I think I just ended someone's career

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Long story short, I had to report a registery LPN who was seen crushing, cutting, snorting, and then rubbing the residual powder on her gums by nearly an entire med floor. Most of her narc cards are missing several pills each. She was so intoxicated she could not stand at the cart and nearly fell over several times. She was escorted out and made the statement that she was already being investigated and was about to finish RN school. While waiting for the bosses to arrive some of the staff made it a game to shoot staples at her face and throw cups and tape at her, she was so impaired she didn't notice and just continued to look around the room we had her sit in. Her eyes were half closed and she would constantly fall asleep, while talking in a very slow and slurred speach! She couldn't even dial her phone to call her husband, someone had to dial for her...made we want to cry. I have never seen someone so completely intoxicated.

I feel bad that this nurse's promising career was cut short, I feel worse about her patients.

Sad day for nursing.

:sniff:

Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

Just because addiction is a disease doesn't mean there shouldn't be legal consequences. Yes, it was a travesty how that nurse was treated, but I've worked in LTC and there is usually not a house supervisor just your charge nurse at night. I dont remember if they called in the DNS to deal with the situation or not but that's what should be done.

I worked with an awesome nurse many yrs ago (15 to be exact) and we found out she had been diverting. So sad since we really liked her but she was fired. Fast forward to 10 yrs later and she went through another 8 facilities in 10 yrs using and diverting before the BON took away her license. How do I know this? It was published in our local newspaper.

If there was a crime committed there should be an investigation and consequences it shouldn't matter if they're a nurse or not.

In my forty years of nursing I have seen some awful things done to patients and nurses. This shooting of staples, etc. is not only unprofessional it may also be considered an assault and/or a battery. Have we stooped this low in our nursing practice that we cannot even show compassion to a fellow nurse? Remember ladies and gentlemen, "there but for the grace of God go I." Someday if you need compassion I hope no one treats you as you treated another-although some may think it is just poetic justice.

Please grow up! If I were the nurse observing this, I would have thrown a calm fit and tried to prevent this from happening. How did supervisory staff handle the whole situation? They should have been called immediately. Is there some policy to follow when an impaired employee is working? I bet it doesn't include staples and cups.

Disgusting behavior. No wonder our kids are subjected to bullies, look at their moms and dads.

Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

What the LPN did was wrong flat out. But so was the behavior of the staff members...throwing staples and cups at her?? What are you in high school? What they did was no better, assault and battery! I would not want to work with a drug addicted nurse, but I think I would want to work even less with members of your staff!

Specializes in PACU, OR.

There are implications in this entire thread that I find very depressing.

Firstly, this addicted nurse has a husband and possibly children; how many lives are being wrecked? I repeat my hope that she will be able to overcome this addiction and resume a normal life, that this incident will prove to be a watershed moment for her and that she will be able to pick up the broken pieces.

Secondly, the matter of the staff members tormenting this woman. As I understand it, this happened when Asystole was out of the room; these staff members were supposed to be taking care of her, or at least ensuring that she did not hurt herself. Instead they used her for some "highly amusing" target practice. Infantile is one description, sadistic is another. An even more worrying question has been asked; how do they treat their patients?

Asystole, you call them good people, but can you be sure of what they get up to if you're not in the room?

Finally, there has been quite a bit of criticism of Asystole from various posters; one queried why he (?) she (?) didn't stop this nurse when the crushing and cutting was going on. I tried to imagine what my own reaction would be if I saw something similar in my own department, and I have to say my immediate response would be sheer disbelief. Haven't you been confronted with one of those situations where you are so shocked at what you are seeing that you freeze? By the time you've finished asking yourself, "did I really see that?" it's already happened...

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
I don't feel sorry for the junkie lpn who endangered her patients. She had a choice. She made the choice to get wasted at work. I hope she never gets her license back. And anyone who feels sorry for her because she has a "disease" .. I bet they would feel differently if they were assigned to take care of you or someone you love. Just saying.

The two emotions are not mutually exclusive. I can feel badly for her and her disease and still not want her to take care of my loved ones when she's under the influence.

Please don't put disease in quotes. It's really kind of snotty and passive-aggressive. Addiction IS a disease, whether or not you choose to believe or acknowledge it.

Attitudes like yours disgust me and make me weep for humanity.

Specializes in Operating Room.
The two emotions are not mutually exclusive. I can feel badly for her and her disease and still not want her to take care of my loved ones when she's under the influence.

Please don't put disease in quotes. It's really kind of snotty and passive-aggressive. Addiction IS a disease, whether or not you choose to believe or acknowledge it.

Attitudes like yours disgust me and make me weep for humanity.

I agree..while I think 100% that the LPN needs to be reported and should not be near patients in her condition, the behavior of the supposed "professionals" is disturbing. I have known physicians who are dealing with addiction-they don't rip each other apart like nurses do..they support each other.

There are implications in this entire thread that I find very depressing.

Firstly, this addicted nurse has a husband and possibly children; how many lives are being wrecked? I repeat my hope that she will be able to overcome this addiction and resume a normal life, that this incident will prove to be a watershed moment for her and that she will be able to pick up the broken pieces.

