Last week I felt I was verbally abused by a doc. I am probably too nice to some of them at times, so maybe they think it means I am a push over. We had an 89 year old NH patient come to the floor from ER with an IV in her foot. The bag was empty, so ofcourse the site was no good. I told the nurse to just pull it, the last thing we need is a thrombus because we were trying to unclot a site in the foot. She also was dehydrated with an INR>6 and a b/p 88/40's or so. So according to hospital protocol, she tried twice and couldn't get it. Then I (the floor "expert") tried twice and blew the vein. So we called IV team and it was after 10:30, so they weren't taking any more calls. I called the doc and said, what should we do? Any ideas? He started SCREAMING at me. "This is the second time we have had issues on THIS unit. What do you want me to do you say? I say, she needs the site, go put one in, NOW!" I said to him, very FIRMLY, "Doctor, there is no need for you to yell at me this way, I am telling you we cannot get the site in and am asking you what other options you want to consider. So, you can stop it right NOW!" He kept yelling, "I said get a site in her. This is ridiculous, it is just basic medical practice." So I repeated, "there are NO VEINS TO START AN IV, what other options do we have, I can't get a line, what part of that are you not understanding?" He just kept yelling and saying, "just go put a line in her NOW." Like, I didn't want to, right? So, finally, I said, listen, I am going to call a house supervisor because this is getting us NOWHERE. I did call and she happen to know a nurse on the intensive unit who worked as a float on the IV team. She was gracious enough to come up and start a line, (on the inside of her wrist.) That line blew the next day:sniff: So, anyway, I wrote up my conversation with the doctor and sent it to the administration. Someone up there must be pretty upset, because they actually called me on the unit tonight to find out what happened. When I told them, he said, Oh, that was completely inappropriate. I am going to forward this to his chief of staff and I can assure you it will be dealt with....Nothing may ever come of it, but it makes me feel good knowing I stood my ground for myself and MY PATIENT!!!!
I Feel The Nurse Did Not Follow The Correct Line Of Asst. With This Problem. Why Was The Supervisor Not Called To Help With The Situaton Before Calling The Dr At 1030 At Night For A Line. Sorry But I Agree With He Dr Here.
I Feel The Nurse Did Not Follow The Correct Line Of Asst. With This Problem. Why Was The Supervisor Not Called To Help With The Situaton Before Calling The Dr At 1030 At Night For A Line. Sorry But I Agree With He Dr Here.
You think he should have screamed at her irrationally? I disagree -- Obviously the correct course of action needs to be more clearly spelled out for nurses having this problem w/ patient's lines. Until then, this nurse was doing what she thought best and did not deserve to be yelled at.
Daytonite-- how do you know if a line has clotted -- difficulty flushing? If the bag hanging is dry, but the line flushes easily and has blood return would it be acceptable to use the site? Thanks for your input and for standing up for a fellow nurse.
It almost sounds as if he just plain didn't know how to resolve the issue, so he dumped it back in your lap and figured if he yelled loudly enough and long enough you'd just "handle" it and leave him alone.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Daytonite-- how do you know if a line has clotted --
When you hang the new bag of fluids and it doesn't drip, even with the roller clamp wide open--it's clotted off. If you can see a steaking of blood backing up into the IV tubing and the fluids don't run when you open up the roller clamp--it's clotted off.
why would you take a foot IV out --- flush it and use it. Instead you subjected this poor patient to a bunch of sticks for no good reason....
And exlain to me how flushing an IV is going to cause a clinically significant thrombus (unless she has a wide open PFO with right to left shunt) in a patient whose INR is 6.... gimme a break
WOW, can't believe the venom dripping here. I don't feel she was subjected to a bunch of sticks for no good reason, I feel I utilized critical thinking skills...But, hey, you want to push a thrombus into someone's system go for it. Hope it works for you.
I Feel The Nurse Did Not Follow The Correct Line Of Asst. With This Problem. Why Was The Supervisor Not Called To Help With The Situaton Before Calling The Dr At 1030 At Night For A Line. Sorry But I Agree With He Dr Here.
So you feel if a nurse makes a mistake, it is ok to be verbally abused? Maybe I should have called a supervisor first, but that is no excuse to scream at me. I won't tolerate it from my husband, I will be darned if I will tolerate it from a doctor.
To everyone else, thank you for your kind words. Yes, I do feel IV's that are clotted should be changed. I don't mind admitting when I make a mistake, but I do feel this doctor was totally out of line. It is high time that we nurses start standing up for ourselves. I am a Professional, I demand to be treated as such. My dh works for the post office, I can ASSURE you that if a female employee was treated the way we are treated on a daily basis she would sue the pants off the government. There is a very strict, no harrassment policy. It is 2005, I don't have to put up with the "handmaiden" mentality from anyone. Nor will I.
I had a funny thought when I read this. Would it be appropriate to tell the physician in question that none of the nurses are currently (non PG13 phonetic), but if he could leave his #, you'd call him back as soon as you found a nurse engaged in said behavior. Just a thought!
OMG that is funny:lol2: i wonder what the doc would say after that:lol2:
...no one needs to be yelled at or called a name. We are supposed to be professionals. A good answer to "let me talk to the (non-PG13 word) nurse" , could be, "I don't believe this hospital has any nurses that are described by that adjective".
To everyone else, thank you for your kind words. Yes, I do feel IV's that are clotted should be changed. I don't mind admitting when I make a mistake, but I do feel this doctor was totally out of line. It is high time that we nurses start standing up for ourselves. I am a Professional, I demand to be treated as such. My dh works for the post office, I can ASSURE you that if a female employee was treated the way we are treated on a daily basis she would sue the pants off the government. There is a very strict, no harrassment policy. It is 2005, I don't have to put up with the "handmaiden" mentality from anyone. Nor will I.
I am going to add something here. You stated "I am a professional and I demand to be treated as such" Try this on. NO ONE professional or not deserves to be treated like this. Would the doctor advocate treating patients like this? Probably not. It is not just that we are professionals we are people period. By the way it is not just "feamale employees" who would sue. It is not just females who get mistreated.
As far as suing that IS always an option in any job not just government jobs. A few law suits on employers who tollerate violence (yes it is violence) and on the individuals (Physicians, nurses, supervisors, co workers) who do this and it would end.
cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP
7 Articles; 1,156 Posts
Woot Woot for you! I think thats good that you stood up for yourself and your patient.