I've been suspended

lavenderskies, BSN · Jan 1, 2016

Ok thanks. looks like I messed up. Think it's time to retire.

I don't know if it's time to retire. The situation you reference with the student is difficult without having been present. Purely as you present it I'm not sure if I'd of asked many further questions. Likely it would have depended on the tone of voice and body language of the student. I would make your case, not retire. Sorry this happened to you. Things like this happen all the time, I'm sure you're not the first or the last.

justmovingon · Jan 1, 2016

That makes no sense. Could she not have been more specific?

justmovingon · Jan 1, 2016

Your supervisor is an idiot. Literally this is one reason I hate the nursing profession.

Sheila2155 · Jan 1, 2016

I used to love going into work but no more. It's all about paperwork and passing audits and stuff to make the trust look good. It's not patient care its a tick box project and this is why nurses are fed up. We look after paper patients. It's not what I went into nursing for. I can't afford to lose my job but the management don't care. Far cry from the profession dear old Florence wanted.

justmovingon · Jan 2, 2016

Nursing sucks! It's ruined my life, and made me unhappy for 20 years. I wish I didn't use money as an excuse to stay in this profession.

Sheila2155 · Jan 2, 2016

It's such a shame. Really sorry you've suffered so long. And we all have families and mortgages and need the money. Don't feel guilty about it as we can't live without it. I'm 61 now. Can't train for anything else or I would. Roll on retirement!!

bathrobemom, LPN · Jan 4, 2016

(Sorry I haven't read the whole thread...) Yeah, it would've been nice if you'd clarified what the person meant, but I don't understand why that person didn't try a lot harder to get your attention and approach you a second time. If I was worried about someone, I wouldn't mention it once and just let it go. You mentioned the person was a student, I don't know if that means aide or nurse. If the person was an aide, you don't just see someone that looks like they could code any minute and just think "oh well, I let the nurse know once". If it was a nursing student, that's even worse. I was told as a nursing student I was expected to perform at the level of an RN. As a student, one can't just act like an idiot, shrug his or her shoulders and say "I dunno, I'm just a student".

I don't get why the person didn't mention something a second time, that's just ridiculous. Sounds like that person shouldn't be working in healthcare.

Dobieb2009 · Jan 4, 2016

I have to say that I would have taken that remark at face value. She had just put him in bed, and stated "john's quiet", meaning he's resting comfortably in bed. I always checked my pts when the students were done, but I must have missed something here. There's no indication that the student thought something was wrong. I think you're all being a little hard on Sheila2055

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2016

Quiet is vague and doesn't mean much. I would assume that the patient isn't being loud and is "being quiet." Patient isn't talking and is acting weird or unusual is a lot better than saying someone is quiet.

I've described it as "patient isn't acting completely right. He's off" to a charge nurse to bring back a patient before other patients before.

morte, LPN, LVN · Jan 10, 2016

ah! mentioning you age puts a whole new light on this subject! you may well be being pushed out for fiscal reasons.

Heart_rn5 · Jan 11, 2016

After reading the OP and responses it's clear more information is needed. However, where did this mystery student come from? The original post said it was a question regarding communication between nursing staff and asked "if someone approached you...." I didn't see any reference to a student.

So who actually said "he's quiet" makes a big difference. But if it was a staff member, RN or PCA, I would expect a staff member to be clear in communicating if a patient is going downhill. If that is the case the other staff member should be educated and/or disciplined as well. Hopefully you rounded and charted on the patient within a reasonable amount of time. Proving negligence would be hard since the person didn't indicate there was a problem or directly ask for help, assuming you saw the patient within your facility's guidelines.

For management to say that "he's quiet" is a request for help seems very odd. I would definitely retain an attorney. You may also want to look at your situation at your job. Are you well liked? Have there been other problems? Do you get along with other staff members? If any of those answers are negative you may want to resign because they may have put you on suspension so the can go through your past performance/charting in order to find something that's more clear as a means to terminate your employment.

With all that being said it is ultimately your responsibility but I can understand how if a nurse or PCA told you "he's quiet" didn't make you feel it was necessary to immediately get up and assess the patient.

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Jan 11, 2016

After reading the OP and responses it's clear more information is needed. However, where did this mystery student come from? The original post said it was a question regarding communication between nursing staff and asked "if someone approached you...." I didn't see any reference to a student.
So who actually said "he's quiet" makes a big difference. But if it was a staff member, RN or PCA, I would expect a staff member to be clear in communicating if a patient is going downhill. If that is the case the other staff member should be educated and/or disciplined as well. Hopefully you rounded and charted on the patient within a reasonable amount of time. Proving negligence would be hard since the person didn't indicate there was a problem or directly ask for help, assuming you saw the patient within your facility's guidelines.
For management to say that "he's quiet" is a request for help seems very odd. I would definitely retain an attorney. You may also want to look at your situation at your job. Are you well liked? Have there been other problems? Do you get along with other staff members? If any of those answers are negative you may want to resign because they may have put you on suspension so the can go through your past performance/charting in order to find something that's more clear as a means to terminate your employment.
With all that being said it is ultimately your responsibility but I can understand how if a nurse or PCA told you "he's quiet" didn't make you feel it was necessary to immediately get up and assess the patient.

The OP has been edited. If you go to my post (#5), you'll see where student comes in