AnnetteER

Annette, congratulations! Great Save!. Your patient did not die and has no side effects. Good luck with your meeting but I don't think you should worry about your job or license. You will not lose either, I believe. Thank you. My friends & a lot of my co-workers agree with you. We're all just blown away by this whole thing. I had a patient about 3 weeks before this happened that didn't look right to me, & I kept telling the charge nurses (we have 2), & the Clinical instructor. They checked my patient & said she was just having anxiety & that I was just a new nurse that was "freaking". They all got a good chuckle out of it. I kept an eye on her all day. I kept an eye on her vitals, pulse ox & I kept listening to her lungs. It bothered me a lot & I wished I was more experienced to realize what was happening. By about 5:00, her vitals started to change & she was having more trouble breathing. NOW, they took me a little more seriously. Turns out, she was going into CHF. We ended up transferring her to Tele before my shift ended. They made me feel so stupid when I went to them in the morning for help. When I told them I was concerned about my pt. & wanted them to check her out. The patient's husband showed up by lunch time, & he saw that I kept on trying to get people to look at her. Him & I were both concerned. I know I'm new & I know so little, but I don't understand treating a new nurse like she's stupid for being concerned about a patient. Nursing isn't what I expected, or is it just where I'm working that's just not right?

Lorster, One of the charge nurses brought the crash cart to the room.

Thank you to everyone for your support. I'm at a total loss with all of this. I did everything I was taught & ended up suspended. Go figure. The last thing I heard is that they are having trouble regulating his sugar because he is a Brittle Diabetic.

My manager made an announcement the other day that if a patient's BS is high, even if he/she is NPO, we should administer the coverage. Again, this just leaves me more in the dark about what the hell they are doing & not telling me anything. The main thing she told me I could be negligent on was not calling a code, which I never knew I should do. How could that be negligent?

I'm positive I gave Regular insulin & I did document the sugar & the administration of the reg. insulin. I've since learned, 5 days after the incident, that he is a Brittle Diabetic. I never even heard the expression before this. I have looked this up online, & noticed that when a person is a Brittle Diabetic, they should have their sugar checked about every 2 hours. For anyone who isn't familiar with the term, a Brittle Diabetic's sugar fluctuates from high to low quickly.

I still don't understand why I was suspended. They told me on the phone that I'm suspended without pay but wouldn't confirm it in writing. They want me to come in & do "late entry charting". Needless to say, I haven't been back to work since they sent me home. I'm suspecting that they want me to put stuff in the chart & then fire me. I don't know why I'm in the hot seat. I really don't. I've told all of you exactly what happened. None of my friends can understand this either. I must admit that if this is what nursing is about, I don't want any part of it anymore. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude that I will not be treated like this again by an employer. I worked as an accountant for 13 years & was never treated like this. It makes you feel miserable, especially when my friends are telling me that I probably saved that guy's life. I got a good hard kick for it. I hope that they will not put anything against my license.

Leslie As I was running to the pyxis to pull the D50, I yelled a couple of times that I needed a blood draw stat & I told the charge nurse what the sugar was. I also called the doctors when when one of my co-workers was pushing the d50. I followed hospital protocal exactly the way it had been taught to. I can't believe that this is happening to me. They told me that they will call me tomorrow to arrange a meeting with me. This is just horrible. I don't even know my rights.

