Nurses Call the Governor of Tennessee

BarrelOfMonkeys, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2019

2 minutes ago, juan de la cruz said:
Yes, errors happen and many are due to unsafe working conditions. However, I can’t stand behind making her the poster child for “the cause”...someone who admittedly ignored safeguards that led to the horrific respiratory arrest and subsequent anoxic brain injury death of a patient because she was worried more about another patient’s swallow evaluation yet appeared to have bounced back from the emotional scars of such a fatal mistake.

“...admittedly ignored safeguards...” that’s what I have a hard time with as well. As many do here.

JadedCPN, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2019

3 minutes ago, juan de la cruz said:
Yes, errors happen and many are due to unsafe working conditions. However, I can’t stand behind making her the poster child for “the cause”...someone who admittedly ignored safeguards that led to the horrific respiratory arrest and subsequent anoxic brain injury death of a patient because she was worried more about another patient’s swallow evaluation yet appeared to have bounced back from the emotional scars of such a fatal error. Let’s find someone else to make a hero of.

I 1000% agree!

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2019

17 minutes ago, juan de la cruz said:
Yes, errors happen and many are due to unsafe working conditions. However, I can’t stand behind making her the poster child for “the cause”...someone who admittedly ignored safeguards that led to the horrific respiratory arrest and subsequent anoxic brain injury death of a patient because she was worried more about another patient’s swallow evaluation yet appeared to have bounced back from the emotional scars of such a fatal error. Let’s find someone else to make a hero of.

I agree with your statement in bold. If we are to get relief on things like nurse to patient ratio, abuses of nurses with regard to ratio compared to acuity, etc., and other factors that contribute to burnout and errors, the poster child needs to be quite a bit less culpable.

HOWEVER: I will disagree pretty strongly with your statement that she appears "to have bounced back from the emotional scars of such an error." You have NO WAY of knowing that. She is back at work-she may need the income-but that does not mean she is not scarred for life by this. By some reports, she's been in therapy ever since this happened. Let's try to stick with what we know-and what's in someone's heart is not one of them.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Feb 13, 2019

15 minutes ago, Horseshoe said:
HOWEVER: I will disagree pretty strongly with your statement that she appears "to have bounced back from the emotional scars of such an error." You have NO WAY of knowing that. She is back at work-she may need the income-but that does not mean she is not scarred for life by this. By some reports, she's been in therapy ever since this happened. Let's try to stick with what we know-and what's in someone's heart is not one of them.

That’s why I used the word “appeared” which is subjective. At any rate, I accept your opinion but I still stand by my subjective feeling that a person who claims to have made good financial decisions (per her go fund me page) would be in a hurry to earn a nurse’s salary in Tennessee. I don’t know if part of her therapist’s recommendation is to return to work but I’m uncomfortable with that scenario.

Davey Do · Feb 13, 2019

TriciaJ, RN · Feb 13, 2019

1 hour ago, Horseshoe said:
It's not actually funny, but I admit that did make me laugh. I think she did indeed send it.

I would have laughed if I wasn't cringing. Like the petition wasn't bad enough.

We've gone from the most trustworthy profession to people who can't be bothered to read a medication vial, expect to not be held accountable for our actions, not inform ourselves of the actual facts before firing off a paragraphless diatribe.

Please don't tell me the TV shows have depicted us accurately all along.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Feb 13, 2019

Just wanted to say to @tiffanyselah, you are still much welcome to chime in this discussion. I apologize in advance if there might have been a whiff of condescension from those of us who just feel as strongly about this case as you do.

MJP79, BSN, RN · Feb 13, 2019

On 2/10/2019 at 11:40 AM, Wuzzie said:
She slammed 2mg of Versed and walked away. That is the recklessness that takes this way beyond a simple medication error!

Ironic that you mistakenly typed Versed instead of Vecuronium.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Feb 13, 2019

28 minutes ago, MJP79 said:
Ironic that you mistakenly typed Versed instead of Vecuronium.

I think she is making the point that the nurse gave what she thought was Versed knowing that a prudent nurse should know better not to walk away without another RN laying eyes on the patient. It begs to illustrate the carelessness of the nurse in following the standard protocol even if she really thought in her mind that she gave the right medication.

HomeBound · Feb 13, 2019

18 minutes ago, MJP79 said:
Ironic that you mistakenly typed Versed instead of Vecuronium.

I don't think Wuzzie mistakenly typed Versed. I believe, the way I read it...is that if this was actually versed, how RV thought it was....she "slammed 2mg of versed and walked away".

That is recklessness beyond a simple med error, because she should have assessed that pt for 5-15 min after administration. The pt was in a HOLDING AREA, not in the scanner, not being pushed to be scanned in any way. She had been injected with the tracer isotope and it has to circulate for 1 hour prior to scan time. She was in NAD, she was talking and coherent, and getting better---on track to be d/c'd. RV had all the time in the world to sit for 5 minutes to assess her.

Nursing 101. Give a med. Assess it's effect. Chart. Leave.

Swallow study in the ER? I worked ED. I call BS on anybody here that says..."OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! She had crashing active GI bleeds and MIs and STROKES waiting for her!!!!"

Noooooo. She was a float from the ICU. Who diddles around for 45 minutes after she slammed this drug---no time to chart, apparently. no time to even GO TO THE CODE.

When I read..."Well, we walked back to the ICU and heard the code page over head. We called the PET scanner and (DUH!!!) nobody answered. So we waited. And then we called again. (DOUBLE *** DUH!!!) When we arrived, she had already been revived and ROSC achieved."

She even admits that she knew hers was the ONLY PATIENT IN PET SCAN. Musta been hers. DUH.

I've had patients code in radiology when I was in a busy chaotic +70 bed ER. You better believe I high tailed it to radiology with "My patient's coding! Gotta GO!" There ain't no "handoff" to another nurse. You yell at charge on your way past them.

This girl had no assignment. No patients coding, STEMI-ing- Stroke-ing, or Dy-ing.

Arrogance, lais·sez-faire attitude, incompetence and now she's sorry. Now it's "please pay my bills for me" because hey...you don't know if this could happen to you. Yeah, no.

JKL33 · Feb 13, 2019

2 hours ago, juan de la cruz said:
Yes, errors happen and many are due to unsafe working conditions. However, I can’t stand behind making her the poster child for “the cause”

Agree. ?

JKL33 · Feb 13, 2019

I would say for those who have concerns about what appears to be the overall situation aside and apart from R.V., there is indeed something we can do, and that is re-commit to (or continue) practicing nursing prudence and good judgment.

These fake emergencies like the PET scan, the IV med for the downgraded ICU patient off monitors in an outpatient department, the swallow screen in the ED - unfortunately not one of these was even an urgency.

I think we can still do our best to facilitate efficient care without throwing caution to the wind. Resist the pressure to become frazzled and/or careless about anything.

I also think that if "lateral violence" can make it into our lexicon and become the subject of 50 billion APA papers and capstone projects, we can talk about (fake) aka imposed urgencies. It won't be a very PC topic because there are BIG reasons we're all supposed to be rushing around like the end of the world is upon us. But, we can make good choices. WE are the ones with nursing education and we SHOULD know what is right and how to prioritize real actual needs and we should have the guts to do it.