I'm a little upset about something I read on Facebook tonight. Let me start by saying, I usually take things with a grain of salt when it comes to Facebook, but something about this has rubbed me the wrong way. This post comes from an "experienced" nurse and self-proclaimed DON. My issue is not with the care the pts loved one received, but how this nurse vented her feelings towards all new nurses.
Let's all save ourselves the aggravation and debate and agree that what happened to the patient is wrong, and does not work in a culture where Zero Harm should be the goal; however, to say "New nurses are coming out with an insufferable, know-it-all attitude, and overconfident in their skills. New nurses, you're pissing this veteran off". Wait what did just read??? Surely ALL new nurses do not fit this mold, and to assume all new nurses are this way is just wrong.
She also goes on to say "You're the reason I won't hire a nurse with less than three years in the field. I would have fired you for this, and the two nurses before you for patient negligence. I've fired people over less. I hold my nurses to my personal standard, and that bar is set high, ladies and gentlemen. Shame on this nurse. I am embarrassed to call her a member of my noble profession. "
I get it, she's upset, her family member was hurt, but to say that she won't hire new nurses and that these three nurses should be embarrassed to nurses is WRONG. She has forgotten what it is like to go to work everyday terrified that because she is a new nurse she might kill someone. WE ARE ALL HUMAN, mistakes will be made; however, we need the experienced nurses to teach, and to guide and mentor the next generation. Maybe that is what is wrong with that ICU unit is that there isn't a good training program. This is not what I want the public to think about nurses. We should be team members, build each other up, because if one of us falls we all should. Shame on her... I am embarrassed to call her a member of my noble profession.
An in-law isn't a biological relative. Many people out there don't consider in-laws to be a part of their family. The woman who made the FB post is possibly overstating her relationship. It isn't as though she were the patient's mother, daughter, or actual sister. She has a pretty insignificant relationship to the patient.
In their post to the hospital, the patient's family seem to be conveying that this person doesn't speak for them. I would also consider her "dismissed" as a family member, but not in the sense that you mean it.
I think you are presumptuous in your assessment of what "many people" consider to be part of their family...
You are correct an in-law isn't a biological part of a family. But it seems like you are inferring that those people aren't as significant to many people as their own blood relatives, and that's probably untrue.
*EDIT - sorry I just realized someone else already posted this response from the hospital. I just wanted to point out that the original rant poster's feelings were not in line with the rest of the pt's famiy*
It actually took me longer than I thought to find this post but I wanted to see the original content. She sounds like she'd be a terrible DON. And apparently other family members don't like what she did. I hope I am not violating TOS here, but the hospital (West Jefferson Medical Center) has their own fb page and they posted a response on there, this is from their fb page -
As you may know, West Jefferson Medical Center is the subject of a negative Facebook post regarding ICU care. We take these statements very seriously and have made numerous attempts to gather additional information from the poster.
We have been in contact with the patient's family, who did not consent to the Facebook post and has shared the statement below. The family has asked that their names and images not be used, and we are committed to respecting their privacy.
There's little more to the story about the bruising than we knew at the time. Apparently, this was not caused by nursing staff, but by my daughter. She pulled the IV out when she got up for a walk.. She didn't know what she was doing at the time and she didn't know it for a couple of days. She has gotten really good care at West Jefferson. We have no complaints about the nurses responding to her. The doctors have treated her well.â€
On her facebook she was extremely vocal this weekend about her opinion. Since Monday though nothing - can't help but wonder if she was terminated over her post. There's no take backs on social media!
I hope this nurse never needs another job. Companies check Facebook and other social media sites when hiring to see if there is anything concerning. With her post spreading all over Facebook due to her open access, it will haunt her in years to come. And, due to such a response, Google her name. You are bound to see her post.
This is my exact comment on a fellow RN's "share" of the post:
Mmm...perhaps it's a good read and she makes some good points in the post. I was very close to liking and sharing....Too bad I read her comments that followed. "I have a couple of reasons to why this is happening...general nursing school standards have been lowered to accommodate the lowest common denominator. It started when I was in school. There was a math test about dosage calculations that had to be passed with a minimum of 90% to continue the course. You had two chances to take it, and if you didn't pass, you were out, no questions asked. I believe our school called it the MAP test. I can't remember what exactly the acronym stands for. Everyone studied for that thing like you wouldn't believe. By our third semester, it had been phased out, because people were filing complaints with the school that they were failing an entire class based on ONE "outdated" test. (It was being called outdated because they have machines to make those calculations now, duh.) Well, in my humble opinion, if you cannot pass a dosage test, you have NO business being in the field...So you combine nursing shortage with entitled students, and this is the result. It's just my theory, but I have no reason to believe it's incorrect."
Maybe she should fact check before she bashes the entire population of new nurses.
FACT: Out of about 150 applicants that applied to the nursing program at the same time I did, only 48 were accepted. My "competitive GPA" which includes only the higher level math, science, and English prereqs was 3.6. I got a 90% on my entrance exam. Pretty damn good, right? Apparently not. I was/am number 46 out of those 48. I guess that would make me pretty close to the "lowest common denominator". But I work my ass off and know that I am going to be a damn good nurse.
FACT: She's correct. We no longer take "a" math test. We take the dosage and calculation exam THREE times every semester. The day BEFORE classes start, mid-semester, and again at the end of the semester. We have to pass it each time with a 92%. And just like her, we have two tries each time and if we fail, we are out of the program. Done.
Don't get me wrong, I do realize that not everyone is cut out to be a nurse. Every profession is going to have ****** workers who do a ****** ass job. I just think it's ******** that she claims to be an amazing nurse and then bashes ALL newbies.
They say nurses eat their young and this is a prime example. She sounds "entitled" to a nice throat punch.
What got me was the obsession over bandage scissors. I've worked in healthcare for years and never even used a pair, nor would I consider it my responsibility to have them available.
We'd use the sterilized scissors provided by the hospital in dressing sets. I'd consider it an infection control issue to use the same scissors over and over.
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
I use bandage scissors in home health. One pair per patient. Only in the ED did we use trauma shears as we were only cutting clothing rapidly and if they got too bloody we got a new pair
I think nurses who make snarky comments like these instead of seeing that they are in a teaching opportunity are more of a disgrace on the profession than someone who is still learning. Maybe this young nurse did have attitude, maybe she didn't. I don't really think the author comes across as a reliable historian. Either way, the bigger person in my book would have seen this moment as a chance to KINDLY explain why she was upset instead of just going supernova over coband and bandage scissors. It's also a lot easier to drive from the back seat.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
We'd use the sterilized scissors provided by the hospital in dressing sets. I'd consider it an infection control issue to use the same scissors over and over.
I carry a pair with me every day. The thing they get used the most for? Cutting off patient ID bands because it never fails- the arm they put the band on is the same arm the anesthesiologist wants to put the art line in and the band is too tight to push up above the insertion site. On occasion when we get a stat cardiac surgery patient from a referring facility, it'll be used to cut the gown off because the referring facility refuses to purchase gowns with snaps at the shoulders. Always wipe them down with the germicidal wipes we use to clean OR equipment and autoclave them if used on an isolation patient.
There's no take backs on social media!
RNdynamic
528 Posts
An in-law isn't a biological relative. Many people out there don't consider in-laws to be a part of their family. The woman who made the FB post is possibly overstating her relationship. It isn't as though she were the patient's mother, daughter, or actual sister. She has a pretty insignificant relationship to the patient.
In their post to the hospital, the patient's family seem to be conveying that this person doesn't speak for them. I would also consider her "dismissed" as a family member, but not in the sense that you mean it.