Heinous or Forgivable???

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I was doing a 1:1 observation with an elderly confused woman who tends to wander. So I was in the room with her and the 19 year old unit clerk came in with a piece of paper that said " My name is !#@*. If found please return me to Unit @*!$. she then stuck the paper on the lady's back with a piece of tape. I waited until she left and I removed it because I think that is totally degrading and if someone did that to my mom I would knock them out. So later the lady and I were walking down the hall and the unit clerk goes, ' Where is her sign"? I said, "she took it off,"(even though i am the one who took it off) so then the clerk goes and gets the sign and sticks it back on her back and I was like, " come on, don't put a sign on her back, ' and she gets all nasty and goes, " well everyone else does it, " I said, " well if she is supervised like she is supposed to be and has hospital ID like she is supposed to, then she shouldn't need a sign, " Not to mention the fact that it is altogether tacky and mean. I find it the equivalent of putting a KICK ME sign on someone's back. So then the clerk grabbed the paper and ripped it up in little pieces and and stomped away like a 2 year old. The sad thing is that she just started nursing school. What does everyone else think of this? Am I overreacting?

How awful for that patient. We all deserve some dignity.

Michelle

originally posted by nurseleigh

okay, i have to play devil's advocate here.

she stated that "everyone else does it". now i agree with all of you that is is wrong, degrading, and ultimately unneccesary, but this young girl obviously learned this behavior from someone else and from the looks of it does not have the mental capacity to understand why she was wrong.

still, i would probably not have been so nice with her!!

nurseleigh

i understand that the girl needed someone to play devil's advocate for her nurse leigh. but, this was simply not acceptable. i agree that she should be educated. perhaps the suggestion of one of those "hello, i'm" labels that folks use at conventions and reunions would be more tasteful, especially if worn on the person's front. i understand that the resident might pull it off if put on the front, but that goes back to the fact that this facility should know their residents, and should know which room is theirs! :rolleyes:

That is crazy. I am a nursing student and would never dream of doing that to a patient. I would not want to be treated like that so why would I do that to someone else. I agree with you. I would have taken that sign off and told the clerk what I thought about it. You are right, if they were doing their job she wouln't need a note!!!!!!

I do believe some people can see the error of their ways. Perhaps a video on the losses that elders suffer and more positive role models, she may make a good nurse someday! I did some stupid things before I became a nurse, and I find myself advocating for this population on a daily basis.

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by P_RN

Cruel.

Reportable.

I echo those same sentiments, P_RN! Very very cruel, and should NOT be tolerated! Report her for sure. Let her know that since she is in school to become a nurse, she will learn how very unacceptable doing something like that is to a patient.....regardless of their mental status. :nurse:

Originally posted by MollyJ

Okay, folks, she's nineteen.

I don't care how old she is...most people at 9 have more decency than that...I was taught to respect my elders, calling the Mr. Jones or Mrs. Smith, etc from the time I was a child...so I just couldn't dream of treating someone this way whether or not I knew them personally. :angryfire It's sad that some parents don't impart simple values like that on their kids...She should be reported and terminated.

I doubt she'd even get a job at Mc D's they have pretty set standards of deciency to customers :rolleyes:

On a tangent, In find it interesting that you stated her age, 19, as though that was already one strike against her. Yes, her behavior was unnacceptable, but her age should have had no bearing on the situation- you wouldnt have said her age had she been, say, 43. Just thought it was interesting.

19 may be young but by 19 you know the difference between what is right and wrong and what you should and should not do

thats just crap

I dont care that she's learning it from anyone else on the floor either, you make your own judgement calls.

what was that whole thing about "if everyone else jumped off a cliff would you follow?"

also there is a difference between making a stupid mistake , which we all make, and doing something like slapping a sign on a fellow human beings back

that is not a stupid mistake it was a cold hearted downright moronic thing to have done

and I cannot imagine anyone being able to justify doing that, how could this girl bring herself to make up the sign and stick it on the patients back?

no justification possible whatsoever

In my hospital, our gero-psych pts are considered "no information" patients. We do not even acknowledge that they are pts and if you are not working that unit, you do not know the names of the pts on that unit. Putting a sign on the pt identifies them and what unit they belong to (hence, why they are hospitalized). So, if "Edna" gets out of the unit and Nellie from church sees her and the sign, then Nellie knows Edna is a pt on that unit. So much for patient confidentiality.

I once put a "Deceased" sticker on an RNs back( well she WAS like the walking dead, took two hours to give out the morning pills)

But as for a patient....well....I DON'T THINK SO !!!!!!!! What if her family came in and saw that??? I thought ward clerks were educated in privacy issues? I would also like a list of "everyone" I'm very suspicious of "everyone" they seem to do a lot of things around hospitals.....I think I might just try and track them down one day and find out if "they" really do the things that are attriuted to them.:nono:

Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.

There are two key points to note here. She is a 19 year old unit clerk and she said "well everyone else does it".

I think she can be taught the error of her ways especially since they are the result of inexperience and immaturity but if she is getting that behavior from other nurses, then that is a problem.

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
Originally posted by Aussienurse2

I'm very suspicious of "everyone" they seem to do a lot of things around hospitals.....I think I might just try and track them down one day and find out if "they" really do the things that are attriuted to them.:nono: [/b]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ida No works at my facility...and whooeee! she is a screw up!!!
+ Add a Comment