Fired Again ~ HAHAHA!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

:rotfl:

Fired again from LTC and I don't care.

Here's one of the DON's shenanigans: one of the other nurses was telling me about it - they had a patient who had very UNSTABLE blood sugar - there was an order for insulin at "X" time (say, 8pm).

The nurse did a fingerstick on her and her blood sugar was way low - something like 45! So naturally, she held the insulin.....

...would you believe....the DON got onto her the next day - she told her she was "working OUTSIDE OF HER PRACTICE" by withholding the insulin (it was routine not prn), and that she was supposed "to follow doctor's orders!"

Yuk Yuk

The nurse telling ME about it was flabbergasted. So was I...I said, "You're NOT working outside of the scope of your practice when you protect a patient!"

HELLO

Nurses are not friggin' ROBOTS! We're supposed to use some nursing judgement when called for and that's what she was doing.

WHAT DO THEY WANT, MINDLESS ROBOTS?

Freakin' B****!

:rotfl:

Specializes in Psychiatry.

Tweety in the LTC setting most Doctors don't want to hear from you (at least in my area). >>

I've spoken with a few doctors with these poor attitudes. I see it as a personal problem on their part and don't feed into it. If I have a resident who needs a physician then the physician will be called, period. If they have a crappy attitude about it, I ignore it and continue giving him report on the resident. The responsible is then his to take care of his patient.

Kelly

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, M/S.

It doesn't say what kind of insulin was withheld because of the low blood sugar. If it included a long-acting insulin, that could have been given without any short-acting for the time. I know how hard it is to get back onto schedule with long- or intermediate-acting when it is given late.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt; Mat/Child, Critical Care.
It wasn't me.

What did I get fired for? No good reason, that's why I can laugh about it. I just feel sorry for the residents.......

Nope, that's the whole story.....that's why I say it's so bizarre......or that's what was told to me anyway. :coollook:

Sorry, don't mean to sound dense, but, are you the one who actually got fired? Or are there 2 completely unrelated incidents going on here? The incident w/another nurse and the BS, and you getting fired for "no good reason"? :o

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

boy LTC sure ain't no picnic eh? I see more and more negative experiences in this than any other area of nursing. With the possible exception of ER,maybe.

sheesh I bet you are glad to be out of there.

Lord bless the LTC nurses everywhere.

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If there were standing orders and I was adhereing to them that DON would have been one unhappy person when I got done with her [of course I'm pretty protective when I deal with someone who's an idiot] I guarantee you I would not have been fired! I would have quit with a two week notice - but she darn well would not have fired me

HELLO, PEOPLE~

NO.

I am NOT the one who "got fired" for withholding insulin. The nurse DIDN'T GET FIRED - that's how she was able to tell me about it!

Sorry, don't mean to sound dense, but, are you the one who actually got fired? Or are there 2 completely unrelated incidents going on here? The incident w/another nurse and the BS, and you getting fired for "no good reason"?

Yes I got fired but it had nothing to do with this.

This was just an example of what I am dealing with.....and no, I wasn't the one who withheld insulin (wonder how many times I am going to have to say that), and NO, there was no good reason (or any reason for that matter) to fire me.

Geeze.

No I am not going into details about what happened TO ME, because AS WAS RECENTLY DISCUSSED ON THIS BOARD, personal details can often be ferreted out, etc.

As for the insulin incident, I have no idea what was done by the nurse, if she called the doctor or not; this was told to me during narcotic count or report and she was RUSHING, so I didn't let fly with alot of questions. I just related the story as it was told to me, that's all..... :uhoh3:

"Glad to be out of there?" Honey I'm thrilled. I told the DON on the phone that I didn't feel the residents were being taken care of (and they AREN'T) ~ she then "advised" me to leave there and "go take care of them."

:rotfl:

I said "that's exactly what I plan on doing...." :chuckle

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Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

I've worked LTC enough to see that type of thing. . .someone holds insulin but does ZERO follow up. I am almost willing to bet that the only thing was done was to hold the insulin. The doc prob wasn't called re: BS of 45, there were prob no further orders. That is probably why the DON was annoyed, to say the least.

IF I could only count the times I have seen similar scenarios, with no follow-through. Too many pieces are missing to this puzzle.

