Today's cringeworthy event..

Published

So today I had the pleasure of seeing someone I already believed to be an idiot confirm it.

We have a serious issue with people maintaining proper sharps containers. They over stuff them, don't secure the tops to the bottoms, don't latch them when they are full, and stuff the storage container they go into once they are used. I have nearly been poked by a sharps on more than one occasion because of this. In fact I worked with our manager to create a policy about responsibility for these (sad that we are all "professionals" yet lack basic common sense).

I had serious suspicions this person was the cause of several of the issues, but could not prove it, until today. Said nurse dropped a sharps container when taking it to the already too full bin. She dropped it and sharps went all over the place. Why, because the top wasn't latched shut and the top wasn't connected to the bottom.. Guess who happened to see this as well... My manager who was right around the corner. Said nurse then started to pick up the used sharps with her bare hands.. Guess who doesn't take BBP seriously..

So not only was I proven right (my manger felt I was simply being a "bully" or NETY to this nurse), but now this issue can be fully addressed with this particular nurse - and hopefully we can all be a bit safer.

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Don't you just hate the "NETY" accusation as the default response to any constructive criticism of a nurse who happens to have less experience?

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Specializes in OB.
Said nurse then started to pick up the used sharps with her bare hands.

Yikes!!!! Hope the problem gets addressed now!

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I hope she doesn't get fired for this. Someone needs to discuss with her the risks she's putting herself and others on. However, how do you know she's the one that stuffs the sharps container? I doubt she's the only one putting sharps there. If you notices it was stuffed and full, why didn't you remove it before it got overly full? Maybe you could have talked to her and told her she could get in trouble for not properly disposing of sharps or when she dropped the container telling her to not touch the sharps. Sheeshhh why do more experienced nurses have to always eat their young and make fun of their mistakes. We were all a clueless graduate once!

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Sheeshhh why do more experienced nurses have to always eat their young and make fun of their mistakes. We were all a clueless graduate once!

Emphasis is mine.

Yes, more experienced nurses "always" eat their young and make fun of their mistakes.

See? Default response as noted in my prior post.

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I hope she doesn't get fired for this. Someone needs to discuss with her the risks she's putting herself and others on. However, how do you know she's the one that stuffs the sharps container? I doubt she's the only one putting sharps there. If you notices it was stuffed and full, why didn't you remove it before it got overly full? Maybe you could have talked to her and told her she could get in trouble for not properly disposing of sharps or when she dropped the container telling her to not touch the sharps. Sheeshhh why do more experienced nurses have to always eat their young and make fun of their mistakes. We were all a clueless graduate once!

She's been educated several times now. As I mentioned we had to create a special policy for this sheer ignorance of our staff regarding sharp container safety, above what was already in place.

I'm not her mother or her babysitter. I'm not going to chase after her to make sure she is using common sense about BBP and sharps. I'm not going to reck every one of the containers she puts together, and I'm not going to check all of her rooms to make sure she hasn't over stuffed them. Her negligence puts us all at risk.

I don't want her fired for it, but she better be written up for it. Some people don't learn without consequences and she has proven this to be the case on more than one occasion. This time I finally have the proof that my manager cannot dispute.

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I hope she doesn't get fired for this. Someone needs to discuss with her the risks she's putting herself and others on. However, how do you know she's the one that stuffs the sharps container? I doubt she's the only one putting sharps there. If you notices it was stuffed and full, why didn't you remove it before it got overly full? Maybe you could have talked to her and told her she could get in trouble for not properly disposing of sharps or when she dropped the container telling her to not touch the sharps. Sheeshhh why do more experienced nurses have to always eat their young and make fun of their mistakes. We were all a clueless graduate once!

I'm sorry, I must have missed the part in my job contract that requires me to pet the nurses who lack the basic common sense to NOT PICK UP USED SHARPS WITH NO PPE.

This isn't a new vs old nurse thing. This is a competent nurse vs questionable nurse thing. I'm new, and I think she's dangerous to herself and others.

It's also not others' job to pick up after the nonsensical nurse.

I'm all for helping new nurses. I like supporting them, helping them find their footing in the raging torrent called acute care. But I will NOT support stupidity. Not because I'm a canine of the female persuasion, but because my life and our patients' lives may depend on her using more than 10% of her brain.

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I guess I should mention she isn't a brand new nurse. She has a few years of experience under her belt, which I didn't think really mattered since even in nursing school they teach PPE, BBP, and safety..

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I must have missed the part in my job contract that requires me to pet the nurses who lack the basic common sense to NOT PICK UP USED SHARPS WITH NO PPE.
I concur. Many bloodborne viruses are hardy enough to live for days outside the body. Hepatitis C, a bloodborne virus with known lethality, comes to mind.

A prudent nurse wouldn't take the risk of handling used sharps with bare hands.

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Specializes in Allergy/ENT, Occ Health, LTC/Skilled.

That's so scary. People were terrible about that in the occ health I used to work in. It would get to the point you were scared to put a used needle in for fear of poking yourself so I started looking at the sharps bin before I even brought a patient back. Not sure why it's so hard to close it, tape it, and put it in a biohazard bin. We all worked on one floor so it was super easy to do.

What is NETY?

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That's so scary. People were terrible about that in the occ health I used to work in. It would get to the point you were scared to put a used needle in for fear of poking yourself so I started looking at the sharps bin before I even brought a patient back. Not sure why it's so hard to close it, tape it, and put it in a biohazard bin. We all worked on one floor so it was super easy to do.

What is NETY?

NETY is "nurses eating their young," also code word for "I didn't like what they said or did, so instead of actually addressing the point, I'm going to deflect attention and insist that their only motivation is to bully me because they have more experience and have nothing better to do with their time than focus on me. AKA as I don't own my behavior and prefer to point my finger outwards so no one notices my potentially dangerous practice.

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Specializes in Critical care.

Why are the RNs messing with a housekeeping duty? Get a union. I havent touched a needle box in 30 yrs.

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