She got fired...

Published

I was in my Ethics class today and one girl started talking about how her friend, an RN was with a patient when they started to bleed out. She said that the patient needed their vein sutured up or they would die. They called the dr and it took him over a hour to get to the room. She knew that she needed a dr in the room, but knew that if she waited the patient would be dead. She saved the patient and her and the dr both got fired.

How is it possible that she saved someone's life, but she gets fired for doing so?

Personally think we've all (those who responed to the OP) have been had. *LOL*

Standard retort of never having felt so cheap and used in one's life cannot apply here as it was rather small beer! :D

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Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.
Yeah! What she said!;)
:rotfl:
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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

The most important fact is that bleeding from a VEIN, a VEIN is not life threatening. This post is bull. Just think about is people. Go back to the initial post. No one dies from a vein bleed.

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Specializes in ICU.

The only vein I could imagine someone "bleeding out" from would be the jugular...and no way in hell would I be suturing up that bad boy! Definitely a good debate for ethics class though...

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Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

Seriously, I hope she didn't really try and suture someone's vein. I am trained and qualified to suture and did it frequently in my old job (as a licensed midwife). However, now that I am practicing as an RN it is not in my scope, and even if it was I would have no idea how to safely put together a ruptured vessel that is bleeding out. *****!

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Ethics class----Would you save a life if it meant getting fired? Would you go beyond your scope to save a life?

In the real world we have teams of people who come when a rapid response or code is called, and really, not within one's scope is one thing, but a suture set at the bedside???? Highly unlikely.

Perhaps the hospitalist was in the call room with the door locked and ignoring his page and you had to get the maitenence man......ooops wrong thread ;)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

A little off-topic, but since the original topic was BS anyway...

Why can't you bleed out from a vein? I've seen a femoral vein quinton cath site bleed excessively. That's where angios start, too. The femoral vein branches off immediately from the distal inferior vena cava.

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A little off-topic, but since the original topic was BS anyway...Why can't you bleed out from a vein? I've seen a femoral vein quinton cath site bleed excessively. That's where angios start, too. The femoral vein branches off immediately from the distal inferior vena cava.
I think you could bleed out if but it would be over a much longer span of time, just because it does not have the force of pressure behind it.

Or am I wrong and it couldn't happen at all?

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Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
I think you could bleed out if but it would be over a much longer span of time, just because it does not have the force of pressure behind it.

Or am I wrong and it couldn't happen at all?

You are right-if it was a vein that was bleeding, it would take a LONG time to bleed out unless the pt had some kind of coagulation disorder or very low platelets...but it would still be very difficult to bleed out if pressure was being held.

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I was also thinking that it is not uncommon for folks to not even really know the difference between arteries and veins.

Usually, I hear all blood vessels referred to as "veins" in a generic way.

Perhaps, the storyteller really meant an artery.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

In which case who the heck can suture an artery WHILE holding pressure on it?

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People keep grasping at possible explanations for this story. There ARE NONE. It's completely bogus.

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