huber needle

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Hi all, i work as a RN in a skilled nursing facility; i made a mistake by re-inserting huber needle into patient's right chest port since she had pulled it of, i only did it since we didnt have any supplies to insert a new needle and i didnt want the patient with end stage cancer dying of dehydration, since there was delay in new huber needles coming from pharmacy; i know i am in trouble for risk of infection/ cross contamination. I should have known better not to do it but since it cleaned the area with chlorhex prep i thought it was okay.Now my ADON asked me a witness statement and stated that she was going to give it to the DON and said that she doesnt know whats going to come out of it. I am scared i am going to be fired. Any suggestions????

Specializes in geriatrics.

Agreed that you should look into . From the overall tone of your post, I gather that you knew this was wrong and chose your course of action because the patient was dying.

If you worked on my unit, I would be issuing disciplinary action along with a learning plan.

Your recent post in caps is the same as shouting. While you may not care for some of the responses, you've asked advice.

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Specializes in Vascular Access.

See below

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Specializes in Vascular Access.

Amolucia,

You seemed to be asking what additional education does this OP need besides nursing school....WHAT???? Nursing school in no way prepares you to access implanted ports, and in many cases, will tell you that you'll get the Venipuncture part while doing on-the-job training. And, even if this person, graduated with his/her RN, it doesn't mean that that equates to competency. RN = capable, not necessarily competent unless he/she proves it otherwise.

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Amolucia,

You seemed to be asking what additional education does this OP need besides nursing school....WHAT????

I don't think anyone is trying to suggest that nursing school gives you the skills to access ports--it doesn't. I believe the thought was that a nursing school education is sufficient to make one realize that he/she should not reinsert a contaminated needle--of any sort, not just a port needle--after it has fallen out.

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I don't think anyone is trying to suggest that nursing school gives you the skills to access ports--it doesn't. I believe the thought was that a nursing school education is sufficient to make one realize that he/she should not reinsert a contaminated needle--of any sort, not just a port needle--after it has fallen out.

I believe it's my post that is being questioned and you've clarified it exactly right.

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Specializes in critical care.

My program definitely had accessing ports in it as a skill we had to get checked off. Not that that was the point, but yes, infection prevention should be emphasized strongly enough that inserting a dirty needle should not have even been considered an option. Maybe I missed it, but how was it even available/present to reinsert? That should have gone in s sharps bin as soon as it was pulled.

OP I get that you're frustrated we're harping on the same points and you weren't wanting that. Understand, though, that (at least, to me) it is so shocking that you considered reinsertion a viable option. Not only viable, but preferable to stopping what you were doing to get clean supplies. Your patient could die from this.

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
Thank you friends for all your replies. but i feel some people's comments are enough is enough okay....im not gonna kill myself thinking of this...no one of you is perfect and im sure you all have made mistakes at some point....and i very well know some of you have not admitted it...but i admitted it honestly to my supervisor.....i have nursing license insurance....and i can find another job if something would happen to this..i have a lawyer to fight if i have my license taken......and honest to god i didnt do it because the patient was dying....i only did it because i didnt want her to die...at that point she was not eating or drinking and nutrition and hydration was priority and it was not that she was immediately getting an infection okay so that wasnt my priority....my goal was to keep her comfortable, she was DNR and going to become a hospice patient......I KNOW IM WRONG PER ALL OF YOU AND PER MYSELF BUT I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN AND I DONT NEED ANOTHER CHANCE TO PROVE IT.....LETS STOP WITH THAT....BYE!!!!

