Wrong side for amputation(loss of license)

[Beldar_the_Cenobite]

I forgot who told me this story but they said that there was a story about an RN, who federally, lost their license after writing down the wrong side of the leg for the surgeons to amputate. The leg that wasn't supposed to get amputated was removed as well as the one that was supposed to. Huge lawsuit, RN lost their license nationwide. Is this true? Is it possible? I think she basically cannot ever work as an RN anywhere ever again. I just want to hear from the experts how serious this can get. My mom once told me, she's not an RN or doctor or any of that, that doctors are recommended to carry a special insurance for lawsuits that range from 1-2 million dollars in possible losses. I think I saw somewhere that nurses carry that as well?

[Ecs268]

aren't the docs supposed to talk to the patient and mark the part to be removed, themselves?

Gossip is fun. Isn't that why we all became nurses in the first place, so we can talk about everybody?

JK ... But if that actually happened... wouldn't the good doctor be held accountable as well, why just throw the nurse

under the bus?

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Can someone tell me how to block out a person that you don't want to see their postings anymore?

[DeeAngel]

I have never ever been asked to mark a limb for amputation in 40 years of being an RN.

[catsmeow1972, BSN, RN]

Just to settle a little discussion.....There was a certain hospital (somewhere in Florida) that hit the newspapers for amputating the wrong leg of a patient. As horrifying as that is, there are a few details that did not make the news (probably because the truth is not useful fear mongering material.) For starters, the gentleman in question needed both legs amputated. Now that certainly does not make it any better, but does set the scene in part as to how this could have happened. The gentleman ultimately wound up having the other limb amputated. The family sued (as is appropriate) and by the time they settled, the gentleman had passed away from complications of diabetes. As is normal for any lawsuit, the blame net is cast far and wide in the hopes of gleaning some useful information. Likely the original suit was against every. single. name. that appears in the chart. Most are thrown out.

As far as I know this was the hallmark case that led to the development of the "time out" procedure along with all of the rigmarole that goes with preparing a surgical patient. As I recall, no one person (including the surgeon) was cited in this tragedy. You've got to realize, besides the surgeon, there are numerous people (multiple nurses, techs, surgeons, etc.) that are involved. To be laying all the blame on one nurse is utterly ridiculous. Newsflash- doctors are not God. That is why there is malpractice insurance. And yes as another said, carry your own, it is not that expensive.

That being said, this was still a horrible tragedy, but it has changed procedure in the operating room to lessen the chances of it happening again. That does not mitigate what this patient and his family went through but, if anything good at all were to come out of it, the time out process is it.

As others above have said, this has entered the realm of urban legend, even though the reality of it's possible occurrence is way more probable then the Oranjello.Lemonjello twins. And last but not least, OP- stop listening to gossip.

[elkpark]

If you've got nothing nice to say, then don't say nothing at all. Simple. Easy. Common sense. If this post wasn't worth your time explaining to, other than expressing your feelings about the logic behind the OP past posts, withhold your negative judgement and frolic onto another post that you would feel is more intellectual and worthy of your time. Thank you.

You do seem to spend a lot of time dreaming up, or searching out, weird and unlikely scenarios about which to post questions here. Maybe it would be a good idea to just relax and worry about stuff you actually need to worry about.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

While it's pretty unlikely, the frightening thing is that stuff like this (wrong-site surgery) does occasionally happen.

In this hypothetical wrong-site surgery scenario, a nurse (and the MD) could lose his/her license if they been reckless/negligent and deliberately bypassed the safety checks put in place to prevent sentinel events like wrong-site surgery (i.e. surgeons initialing the site pre-op, pre-op checklists, pre-op time out). It seems unlikely that a transcription error would be grounds for loss of license, or that a simple transcription error would result in wrong-site surgery for that matter.

For anyone who is interested, here's a pretty cool article: Wrong-Site Surgery: A Preventable Medical Error - Patient Safety and Quality - NCBI Bookshelf

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

aren't the docs supposed to talk to the patient and mark the part to be removed, themselves?

In my OR, the surgeon is the one who marks the site. NEVER EVER is the nurse the one doing that.

There are also those handy little things called the pre-op checklist and the time out, which should always catch something like this. This could never happen due to the actions of only one person (the nurse in this tale). This would be negligence of the entire operating team. I'm not surprised it happens, I'm just surprised it happens as often as it does.

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Can someone tell me how to block out a person that you don't want to see their postings anymore?

Hi Gonzo1,

to block someone go up to your own username at the top right hand corner of this page. Hit that little down arrow and select settings.

Then go to View all account options, and select ignore list.

You will see where to put the names of posters whose posts you wish to not ever see again.

:)

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Hi Gonzo1,

to block someone go up to your own username at the top right hand corner of this page. Hit that little down arrow and select settings.

Then go to View all account options, and select ignore list.

You will see where to put the names of posters whose posts you wish to not ever see again.

:)

But you might see them if someone else quotes them.

[SmilingBluEyes]

There are many measures in place to prevent such things. Marking sites for surgery is just one---and it's done by the surgeon, NOT the nurse. Calling a "time out" with everyone in the OR suite be sure the right patient, right surgery, and right site are being considered before anyone touches the patient, is another. That this could never happen is not true, but we do everything in our power to ensure it doesn't.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

One time when I was taking care of a post-op patient, surgical notes indicated the wrong ovary had been removed...

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

I forgot who told me this story but they said that there was a story about an RN, who federally, lost their license after writing down the wrong side of the leg for the surgeons to amputate.

1. An RN is not responsible for marking which limb is to be amputated.

2. Tragic errors do happen. There should be a time out before any procedure and, as part of this time out, laterality should be confirmed with everyone in the room.

3. Were they only planning to amputate half the leg? (sorry, couldn't resist)