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The only thing I know of that they did was to institute an hs snack after that.

That's all I can tell you.............

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Specializes in Case Mgmt; Mat/Child, Critical Care.
HELLO, PEOPLE~

NO.

I am NOT the one who "got fired" for withholding insulin. The nurse DIDN'T GET FIRED - that's how she was able to tell me about it!

Yes I got fired but it had nothing to do with this.

This was just an example of what I am dealing with.....and no, I wasn't the one who withheld insulin (wonder how many times I am going to have to say that), and NO, there was no good reason (or any reason for that matter) to fire me.

Geeze.

No I am not going into details about what happened TO ME, because AS WAS RECENTLY DISCUSSED ON THIS BOARD, personal details can often be ferreted out, etc.

As for the insulin incident, I have no idea what was done by the nurse, if she called the doctor or not; this was told to me during narcotic count or report and she was RUSHING, so I didn't let fly with alot of questions. I just related the story as it was told to me, that's all..... :uhoh3:

"Glad to be out of there?" Honey I'm thrilled. I told the DON on the phone that I didn't feel the residents were being taken care of (and they AREN'T) ~ she then "advised" me to leave there and "go take care of them."

:rotfl:

I said "that's exactly what I plan on doing...." :chuckle

Thanks for the clarification...your original post was clear as mud!!! :chuckle So there were two completely unrelated incidents....hmmmmm.

Well, on to greener pastures for you, I hope. Good luck! :)

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It doesn't say what kind of insulin was withheld because of the low blood sugar. If it included a long-acting insulin, that could have been given without any short-acting for the time. I know how hard it is to get back onto schedule with long- or intermediate-acting when it is given late.

hmm.......it doesnt matter if it was long acting or short acting.If the bs is lower than 75 you should not EVER giver it.You dont know if IF IF IF this pt is going to be able to eat to metabolize and use up the insulin.The pt is already compromised d/t a low blood sugar....and you think the nurse should give more INSULIN?HHHEEEEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!Are you a nurse yet?It isnt pretty when your having to push dextrose on a pt with severe hypoglycemia.That couldve been a lethal injection you gave IF IF IF you gave any insulin. :coollook:

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hmm.......it doesnt matter if it was long acting or short acting.If the bs is lower than 75 you should not EVER giver it.You dont know if IF IF IF this pt is going to be able to eat to metabolize and use up the insulin.The pt is already compromised d/t a low blood sugar....and you think the nurse should give more INSULIN?HHHEEEEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!Are you a nurse yet?It isnt pretty when your having to push dextrose on a pt with severe hypoglycemia.That couldve been a lethal injection you gave IF IF IF you gave any insulin. :coollook:

hell, i've given nph to pts w/low blood sugars (50-60) followed by orange juice then their breakfast...i just make sure they're eating throughout the shift.. and YES, i'm a damn good nurse with good assessment skills.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, M/S.
hmm.......it doesnt matter if it was long acting or short acting.If the bs is lower than 75 you should not EVER giver it.You dont know if IF IF IF this pt is going to be able to eat to metabolize and use up the insulin.The pt is already compromised d/t a low blood sugar....and you think the nurse should give more INSULIN?HHHEEEEEEELLLLLLLOOOOOOO!Are you a nurse yet?It isnt pretty when your having to push dextrose on a pt with severe hypoglycemia.That couldve been a lethal injection you gave IF IF IF you gave any insulin. :coollook:

That is incorrect information. You should give the long-acting. So what if I'm not a nurse yet? I'm a Type 1 diabetic, and know my way around insulin. Long acting insulin will NOT affect the already low BS. Delaying it will mess with the time-table the diabetic is on.

If you don't believe me, ask any endocrinologist. I have.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
hell, i've given nph to pts w/low blood sugars (50-60) followed by orange juice then their breakfast...i just make sure they're eating throughout the shift.. and YES, i'm a damn good nurse with good assessment skills.

Diabetics need their insulin. They are diabetic because they don't make any or adequate amounts. If a patients eating they are going to need their insulin and it shouldn't be held. Obviously there are times when it should be held, or the dose lowered, etc. :)

I love it when I get report. "I held their dinner insulin because their BG was 70". Later at hs I find their BG to be 400. Wonder why.? :)

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