What have other nurses done that have freaked you out?

[texas_lvn]

What have other peers done intentional/unintentional to freak you out? Good or bad. Happy or sad.

On my FIRST day as an LVN, (LTC) a res was screaming in her room as I was walking out to leave. I went in to see what was going on. She was having an anxiety attack and severe pain (post stroke). I pulled the call light, and no one came. Uggg.

So I peeked out the door and saw my CNA walking down the hall, and told him to come sit with res. I went down to get her a Xanax and a pain pill, well relief nurse was in the restroom, and relief CNA (with call light still going off) was sitting behind nurses station reading a newspaper. I told CNA to tell the nurse to get a Xanax and pain pill for res. She said OK. I go to relieve my CNA. Said goodbye to him, and stayed with res. after 10 minutes, CNA COMES INTO ROOM WITH XANAX AND MORPHINE PILL. She is soooooo shocked to see me still there, she hands me the pills and RUNS to the relief nurse. I could NOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!!!!

(I did immediately call DON and tell what happened. Luckily, my CNA was still checking on another res, and saw the whole thing.--------they got a slap on the wrist! that was it!!!) :madface: :madface:

[NicuRN73]

In the middle of report of a baby in an oxygen hood, Off going nurse stated that they baby was crying all night long so she taped the pacifier to the baby's mouth.. I was like "what????!!!!" She stated it again.. I was floored. In a state of disbelief that she stated it twice. I was like "Hold please" and in the middle of report, I removed the tape. Four side tape job on the pacifier to mouth!.

I explain to the foreign nurse that this isn't allowed here in the states, that it is a risk for aspiration (esp since this baby had projectile vomiting episodes). She then told me I could do what I wanted on my shift, and that she would do what she wanted for her shift.

I reported her to my charge nurse. I was treated like cowdung for the rest of the assignment ( since I was a traveler at the time and she was staff) But I didn't care. My babies come first!!!

Kathy

[diane227, LPN, RN]

I would have made a formal written complaint to the manager of the unit with a copy to your agency. This is sooooo unsafe. I cannot believe that someone would do such a stupid thing to a baby. What nursing school did she go to?

[Cthebigguy]

Worse thing I have ever seen done... one of our nurses (who's name shall remain in my book of shame) left a nice 21 gauge needle in a residents room. This kindly demented lady then proceeds to jab it at me (needle first) asking me to take it away, I can tell you that even a 20 gauge needle looks like a 7 gauge when you know it really has the power to change your life (did I mention that our facility doesn't do an STD panel on new residents?). I told the DON and was informed that it was a mistake and it wouldn't happen again. 2-weeks later the nurse got busted with stolen pills.

[GoalsInTransition]

So, I'll take the opportunity to vent!

While working as a brand-new CNA at an understaffed SNF, I found a resident (with dementia, of course) loudly cursing, gown soaked from the waist down, and smelling of emesis.

Her mouth and nose were free of emesis, and there was no actual vomit (just gastic secretions)-- of course, her feeding tube was not secured! But (at least at the time) I was not allowed to touch this, so I found a nurse and asked her to fix it. She came into the room, barely looked at the patient, glared at me and said, "She just threw up on herself, duh. Clean her up and change the bed".

Sigh... I did as told, assuming that I had to be wrong (this was my first week post-orientation). Well, after an exhausting total bed change (with patient in bed) and gown change/mini-bath of a very combative lady, OF COURSE she was again forund to be soaked from the waist down.

Again, I called the RN, and was AGAIN told that she had just thrown up on herself, and to re-do the gown and bed change, wash-up, etc. I did this, with tears in my eyes, only to find the SAME THING a third time later on my shift.

Finally, the nurse checked the feed tube, fixed it-- and left the room without even looking at me- no apology, no nothing. AND I had to clean up again. (BTW, this was not a facility where CNAs helped each other, and I didn't dare ask for what I knew I wouldn't get)

Lessons- I need to be more assertive, and nurses aren't perfect. Since I'll be a nurse soon, I hope I keep this in mind when a CNA or other co-worker wants my help.

Stacy

[CASTLEGATES]

1. Lick his finger before he scanned his finger on the Pyxis machine to get medication out. He never took a bath and smelled horrible. He was a horrible nurse. Our manager fired him after his patient pulled out all of her post op drains and was bleeding out. Two of the other nurses where in there holding pressure and the others were trying to find him. They were paging him over and over and he was asleep in the family room

2. Administer medication without a physician order to a patient that was not even her patient telling the patients nurse that this was a "nursing dose". She almost killed the patient. I fired her.

3. In the Pedi ICU, drawing up IVF from one patients bag to flush the line of another patient. I fired her too. (We had worked and worked with this girl to try to get her on track without success).

4. Break a patients arm while trying to draw blood. She was high on cocaine and instead of restraining her as was protocol, he got into a struggle with her and in the process broke her humerus. He was a good nurse but he had no tolerance for drunks or people on drugs. I had no choice but to terminate him.

