This is no longer HIPPA violation as it is all public record. I will give you the short version. Man had a CABG 5 years ago. He was on pathway and scheduled to go home in the AM, however his Blood sugar was 360's. D/C held. Multiple notes throughout the day that he needed to keep his monitor on while on a tele floor. That night at 2:12 am he coded. I was the first one to the room. (did I mention I was extra that night?) Pushed the code button and hooked him to the cart. At the time practice on the floor was to take them off Central monitor and put them on the crash cart monitor so that you had a picture in the room. He was shocked while the machine was still calibrating. (Residents were there by that time.) He was stablized and in SB, then placed back on the central monitor at 2:19 am. Was now back in VFIB. Shocked a second time. The doctor refused to believe that the first shock ever took place, even when he was told by the residents and nurses there. He told the family the nurses on the floor were incompetant and they should sue.
Long story short is the nurse who had the patient did a poor job documenting the actions taken during the code.
The nursing supervisor documented med times based on her watch (10 minutes faster then central monitor) and not the crash cart (3 minutes slower than the central monitor) or central monitor.
I didn't document the doctor screaming at me for only shocking once or my response to that temper tantrum.
I expect a verdict tomarrow.
OH! I should say that this man who claims we didn't shock for 7 minutes is alive, well and rides a Harley.
Wow. What exactly is he suing for? I don't really understand.
For another perspective, I was a jury member in a lawsuit case involving someone's health (I know, hard to believe they didn't dismiss a nurse) and some guy was suing for an injury that looked like he had had for years. None of the jury bought it (jury people are smarter than they are portrayed on tv, btw) and we actually awarded him a lower amount than the person's insurance had offered without a lawsuit at all.
But wow. I would be so scared if I had to testify in court, no matter how well I had documented or how in the right I was.
Nope, not a thing. I had asked prior to going to court if there was any chance of it being settled prior to me having to take the stand. Hospital's attorney said, Nope, we did everything we were suppose to do, he is alive and doing well. So, there wasn't even an offer of settlement from the hospital.
I don't even know how that made it to court! What did he do, convince his lawyer that he is a zombie or something?????
I hate our whole system, I really do. We have incredibly high acuity right now, and we are running our tails off the entire time we are there just to be able to provide basic nursing care. Our press ganey is in the toilet right now - down 70+ points from where we usually are - ouch! But guess which problem they are focusing on.....stuff like this just gives people the message that it's okay to sue if you didn't get the kind of jello you like!
Wow. What exactly is he suing for? I don't really understand.
For another perspective, I was a jury member in a lawsuit case involving someone's health (I know, hard to believe they didn't dismiss a nurse) and some guy was suing for an injury that looked like he had had for years. None of the jury bought it (jury people are smarter than they are portrayed on tv, btw) and we actually awarded him a lower amount than the person's insurance had offered without a lawsuit at all.
But wow. I would be so scared if I had to testify in court, no matter how well I had documented or how in the right I was.
If you didn't believe the man's claims, why did you award him anything at all?
If you didn't believe the man's claims, why did you award him anything at all?
Well, there were some damages; it involved a car accident and the other driver admitted fault in the accident. But the man tried to claim old chronic injuries were caused by the accident. So he did deserve some compensation for his car, and time he spent in the hospital after the accident.
I'm pretty sure the cardiac monitor on the crash cart keeps documentation of each and every shock (time and joules delivered;) I'm surprised the biomed folks were not able to provide that.
Old models may not; but every code I am in, we run a code summary before we turn off the monitor.
At any rate, the Harley rider lives to ride again!!
do you know what bothers me most about this whole situation? is that this man, whose life was saved by nurses and doctors, could not even appreciate the fact that he made it out of that situation alive. he could have died. i really don't know what he was suing for. did he and his lawyer think they really had a case? highly unlikely considering the outcome of the lawsuit. i'm glad that the jury or judge or whoever decided the verdict had the common sense and decency to say "hey pal, you lived, didn't you? what more did you want? what do you think you are trying to pull". what bothers me the most is that this case made it to trial. can't judges dismiss frivelous cases such as this one? and finally the last thing that ticks me off about this entire case, is that fact that you and i are paying for it. yes folks, that's right, we are because one person could not appreciate the gift that g-d gave him...his life...
shay, i'm glad you and your hospital won. what i would like to know is, how did that guy react to the verdict?
) Pushed the code button and hooked him to the cart. At the time practice on the floor was to take them off Central monitor and put them on the crash cart monitor so that you had a picture in the room. He was shocked while the machine was still calibrating. (Residents were there by that time.) He was stablized and in SB, then placed back on the central monitor at 2:19 am. Was now back in VFIB. Shocked a second time. The doctor refused to believe that the first shock ever took place, even when he was told by the residents and nurses there. He told the family the nurses on the floor were incompetant and they should sue.
Quaffetti
76 Posts
Wow. What exactly is he suing for? I don't really understand.
For another perspective, I was a jury member in a lawsuit case involving someone's health (I know, hard to believe they didn't dismiss a nurse) and some guy was suing for an injury that looked like he had had for years. None of the jury bought it (jury people are smarter than they are portrayed on tv, btw) and we actually awarded him a lower amount than the person's insurance had offered without a lawsuit at all.
But wow. I would be so scared if I had to testify in court, no matter how well I had documented or how in the right I was.