Incompetent or disabled is there a differnce

[kahlua66]

I work with a lady who is 55yo, she went to nursing school straight out of high school. after graduation she did nothing but actually babysit rich people as a caregiver. She was in an abusive marriage that ended with her losing everything including the ability to talk properly. when she was hired at our hospital she was given a special phone. It was not long until she was moved unit to unit until she hit mental health I think they felt it was safe, no one could really die here!! But the woman is impossible to work with she is arrogant, believes we are all beneath her. she is from Pittsburgh and lives here in our town because it is free (inherited) and tells us everychance she gets, she is here only on days she works and hates the town, the people, etc etc.The doctors we work with hate dealing with her, she turns everything into a personal ordeal and god help the whole unit if she is in charge. The pts dislike her and she tends to rev them up due to her speech impediment. She can not open her email nor can she send one. everyone on her unit prays for a new hire so they can get off her weekend or her shift. If she has 5 pts total the night is chaotic. she makes multiple mistakes, has been caught in the act with other things and we as co workers are tired of picking up the slack, if she works there has to be extra help etc. My question is we have been told there is nothing that can be done, she is totally incompetent and has a nursing license, but americans with disabilities protects her so we remained screwed! How does a unit get rid of this liability?

[lkwashington]

You can't unless she really harms a patient. You all just have to deal with it. Or a law suit? She knows it. She has rights, too. Why not give her some time of desk work or something similiar? Good luck.

[resumecpr]

If she is incompetent, then a witness should be completing an incident report each and every time. Sooner or later when they add up, management should take notice and dismiss her. If you feel she is a danger to her patients, and you have written evidence, then the disabilities act will not help her. I hope this helps.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

If she has been performing at an unsafe level of care for the patients and has bee "caught in the act" (which certainly can't be a good thing) then perhaps management should be confronted. It would be a pity for someone to be picking up the slack and to be taken down in a wave of her poor performance. The ADA will protect someone with a disability - but not to the point of turning a blind eye (no pun intended) towards incompetence on the job. From the way it sounds, her disability is speech related - which sounds like it has little to no bearing on how she performs as a nurse.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Wondering what being from Pittsburgh has do do with it?

Anymoo....she shounds incompetant and not because of her disability.

[ocean waves]

Hi! Glad you are sharing your challenging situation. You wrote that the nurse in question "...has lost the ability to speak properly...". It is possible that this 55 year old nurse may have had a mild stroke. If that is the case, this worker would be considered to have a disability. You wrote that this nurse has made "multiple mistakes". If these mistakes are a fact and not a rumor, this situation becomes a safety concern. I agree with the writer that perhaps a transfer for this nurse to a nursing position which does not involve giving meds might be a good plan. Try to be kind to this nurse. She may not be fully aware that perhaps a medical condition is blocking her ability to be a safe co-worker.

[Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN]

The pts dislike her and she tends to rev them up due to her speech impediment.

What's that mean? I know what "rev them up" means, but what is she specifically doing?

[mentalhealthRN]

I am wondering if the abuse you mentioned is related to the speech issue and even related to the behaviors. Is it possible that she has a Tramatic Brain Injury (TBI) from the physical abuse that would possibly explain the speech and behaviors? Her behavior, the way you describe, sounds much like the patients I have cared for with TBIs. TBI can really affect/change a persons personality. Often irrational, labile moods, impulsive and not always but often I have seen just plain difficult to deal with. (often they behave like a difficult teenager) It really would not suprise me a bit to hear that she did suffer a TBI. In that case it is a touchy situation as far a ADA. If she is unsafe even given the accomodations she needs then the hospital does have a right to protect their patients. As far as having her in psych to be safer...... well, yeah those people may not be physically, acutely unstable but trust me she could still kill someone. Med errors are med errors. Not recognizing things like NMS which can be acutely life threatening if not recognized and treated promptly. So......just sayin'..... but it sounds like you have your hands full. Good luck.

[TDCHIM]

The ADA makes provisions for those with disabilities to be given reasonable accommodations to perform jobs within their abilities. It doesn't give someone carte blanche to run around making massive mistakes without repercussions. It sounds like you've tried going to management for initial help. Now it's time to document the heck out of the situation - but that's only if she's really making giant, dangerous mistakes. In your post, you made some allegations about her incompetence but didn't really give any solid details. If she's just an irritating, rude coworker with a speech impediment who makes an occasional mistake like everyone else and is somewhat tech-averse (like some doctors!), then you're going to have to deal with her unless everyone else at your facility would automatically be fired for similar issues.

Assuming she's making major, dangerous errors, document the circumstances of each one and make sure there are multiple witnesses for each incident willing to speak to management about the episode. If it's just one or two of you willing to speak up, it may be viewed as some sort of personality conflict or personal vendetta rather than a real issue.

I'm a disabled woman preparing to re-enter the job market and I really hate the fact that disabled people are seen as some sort of burden on employers and coworkers. Properly accommodated with reasonable accommodations, we're an asset, not a burden. However, that doesn't mean a person who (for instance) can't walk/bend/lift properly could or should go out and try to get a really physically demanding job. If this nurse isn't capable of fulfilling her duties at that workplace with reasonable accommodations for any documented disabilities, then she doesn't belong there. The patients have the right to be cared in a safe manner.

[heron, ASN, RN]

Typical management cop-out ... they just don't want to do the work necessary to document the problems or spend the money to replace her. Same thing happened with affirmative action. Agree that the solution starts with your documentation. In the case of poor or dangerous practice, forwarding a copy to risk management might light a fire under them.

[Woodenpug, BSN]

Sometimes, I wish we would be as kind to our co-workers as we we are to our patients.

[heron, ASN, RN]

Sometimes, I wish we would be as kind to our co-workers as we we are to our patients.

True ... but it's also important to be clear on the difference between kindness and enabling.