venting

[nurse12b]

Ok, today in clinical's must have been the worst. I am doing my pedi rotation and the nurse on this unit must have gotten their degree from a cracker jack box. first we had a little baby that was forgotten about in the 1st shift, what I mean by that is that the patient was not assigned to a nurse during the 1st shift at all! we got on the floor at 3pm and my co student nurse went into the room to see the baby and the IV had infiltrated and his arm was swollen all the way up to his shoulder. So, she ran out looking for the nurse and the 3-11 nurse went in and seen what had happened and she asked who was the nurse for 7-3 and that is when they found out the patient was not assigned to any nurse at all, and it had to be infiltrated from the night before. HOW irresponsible is that!!

Next I had my patient , who was an 8mo old baby and the IV line had a lot of air in it, (really old IV supply's and pump) so I called the nurse in because I am not familiar with the pumps at this hospital. She came in and first she asked me if I was the pt's visitor or a student (UM Im standing there with my uniform on and my stethoscope around my neck) anyway, I tell her what is going on and she tells me to go get a syringe and I do and then she try's to extract the air out and she spends about 20 min doing so. I asked her if it would't be better just to unscrew the line form the patient and prim the line, she said she could but she did not feel like messing with it. So, she got allot of the air out but allot was still left in the line. She said some air won't hurt her and it takes allot for an air emboli. I told her, this is a 8 month old and why do we learn in school to get all the air out before it goes into the pt. No body knows for absolute sure how much air it takes for an air emboli, but it is better to be safe right.

There is so much wrong with this floor I can't say everything, even my clinical instructor has a problem with the nurses when we are there, it is insane. I know I will never take my child to this hospital. Oh, and did I mention they don't like students on the floor. One of the other nursing students asked a nurse if she could follow her and she said no and that if she did she would slam the door in her face.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I am trying to figure out how the kiddo was forgot about. The previous nurse should have handed report off to someone before they left, you would think chart stuff would come up overdue and you would think since this is a kid that parents would have been there at some point and talked to someone. Just hard to make sense of. Shoot even dietary here calls the nurse if the patient hasn't ordered food.

[microtutor]

Sounds horrible!! I am soon to start my program, and I have NO IDEA what I would have done in your shoes. Can some more experienced nurses or students explain what to do in this situation??? I feel anxious just reading about it!! Many thanks!

[kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN]

She came in and first she asked me if I was the pt's visitor or a student (UM Im standing there with my uniform on and my stethoscope around my neck)

I'm just gonna chime in about that. Just because you have a uniform on and stethoscope doesn't label you a student, RN, RT, MD, visitor, etc. to that patient. On my floor, we have patients with family members who work on other floors of the hospital come and visit their friend, loved one, etc. on my floor. They show up in uniform from their break, end of shift, before the shift, whatever just to check on their person. So as a nurse if you walk into your patients room and you see someone in uniform, wouldn't you want to ask?

[OB-nurse2013, BSN, RN]

I'm just gonna chime in about that. Just because you have a uniform on and stethoscope doesn't label you a student, RN, RT, MD, visitor, etc. to that patient. On my floor, we have patients with family members who work on other floors of the hospital come and visit their friend, loved one, etc. on my floor. They show up in uniform from their break, end of shift, before the shift, whatever just to check on their person. So as a nurse if you walk into your patients room and you see someone in uniform, wouldn't you want to ask?

I completely see your point about that as I'm sure anyone that has worked at a hospital would, but....I think that would be considered the least of the problems listed.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Its amazing the "shortcuts" people take because they are lazy. If she had just unscrewed the line and re-primed it, that would have taken what 30 seconds? Instead she fussed with it and then gave you that line. Yikes.

[Tyler77]

Which goes to show what you learn in nursing school is not what happenes in real life. Nursing studentas do tend to nit-pick to the point of being obnoxious to the floor staff, which is why they make students feel uncomfortable..(""We learned that when we wash our hands that you're supposed to point your fingers downward." Well, honey, I learned that sometimes it's better to shutup than to open you mouth). If you've got an issue with the procedures on one of the floors, REPORT THEM!! Writing how an infant was in danger will not help the situation. Every student nurse has the "I'm a nurse, my patients love me, I will conquer the world" is the attitiude that quickly disappears once you've been assigned almost a dozen grumpy, impossible patients that treat you like a servant. Have fun!

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

for the kid with the air in the line, since the nurse was being a lazy sob, i would have grabbed my instructor, let her know what was going on & did what was necessary to get some fresh tubing / hang a new bag or whatever... that is just unacceptable ---if JCHAO just happened to be in the hospital..oh that nurse would be flipping burgers somewehre by now.

i didnt see that type of crap on my peds unit, but so far on my OB & psych rotations ive been doing, some of these nurses really need to retire. its so aggravating to see how completely lazy, and uncaring they are to their patients.

i would hope someone would tell me to move on to another dept or tell me to retire by that point. because its not fair to the patient or anyone around you acting like that..

/vent lol

[AOx1]

There is a HUGE difference between nit-picking a procedure and commenting that a patient was not assigned and had a serious consequence (severe infiltration). One is annoying, the other can lead to loss of limb. Op, sorry to hear this; rely on your instructor if other unsafe situations occur.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

There is a HUGE difference between nit-picking a procedure and commenting that a patient was not assigned and had a serious consequence (severe infiltration). One is annoying, the other can lead to loss of limb. Op, sorry to hear this; rely on your instructor if other unsafe situations occur.

Oh those are just minor little details, the important thing is the kiddo had an IV. :rolleyes:

[nurse12b]

THanks for all the comments, Im glad Im not the only one that thinks there is allot wrong here. We did tell our instructor everything of what happened. I don't know what else I can do. I know things are different once you are a nurse, but you should still be safe in everything you do no matter if you are a student or have been a nurse for years.

I told my friend that had the pt with the infiltration, just to make sure she documents everything that she seen and that was done. Just in case... I don't know why this happened, or how this could have even happened at all. The 3rd shift nurse had to give report to someone, right. The sweet little baby is 5 months old and the mother was there, but she did not speak any english at all and she didn't know what to do. I didn't know if she said anything or not.

I have now done my clinical in 2 hospitals and on several units and this one is the worst by far. Our teacher would put us somewhere else but we are evening clinical's and we only are only allowed to do to ER and one other floor.

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

THanks for all the comments, Im glad Im not the only one that thinks there is allot wrong here. We did tell our instructor everything of what happened. I don't know what else I can do. I know things are different once you are a nurse, but you should still be safe in everything you do no matter if you are a student or have been a nurse for years.

I told my friend that had the pt with the infiltration, just to make sure she documents everything that she seen and that was done. Just in case... I don't know why this happened, or how this could have even happened at all. The 3rd shift nurse had to give report to someone, right. The sweet little baby is 5 months old and the mother was there, but she did not speak any english at all and she didn't know what to do. I didn't know if she said anything or not.

I have now done my clinical in 2 hospitals and on several units and this one is the worst by far. Our teacher would put us somewhere else but we are evening clinical's and we only are only allowed to do to ER and one other floor.

omg i would love to do ER clinical

anyways... just remember that even though we are just wee bitty student nurses , we are still held to the same standards as the RN's. You did a good thing. dont feel bad about it :)