Possible ethical question about Clinical experience...

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I was doing a clinical on the Medical ICU unit and the RN that I was working with was CONSTANTLY text messaging instead of caring for her pt. She didn't start doing anything for him until about 10:30 and she came on at 7:00.

What (if anything) should I do? file a complaint with the hospital? Leave it alone as a possible isolated case? The pt was fine and she did what he needed, but it seemed as though she did the absolute bare minimum...

I've been thinking about it since then and would hate to know that my loved one was in ICU and his/her nurse was texting.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

You leave it alone, you are a student and you take your experience and learn what to do or what NOT to do. But to go behind your co nurses back when she did not directly endanger the patient (you said he was taken care of) which could possibly result in her termination or something similar, IMO is just as wrong.

Now if you saw her directly putting the patient in harms way, that is a different story, but even then I wouldn't go directly to filing a complaint, I would talk to her or my Clinical Instructor. I seen a few nurses do things I didn't think were ok, but weren't harming anyone either. As I am sure in my future other students will feel the same about me when I am assigned students.

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I don't see it exactly as "going behind her back" and I would definitely not want her to be terminated. In naive-student-world, I expected a high caliber of patient care in the MICU. I was thinking more about the patient than about the nurse; But I understand what you're saying. She didn't place the patient in harm's way. My thought process was that she might be so distracted with her phone that in the future it may become an issue. (She was even sneaking into the supply room to text.)

Thanks for the reply.

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it never pays to cause ripples in the water unless it will prevent a tidal wave? the nurse may have had an isolated day of having to text to her child because the child was ill or some other major life issue. if she did not neglect or endanger the patient, cut her some slack. most nurses want to give good care, but they are people with families and lives that they are having to live around a set schedule. she probably worked that day because she didn't want to leave the unit shorthanded when she would have rather been at home with her family or whatever else was distracting her.:idea:

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I don't see it exactly as "going behind her back" and I would definitely not want her to be terminated. In naive-student-world, I expected a high caliber of patient care in the MICU. I was thinking more about the patient than about the nurse; But I understand what you're saying. She didn't place the patient in harm's way. My thought process was that she might be so distracted with her phone that in the future it may become an issue. (She was even sneaking into the supply room to text.)

Thanks for the reply.

Believe me, I completely understand the dilemma. I had a problem with my co nurse my first night of clinical, well not WITH her but with how she was providing care, I did talk to my CI instructor and I did try to advocate for the patient and what my nurse was doing was direct correlation with her patient care. So I understand. It just goes along with the thinking of knowing when to pick your battles, and personally, this isn't a battle I would pick. There are things I read on this board that make me really hope me or my loved ones never end up under some of these people's care. it's something we will always see, we have to determine when to step in and as students that margin isn't very big. Just add it into your, "I will never be like this" box and give that patient the extra care they aren't getting.

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I respectfully disagree with the other posters. But my perception is much different since I have lost my father to the carelessness of a nurse.

I believe that if someone is breaking a rule - they are breaking a rule. Obviously that nurse knows it is wrong or she/he would not hide in the closet lol to text.

My first thought is if she is willing to do this in front of you - what does she do when no one is looking?

It also tells me that she might have something going on - sure - but I know that when I have emergencies with my children, I communicate it with my co-workers (let them know I might have to take a call or respond to a text or check my phone, etc) and take care of my business when I am off the floor. Of coorifice there are exceptions to this rule, and circumstances that cannot be avoided.

But whether or not this is a chronic problem with her or truly some kind of issue she had to take care of - it is wrong regardless. As someone said - would you want this person caring for you loved on? I have and I can tell you that I only wish that someone would have "snitched" on the nurse and prevented what led to a catastrophic error that ended my dad's life.

Tiny distractions can be lethal for any nurse.

If I were in your shoes and I felt it was wrong - and clearly you do by posting this thread. I would inform my clinical instructor and end it there. If the instructor thinks it is important she will discuss it with the charge nurse and reassign you to another nurse. If not, what is the worse she can do - be angry that you are concerned for the safety of your patients?

ICU nurses - hang blood, give medications that can be lethal if not given properlly etc, you are doing your duty as a nurse or nursing student to have the patients best interest in mind - not that of the career of a fellow nurse.

I seriously doubt they would fire her for this, she will most likely be asked to stop the behavior and be written a warning.

I take this topic seriously because of how one minor mistake took my father from me, and I urge others to do the same. What some see as choosing a battle or what is a "minor" incendent might actually turn into a huge error in judgement leading to potential consqeuences.

Having said all of this - I doubt my situation would ever happen with this nurse, but you never know and as a nurse PREVENTION is what we strive for.

Have courage and do the right thing - whatever that might be :nurse:

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You seem to have misread the information. This student never said the nurse was hiding in a closet to text!!!

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Yes, she did say the nurse was hiding in the supply closet to text in her response to someone elses post. And i completely agree with Brillian Dreams, well said.

While its true that she could have had a family emergency or some other important issue, the student did say that the nurse was texting from 7am to 10:30, if her family situation or whatever was that important than she should not be at work. Any distraction can cause errors, just because she didn't actually harm the patient doesn't mean that she wont in the future because of her texting. I agree about telling your clinical instructor, and letting them handle it.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Yes, she did say the nurse was hiding in the supply closet to text in her response to someone elses post. And i completely agree with Brillian Dreams, well said.

