imintrouble

I routinely accessed the ER chart of a suspected admit, to set up the room and familiarize myself with the patient. We were threatened for this activity, but all the nurses did it, and nobody got fired. Management covered themselves with the threat, and looked the other way. The sentinel event is what got you fired. I'm sorry. Very few things are as painful as being fired as a nurse.

Funny you should post the above. We were threatened with our jobs for HIPAA violation if we told anybody how many or who the Covid patients were. It's obvious where the rooms are, when you look at the isolation signs. But it seemed pretty over the top to threaten staff on the unit, when they told each other. I guess we're all just feeling our way through a situation we couldn't even imagine a year ago.

Thanks for all the replies. I figured documentation of deficiencies was how I was going to handle the difference between policy and reality. The stupid thing is, hospitals and nursing homes all over the country are having to improvise with N95 masks. It's no secret there just plain aren't enough. Attorneys and families know it. Putting out a memo that no hospital or nursing home in the country can comply with, won't protect you from lawsuits if somebody wants to litigate. It always makes me mad, when management anywhere, expects a result they know nobody can deliver. Just to cover themselves. When I talked to the nurses I work with about my concerns, they looked at me like I was overreacting. They'd already started improvising with masks, goggles, and face shields, without complaint or direction. Doing what they thought was best, disregarding the mandates of the Covid memo.

They're hanging us out to dry aren't they. What I don't get is why the nurses I work with aren't as anxious about this as I am.

Haven't been here in a while, but I need some advice. Covid has come to my little rural corner of the world. We're taking care of covid positive patients. I'm not afraid to take care of them. I've always figured I'd contract it eventually. However, my place of employment has issued a memo full of instructions and requirements to enter the Covid rooms. They've directed us what kind of masks to wear, and where to wear them. Eye protection the same. Detailed instructions on what to do and how to do it. The problem is they haven't supplied the PPE as directed in the memo. The way I interpret it is, they've covered their butts with the proper procedure, then I get to decide how I protect myself and those I care for. The last day I worked I didn't have an N95 mask, and threw a fit until I got "one" even though I'm supposed to have a different one for each covid room I enter. I've been burned several times in my long nursing career, improvising when I found I simply couldn't do what I was told to do. Management can and does leave you hanging when you try to do your best with what you have. I've read the horror stories about nurses in NY, and other hot spots, who weren't properly protected and what they had to do. I feel small complaining about my little problem, that's why I'm asking for advice. When they tell me I have to have a new N95 mask for each Covid room, and only supply me with one, what do I do?

There has to be a reason for such solidarity. I'm with you. There has to be something more.

I'm not a military person, but the concepts of duty, honor, and integrity are ingrained in the military. I would guess the captain was torn between what was right for the navy, and what was right for the men he was responsible for. His job as a military professional was to act in a way that was in the best interest of the nation. He chose to act in the best interest of the men he commanded. An awful choice to make. I wouldn't sign a petition to reinstate him.

We were given one N95, one yellow surgical mask, and a paper bag to keep them in. That's it. My allotment for the foreseeable future. I work in a LTC in a rural area with very few positive Coronavirus cases. We are mandated to wear masks the whole shift even though we're virus free. I can only imagine what will happen if the virus gets in where I work. My mask is already a petri dish. My situation doesn't come close to yours however. I personally support whatever decision nurses make, regarding working with no protection.

Weeks ago, when this story hit the news, my first thought was what about the nurses. I wondered what kind of pressure they were under to give a drug and dose they knew would kill. How could they do it? I never considered they didn't know what they were doing, I wondered why they did it. I still wonder why. It's got to be more than just fear of losing a job. It has to be. I'm sure there's all kinds of psycho mumbo jumbo that explains it. There are even social experiments that show people can be made to do the unthinkable. But a nurse and patient is a whole different thing. I hope someday the nurses involved will share their story.

I only suction the dying patient when the family insists. I try, try, try, to convince them it's pointless and uncomfortable, but sometimes it's all about how the family feels. Not the patient. I've always considered suctioning a form of torture. Secretions build up, suction them out, secretions build up, suction them out. A cycle that simply prolongs the dying process. Not everybody thinks the way I do, so I keep my belief about torture under my hat. I feel the need to explain the torture thing. That's a personal observation. I'm not saying the nurse who suctions is evil and sadistic. Not saying that at all. I'm sure the nurse who thinks suctioning makes the patient more comfortable thinks I'm evil and sadistic. I've even had one or two tell me they thought I was wrong headed about this issue. Maybe when I'm dying, and I'm rattling enough to raise the roof, I'll know which one of is right.

