[lam]

I thought grade school was where you learned not to call names. I have done some stupid things and I have also found some stupid things that never got to the person that did them just because. The only time I would call a nurse at home would be to ask her if she gave something that was unclear per paper work. I would quietly tell her about her goof and unless it was something that was going on all the time I would try not to be part of the problem. I have worked with many nurses that were "perfect"

[kimmiejs]

Document, document, document. I am not sure what the protocol is for reporting a RN to the nursing boards for gross misconduct however, this might be well worth your while to look into.

[jo_rn]

****o,
This is my first post here, so hi all. About the nurse and the Heparin mistake
unfortunalty I have run into these kind of things often and often from the same nurses. As far as what I would do, the same thing. Inform her of the mistake, and an incident report, and hope the nurse learned from this.
By the way this looks like a great site and I'm sure I will find more interesting posts to reply to.

[vickin]

Have you noticed that medical error is being brought to the forefront as a huge issue needing to be studied and addressed? What ever has been done in the past obviously has not worked. Of course attacking one another has not proven effective but what the effective approach is will hopefully be unturned in the near future. The profession is stressful in many ways, and witnessing error as well as our own errors is extremely stressful. All I can say is that it is about time that it is given some seriously organized attention. Individual error can be caused by system error, so in my thoughts we all need to work willingly together to study the system to find ways to improve it so we all have a safer place to work. A great way to start is to individually look at the systems we personally work in, and to suggest improvements as we notice them and to develop a sense of awareness. At this point if we don't, we are all responsible for individual errors. Just my thought. Vicki

[MagRedC5]

Originally Posted by Dixiecup

Well, I would not be calling anyone stupid, thats for sure. Unless your perfect? Are you?

Dixiecup - It looks like to me RNsince83 was put in a very frustrating sitiuation... that involved patient safety. So, if she is venting with us, which is precisely the purpose of this Nursing Forum, I don't see anything wrong with her calling this inept nurse the nickname of Stupid. Actually, I thought it was kind of funny. In otherwords, this was her way of bringing levity to the situation.

[MagRedC5]

Originally Posted by nursinghumor

We are quite liberal in what is allowed on the forums, long as it is not blatant spamming, attacks or profanity, you'll find we let people voice their opinions, beliefs, with little or no censorship.

However, the use of profanity in a public forum is a striking sign of ignorance. It will not be tolerated regardless of the context.

That aside, your views are welcome.

Andrew Lopez, RN
(Network site owner)
http://www.nursinghumor.com

Sir, you being the site owner I will post gingerly here. I've become very active on this site as of late, and honored Aaron [shortbus] has given me moderator privy. However, I don't see of the options to moderate at my disposal. I'm a moderator on a car forum website and pretty much know what to look for regards to being able to delete, edit, move, etc. members post. [Off topic, sorry about that].

IMHO, RNsince83 was just doing some venting. I never read anywhere in her post that she used profanity? All I read was she referred to the negligent nurse as stupid, but did not use any profanity, i.e. damn. It looked like to me she gave this nurse the nickname of Nurse Stupid has a way to bring levity to the situation. Maybe I have a very dry sense of humor.

Looks like to me RNsince83 took all the appropriate measures to amend the situation. BTW, I saw nothing wrong with calling the nurse, either. I've been an RN over 8 years & never worked where report was given via tape recorded message. My wife has been an RN over 13 yrs and her present job involves tape recorded reports. A lot of the confusion could have been prevented if the off going nurse had given a face-to-face verbal report, IMHO.

[MagRedC5]

Originally Posted by 1mg.epi

That nurse was incorrect in their actions. BUT:

NEVER call a person stupid. If there is a problem, the person needs to be talked to. That is a very powerful word to call a person.

NEVER call some one at home to ask why they did not do something, when you know it was not done. If there is a problem fix it and drive on. Most nurses I know that do that are very power oriented.

Last - You ranted a problem without a viable solution to the problem. I think we have all encountered a problem like this and it is how we handle it that makes us good co-workers.

I do not think people are for the underdog, I think they were against your anger in the post and the way you articulated the problem. This place is to spill you guts but it is a place to get constructive criticism.

IMHO, the only underdog here was the patient. Plus, I think some of the members [self included] interpreted RNsince83's use of the nickname Nurse Stupid differently than others here. Again, I saw it as her way of bringing levity to a very serious situation.

I'm certainly not going to start a debate here with you, although I do have a difference of opinion on some of your viewpoints. BTW, I thought Shortbus's previous reply said it best.

[hsieh]

maybe instead of being a med surg nurse she should be like a school nurse or something that doesn't require taking care of people in a critical condition.

[cassioo]

Originally Posted by hsieh

maybe instead of being a med surg nurse she should be like a school nurse or something that doesn't require taking care of people in a critical condition.

School nurses can have kids that are in critical condition and can have meds that have the ability to cause problems. Everyone needs to be careful all the time because it is easy to get into a rut or routine and then some monkey wrench gets tossed into the mix.

[shellbell]

Maybe nurse stupid is just lacking in some skills, ALL of us have a weak area.Maybe she is afraid to ask for help in understanding this skill.Why not offer to learn TOGETHER instead.Maybe deep down there is a great nurse, give her a chance.Mistakes are usually the best educators.