I've been suspended

I am new to this site and need to ask a purely hypothetical question about communication between nursing staff. I hope you can help.

Okay - as a staff nurse if someone approaches you on the ward and says that a patient is 'quiet' when they have been assisted to bed for a rest - how would you interpret that comment?

Thanks everyone.

I would interpret that to mean that, literally, a patient is quiet when they have been assisted to be for a rest.

Which, incidentally, is WAY better than the violent Alzheimer's screamer we've had on my unit for weeks because we can't find another facility to take him in.

Thanks

I was told by my superiors that ' he's quiet was a request for help for a deteriorating patient and I ignored it. What? I don't understand what they mean.

By the way lxchel I am really sorry about your experience with your Alzheimer patient. It's a horrible condition and patients like them need expert care in special I st facilities. It's not fair on the patient or on the staff who are left to deal with them on inappropriate wards.😟

Hi

I've been suspended because when a student said to me John's quiet I did not respond to her request for help with a deteriorating patient. I don't understand how I could have other than to carry on with what I was doing. Are there any other nurses out there who would have reacted to those 2 words differently?

You should have asked some probing questions-quiet how? Breathing? Skin color? Etc. If student came to me and suggested something odd, I'd check the patient and ask questions, or get a set of eyes on them somehow. I don't know your exact circumstances, but your own wording suggests gross negligence. I hope I'm wrong...

Hi

I've been suspended because when a student said to me John's quiet I did not respond to her request for help with a deteriorating patient. I don't understand how I could have other than to carry on with what I was doing. Are there any other nurses out there who would have reacted to those 2 words differently?

A student reporting anything unclear? "What do you mean, 'John's quiet?'"

Unless this patient had been notably unquiet, i.e. restless and yelling, that statement was so vague that I would have asked what the student meant.

Hi

I've been suspended because when a student said to me John's quiet I did not respond to her request for help with a deteriorating patient. I don't understand how I could have other than to carry on with what I was doing. Are there any other nurses out there who would have reacted to those 2 words differently?

You don't just 'ignore' a student who says something about your patient. To me that is rude. You are in a position of responsibility. Maybe you could have said 'In what way?' Demonstrate concern. Nursing is not a profession where you can just brush off someone's concern or insight. It could be life-threatening and in this case, the patient was deteriorating. I would think hard about responding like that again. Just a thought.

Hi

I've been suspended because when a student said to me John's quiet I did not respond to her request for help with a deteriorating patient. I don't understand how I could have other than to carry on with what I was doing. Are there any other nurses out there who would have reacted to those 2 words differently?

Why did you not respond to her request for help? It's your patient, not the student's. If nothing else, you should have asked some questions and gone to see the patient yourself. What were you doing that you couldn't take a minute to stick your head in the patient's room and check on them?

Maybe provide a lot more details so we can understand the scenario. Background? Have you had other scenarios similar which you were advised and this was the consequence?

It sounds like you had a communication issue. You thought the student meant everything was fine. But "quiet" meant something else.

I am so sorry you got suspended over this. The student was unclear and did not actually ask for help.

Sometimes misunderstandings turn into a big deal and this is one of those times. Please stick up for yourself and explain your point of view as best as you can.

Good luck with everything.

I think we need more information... How did you respond when the student told you "John's quiet"? Did you ask for more information or clarification? Did you assess John?

Was the patient actually deteriorating and was there a delay in care? How was he deteriorating and what was done to help? When? How long after the student mentioned the patient did it take for you to become aware that he was unstable?

I can see how you would be suspended if you were not aware that your own patients status was declining (student or not) and care was delayed.

I would have asked the student for clarification, assessed the patient, and called the physician/RRT and intervened as indicated. Most important would be to ask for clarification and then assess the patient...