Nurse Clueless

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Mental Health Nursing.

Has anyone ever worked with a nurse who seemed as if they never went to nursing school? There's this nurse whose abilities I always question (and he's been working at this LTC facility for a little more than 3 years now). He has common sense and tests really well, but severely lacks basic clinical knowledge. This year alone:

1) He was pre-filling regular insulin and administering it regardless of the FS reading (Ex: giving 4 units to a patient who really needed "2" or "8"). I explained to him how insulin works and why his practice was dangerous and he DID change it. However, he was really, really surprised that the difference between "2" and "8" units could be dangerous because they were "small increments".

2) He needed my assistance with a clinical problem. He asked if orthostatic hypotension - yes, HYPOtension - was a rise or drop in B/P.

3) He was giving IM vaccinations (hep A/B) using insulin syringes. He knew his landmark sites for IM and SQ, but didn't understand that the length of the hypodermic needle mattered.

Has anyone ever worked with similar nurses?

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Specializes in hospice.

I haven't witnessed anything quite that egregious, but I have met nurses whose apparent intelligence levels led me to question how the hell they ever passed nursing school.

I've been known to think or mutter under my breath, "That person outranks me?!" I swear half the reason I'm in school is to remedy that situation. :p

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Specializes in Mental Health Nursing.
I have met nurses whose apparent intelligence levels led me to question how the hell they ever passed nursing school.

Or how the hell they ever passed the NCLEX.

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In a near code situation a known flake of a nurse had no idea how to palpate a blood pressure. The worst part is she wouldn't admit she didn't know. The doc and I stood there watching as she inflated then deflated a cuff twice, without doing anything else. Then we tried to explain. What she was supposed to be doing, blank face, no registration. Finally I just told her she needed to move and let someone else in. The saint of a physician spent 15 minutes after the situation resolved exposing how and why you palpate a blood pressure.

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Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

Yes: Three separate occasions. One of those people in 2 different facilities. (which was really scary!)

We had a pt who tanked at the end of shift (she actually started to tank about 6pm) The day nurse waited until shift report to say anything. (Even though there was a free floating charge that day who was more than willing to help and very experienced) so instead of the rapid being called at 6pm, it was called at 645. She gave report then said "well, I'm done here. I'll see you tomorrow". Um, I don't think so. YOU need to tell the rapid response team what is happening. I wasn't here!

Another nurse gave insulin to a non diabetic resident, and when the resident became unresponsive, she tried to pour packets of sugar down her throat. (Thank goodness someone else grabbed the glucagon and gave her the shot!)

The nurse I worked with 2 different facilities: At facility a: She put her fingers in the mouth of a patient who was having respiratory distress, because "well, she might be swallowing her tongue)". This was in LTC. She was a relatively new grad: 5mos out. no O2, no high fowlers, no 911. Just her fingers in residents mouth

In acute care she failed to treat a hypoglycemic patient until someone yelled that we needed D50 because said patient was unconscious with a blood sugar of 43. She apparently knew that said patients blood sugar was low but failed to treat it with the Dex4 while pt was still responsive. She, fortunately, never made it past orientation. She had been a nurse for 2.5 years at this point.

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I would be remiss if I didn't admit how these clueless nurses got me through my darkest hours of nursing school. Just when I would be doubting myself and wondering if I could see the torture that is nursing school through to the end, I would see a clueless nurse at work do something (or not do something) that would make me think, "if they can do it, I can do it."

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One nurse I worked with was hilarious. She had worked on this teeny tiny Uro floor for 30 years and they closed and got absorbed into the hospital. All the other nurses form the floor were amazing and experienced but this lady was just ditzy and kooky. Narc count (before PYXIS) took an hour every morning with her. We stopped letting her do count. We stopped letting her hang blood. We stopped letting her do Admissions. We didn't even let her order food because she would screw up the order. Come to think of it, we didn't let her do much of anything...

She was a GENIUS!

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Lol I completely agree and understand you vanilla bean smh

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Someone asked me just a few days ago if D5W has sugar in it.

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One nurse I worked with was hilarious. She had worked on this teeny tiny Uro floor for 30 years and they closed and got absorbed into the hospital. All the other nurses form the floor were amazing and experienced but this lady was just ditzy and kooky. Narc count (before PYXIS) took an hour every morning with her. We stopped letting her do count. We stopped letting her hang blood. We stopped letting her do Admissions. We didn't even let her order food because she would screw up the order. Come to think of it, we didn't let her do much of anything...

She was a GENIUS!

I swear she's working on my unit!

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Specializes in critical care.

We have someone who is in orientation right now. Graduated from my school. My mind is blown. How did this person pass the same tests I took, and then pass the nclex? This nurse tries so damn hard to do well, but my god, not a lick of sense in that brain. Poor kid. I just keep an eye out for opportunities to help and hope things start to fall in place better. I also hope I was never, ever THAT bad.

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Specializes in Mental Health Nursing.
Someone asked me just a few days ago if D5W has sugar in it.

Things like this baffles me. When I first started out at my facility, a nurse was fired. She administered PRN Tylenol for a patient who c/o chest pain because...the patient, y'know, had a PRN Tylenol order for pain (her defense). Then she charted it, followed it up like any other pain management algorithm, and went on her merry way. She wasn't fired because of that though. She was fired because she never notified the doctor of the chest pain complaint.

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