RN's who cannot insert IV's being Fired???

[maidy]

Hello! just wanna know if it is mandatory for all RN's to insert IV's? Because a fellow nurse who is more than well experienced and very skillful in other procedures and previously IV certified too who refused to do IV's was terminated. Nurse claims she developed phobia to it after a very bad experience with a patient. Can a person really be forced to do anything that she is not comfortable and has developed an aversion to it. Is it fair to the hospital and to the nurse? Thanks!

[SmilingBluEyes]

IF it's in the job description, which presumably, a person agrees to perform to the standards of said description upon hire, then he/she should be adequately oriented, trained and gain competency within a defined time frame in given skills sets, or you have grounds for dismissal/firing. BUT documentation is critical....as is the stomach to do the tough thing...does your management have the stomach? THAT is the key, really!

[channiek]

I think that maybe there is more to the story than just a problem with inserting IV's.A nurse don't get fired just because of that. If you have a bad experience, the faster you try again the better for you and the patients. Nursing is a continuous learning curve for everyone.

[Lurksalot, BSN, RN]

I am confused. From this post, it sounds like she developed her IV issue on the job she was fired from.

We are just dismayed that management chose the opportunity to fire her because she said she will not insert iv's anymore after a nasty incident when she was slapped by a patient. probabaly hurt her ego and unnerved her. we had tried to help her with her iv's in exchange that she will do other procedures. it worked well until someone told management about it and decided that she will be place in day surgery just so she will have that training again. But she refused and that is how they fired her. Was that really fair? I mean it could not have been a big issue but they thought otherwise.

But from this post, it sounds like this nurse was hired with this "phobia" and management was aware of it when they hired her?

just to get things straight.the nurse was a foreign nurse.she was a very good nurse will all credentials and experience from her country.was recruited and promised to be going on to a hopital supposedly with an IV team. agency (her employer) promised her no problem since there are about 176 hospitals scattered all over US where she can be put in to. Agency knows her handicap and which is only for IV's. Charge nurse reported her to management. Management ordered her to go to day surgery precisely to do IV insertions! disregarding her phobia!

Which is it? Was she hired by the employer who KNEW she would NOT do IVs and then was fired for that, or did she get the job, get slapped by a pateient, and THEN refuse to do IVs?

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Firing an employee because they cannot start an IV is pretty harsh, in my opinion. Yes, we are expected to start IV's, but what about the patients who are VERY difficult sticks? Some nurses, no matter how much practice they have had, are just not good at starting IVs. I have my good nights & bad nights. Some nights I feel like I can start all of the IVs in the world, even in a patient with HORRIBLE veins after multiple attempts from other nurses...and other nights I will get a patient who has good veins and I can't start one at all (the veins keep blowing, etc). Lately I have been getting a lot of patients who are very hard sticks. My limit is 2, and then I bring in my "reinforcements." Nursing is team work. If you can't start the IV, then find someone else who can. If you don't have time to start an IV at the moment, ask someone else - I have done that before.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I believe this 5-year old thread discussed a nurse who wouldn't/couldn't attempt to start IVs when it was a requirement for the job and was thus terminated ... not a nurse who was fired because s/he didn't get every single IV s/he attempted.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I believe this 5-year old thread discussed a nurse who wouldn't/couldn't attempt to start IVs when it was a requirement for the job and was thus terminated ... not a nurse who was fired because s/he didn't get every single IV s/he attempted.

Yes, and it looks like the nurse was offered training to help her feel more comfortable doing IVs and refused the learning opportunity.

MelosaurRN, did you recently have a similar experience that prompted you to look up old threads on the subject?

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Firing an employee because they cannot start an IV is pretty harsh, in my opinion. Yes, we are expected to start IV's, but what about the patients who are VERY difficult sticks? Some nurses, no matter how much practice they have had, are just not good at starting IVs.

I just read this entire thread and found it amazing how many people posted without apparently reading the original post or any of the follow ups by the OP. The nurse was NOT fired for not being good at IV starts. She was fired for refusing to do them after suffering a "trauma," as well as for refusing remedial help offered by administration which would have given her a lot of practice starting IV's. This was stated over and over and over again.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Yes, and it looks like the nurse was offered training to help her feel more comfortable doing IVs and refused the learning opportunity.

MelosaurRN, did you recently have a similar experience that prompted you to look up old threads on the subject?

No. This thread popped up on the main page under "latest" and I didn't realize it was 5 years old. Oops!