Secondly, the matter of the staff members tormenting this woman. As I understand it, this happened when Asystole was out of the room; these staff members were supposed to be taking care of her, or at least ensuring that she did not hurt herself. Instead they used her for some "highly amusing" target practice. Infantile is one description, sadistic is another. An even more worrying question has been asked; how do they treat their patients?

Asystole, you call them good people, but can you be sure of what they get up to if you're not in the room?

Finally, there has been quite a bit of criticism of Asystole from various posters; one queried why he (?) she (?) didn't stop this nurse when the crushing and cutting was going on. I tried to imagine what my own reaction would be if I saw something similar in my own department, and I have to say my immediate response would be sheer disbelief. Haven't you been confronted with one of those situations where you are so shocked at what you are seeing that you freeze? By the time you've finished asking yourself, "did I really see that?" it's already happened...

I've been a license nurse for more then forty years. And I have performed in several different roles, from lowly staff nurse to supervisor to major case manager. I had to discipline employees over my career. I did not always witness the infraction, I had to rely on reports from others. This staffs behavior is more then infantile or sadistic, it is criminal. If it had been done on the street to a homeless person, the individuals could be arrested. If Asystole is looking for a pass because she didn't witness the behavior, sorry that doesn't float. Apparently her staff felt free to engage in such beavior, so someone is trying to be a 'friend' to the staff rather then a supervisor.

The one time I froze in fear, it lasted thirty seconds, then I went into action. She must have a very limited amount of exposure, if she or anyone freezes in disbelief. She did finally reacted but both she and the higher ups failed to meet their contractual duties as well as their NPA requirements and requirements of their state licensing agency.

What I can't believe but do, is one group blames the addict nurses and feels she she is lower then dirt. And another that feels sorry for the supervisor. The law and order crowd believes all addicts are at fault for their own addiction. And believe they choose their life style. It is unlikely they will ever change. The other needs to examine their own attitudes and what they think is the role of a supervisor.

GrannyRN65

Not a one of us is incapable of an addiction. Any addiction. May sound harsh, but those throwing items at her should be fired, IMHO. Where is their compassion? Hate to have either of THEM as a Nurse. Hopefully she will get the care and treatment she needs.

Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I don't think people on this forum would have been as harsh on Asytole RN if she hadn't defended the people who tormented the nurse with the addiction. Saying that they are 'good people' is just mind boggling. They should be disciplined very harshly over this incident. The scenario makes me feel ill thinking about it.

As for the addicted nurse I wouldn't be worried about ending their career at all. I wouldn't want to work alongside someone who is putting their patients at risk as well as my career. But they should still be treated like a human being and not subjected to abuse from anyone.

Specializes in addiction nurse.

Actually, the taunting by staff is more than criminal - it is unethical behavior which should be disciplined by the State Board of Nursing.

ANA Code of Ethics 3.6 Addressing impaired practice specifically states: “Nurses must be vigilant to protect the patient, the public, and the profession from potential harm when a colleague’s practice, in any setting, appears to be impaired. The nurse extends compassion and caring to colleagues who are in recovery from illness or when illness interferes with job performance”.

Having spent the last 8 years advocating for nurses with substance use disorders, as well as writing and presentingh on the subject nationally, I am outraged by the behavior of the staff who were in attendance. There is excellent resource information on this issue available as well as www.aana.com and many State Board of Nursing sites.

I can unequivocally state that if this nurse enrolls in the nurse monitoring program in her state, follows their requirements and is granted the privilege to be monitored in practice in a stable recovery in the future that I would be absolutely delighted to have her take care of me or my loved ones because in my professional experience nurses in monitoring are not only better nurses than they ever were, they often surpass their colleagues in compassion, reliability, diligence and persistence. Paula Davies Scimeca, RN, MS

Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.

I'm wondering.... for all of you in support of the nurse and feel we should all stand by her and guide her through recovery, would you also support the drunk driver who made the conscious decision (well as much as a conscious decision can be made while inebriated, that is) to get behind the wheel and go for a spin?

I'm not baiting, it's a legitimate question. Really.

The nurse chose to care for patients stoned, disregarding the possible consequences.

The driver chose to get behind the wheel drunk, disregarding the possible consequences.

Thoughts?

Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.
I'm wondering.... for all of you in support of the nurse and feel we should all stand by her and guide her through recovery, would you also support the drunk driver who made the conscious decision (well as much as a conscious decision can be made while inebriated, that is) to get behind the wheel and go for a spin?

I'm not baiting, it's a legitimate question. Really.

The nurse chose to care for patients stoned, disregarding the possible consequences.

The driver chose to get behind the wheel drunk, disregarding the possible consequences.

Thoughts?

I'll bite :-)

my thoughts are that the nurse with the addiction should be treated the same as anyone else who needs help to overcome an addiction. Support should be available to help them overcome their habit so they can move on from it and go back into the workforce. However they should still be held legally accountable for diverting drugs and be held professionally accountable for putting their patients at risk.

With your analogy of the police officer how would you feel in this scenario if the police officers behaved the same as the nurses towards the drunk driver. Threw stuff at the drunk while they lay there helpless? I'll admit that I find it hard to care about it but if you choose to be in a profession like nursing or the police there professional codes of conduct you are expected to follow like treating people with dignity and respect.

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