I get the impression that you have permanently signed off by the emphatic use of caps in your message and may never read my reply, but here it is: you asked a question on here and now you're offended by the replies? You prob haven't been on here long enough to know that if you pose an issue like this on allnurses you'd better expect to swallow all kinds of harsh realistic responses, and you'll need to take them in stride and with some gumption. You know what you did was wrong and you will face consequences. But don't try to lid the can of exploding fireworks that you forced open. I will readily admit to mistakes in my nursing career, but I knew not to write about it on allnurses if I wasn't ready to hear the commentary about it. Sounds like you need to reflect on this situation now and whether continuing to work as a nurse is wise or safe. That is all.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
I get the impression that you have permanently signed off by the emphatic use of caps in your message and may never read my reply, but here it is: you asked a question on here and now you're offended by the replies? You prob haven't been on here long enough to know that if you pose an issue like this on allnurses you'd better expect to swallow all kinds of harsh realistic responses, and you'll need to take them in stride and with some gumption. You know what you did was wrong and you will face consequences. But don't try to lid the can of exploding fireworks that you forced open. I will readily admit to mistakes in my nursing career, but I knew not to write about it on allnurses if I wasn't ready to hear the commentary about it. Sounds like you need to reflect on this situation now and whether continuing to work as a nurse is wise or safe. That is all.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

I had a mental image of a major flouncing out of the room episode coupled with a door slam followed by a few hours of sulking. 😝

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I see something of a black-and-white attitudes towards nurses here sometimes. Either you are good, perfect and never have done XYZ, or you fall off your pedestal into the realm of bad nurses beyond redemption(kind of like the "fallen women" of an era past). Even in a nurse sees the errors of their ways, there seems to be less interest in helping a nurse find a way to move past bad judgement, pick themselves up and do better in the future.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
I see something of a black-and-white attitudes towards nurses here sometimes. Either you are good, perfect and never have done XYZ, or you fall off your pedestal into the realm of bad nurses beyond redemption(kind of like the "fallen women" of an era past). Even in a nurse sees the errors of their ways, there seems to be less interest in helping a nurse find a way to move past bad judgement, pick themselves up and do better in the future.

Except in this case the OP didn't seem to be particularly concerned about the result of her poor decision making skills outside of how it would affect her. Nor did she express any remorse, she just continually made excuses even up to her last post. She clearly had an agenda that we weren't sticking to by not patting her on the back and saying "there,there dear". And come on, there are mistakes and then there are these kind of situations. Her supervisor even told her not to re-insert the needle but she just went ahead and did it anyway. Nobody expects perfection, especially from new grads, but there are times (and this is one of them) where sugar-coating things isn't the way to go.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Nurses make mistakes as does everyone who is human....but, WE hold people's lives in our hands and shouldn't be so cavalier about the mistakes we make.

An 80 year old dying of cancer does NOT need IV fluids. There is no point to that.....medications for comfort can be given PR or PO.

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hello all there im back cos im not the running type...im the fighting type....i work long hours and yes i am still okay as a NURSE like some people said if it is safe for me to even be a nurse....I ADMIITED THAT I MADE A MISTAKE WITHOUT GIVING EXCUSES APART FROM MAKING MY JUSTIFICATIONS.....and like i said again and again we all have made some kinds of mistakes some small small big and some life threatening...no one is perfect... but just one mistake in my 5 years of nursing practice doesnt make me an unsafe or an unwise nurse.....just so you know guys im not a new grad.....this is my first experince with huber needles but i have worked with other types of things in the nursing field and ive done a great job as people call me the hardworking perfect nurse.....my qualifications wouldnt even fit this page.....i did the mistake since i was overwhelmed with 30 patients at night with people falling left and right, sending people out in the middle of night and dealing with psych patients so i was in a hurry and did this....I WILL ACCEPT YOUR HARSH REALISTIC REMARKS AND IM DEFINITELY NOT THE SULKING TYPE...more comments welcome and i will accept some and defend some...sorry if you are expecting me to sugarcoat your harsh comments since im not expecting you all to sugarcoat my mistake!!!!!! I HAVE KNOW PEOPLE GIVE INSULIN IN HEPARIN SYRINGES FOR GOD'S SAKE,,,,COMPARE THIS TO MINE...HAVE A GRT DAY FRIENDS

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