Scary scary nurse

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A nurse (we'll call her Scary Nurse" was recently hired at my facility to work night shift. She's been a nurse for about 15 years. Problem is, she's clueless- not about facility protocol or paperwork but about basic nursing 101. I suggested to my ADON additional training and orientation before "letting her go". This nurse didn't didn't "feel like" coming in for additional PAID training for the first day and left after 30 minuted the 2nd day, saying she had a headache. I have shown her numerous time how to do trach care, Peg care; other nurses have gone over obtaining urine/stool specimens for the lab, and still she remains clueless. Whenever she gets overwhelmed or scared she bails, citing a migraine and leaves, in the middle of her shift. Most recently she discovered the two of her trach patients needed neb treatments. She didn't tell anyone that she didn't know how to set up a neb treatment and instead, fumbled around a bit then came out and said she had a migraine and that she had to go leaving the oncoming nurse and me to work the night shift. I had just completed a double shift and was already into my 17th hour! She left the other night nurse with 42 patients! This nurse is dangerous! My facility has had all they can take of her and plan to let her go. I'm afraid however, that because businesses can't really get a "reference" relating to prior work performance, she may get hired somewhere else and do some serious damage. A co-worker of mine recently related to me that she had previous work history with "Scary Nurse" and there was a family who blamed her for the death of their child due to her inability to properly suction and care for trachs. Is there anything I can do? Should I do anything? Scary Nurse has recently started asking if police or investigators have shown up looking for her but won't say why they would be. Some advice please. :idea:

Specializes in ICU.
a nurse (we'll call her scary nurse" was recently hired at my facility to work night shift. she's been a nurse for about 15 years. problem is, she's clueless- not about facility protocol or paperwork but about basic nursing 101. i suggested to my adon additional training and orientation before "letting her go". this nurse didn't didn't "feel like" coming in for additional paid training for the first day and left after 30 minuted the 2nd day, saying she had a headache. i have shown her numerous time how to do trach care, peg care; other nurses have gone over obtaining urine/stool specimens for the lab, and still she remains clueless. whenever she gets overwhelmed or scared she bails, citing a migraine and leaves, in the middle of her shift. most recently she discovered the two of her trach patients needed neb treatments. she didn't tell anyone that she didn't know how to set up a neb treatment and instead, fumbled around a bit then came out and said she had a migraine and that she had to go leaving the oncoming nurse and me to work the night shift. i had just completed a double shift and was already into my 17th hour! she left the other night nurse with 42 patients! this nurse is dangerous! my facility has had all they can take of her and plan to let her go. i'm afraid however, that because businesses can't really get a "reference" relating to prior work performance, she may get hired somewhere else and do some serious damage. a co-worker of mine recently related to me that she had previous work history with "scary nurse" and there was a family who blamed her for the death of their child due to her inability to properly suction and care for trachs. is there anything i can do? should i do anything? scary nurse has recently started asking if police or investigators have shown up looking for her but won't say why they would be. some advice please. :idea:

was she still in orientation, or did she take report on an assignment? if the latter and not the former, this sounds like pt abandonment, which is grounds for losing your license in my state.

could she be diverting? that might explain the odd behavior, and why she is worried about being investigated.

on the other hand, as asystole mentioned, it doesn't sound like you have anything concrete. she may be quite aware that you are talking about her behind her back, which is enough to make anybody anxious. and, as i am fond of saying about cranky doctors, if you make me anxious/nervous by screaming and yelling (or other unfriendly behavior), i'm not going to perform my best at taking care of our pts!

:paw:

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

I feel bad for her patients.. She seems dangerous :sniff:

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Whatever her problem is, your responsibility is to attempt to work with her as assigned and report your misgivings to the supervisor, or to intervene if you see her behavior might cause patient harm. It is the responsibility of management to report on her job performance to prospective employers or report her to the Board if it is warranted. I would be extra cautious around her. Sounds like maybe she might truly be an impostor or her previous experience(s) traumatized her to an extent that it is affecting her ability to cope with practicing nursing. She is probably not long for this profession.

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Specializes in cardiac, ICU, education.
Whatever her problem is, your responsibility is to attempt to work with her as assigned and report your misgivings to the supervisor, or to intervene if you see her behavior might cause patient harm. It is the responsibility of management to report on her job performance to prospective employers or report her to the Board if it is warranted.

True and not true. Your license requires you to report her to the state board if you are witness to her incompetence and your supervisor has not followed through on complaints. The best thing you could do is just call your state board and ask to speak with a rep from that board and describe the situation. They will have the most information on your state's requirements and usually are very helpful in the matter. Your complaint should be confidential AND I have known a few reps that have called the supervisors directly to investigate even without a written formal complaint.

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It is not a requirement of management that they report to an individual regarding disciplinary or performance issues regarding another employee. These matters are confidential, therefore the complaining employee would not have knowledge of whether management has taken action or not. However, one can always take the initiative to report coworkers to the board. Doing so without bringing the matter to management is not wise.

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Remember this?

"Charles Cullen, 43 and a male nurse, is among those healthcare professionals who apparently decided over the years that certain patients should die. When he was charged in two cases in December 2003, according to the Newark Star Ledger, he admitted that in the past 16 years in the 10 healthcare institutions in which he worked, he was responsible for taking the lives of 30 to 40 patients"

He got away with this so long because " it wasn't my responsibility" to say anything.

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Hardly a good comparison. And I suspect he got away with it largely due to the fact that nobody figured out what he was doing for so long, not necessarily because anyone failed to take action.

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Hardly a good comparison. And I suspect he got away with it largely due to the fact that nobody figured out what he was doing for so long, not necessarily because anyone failed to take action.

I couldn't disagree with you more.

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Specializes in LTC, Rehab, hemodialysis.

Just an update on Scary Nurse....as it turns out, yes, people were looking for her and ultimately her employment was terminated. I knew something was up, just couldn't figure it out.

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Well, tell us! Who was looking for her! We want the details!

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Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.

Was she an impostor as I had previously questioned?

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