from minor to serious. To echo the sentiments of a previous poster, minor mistakes can be overlooked ONLY if the nurse has been honest about them and has made it clear that they have learned from it. Major errors have to be reported regardless of the outcome (ie drama, politics, fear of retribution).

To address your specific examples, here is a bit of advice (from a nursing student who has had the experience of making a mistake in clinical).

1. The complaint that you didn't chart on several patients on a particular day is WRONG. If PT had the chart, go down to PT and borrow the chart before you leave. No need to wait until the chart is returned from the unit. This has happened to me in clinical and I made the trek from the med/surg unit down to PT and got the job done. Far better than simply not charting. This falls into the category of covering your @ss.

2. Ok, so you left a stain on the med cart, big deal. In the future if this happens, go to the charge nurse or NM and state "I stained the med cart and tried to clean it off, but it's not working. Do you have any suggestions or do we have any solvents that could remove the stain?"

3. Sorry, but you don't know the correct BP ranges. By insisting that you do and going against the grain of established ranges, you are bound to encounter resistance and encourage your co-workers and NM that you don't know the basics. Not good for long term employment.

P.S. If you have done something wrong, regardless of how minor it may seem to you, tell your NM and ask how the situation can be corrected. That way, if your co-workers are reporting you for nitty stuff, the NM will have an opinion of you that you are a responsible nurse. The nitty reports will be less likely to carry weight.

P.P.S. There seems to be a trend with you of fostering negative attitudes toward you. Despite the excellent feedback that you have gotten from your peers, you don't seem to incorporate it. Seems like you are more interested in looking for validation than you are for learning how to better handle the various situations you've been in. Trouble seems to follow you. I hope that your feelings aren't hurt by this observation, but jeez, listen up already! Your fellow nurses and posters are taking the time to give you feedback, if you don't want it, don't ask for it.

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Reporting misses and near missed is a valuble way for our proffesion to get to a root cause and possibly avoid future errors, and change practice. An example of that would be when we had K+ on IV carts next to .9NA used to flush ports in the same color bottle. Hopefully it is done in a non punative enviroment. Anyway it is part of your responsibility as an advocate for the patient. The thing I notice that gets report the lest is bad MD orders that you have corrected. thats a near miss and suppports the fact that RNs are ultimately responsible for everything!

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I have reported MYSELF via occurence/incident reporting more than I have others. This is the truth.

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Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.

you know the saying '' we all make mistakes'' c'mon we do! but some people take joy in reporting others, nrsg sure has lost its people who believe in working as a team and covering eachother! i don't believe in writing someone up or reporting them unless the problem is chronic and consistent! if i made a mistake i wouldnt want someone running to the don to get me in trouble especially since i'm a new nurse! you really gotta watch your back though cause some people are just waiting to swallow you alive! like for instance, i work nights and usually i have to put the medication receipt in the pharmacy mailbox in the morning after the meds have been delivered, so i forgot to put it in the mailbox and the meds were not ordered, so the supervisor told me, (this is the 2nd time i did this, the 1st time i didn't even know), but as you can imagine after running around preparing for the end of the shift and wanting to go home, anyone would forget to stick it in the mailbox! so the day nurse complained to the supervisor that the meds weren't ordered and never came, but i'm sure someone on the day shift could've politely put it in the mailbox like another nurse had done for me once. they really need a more efficient way of getting meds ordered, something like that is easy to overlook seeing that its piece of paper to mail off, so now i stick it in my pockets so when i leave i remember! off topic, but you see my point!

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Specializes in Gerontology.
you know the saying '' we all make mistakes'' c'mon we do! but some people take joy in reporting others, nrsg sure has lost its people who believe in working as a team and covering eachother! i don't believe in writing someone up or reporting them unless the problem is chronic and consistent! if i made a mistake i wouldnt want someone running to the don to get me in trouble especially since i'm a new nurse! you really gotta watch your back though cause some people are just waiting to swallow you alive! like for instance, i work nights and usually i have to put the medication receipt in the pharmacy mailbox in the morning after the meds have been delivered, so i forgot to put it in the mailbox and the meds were not ordered, so the supervisor told me, (this is the 2nd time i did this, the 1st time i didn't even know), but as you can imagine after running around preparing for the end of the shift and wanting to go home, anyone would forget to stick it in the mailbox! so the day nurse complained to the supervisor that the meds weren't ordered and never came, but i'm sure someone on the day shift could've politely put it in the mailbox like another nurse had done for me once. they really need a more efficient way of getting meds ordered, something like that is easy to overlook seeing that its piece of paper to mail off, so now i stick it in my pockets so when i leave i remember! off topic, but you see my point!

how are you going to improve yourself and stop making mistakes if the mistakes are not pointed out to you? how do you think the day nurses felt when they discovered that the meds they needn't were not available because of your error? and now, because of your error, perhaps a more efficient way of getting meds ordered can be determined. what are your suggestions for improving the system? go to the supervisore with them. that shows that you acknowledge that your made an error and you want to help find a way to prevent further errors from happening.

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Specializes in Telemetry, Oncology, Progressive Care.

I don't report nurses often. I think in a little over a year I have only reported a nurse once. She was an agency nurse and did not give a single med in a 12 hour shift. One pt I had was septic and didn't receive any antibiotics. The cardiologist also knew the meds weren't given. I didn't have a chance to see my manager yet. The doc went to her before I had a chance to. Another pt was a new onset seizure and did not receive any of her meds. There was another pt who did not receive their meds. It was not as critical as the other 2. I don't like walking into that and wasn't real happy.

You better believe I would report that. I got her banned from ever coming to my hospital. You have to think of the patients and I believe she put them at great risk.

Kelly

Kelly

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An example of that would be when we had K+ on IV carts next to .9NA used to flush ports in the same color bottle.
Our floor used to stock them side-by-side in the IV room (back when we mixed our KCl IVs). Scared the crap out of me. Every night I'd go in I'd move the K waaaaay the heck over in the corner and hang a huge sign on the box. Every night I'd come back in, and there'd they be back next to the saline. Until one nurse was seen with K on her cart to access and flush a port...pure luck another nurse happened to pass by before she entered the patient's room.

God, that gave me freakin' nightmares.

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