No Excuse for Mistake....

[Jolie, BSN]

I'll preface this by saying that I'm home with a sick child who's beginning to feel better and looking for every possible excuse not to do the work that I should be doing. I ran across this article and it has me shaking my head. Clearly the staff screwed up and owes this mother an apology as well as a visit to address her concerns. But her comments seem a bit over the top.

To summarize, Mom took her 4 month old son to an urgent care at approximately 7:00 pm because he had a cough and she hoped to get a chest x-ray. They were placed in an exam room and told the doc would see them in about 10 minutes. She fed the baby a bottle, changed his diaper and realized that 1/2 hour had passed without seeing anyone, so she opened the door to find that the clinic had closed and they were alone in the building. She broke down crying and called her mom-in-law, according to Inside Edition. While attempting to leave the building, she set off an alarm, which caused her to panic. Fortunately, a cleaning crew let her out of the building where she was met by security.

"It was terrifying just to know you are alone in there. My son was having trouble breathing. What if I was back there and he would've stopped breathing? No one was there. It angered me. I've worked in the nursing field and how do you forget about a patient?” she told Inside Edition. Kason didn't received treatment and spent the night crying, Lewitt told KOMO.

A photo apparently taken on her cell phone depicts an apparently healthy, sleeping baby in a car seat.

She states that she can't excuse the mistake that left her and her sick son abandoned in the dark.

The urgent care released a statement indicating that an investigation was underway.

Mother and baby left inside urgent care clinic after it closed | Fox News

If the mother genuinely believed the child's health to be in danger, why didn't she leave the building and head straight to the ER? I agree the staff screwed up big time, but this mother's dramatic statements are a bit much, not to mention that she has already given interviews to at least 2 media outlets. I guess everyone wants their 15 minutes.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

If the mother genuinely believed the child's health to be in danger, why didn't she leave the building and head straight to the ER?

Perhaps it's because some people are offendonistas who hyper-focus on offenses committed by others. Negativity bias is prevalent in our society.

Furthermore, perhaps Mommy is priming the pump for potential litigation or settlement out of court by dramatizing her experience and telling as many media outlets as possible.

[Sour Lemon]

You would think she was left alone at the top of Mount Everest. I would be mildly annoyed if this happened to me ...maybe even amused. Going to the media would have never occurred to me, though.

[sevensonnets]

I think I'd never have been there in the first place. If my baby was having trouble breathing we'd have been in the ED, where they never turn out the lights and lock the door.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Perhaps it's because some people are offendonistas who hyper-focus on offenses committed by others. Negativity bias is prevalent in our society.

Furthermore, perhaps Mommy is priming the pump for potential litigation or settlement out of court by dramatizing her experience and telling as many media outlets as possible.

Oh . . . I love that word.

Offendonistas!

I too would have been unhappy but if my kiddo was having trouble breathing, off to the ER we would go!

[SmilingBluEyes]

I think I'd never have been there in the first place. If my baby was having trouble breathing we'd have been in the ED, where they never turn out the lights and lock the door.

THANK. YOU. Trouble breathing? GO TO THE ER dingdong. True, this should not have happened, but my FIRST concern would be with my child having trouble breathing. I just think there is more to this story.

[GE90]

so the only detail we have is that a 4month old having a cough and his mom wanted him to have a cxr?

such good parenting and i wonder if she indeed has worked in the "nursing field".

[crazin01]

Sounds like the mom is contemplating a lawsuit.

I recently (August 2016) heard about an outpatient dialysis clinic closing for the day, forgetting the 86-year-old patient inside. Thank goodness her rehab facility pursued the matter when she wasn't transported back there.

We're all human, but I just cannot fathom how you miss somebody, or, in this mother's case, her son being 'checked in' & added to the patient census and/or 'waiting to be seen by doctors' list and nobody caught it.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Sometimes there is a gray area in parenting. Something about that child worries you, but you can't actually say that there is anything life threatening going on.

If you go to the ER, there might not be anything really wrong and you will be out some big money. I have had ER visits over the years for my chronically ill child, and a simple trip, depending on your insurance, will set you back a couple of thousand dollars. After insurance, that was the cost of my son's last visit.

A trip to the urgent care costs less, is usually closer to home and if there is something wrong, you feel justified taking the child to the emergency department. It can be a screening tool in an unclear situation.

I would be a little peeved if I had been left behind in a locked building, but not peeved enough to go public.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

It was a human mistake. We all make them--while a not so good thing happened to the mother/child, there really is no reason she needs to shame these employees over a simple (and ultimately harmless) mistake. Then again, the mental image of $$$ can make ethical standards lower.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

i wonder if she indeed has worked in the "nursing field".

That's a convenient things some people add to indicate that they know, for sure, that any decent nurse would not make any given mistake.

[AliNajaCat]

Perhaps it's because some people are offendonistas (cut) .

Iamsostealingthisword.