Fired nurses in Louisville, Ky

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Recently I was going through Google about this subject and found your web site. I think it is great. I found the discussion about the fired nurses. Well I am one of those nurses. The practice of giving Diprivan to patients that are on the vent has been one that has gone on for years. The adm have known about this but have given the blind eyes and ears to it. Other nurses that I know in other ICUs stated that the same is true there. Giving Diprivan is not a common or continious proceedure, only when the vented pt is combative or restless and no other sedation will help. It is only the LAST resort. Pt familys have even been grateful that it has helped through the nite. Ironic that all the nurses that it effected were nightshift nurses. I would be thankful to those of you to keep us in your prayers. YES the hospital did this to cover up what is really going on. I will keep you all posted about this. Thanks for letting me tell my side

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Glad to see you found this site! These nurses have really taught me a few things and I have found it so wonderful to have such a great support system and the vast expanse of different nursing experiences out there.

Perhaps you could share your experience in more depth with us... for example, were there orders for the diprovan? Was this a standing order? What happened?

You are in our thoughts,

WhyO

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Thanks whoO. We have standing orders for the Diprivan gtt, but not to give a bolus, besides the drug was always available on the unit and when a pt was on the gtt and it was d/c the pharmancy never requested it back. It was not a controlled med. None of us that were dismissed caused harm nor did it maliciousy. Remember there are still those nurses working that have done it and lies to Adm to keep there jobs. The hospital made it public so that we are not allowed to get a job anywhere else in the state. I gues I can say that. Our Att. really thinks something is fishy. We haven't heard from the Bd of Nsg yet. They think it will be a fine. The att stated that he knows there has been worse thing done and all the disipline that the hosp. did was slap the hand and sweep it under the carpet. Needless to say we did not have an order for the bolus!!. When things get wild and crazy your main concern is the pt. The newspaper art. stated that the hosp said The nurses were all experience, caring and concerned RNs , go figure

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Specializes in Critical Care,Recovery, ED.

Just curioius the 23 nurses that were disciplined, what per centage of the ICU staff did that represent.

Glad you havecompetent legal advice.

Best Wishes

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Thank you, Well the nurses in the ICU was one who 7p to 7a shift. We have staffing for 7 nurses in our dept. We have about 16 staff on nights. so that was half. There were 14 RN s from the OHU let go. That is were the practice started. All the Doc's knew what was going on. So as long as they weren't bothered they didn't care. So when some of the RN from OHU came to ICU the practice continued. Guess we just ASUMEd it was ok. Thanks for caring.

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Glad to hear more of the story.

Hope you find and read the thread "14 Nurses Fired and 9 disciplined in Kentucky".

Good luck.

Please keep us posted.

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I agree...

Good Luck and keep us posted.

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Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

86, as you can see from the previous thread on the subject, the account you gave was about what many of us figured had happened.

Still it is an excellent lesson in GET IT IN WRITING before doing these kinds of things. Go by the book--because your facility will NOT back you up when the spam hits the fan. I'd be surprised if your attorney will not, eventually, be able to give you all some adequate help, including $$$ restitution.

Good luck, and hopefully this is a lesson now learned by ALL of us on this BB.

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Specializes in ER.

So I assume the docs that knew it was happening and were OK with it never did stand up and say it was an unwritten standing order- If they had you could have just written a standing order policy and been done with it.

At our hospital admin would/has warned the staff involved with bad practice to change what they are doing or face discipline, and then they are given a chance to change. A mass firing seems very unfair.

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Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

nursek86

So glad you found us! I know you can't say alot while everything is still pending, but I'll be looking forward to the resolution and details of this case when you can tell more. Best of luck to you and all your peers!

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Specializes in Everything except surgery.

nursek86 I'm very sorry to hear of what happened to you and others! I know this could've happen to a lot of nurses I have worked with, but for the Grace of God it didn't. I understand what happened, and feel the hospital used you guys as scape goats, and for those who they allowed to stay, I figure they now have them just where they want them also. Because I believe ,if they ever try to quit, or cause any problems, they will find themselves under the same gun as those who were fired.

The problem is, they obviously have no clue as to how they have sold their souls! That is really sad indeed!

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Specializes in OB.

Nursek86 - I'm really sorry that this is happening to you. I hope you can get some feeling of support from this board to help you through this.

I would be really careful, though, of posting anything about the situation on this board while legal action is ongoing. The hospital and their representatives could find this site just as easily as you did, and statements can be taken out of context and twisted.

Of course, when things are resolved, we want to hear about it - we are pulling for you!

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