What punishment should this nurse get?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Should THIS nurse be fired from her job

    • 24
      Yes, this nurse should be fired...no matter how excellent.
    • 372
      No, this nurse should NOT be fired, it happens...even to excellent nurses.

396 members have participated

Had an interesting situation that came up and thought I'd throw it out for discussion.

One of our staff RNs was found sitting in a chair and sleeping at the bedside of one of our ventilator patients at 7am. She tells me that the patient was very restless and they had been constantly watching him throughout the night shift because of the fear of him pulling his trach out. They found he would settle down when someone sat with him and held his hand (how basic can nursing care get?). So, periodically during the night different staff members sat at his bedside. The nurse in question says that at 5am she had caught up on all her charting and told her co-workers that she was going to sit down in the room with the patient. She sat down, took his hand and he immediately quieted down. She sat back and the next thing she knew someone was waking her and telling her it was 7am. She jumped up and worked on giving her 6am meds and ended up giving an oral report to the oncoming shift (we tape report).

A very serious decision has to be made here. This is a really excellent nurse and I'm afraid there will be no choice but to fire her and report her to the Board of Nursing. I understand that she did not intend to fall asleep and that she was helping the patient, but rules are rules, aren't they? How I wish this hadn't been reported. Our facility rules clearly state "no sleeping on the job". Our Human Resources Office and the Director of Nursing will make the final decision. What do you all think?

"punishment" please read the thread "nurse terminated after having baby". the difference here is the corporate mentality as opposed to the representation an rn would have if represented by her union.

firing her is a bit much....There are no grounds for one losing a license either....she probably fell asleep because she is overworked and exhausted. Good nurses are to hard to come by......

Specializes in Critical Care, ER.
it is unfortunate that rn's do not truly grasp the concept of the protection a union affords them. i have worked in union and non-union hospitals. i can tell you that the $30/monthly that is paid is a bargain by all standards. in a union hospital rn's have influence on patient/acuity/staff ratios. in a union an rn is represented fairly rather than being scapegoated for the hospital's reluctance to adequately staff.

it is fine to say "change to days" but has anyone actually tried to change to days? i can guarantee that the excuses such as "we need you on nights" "you are our strongest night rn" "that isn't possible because we have days fully staffed" etc.

without a union rn's become the victims of the corporate mentality. there is no legal contract that protects them. hr may give you an "employee handbook" but you can be sure that when push comes to shove, it is the rn who is treated unfairly.

it is indeed sad that rn's accept the anti-union propaganda generated so successfully by the hospital administrators.

when will we ever learn that to stand together is what makes us strong?

we consistently succumb to the stratedgy of divide and conquer.:o :o :crying2:

ooooh, me likes you... :kiss i am now unfortunately an ex- shop steward in my union as i quit my job last saturday but i will always always support a union shop.

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Scampi710,

Some of us would be more likely to read/comprehend what you have to say, if you would use the standard font, unless intending to "shout" or "yell".

As it is, some of us do not read or we completely ignore, repeated posts in fonts that indicate "shouting". They are difficult to read and hard on the eyes.

sorry...i don't shout, but my vision is imaired and i find the blue color and the bolder font easier for me to read when i respond. as i get older i find larger type is also helpful.;)

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

You can adjust the size of the font in your web browser, under "View", then "text size". This way, everything in your view is bigger.

:rolleyes: thanks. i am learning more about the use of the computer all the time...just learned to cut/copy/paste. also how do i send a private message? :rolleyes:
Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

you click once ont eh person's name, and a menu will pop open on its own, click "send PM".

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I usually have to adjust the browser's text size, because wearing my glasses on here creates a reflection that's worse than vision without my glasses.

- an excellent nurse - probably just needs the guidance/warning

i cannot believe some of the things i have been reading here!!! bon???puleeze! i could see a 3 day layoff or something of that nature but to fire her and report her to the board. i say shame on her coworkers who knew she was missing for 2 hours and didn't go to check on her! i've worked (out of 27 years at this) 16 of them have been on night shift. we worked together and we looked out for each other and at times if one of my co-workers was excessively tired...i have covered her patients while she took a "power nap" (gasp!!!) :deadhorse

You are taking this way to far. Everyone gets tired especially if they work night shift. She is a excellent nurse and you want her turned over to the state board and also fired. Payback is not nice remember that and take in consideration everyone makes mistakes and you will make one also one day. Who would stand up for you. You do this to a person and I knew of it I would not help protect you when you make a mistake. Makes me want to rethink who I work with and how selfish they are for such drastic measures for such a small thing.

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