I send pt home with heplocks!!

elizabells, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

On the one hand, yes, most hospitals have a probationary period wherein they can fire you if they don't like the color of your ponytail holder. On the other hand, I have heard of many, many, MANY cases of patients going home with heplocks. Happened to my dad once, actually. So it doesn't make you a bad nurse.

JRD2002 · Mar 29, 2008

Yeah pretty easy to overlook especially since around discharge most patients get antsy in the pantsy and try to rush you along. Just curious but what did you do...tell the come back or give them instructions on how to do it themselves? I once knew a nurse that had a drug user leave AMA and she forgot to take out his PICC line...granted he was in no mood for staying!

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

we've had pt's purposely try to sneak out with a heplock. "oh...the tech took it out already" here....as i pull up the sleeve...i still need to check the site...whoops...heplock still there. pt...."oh i thought you meant the one i used to have in this other arm"... :nono:

you'll be fine...

luce2008 · Mar 29, 2008

Yeah pretty easy to overlook especially since around discharge most patients get antsy in the pantsy and try to rush you along. Just curious but what did you do...tell the come back or give them instructions on how to do it themselves? I once knew a nurse that had a drug user leave AMA and she forgot to take out his PICC line...granted he was in no mood for staying!

Nursing superviseor sent my preceptor to pt's home to take them off. my preceptor was very upset:banghead:.

SoundofMusic · Mar 29, 2008

Well, IMO, as a new grad, it WAS your preceptor's ultimate responsibility to ensure the pt. was going home without the heplock, or any other device still engaged. These pts are still her ultimate responsibility -- you are the student/ preceptee. The responsibility still lies with her.

Don't feel bad -- it an emergency situation, or an extremely busy shift, I could easily see that happening.

Next time you'll know -- remove everything, IV's, monitor nodes, etc, etc.

Sometimes you have to made mistakes to learn. It didn't kill anyone.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

well, imo, as a new grad, it was your preceptor's ultimate responsibility to ensure the pt. was going home without the heplock. these pts are still her ultimate responsibility -- you are the student/ preceptee. the responsibility still lies with her.

:yeahthat::yeahthat::yeahthat:

nursing supervisor sent my preceptor to pt's home to take them off. my preceptor was very upset:banghead:.

she'll get over it and "she" will be more careful.

allnurses Guide · Mar 29, 2008

It happened to me. I wasn't fired. Of course the doc didn't write to remove it on his discharge orders and we do sometimes send folks home with them. I was new - I felt awful but my preceptor was great about it.

Dutch - techs can remove IV saline locks??????? :confused: Wow.

It continues to amaze me the differences in practices in this country. Techs putting in foley catheters, drawing blood, doing ekg's . . . . pretty soon there will be no need for nurses. Techs, CNA's and MA's will do all our work for us.

steph

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

dutch - techs can remove iv saline locks??????? wow.
it continues to amaze me the differences in practices in this country. techs putting in foley catheters, drawing blood, doing ekg's . . . . pretty soon there will be no need for nurses. techs, cna's and ma's will do all our work for us.
steph

dc peripheral iv's, yep. picc's, central's can't touch them. insert foley's, draw blood, no. ekg's...yes, only if trained. whatever that entails :uhoh21:

allnurses Guide · Mar 29, 2008

dc peripheral iv's, yep. picc's, central's can't touch them. insert foley's, draw blood, no. ekg's...yes, only if trained. whatever that entails :uhoh21:

it isn't that it is hard to do something - it just seems like some things should remain in the practice of nurses.

i guess though when you look at things - docs used to be the only ones who could start iv's . .

steph

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Mar 29, 2008

it isn't that it is hard to do something - it just seems like some things should remain in the practice of nurses.
i guess though when you look at things - docs used to be the only ones who could start iv's . .
steph

it's still that way in some countries. a good friend of mine moved here from austalia about 5 years ago. she had to learn to "cannulate iv's" because in austalia, at that time, only doctors did cannulations.

i agree only nurses should dc iv's... it's not rocket science but assessing the site for phlebitis, infection, etc should be the nurses responsibility. i always dc'd my own.

paxpax · Mar 30, 2008

You are NOT a bad nurse.

I work on a tele floor. Recently we had an extremely needy (abusive to staff) family on the floor, discharge planning worked for days to get the patient placed in a Nursing Home; family, kept refusing. Finally the CEO of the hospital came in and said you gotta go. The transfer ambulance came just as I was coming on shift. By the time I got out of report they were gone. Woo hoo! Therefore my admission was going to be in the empty room. When the pt showed up, CRAP, we didn't have the heart monitor because we sent it with the needy patient to the nursing home in our haste to get rid of them. Oh well, we got it back the next day. No one got in trouble. We all had a laugh.

Recently, I had an interesting team of patients; one had gotten well enough to be transferred to the psychiatric unit which was in a different building. I had to accompany my patient to psych which took a bit of time. I had another patient who was ants in the pants eager to be discharged. The order was written and she knew it. While I was gone on my transfer, she snuck down the back stairs with her family (WITH HER HEPLOCK!) Well, she was long gone. I called the family, they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. We could have treated here leaving AMA, but the discharge was written. So we just mailed her scripts. The end.