Save a Life, Lose your License

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Im just curious..........Say your placed into a situation that would require you to perform a procedure to save someone's life that could cost you your license. Would you do it?

Example: Mililtary medics always get asked this.............Your at a park and

someone gets choked...Basic Life support (abdominal thrusts) do not relieve the airway obstruction. Its been 6 minutes, and you know anoxic brain injury is Beginning to occur. You take something, penetrate the cricothyroid membrane, insert a tube of some type and the patient breaths and lives....You've lost your license because of it.......Is it worth it?

What would you do? Has anyone ever had to do it? What happened? Ive seen military medics carry around ALS kits in there cars....But using it is anothe question........

I know a nurse who got put on probation for suturing her friends lac....

Just curious on everyone opinion out there

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- carry the kit.

- but why would you lose your license?

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
You take something, penetrate the cricothyroid membrane, insert a tube of some type and the patient breaths and lives....You've lost your license because of it.......Is it worth it?

Yup.

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Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.

To me it's a no-brainer.

Absolutely, and wouldn't think twice.

How could I walk away? If I did, I wouldn't feel worthy of my liscense, anyway. :stone

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Specializes in PCU, ICU, PACU.

Hmm... Life or License...

LIFE duh.

I think you could make a pretty good case to save your license also. It would look pretty bad in the press for someone to be penalized for saving a life. (doesn't Good Samaritan apply too?)

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Specializes in SICU-MICU,Radiology,ER.
...doesn't Good Samaritan apply too?
Thats a very good question and I wont pretend to know the answer.

When I was in school a legal nurse came to one of our classes and spoke to us about some basic liability, recommended etc etc.

One thing I do remember was a discussion about stopping to help at accidents and emergencies out amongst the public. The way she explained it was Good Samaritin does protect the general public within reason and the professional health provider also as long as what they do is within the scope of their practice and deemed necessary to support life.

I dont think that surgical cric in the field is a typical nursing skill so one might be on thin ice there if they had to defend it. A prehospital type nurse, EMT-P, or 91W should be ok in most cases.

It would be interesting to get legal nurses prespective, or possible even a lawyer of theres on on the BB here-

11

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Specializes in Emergency room, med/surg, UR/CSR.

Just kiddin! :chuckle Seriously, traching someone isn't as easy as it has been made to look on that infamous episode of ER. If you don't know exactly what you are doing, you could kill someone doing that. I was trained to do that years ago as a medic, but I wouldn't attempt it now. Anyway, I doubt that a Good Samaritan Law would cover you being sued for slitting someone's throat and making them bleed to death prior to them asphixiating(sic?); and I don't think your would either. You'd be better off continuing to try and dislodge the FB, and waiting until on the clock professionals are there. Just my opinion, but this is such a sue happy society, I'd think twice about going above and beyond your scope of practice, or even practicing a procedure you have been trained to do, if it is outside your jurisdiction, state of license or you are on your own time. Again, just my opinion.

Pam

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Specializes in Emergency room, med/surg, UR/CSR.
Just kiddin! :chuckle Seriously, traching someone isn't as easy as it has been made to look on that infamous episode of ER. If you don't know exactly what you are doing, you could kill someone doing that. I was trained to do that years ago as a medic, but I wouldn't attempt it now. Anyway, I doubt that a Good Samaritan Law would cover you being sued for slitting someone's throat and making them bleed to death prior to them asphixiating(sic?); and I don't think your malpractice insurance would either. You'd be better off continuing to try and dislodge the FB, and waiting until on the clock professionals are there. Just my opinion, but this is such a sue happy society, I'd think twice about going above and beyond your scope of practice, or even practicing a procedure you have been trained to do, if it is outside your jurisdiction, state of license or you are on your own time. Again, just my opinion.

Pam

Oh and to answer your original question, I would do what was in my scope of practice, it isn't worth losing my license, nor is it worth losing everything I have worked for to do more than that. I would do CPR if someone went down in front of me, but that is as far as I would go, surgical procedures, no way. Don't carry the equipment to do it and would not attempt to find something unsterile to do an invasive procedure like that. As I said, too many sue happy individuals out there.

Just call me a wimp,

Pam

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I can't see myself doing it. (Having a license wouldn't influence it one way or the other).

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Specializes in PCU, ICU, PACU.

Left something out of my first post.

I was looking at this from a more general stand point than the OP. I felt the question was more

'Would you go to the limits of your scope of practice to save someone outside your work environment?'

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

If I knew for sure how to do the procedure to save the person's life, I would do it. Othewise, I would continue trying to dislodge the foreign object according to CPR guidelines until the paramedics arrived. :)

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Specializes in Inpatient Acute Rehab.

I choose.... LIFE of course!!! As far as losing licensure, it would not happen. And id it did,well, at least you know you helped some mother/ father/ spouse/sibling keep their loved one!!!

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