What do you do with a security guard who's too gung ho for the job? He's total stickler for parking permits, parking within the lines, and the like. He lets some hings go but not much. He really needs to chill out.
What do you do with Maintenance when they won't fix stuff after repeated requests?
How about with Upper Managers who won't back you up when you need stuff fixed for safety reasons?:devil:
What about nurses who follow you but won't call the doctor when it gets to be a human hour to call and take care of routine matters that you don't want to wake them for at 0400? :argue:
To err is human but if these same dodo birds do it again, I"m going to sic Maxine on them. She'll give 'em what for, huh?:chuckle
Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.
Sorry I think the nurse who will not wear gloves and follow standard precautions is ignorant. If you can not keep up with the standard of care then you have no business practicing. I politely tell them ONCE.and most know you are right and go get the gloves. Hospitals can suffer some severe fines for not protecting their workers. If the nurse does not comply I would start firing off some incident?event reports. When a manager gets a whole pile of these on the same issue...they usually act. I know that is a very useful tool where I work...but keep in mind it make take a few to get real action.
Once in a blue moon I will get frustrated when I get one of those near impossible IV starts...you know the ones.....like this one I had the other day.....ex heroin addict...on dialysis...so only could use the right arm.....I got it and come to find out the clotted line I was replacing was arterial........I just wish sometimes on these cases I would get a thank you from the nurse.....I really need it sometimes ..especially when I get a few of these in a row
how about the dodo RN i work with who refuses to wear gloves while assisting during endoscopic procedures and has done so for 25 years... and the dodo doctors and dodo nurse manager who don't say anything to her!
her reasoning... "i haven't gotten anything bad yet". i gave her a whole bunch of literature on MRSA, VRE, the hepatitis family, HIV/AIDS, C-diff and STD's. she laughed at me and said gloves are impersonal.
sorry but i think anyone who graduated with a bachelor's in science from the university of north carolina should have the sense to wear gloves while handling specimens that came out of the human digestive tract.
I know a very good nurse who won't wear gloves and then complains after she does a tube feeding and can't get the smell of gastric contents off her hands. I've seen a patient cough and it all spews everywhere.
I am certain these nurses understand full well about MRSA and AIDS and such. Some nurses don't believe it is that easy to catch, but all the same, I believe in universal precautions.
How about the dodo manager who will not get the front door fixed so that it locks every night? How scarey is it to be charting and out of nowhere a stranger comes down the steps at 1 am?
Well when one of your wanderers gets out at 1am we all know who to blame!!! I have a new one, from my poor friend. the idiot manager that wrote her up for NOT giving a flu shot in an insulin syring!
pt at hospital all evening getting transfusion for major anemia. pt also in renal failure and doesnt want dialysis. blood sugars sky high before, during and after transfusion (over 600). returns to facility with entire page of SS orders and insulin orders. dodo nurse doesnt bother charting an assessment on return nor does she monitor her glucose levels for the entire shift. 6am chemstick over 600 but she leaves that for the day shift to cover because she was "afraid her blood sugar would bottom out if she gave it before she ate breakfast".
Well when one of your wanderers gets out at 1am we all know who to blame!!! I have a new one, from my poor friend. the idiot manager that wrote her up for NOT giving a flu shot in an insulin syring!
ya gotta love those managers that know just enough to be dangerous huh?
in the same theme...
how bout my DON who told me that getting a CXR to verify NGT placement was ridiculous because NGT's don't show up on an xray.
but what about what she could transfer from herself to equiptment or Dr(then pt) or directly to pt via her bare hands?....
Nurses from that era were also taught meticulous handwashing. If she's not washing her hands she's lazy or thoughtless, but IMO glove use is a risk to the nurse only, with good handwashing patients are not at risk.
All the NGT I've dropped do show up on Xray, and we use Xray to verify placement if we aren't absolutely sure after repeated attempts to drop the tube.
Back in the day nurses were told not to wear gloves while doing patient care because it was considered too impersonal and might offend patients. So yeah, it's gross, but try and understand that she comes from a different era.
Believe me, 25 years ago when something you were taught in nursing school gets stood on its head by research, you will have a hard time making the adjustment after doing something one way for many years.
She's wrong for doing it, but not because she's stupid. :wink2:
OSHA requires that gloves be worn whenever there is a chance of coming in contact with ANY body fluid. It's the law, and everyone knows better.
sorry but i think anyone who graduated with a bachelor's in science from the university of north carolina should have the sense to wear gloves while handling specimens that came out of the human digestive tract.
Of course, I've heard more than one senior nurse (MSN, even) and nursing instructor say that they don't believe in the germ theory.
Well, OK, then. So much for evidence-based practice.
Well, I know of two nurses who deflated the foley balloon and sent the contents in a specimen container to lab for a urinalysis. One of 'em was me, and I did it after hearing about what the other one did, albeit a year later. Oh, those 0400 mistakes!
There's one who made a tylenol OD swallow mucomyst in orange juice around the NGT that was being used for that very purpose. Tube alone made her throat uncomfortable, I'm sure that swallowing mucomyst and OJ with the tube in place didn't help either.
Rumor has it someone called a rapid response team on a code blue. The members of the team were actively doing CPR on the patient when this was done. Yes, the person who called was aware that a code was going on, and it was on that patient.
I know of one who took a foley out of a septic patient who had a dopamine drip going (for bp not for renal perfusion) because the pt was irritated with it. Weighing diapers hourly, anyone?
how about the dodo RN i work with who refuses to wear gloves while assisting during endoscopic procedures and has done so for 25 years... and the dodo doctors and dodo nurse manager who don't say anything to her!
her reasoning... "i haven't gotten anything bad yet". i gave her a whole bunch of literature on MRSA, VRE, the hepatitis family, HIV/AIDS, C-diff and STD's. she laughed at me and said gloves are impersonal.
sorry but i think anyone who graduated with a bachelor's in science from the university of north carolina should have the sense to wear gloves while handling specimens that came out of the human digestive tract.
Believe it or not, when I was a student many moons ago, we were instructed to not wear gloves when working with colostomies. Why? Because the patient might feel rejected. Right.
Most of the time, we have problems with routine meds, such as Protonix or Multivitamins , never available on the unit... We send text messages (we used a computer-based med administration system) over and over, call and call, send more text messages and THEN get the med. I know another nurse had a Protonix due at 9am one day and still hadnt recieved it by 2pm.
This constitutes med error, if you ask me, as some meds need to be given with regard to meals, right?
Involve Management on this one so you don't wind up being faulted for errors you could not control.
iluvivt, BSN, RN
2,774 Posts
Sorry I think the nurse who will not wear gloves and follow standard precautions is ignorant. If you can not keep up with the standard of care then you have no business practicing. I politely tell them ONCE.and most know you are right and go get the gloves. Hospitals can suffer some severe fines for not protecting their workers. If the nurse does not comply I would start firing off some incident?event reports. When a manager gets a whole pile of these on the same issue...they usually act. I know that is a very useful tool where I work...but keep in mind it make take a few to get real action.
Once in a blue moon I will get frustrated when I get one of those near impossible IV starts...you know the ones.....like this one I had the other day.....ex heroin addict...on dialysis...so only could use the right arm.....I got it and come to find out the clotted line I was replacing was arterial........I just wish sometimes on these cases I would get a thank you from the nurse.....I really need it sometimes ..especially when I get a few of these in a row