Is this pt abdandonment? What is your opinion?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

So within the last few days, a nurse who works in an critical care setting went to break, which is suppose to be 45 mintues and was gone over 3 and 1/2 hours.

After about 2 hours, the nurse supervisor was called, security was called and no one could find her. They looked everywhere......... other floors, outside.......... no RN.

About 1 and 1/2 hours later the RN comes strolling back into the unit, and looked suprised that people had been searching for her....... she had NO IDEA what time she went on break- states she fell alseep and had no idea what time it was then.

She changed her story twice about where she was, since the first place she stated she was had been seached many times by many people.

The manager has been notified. Her charting is a nightmare- I have not seen it, but have been told it is almost impossible to read, words scratched out, not making sense.

Her pt is OK (covered by her partner RN) however the partner RN was very busy with her own critically ill pt..........and believe me, I would not want one of my family member to have her as a nurse.

What do you guys think of this?

Duckie

No offense, and sorry to hear about your co worker.

I guess with the beginning of the week, Monday hopefully this issue will be addressed at the management level. It needs to be.

I hope it can all be straightned out and whatever "problem" this nurse has, it needs to be dealt with- now.

In Missouri the B of N expects each individual nurse through "self evaluation" to determine if they are capable of duty. Whether or not the nurse has medical problems, she is still legally responsible for her patients when she assumes care. I read about a lawsuit where the nurse was sued for abandonment for taking an unscheduled break. In your situation, the nurse is lucky someone covered for her, because if anything would have happened in her absence, she could have lost her license and found herself in court.

I'm not sure about the abandonment issue but it seems that she could be charged with neglect of her duties at the very least. I would have been very upset if I was the nurse covering for her and she disappeared for more than 3 hours. I can think of no good excuse for this other than illness but then she should have notified someone. I once worked with a nurse who would go outside for a break and leave with her boyfriend and not come back for more than an hour. This is bad behavior on the part of the nurse as well. What kind of position do they think they are leaving there coworkers in when they do this. What if one of their patients were to get into trouble while they were out doing who knows what? If the nurse in question is truly ill, I'm sorry for my comments but she needs to get help and not dump on her coworkers and put her patients at risk.

My question is, after all the chances she has been given, then pulling this stunt, WHY is she still employed there? Geesh!

Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

It's amazing what some nurses can get away with. We had (still have) one nurse who abandoned her patients in the middle of her shift and didn't come back (she didn't like how the patients were divided, but the load was exceedingly fair - just not the patients she wanted.) She was given a three day suspension. In my mind she should have been fired on the spot and her behavior reported to the BON.

All you can do with such people is report them, in writing, through whatever your official channels are. CC: to higher-ups if you feel like it's a dangerous situation that is not being taken seriously. This certainly sounds like such an instance.

She was gone for over 3 and 1/2 hours??? It needs to be dealt with immediately. So what have they done with her so far?

Where I work, they report to the BON for "abandonment" if you quit without notice (like just don't come back the next day after finishing your assigned shift)! Can't imagine what they'd do if you left for 3 hours to take a snooze! Probably give ya a HHH enema!

Specializes in ER, ICU, Corrections.

What could have anyone been doing for 3 hours when you are scheduled for work......??? Maybe something else entirely....we had a nurse that was gone for 2 hours getting lunch.....who knows. I would still call it abdonement sorry about the spelling it is late into my night shift. I would feel sooooooo guilty about leaving my job for so long I would have quit on my own.

Maybe not abadonment bur clearly endangerment. There's obviously a whole lot going on here. I can only hope administration has been doing its job and getting its duck in a row before someone is hurt because this person "disappeared"

As long as there was another RN covering her pts, its not pt abandonment.

How is this different from the doc that left the OR room for 35 minutes to go cash a check, happened in Boston recently. You probably know about this. His license is suspended. I don't see how this situation is any different. He is charged with patient abandonment. According to NPR he left another doc in charge, one who was not familiar with the case or the type of surgery. There are people who simply should not be allowed to continue to care for patients.

I am not privy to any details of this fiasco at present. I have been off for a few dasys, but I am sure I will hear more when I get back to work...........

I hope it has been dealt with in some fashion. I will keep you posted.

Thanks for all of your posts.......... I agree with the people who feel she should be fired or at least suspended.

+ Add a Comment