I'm a patient attendant and I'm only five days in but yesterday I sat with a Suicidal patient I wasn't ready for this as I'm pretty new to the job. I'm pretty upset since I didn't know he was suicidal I thought he was general precautions, that's what they told me anyways.
So usually they inform me about the status of the patient so I'm better prepared when watching them. Usually with general precautions I'd do my homework or read magazines. I thought the same was for this case, the nurses even told me to just watch him outside his room and can even ignore him, that's what I did in the beginning because I was honestly scared, I wasn't ready to be dealing with someone in his situation. I didn't even realize he was suicidal until the end of he day when I called the company I worked for and they informed me.
I'm annoyed because of how easily things could have gone wrong, and they did. I was outside his door watching him reading a magazine and he managed to rip out his iv...I didn't even know he had one in and the nurse left the lights off on him when they left also they didn't care when kept thrashing around on his bed so I just thought nothing of it but he managed to rip out his IV and blood was everywhere, like there was a pool of blood I didn't notice until the nurse took notice of it when he stopped by. It was than that I decided to sit inside even though the nurses advised me not to and decided to engage with him even though he was so abrasive before and even racist. He was constantly calling the nurses ******* and berating them.
At the end of the day things turned out fine and he got better, he managed to keep conversation going and got better.
But should I report the mix up to the company that contracted me?
(with this company in the first thirty days you only handle general precautions not suicidal patients)
When I called the scheduling team and complained about this they apologized and told me his status randomly changed and they weren't aware When I entered he was in restraints so I'm surprised he was ever general precautions.
The whole situation left me with a bad taste in my month :/
I just wasn't prepared to deal with a patient this distraught and I'm annoyed how his safety was compromised
When someone is a 1:1 and restrained, you always watch for personal safety and pt safety. That's why they are a 1:1 and need to be watched. I can't see a nurse telling you to ignore him. Your supposed to watch him not ignore him. If the pt is in the hospital assume they have an IV.
I think you are new to nursing. One of the things you will learn is that stuff happens. Just be cool and do your job.
OP is not in the nursing field. He/she is a patient sitter, and has been employed as such for all of 5 days. It sounds like her employer offered very little in the way of instruction or orientation AND she is being sent to various hospitals/units with little consistency or time to develop a routine. She was placed with a patient who had needs beyond what she was trained or expected to do (and probably should have had a psych tech or security present instead of a brand new sitter) and given poor guidance from the hospital staff. I think we can cut her a break for being a little upset about the situation and wanting to take action to prevent it from happening again.
1:1 sitters, generally, regardless if the pt. is suicidal or homicidal or what not, are not supposed to read magazines, do their homework, or paint their fingernails.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
Hmmm something is just off about this scenario.
1:1 sitters, generally, regardless if the pt. is suicidal or homicidal or what not, are not supposed to read magazines, do their homework, or paint their fingernails.
1:1 sitter is for safety
This! OP, it sounds like the company "messed up" by assigning you a suicidal patient when you aren't supposed to have one for your first 30 days, whether that was on purpose or if they genuinely didn't know their status changed...that being said, you need to take some personal accountability here too, regardless of what the nurse may or may not have told you. Based on your own statements, you weren't essentially watching the patient which is what you are hired for so ultimately you did not perform your job. There are multiple factors and people to "blame" in this scenario, including yourself as well as the company and the nurse who gave an incomplete report, but the only thing you have control of is YOU - hopefully you take this as a learning experience and apply it to future scenarios where you will be more diligent with your responsibilities.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
I also want to add that if you really felt the need to report the company/scheduler, be prepared for the possible repercussions (including potential termination) for your actions in this scenario.
They recommended I sit outside so I did just that, and it resulted in this dude almost dying...
Okay, I see why you view this as so serious now.
For future reference, a patient pulling a (regular) IV out of their arm or hand is not going to lead to death. Heck, even a larger IV would take a while for them to bleed to death. I understand that the pool of blood looked large, but body fluid puddles often seem that way. I work in pediatrics, and parents are always telling me about how their baby threw up their ENTIRE bottle of formula, when really it was like two tablespoons at most. So keep this in perspective; the patient did not almost die.
I would like to make another point. This patient was assigned a 1:1 sitter because he needed to be watched closely, whether for suicide precautions, confused and might hurt themselves, fall risk, whatever. And yet the fact that he pulled out his IV and was bleeding wasn't noticed by you. Why are you there if not to watch the patient closely and notify the nurse if there is a problem? I know they may tell you that its okay to read magazines and sit outside the room and not really pay attention....but isn't it your job to pay attention? What does your job description say?
"He's a terrible person, very evil and you should ignore him, also redirect him"
If the nurse truly said this to you, then that is the most reportable thing in your entire story (I'm not suggesting that as a new employee that you necessarily should). But the reportable thing is not the scheduling mix up
In the future, don't let unprofessional nurses influence you to be unprofessional. Always do your best to monitor your assigned patient and keep them safe.
Fyi since you're new to this job -- reading and doing homework is not okay. The patient needs a 1:1 for safety, because he is at risk of self harm -- be it intentional or unintentional (say the pt is confused or delirious). The nurse/floor CNA is unable to continuously ensure that the pt won't harm himself -- they have several other pts. The sole purpose of your presence is your presence. Your eyes must be on that pt, and you must be close enough to prevent self-harm. That is why you are being paid. You can do NOTHING to ensure pt safety by loitering in the doorway or by focusing on homework.
Oh, forgot a point earlier: if the nurse actually told you he was evil and to ignore him, I suspect that she meant not to take his vile behavior personally. Yes, some people are vile. I am sure she did not mean: "don't do your job and let him rip out his IV."
BSN16
389 Posts
im sorry but i am not buying this.