We take turns answering those lights. They're so frequent, it's easy to keep tabs on whose turn it is to go. It's a simple kindness we do for each other.

There is no nurse shortage where I live. Wages have remained stagnant over the last 5 years. The usual indicators of shortage, such as hire on bonuses and want ads, just aren't here now. As others have pointed out, it's probably geographical.

I'm old school. I see the whole question as simple. The boss/instructor gets to make the rules. You get to do whatever you have to do, to answer 45 questions in 45 minutes.

are unacceptable abbreviations where I work. We have to write/type out the words. However, it sounds like that wouldn't make a difference either. I often scratch my head over what makes people tick. I'd really like to know how those nurses would answer the "what were you thinking" question.

Never make a complaint without expecting to get caught. Take it from somebody who's a slow learner. You will get caught. They will know it's you. The sorry truth of the matter is that once you make that call, you will suffer more than anybody else. Consider the worst thing that your employer can do to you, and then expect it to happen. Good luck.

That is so funny. Of course at 0230 everything's funny. I had an image of General Patton when I read it.

I start shaking even before the diluent gets to the vial. A variant of the shake the powder first method. It still takes a while, but getting the diluent to the bottom under the powder helps a little. Mostly I just recognize I have Zosyn to hang, get it mixed early, and let it sit until I need it.

Telling you she's stealing meds, has made you an accomplice. Even hearing her say it has made you an accomplice. The way I see it is, silence is consent.

It's a personality thing. I prefer straight talking. There IS a line between being honest and being brutal, but again, that's in the eyes of the beholder. Ruby Vee is my favorite AN poster for just that reason.

I'm a pretty self aware human being. Warts and all. It's not a facet of my personality I'm proud of, but I would have a hard time remaining friendly with the OP. It's completely unreasonable, but I wouldn't like the OP because management gave her more money than me. I'd go to work every single day fighting my basic inclination to resent the preferential treatment. As I'm an equal opportunity resenter, I'd also dislike management even more than I do. I completely understand the attitude of the OPs fellow nurses. Anybody ever hear the phrase "Don't kill the messenger"? Because of the above, and because I know myself, I never discuss wages. I never ask or give out that info. If some over eager co-worker starts to tell me what they make I tell them I don't want to know and the reason I don't want to know. Just another thought. It might be against federal law to fire for disclosing wages, but management can fire you for 100s of different reasons, or for no reason at all. They just have to lie about the reason you got canned.

You have my sympathy. There is, I believe, a direct correlation between morale on a unit, and the amount of autonomy exercised. I'm happiest when my employer demonstrates their faith in me, by letting me be the good nurse they know me to be. I'm not advocating letting the staff run amok, just allow for personal variations as long as it's within the rules, and is absolutely safe for the patient. One of the things I loved about nursing was you could have 10 nurses do the same procedure, and none of them would do it exactly the same. And they'd still all be right. I think you're describing the new way of nursing. Scripting and color coded scrubs. Variations are not acceptable.

I didn't read the whole thread, so skip me if I'm repeating somebody else's thought. I hate the feeling of being powerless. I'm under the thumb of Drs, administration, patients, and ancillary staff. I have enormous amounts of responsibility, but no real power to change the course of my patient's condition, or my own.

Our managers are pretty reasonable about the whole HIPAA thing. I'm allowed to access any chart on the unit I work, on the night I work. I might start an IV or foley on a patient for a nurse who's too busy to do it themselves. Or give a PRN to a patient whose nurse is on break. There are lots of reasons I need to access charts other than the patients I'm assigned. I sometimes access an ER chart before a pt arrives to the floor, if that patient is mine. Our facility is pretty laid back, but other area hospitals routinely fire nurses for HIPAA violations. I don't usually read chart notes for fun, and can't say I've seen other nurses do it either. If I did it wouldn't bother me. I might ask what's going on, but just for curiosity. Not out of any kind of moral outrage.

School nurses here have said transgender students sometimes use their restrooms. Would it be ok for the cisgender student to make the same request, to avoid the transgender student?