“It’s ok, we’ve got it”

I don’t trust this phrase whenever it comes to my patient any other medical professional or anyone for that matter.

Why?

Because I’ve seen it come back to bite people.

The patient needs to go to the bathroom, you go in to help. The family says “it’s ok, we’ve got it”… Annnnnnnnd your patient is on the floor.

They want to place a central line at the bedside so you go in to assist. The fellow tells you “I’ve got my med students so it’s ok we’ve got it” annnnnnnnd then they proceed to place a femoral central line in the right subclavian because the student didn’t know the difference between the kits (this is a true story).

X-ray comes in for the morning film and needs to reposition the patient, you offer to help. They tell you “it’s ok I’ve got it” annnnnnnnd now your IV is ripped out and on the floor.

As far as I’m concerned, you don’t “got it”. Don’t you touch my patient without me being there. I’m going to help whether you like it or not. I do NOT have time to fill out safety events. I’m probably not even done with my regular charting.

It’s ok, I’ve got it.

Log off

Log off of your computer, nurse!

I know you’re just going to go into the room of your patient for a few minutes. I understand that you just need to go to the pyxis and grab one more med. Log off.

You have very personal information about your patient visible for anyone to see. EVS, the random med student, the family member/friend in the room (for those of you with bedside computers), they can all see this very personal information.

How would you feel if one of your friends found out that you tested positive for opioids on admission because your nurse left your labs open on the computer in your room? You’re sedated and intubated so you can’t remind the nurse to protect your personal information.

Doesn’t sound fun does it?

Your patient and their information deserve that same respect.

Even more importantly, it’s law. You have been given the responsibility to maintain patient privacy and you should take it very seriously. You’ve heard of HIPAA. You know just how important it is. Understand just how serious it is to your medical facility. Nurses have been written up, suspended, even fired over HIPAA violations.

Don’t be that nurse.

Get into the habit of logging of when you walk away from your workstation. It may seem tedious but it is your duty to protect that information.

97 victims

Most of us entered nursing to heal, to help, to try and save lives whenever we can. There are some people in our field that have joined for all the wrong reasons. One such person is Niel Högel.

I came across an NPR article (click to link to the story) about a German nurse that was serving a life sentence for two murders… They believe he may be responsible 97 more. NINETY SEVEN.

He said he did it for the thrill. He enjoyed the feeling of being the hero after resuscitating the patient. Unfortunately he wasn’t always successful. Patients lost their lives for a thrill.

As a nurse and former EMT, I will say providing care in the most critical time does give you an adrenaline rush. You get to a point of functioning on sheer instinct. That sense of accomplishment can really make your day. However, I have never craved that feeling so much that I thought of harming a patient to achieve it. I don’t know what brings someone to that point. When reading his story I wondered, did he become a nurse to pseudo-save lives or did this need develop as his career progressed? Were there warning signs in his outside life? Were there warning signs at the bedside? How many lives could have been saved? I just can’t wrap my head around it.

That’s so gross

You would think the grossest thing that I have seen as a nurse would involve the patient.

Oddly enough, no.

I can say for sure the grossest thing I have seen is the patient’s family member(s) sleeping on the floor of the room.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN ON THAT FLOOR?!?!?

I have walked into the room and nearly tripped over a family member sleeping peacefully on the floor. I was immediately freaked out. Like, what makes someone think sleeping on a hospital floor is safe or sanitary?

Oh, you have to get up off that floor honey.

There have been soiled linens, blood, body fluids that I can’t describe, EVERYTHING on that floor. Glare all you want but I’m not leaving you down there.

People think hospitals are far cleaner than they actually are…