Treatment of vulnerable patients

[LibraNurse27]

Hi All nurses! I have been a nurse for almost 5 years and have previously felt that I am great at making connections with patients, making them feel cared for and treating all my patients very well. I work at a county hospital and we take care of many homeless patients, dementia and psych patients and other vulnerable populations. Today my patient had cognitive deficits due to a stroke and was extremely drowsy. I attempted to place an IV and was unsuccessful three times. The patient slept through all of the attempts and later when he was more awake stated he did not remember any of it. I am just upset with myself because I usually try a max of two times for an IV and if still unsuccessful go for help. I feel like I took advantage of this patient because of his drowsiness and his cognitive deficits and I feel really terrible. Am I overreacting? Going forward I will stick with my "two strikes" rule and be extra aware of how I treat confused/sedated patients. Thanks for any input

[trytounderstand]

In my experience as a patient I have had to be stuck more than 3 times for them to get an iv in or even blood drawn. Especially if I have not had enough fluid beforehand. I would be more worried about taking care of a vulnerable patient for such things as not respecting their dignity, figuring they are under the influence and will not realize that they have been laying there exposed and it does not matter since we are all professionals here. But to the patient that would have mattered. Or being concerned that a patient could not make a clear decision on their own concerning their care or whether to sign a consent form for surgery. Or refusing to listen to a coherent patient who flat out tells you no but you ignore or berate until you get the results you want.

But it speaks highly of you to be concerned that you may have taken advantage of a vulnerable patient. That is the nurse I would want if I were in that position.

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

Thanks again everyone for your input and kind words! I had the same patient today and IV infiltrated again (patient with Guillen Barre getting IVIG and that stuff is so frothy!) This time re-started the IV first try... I think the positivity from AllNurses had a factor =) =)