While its true that she could have had a family emergency or some other important issue, the student did say that the nurse was texting from 7am to 10:30, if her family situation or whatever was that important than she should not be at work. Any distraction can cause errors, just because she didn't actually harm the patient doesn't mean that she wont in the future because of her texting. I agree about telling your clinical instructor, and letting them handle it.

A patients visitors talking to the nurse can pose a distraction as well. Should the nurse not talk to anyone other then the patient, that way their full attention is always on the patient? I mean it didn't sound like this patient was a 1 to 1 where the nurses needed to be in the room the entire time staring at the patient. While I do not agree that the nurse should be texting so much, it also comes down to perception, and I don't think the student nurse should be filing a complaint with the hospital. She admitted that the nurse FULLY took care of the patient. Anything could pose as a distraction, but if the nurse was there and something went wrong it wouldn't take any time for her to put her phone down. I mean her patient is more at risk if the nurse goes to the bathroom, since she wouldn't be right there in case of an emergency. As students with ZERO experience as a NURSE, unless we see direct patient negligence going on, I don't think it's up to us to run and tattle tale on every nurse we see doing something we don't agree with. I would see the situation completely differently if say the patient were having a hard time breathing and the nurse waited to finish texting to help, or if there was SOMETHING going on and she was ignoring to text, but that isn't what happened. The patient had all their needs meet but the student didn't feel that they gave 100% basically. (from what they said)

Turn the situation around, if the nurse saw something with the student that wasn't directly harming a patient, but maybe the nurse didn't feel it was appropriate, would you want the nurse to express her concerns to you so you have a chance to reflect and rectify the situation or would you want the nurse filing a complaint with your school, informing them that instead of caring for your patient you were texting the whole time. Which maybe you weren't even texting, maybe you were looking up drug info or something on your phone. But all the nurse knows is that when ever she saw you the phone was it and just assumed you must have been texting the entire time. (not saying you personally).

Maybe I am just weird and see the situation differently.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I respectfully disagree with the other posters. But my perception is much different since I have lost my father to the carelessness of a nurse.

I believe that if someone is breaking a rule - they are breaking a rule. Obviously that nurse knows it is wrong or she/he would not hide in the closet lol to text.

My first thought is if she is willing to do this in front of you - what does she do when no one is looking?

It also tells me that she might have something going on - sure - but I know that when I have emergencies with my children, I communicate it with my co-workers (let them know I might have to take a call or respond to a text or check my phone, etc) and take care of my business when I am off the floor. Of coorifice there are exceptions to this rule, and circumstances that cannot be avoided.

But whether or not this is a chronic problem with her or truly some kind of issue she had to take care of - it is wrong regardless. As someone said - would you want this person caring for you loved on? I have and I can tell you that I only wish that someone would have "snitched" on the nurse and prevented what led to a catastrophic error that ended my dad's life.

Tiny distractions can be lethal for any nurse.

If I were in your shoes and I felt it was wrong - and clearly you do by posting this thread. I would inform my clinical instructor and end it there. If the instructor thinks it is important she will discuss it with the charge nurse and reassign you to another nurse. If not, what is the worse she can do - be angry that you are concerned for the safety of your patients?

ICU nurses - hang blood, give medications that can be lethal if not given properlly etc, you are doing your duty as a nurse or nursing student to have the patients best interest in mind - not that of the career of a fellow nurse.

I seriously doubt they would fire her for this, she will most likely be asked to stop the behavior and be written a warning.

I take this topic seriously because of how one minor mistake took my father from me, and I urge others to do the same. What some see as choosing a battle or what is a "minor" incendent might actually turn into a huge error in judgement leading to potential consqeuences.

Having said all of this - I doubt my situation would ever happen with this nurse, but you never know and as a nurse PREVENTION is what we strive for.

Have courage and do the right thing - whatever that might be :nurse:

Non ICU nurses do this same thing I bolded, I am very sorry about your father. It doesn't appear there was an incident at all here though. Nothing was done wrong, the patient was cared for and no mistakes were made with there care, I don't see where direct patient harm was done or in danger (like if the nurse was drinking or taking drugs) and we can't always judge everything by what MIGHT happen. According to the OP all the patients needs were met.

As long as humans are taking care of things, there will always be room for error unfortunately.

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I did not say file a complaint with the hospital, i said to tell her clinical instructor. The clinical instructor can then decide the best course of action. Just because we're students doesn't mean we should be scared to speak up if we see something we're uncomfortable with. Maybe the nurse isn't usually like this, maybe it was a one time occurrence and she's actually a great nurse, who knows? But mentioning it to the clinical instructor cant hurt.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I did not say file a complaint with the hospital, i said to tell her clinical instructor. The clinical instructor can then decide the best course of action. Just because we're students doesn't mean we should be scared to speak up if we see something we're uncomfortable with. Maybe the nurse isn't usually like this, maybe it was a one time occurrence and she's actually a great nurse, who knows? But mentioning it to the clinical instructor cant hurt.

No, she suggested filing a complaint with the hospital in her first reply,That is what I was referring to. I was the one that mentioned in my earlier post that, if something made her feel that uncomfortable, to go to her CI not the hospital (unless I am beyond tired and thought I said that). My feelings on the matter have nothing to do with being scared too speak up.

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