to intervene or not to intervene

Published

Out of curiosity, to my beloved COB's. if you are say for example, visiting a friend, relative, etc at another hospital, snf or whatever and you notice a person in the lobby or public area of the hospital become unresponsive, what is our role and what are we allowed/not allowed to do? assuming you have no info regarding the hospitals P&P.

Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.
Personally, I'm not concerned about getting sued, I just don't feel any obligation to respond to any random stranger in a public place when I'm on my own time, living my own life.

Wow. So much for "caring" about others. For my own sake I hope you never find me laying around unresponsive

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Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.
Wow. So much for "caring" about others. For my own sake I hope you never find me laying around unresponsive

I'm with you......

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Specializes in Dialysis.
I am one of the few that think NOADLS says what he means.

Me too, crass as he can be...

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Me too, crass as he can be...

Meh, most of the time I like it. MOST.

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
Wow. So much for "caring" about others. For my own sake I hope you never find me laying around unresponsive

As much as I didnt agree with the sentiment expressed by your quoted poster.

For the love of the universe please some up with a better method of disagreement than "i hope you are never my nurse". Deserves a godwins

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
Personally, I'm not concerned about getting sued, I just don't feel any obligation to respond to any random stranger in a public place when I'm on my own time, living my own life.

Fair enough. I've heard of stories of health professionals in the US not getting involved due to the highly litigous nature of the society in which they live.

Personally walking by when there is something I could do to help is not something I could do. But at the end of the day we (as in each human being) does what we need to be able to live our lives in the best way for us.

(not trying to rag on you here. am aware I may not have expressed myself in the best way)

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Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.
As much as I didnt agree with the sentiment expressed by your quoted poster.

For the love of the universe please some up with a better method of disagreement than "i hope you are never my nurse". Deserves a godwins

I never said I didn't want him/her to be my nurse. So I don't know who you are quoting. I said I hope elkpark never finds me unresponsive anywhere, as he/she made it very clear that he/she WOULD NOT render any care. I'm sure as a nurse to their patients they do just fine.

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Specializes in ICU.

Unresponsive person in a hospital's public area could be anything from an od to hypoglycemia to choking on a FB to a CVA or cardiac arrest. Tell someone to call a code. Check for a pulse and open the airway. Compressions preferably by an employee if pulseless. You should have help after one cycle so give them space to work.

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
I never said I didn't want him/her to be my nurse. So I don't know who you are quoting. I said I hope elkpark never finds me unresponsive anywhere, as he/she made it very clear that he/she WOULD NOT render any care. I'm sure as a nurse to their patients they do just fine.

Its a variation of the same.

Other similar versions

"I hope you are never my nurse"

"I hope you never find me unconscious/incapacitated/in need of any assistance whats so ever'

"I hope you are never my preceptor"

"I hope you are never caring for a loved one of mine"

Basically all different ways of saying we think the other person is a substandard nurse for not agreeing exactly as we do

All worthy of a godwins

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Specializes in ER.

You should notify the staff. You could check on them or call 911, but you should also be careful. Technically if you are not advertising yourself as a healthcare worker, then your duty to act doesn't exist. If you run around with RN or PARAMEDIC on your shirt, you could potentially create a duty to act with basic life support hence why I don't advertise my licenses. Firefighter on the other hand does not create a duty to act because not all firefighters are trained in health saving measures. Hence why I shudder when I see people run around with EMS symbols on their personal vehicles.

Also, people should not stop with their personal vehicles at a car accident. People die that way. You add another body and another vehicle to the mix. Even volunteer firefighters with emergency lights on their own vehicles are risky to do. I respond to the scene with my personal vehicle but it's risky! I try to always make a truck though because otherwise that car is another potential object for people to hit. We have had people die because they stopped to try and render aid at a motor vehicle accident.

Also, I would look at them like they are crazy nuts if they try to continue being involved in a rapid response or code situation. Even if they are an employee but off the clock, they could get in huge trouble if they continue being involved.

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Specializes in Heme Onc.

You know I thought of posting a similar scenario, but feared AN hatred for even having the thought. I was recently visiting my Grandfather, who is in a rehab/nursing home facility right now to recover from surgery. A patient (a rather young one) had an unexpected respiratory and subsequent cardiac arrest in the hallway. Being an ICU nurse I Jumped right in to help with the situation, bagging and performing chest compressions. When I suggested further ACLS interventions I was told "We can't give/do that without Dr.'s orders." This was kind of shocking to me as the patient was dead. It was also kind of shocking the profound unpreparedness the nurses displayed in the situation. At that point I questioned whether I should crack the otherwise unused crash cart and give the damned meds myself. And then I thought... "S***, can I actually be doing this at all?"

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Specializes in Postpartum, Med Surg, Home Health.
Its a variation of the same.

Other similar versions

"I hope you are never my nurse"

"I hope you never find me unconscious/incapacitated/in need of any assistance whats so ever'

"I hope you are never my preceptor"

"I hope you are never caring for a loved one of mine"

Basically all different ways of saying we think the other person is a substandard nurse for not agreeing exactly as we do

All worthy of a godwins

Nope, not substandard. The word that came to mind for me was actually selfish. How selfish of her/him to not take 10-15 minutes out of their day to render help to someone laying on the ground unresponsive as they walk right by. Those were that posters words, she/he is not worried about being sued, simply just doesn't want to get involved. So I do find that selfish, ESPECIALLY when you have the skills/training to help that person in some way. Elkparks exact words were she/he doesn't feel any obligation to respond to a random stranger in a public place "when I'm on my own time, living my own life". Yuck, people like that make me sick

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