I am a new nurse. I worked for a couple of months in the ER but then I transferred to a Med/Surg unit. I administered insulin coverage for a high sugar before a procedure. He was NPO. The next day, our Nurse Clinical Instructor said that she would have given the coverage also because the sugar was so high. I know that you don't normally give coverage when a pt. is NPO. He went & returned from his procedure & was sleepy but arousable & he even took some PO meds & talked. He actually yelled at one of my co-workers. About 1 1/2 hours later (approx. 6 1/2 hrs after receiving the coverage), I checked his sugar, & it was 9. I know that seems unreal, but it was. I initiated hypoglycemic protocol Stat & he went to ICU for a day but then returned to our floor & is talking & eating. I did everything that I was taught. I asked my Preceptor & she said that I didn't do anything wrong. He's doing great. I have been suspended since Wed. without pay. This happened on Tuesday. They just told me to go home Wed. afternoon. I never would have known that I was suspended if I didn't call HR & ask them my status. I received notice from my manager that they will call me on Monday to set up a meeting & that she is meeting with HR on Monday to investigate further. I asked them to send me somthing in writing that I am suspended & the basis for it, but they haven't. I saved the man's life. They mentioned that I should have called a code, but I ran for the D50 & yelled out that I needed a blood draw stat. They didn't call a code when they went into the room either. They also want me to make some late entries in the chart, but how could I? I'm suspended without pay so therefore, I can't & I shouldn't do any work. It's not looking good. I feel they are looking to fire me & I can't understand why they are doing this to me. I just got my 90 day evaluation on 2/14 & I met expectations on everything, including pt. safety. I can't believe that this is happening. Can I lose my license for this? I didn't do anything wrong, that I know of. If they fire me, does that affect my license? Do they make a complaint with the Board of Nursing? Does anyone have any advice for me? Please help me. Thank you. Does anyone have any advice?

I am a new nurse. I worked for a couple of months in the ER but then I transferred to a Med/Surg unit. I administered insulin coverage for a high sugar before a procedure. He was NPO. The next day, our Nurse Clinical Instructor told my co-worker that she would have given the coverage also because it was so high. I know that you don't normally give coverage when a pt. is NPO. He went & returned from his procedure & was sleepy but arousable & he even took some PO meds & talked. He actually yelled at one of my co-workers. About 1 1/2 hours later (approx. 6 1/2 hrs after receiving the coverage), I checked his sugar, & it was 9. I know that seems unreal, but it was. I initiated hypoglycemic protocol Stat & he went to ICU for a day but then returned to our floor & is talking & eating. I did everything that I was taught. I asked my Preceptor & she said that I didn't do anything wrong. He's doing great. I have been suspended since Wed. without pay. This happened on Tuesday. They just told me to go home Wed. afternoon. I never would have known that I was suspended if I didn't call HR & ask them my status. I received notice from my manager that they will call me on Monday to set up a meeting & that she is meeting with HR on Monday to investigate further. I asked them to send me somthing in writing that I am suspended & the basis for it, but they haven't. I saved the man's life. They mentioned that I should have called a code, but I ran for the D50 & yelled out that I needed a blood draw stat. They didn't call a code when they went into the room either. They also want me to make some late entries in the chart, but how could I? I'm suspended without pay so therefore, I can't & I shouldn't do any work. It's not looking good. I feel they are looking to fire me & I can't understand why they are doing this to me. I just got my 90 day evaluation on 2/14 & I met expectations on everything, including pt. safety. I can't believe that this is happening. Can I lose my license for this? I didn't do anything wrong, that I know of. If they fire me, does that affect my license? Do they make a complaint with the Board of Nursing? Does anyone have any advice for me? Please help me. Thank you. Does anyone have any advice?

I am a new grad. I started my first job, in the ER. Tomorrow will be my 7th day in the ER. I am still having trouble starting IV's. I was finally able to get a couple of them the other day, but I'm still missing more than I am getting them. It looks like I'm in the vein, but then I'm not getting the blood return. I'm getting so frustrated & nervous about not being able to get the hang of it. We have techs, but we're so busy that the nurses have to be able to start their own IV's. I want to be able to do them & I want to be really good at it. We put a line in & draw blood on almost every patient. My preceptor has been wonderful. Everyone keeps telling me that it takes time & a lot of practice. Unfortunately, some of the patients we get are such hard sticks, that my preceptor just starts the line herself. I can understand that because neither one of us wants to put our patients through hell with multiple sticks in their arm. She's been a nurse for 10 years & she's great. I hope that one day I will be as good a nurse as she is in every way. Listening & watching her interact with the patients has been an incredible learning experience for me. My main concern at this point is starting the IV's. I don't want to lose this job. I REALLY LOVE the ER!! I even told my preceptor that I would come in on my days off & work with the techs if she felt I should do that. I'll do whatever it takes to keep this job & to become good at it. I read the postings on this site about IV tips, but I'm still having a problem. HOW LONG should it take to get good at doing IV's? Can anyone tell me how long it took them to be able to hit the vein successfully. What would be a reasonable time frame? Thank you for your help. Annette