5. Go for an entire 12 hour shift and not chart one word on any of the 5 patients the nurse had.

6. Leaving medications at the bedside (I HATE this).

7. Telling the patient to just go ahead and pee on herself (she had a pad under her) and she would clean her up later. (This REALLY made me mad.)

8. Physically picking up a patient and throwing him out of the ED and throwing his walker after him. (this was a very well known frequent flyer pt who was a real pain in the butt). The director fired the nurse and of course reported him to the board for disciplinary action.

9. Refusing to do CPR because "my card expired".

10. Running the tube feeding through the IV line (caught this before it went into the vein).

11. I became the director of a mid size ED and there was a nurse on nights who worked in no other area of the ED expect triage. I met with the staff and told the staff that everyone was expected to be proficient in all areas of the ED and everyone had to rotate in all areas. She quit shortly after. Then I found out that she was drunk every day she came to work and her thermos was full of liquor which she drank throughout the shift. This was apparently a well known fact that no one had done anything about.

Amazing but true. And so do you wonder why errors occur?

"Nursing dose" Cool! I like that one!

I can bring a thermos to work with some gin fizz? wow!

[JessicRN]

Wondering why phenergan has to be diluted? My drug guide says nothing about diluting it. I'm not sure I've ever given this drug. Thanks!

Promethazine is buffered with acetic acid-sodium acetate and has a pH between 4.0 and 5.5. That is stronger then some chemotherapy medication. Because of this too many accidents just like shooting acid into a vein. This drug has been banned by ours and every facity I know of due to the danger.

[Tnichelle]

I work at a LTC and hav esome of the laziest CNA's a nurse could have yesterday was the night from Hell excuse me. for caring. First off i go into one of the tubers room, getting ready to administer his meds, and do his treatment. started to remove his pillows and noticed a runny liquid on his bottom. my first thought omg he has a bad case of diarrhea. not the case at all. my CNA was there with me thank GOD. The previous nurse(they are the only people allowed to handle tube feeders) spilled tube feeding in his clinitron bed about 200cc and just left it. did not try to clean it up.:mad:

[erroridiot]

Observed that more than one nurse on a unit cleaning trach tubes with "Periwash", wiping it off with toilet paper or a paper towel and put it back in and turned off humidifiers or left them empty for trach patients and explained it by stating that the humidifier made too many secretions.

Observed nurses running 30 to 60 minute IVPB antibiotics in 3-6 minutes, hang, open flow and explained this stating they did not have time to go back to the room. All on the same unit.

Got out of there fast.

[smartnurse1982]

In home health we had a nurse who worked nights at one job and came in the mornings to do her homecare shift. She would shower at the clients house,and mom stated it was ok,but cmon that isn't professional,and on top of it she slept in the clients bed. 2.

We had another nurse who worked 7p to 7a and slept from 715 pm to 7am.

3.A hh nurse who worked 16 hours a day mon to fri from 7am to 11pm.she also worked 32 hours on thw weekends.what she would do is pay the mom $10 per hour from 7pm to 11pm on weekdays and from 7am to 11pm on weekends too.

4This office nurse who gets in a fit just b/c I call for a prn order for tylenol,but she saying "you can give it,its only tylenol." I was thinking to myself,"Uh, I don't know what nursing school you went to office nurse but we need orders for everything,you do know that right?

5.The nurse who had worked in the ER who put meds in the balloon port of a gt.

6.A nurse who did not prime a gt line and let a lot of air into his stomach. Maybe I should have said something but she was training me to this facility but I had been a nurse longer by 3 years.

7.The nurse who mixed lantus and regular insulin in a nursing home I worked at,but it was 6 years ago. Maybe no one knew you could not mix them together at that time?

[caliotter3]

Observed that more than one nurse on a unit cleaning trach tubes with "Periwash", wiping it off with toilet paper or a paper towel and put it back in and turned off humidifiers or left them empty for trach patients and explained it by stating that the humidifier made too many secretions.

Observed nurses running 30 to 60 minute IVPB antibiotics in 3-6 minutes, hang, open flow and explained this stating they did not have time to go back to the room. All on the same unit.

Got out of there fast.

When a nurse walked into a resident's room that was assigned to another nurse, then came out to report to the supervisor that the IV antibiotic had run in on open flow, the resident died within hours. Finally, the DON fired this nurse. This was not her first act of sabotage and probably not her last. Who knows how many other residents and patients have died because she used them to backstab a coworker.

[LouisVRN, RN]

1. Too many mistakes with heparin drips to count.

2. No charting done on a patient within 24 hours. We are required to chart a minimum of every 4 hours.

3. Finding narcotics in pts beds.

4. No documentation on things such as lines being inserted, or lines being discontinued.

5. Recently as a family member of a patient, my dad was going to have an MRI done, they asked my mom (POA) to review it, while my mom was looking for her glasses she asked me to look it over... form seemed to be filled out correctly except it had the wrong patients label on it

[GFzalez, BSN, RN]

At our LTC an LPN was finally fired for giving all his insulins and medications at 4pm so he could "save time" with the evening med pass!:eek: