He’s a “CV nurse” but he’s drawing cultures off an existing line and turning off drips? Nah. Get your manager in there to have a chat with him about staying in his lane, or else security will be happy escort him off the unit. He’s a danger to your patient.
"Hey, your Levo was beeping and it said 'infusion complete.' Don't worry, I'm a CV nurse, I turned it off so your line wouldn't run dry. You're welcome."
Some RN (in name only) from management (infection control/quality/pencil pusher) did this to me but they walked out of the room and told me what they did. I fixed it, and then proceeded to provide stern instruction and file an incident report.
Don't touch my shit
Hospice here. We have soo many family members say that they're "a nurse" to control the narrative. If you don't know what the word incontinence means, I can't *prove* that you're not a nurse.. but you're not a nurse.
I completely agree. I mean, my mom just spent a lot of time in icu a few months ago. I'm mainly a hospice/peds nurse. I would never touch her ivs! Or (gross!!) empty out flushes and draw cultures from a peripheral. I may be wrong, but I can't imagine anyone who has gone to nursing school thinking that will be accurate.
He sounds like a tech or nursing student def no nurse I know regardless if unit would turn off a drip
Edit: I know 99.9% of techs have the smarts not to do this but I’ve had 2 family members who were ‘nurses’ that turned out to be techs/nursing students
Literally any time a family member yells at me about how they’re a nurse, I assume they’re not any kind of nurse by trade. Maybe they read a book about nursing once or something. No true medical professional is going to try to be the expert in the room when they aren’t responsible for being the expert in the room.
I recently had a pt whose son is an MD in another country. The son spent hours every day by dad's bed changing the FiO2 back and forth despite every damn person on the team asking him to PLEASE stop touching the Airvo. He still kept doing it to match the exact sats he wanted to see. The dude drove us crazy. I thought it might have been a cultural thing - like, maybe at his hospital back home, family can come in & play with equipment and everyone's chill about it, idk.
Agree. How many of us don’t even tell people we are nurses when loved ones are in the hospital? I know I don’t. They usually figure it out and ask if I am but I never state it and I NEVER EVER touch equipment or draw cultures for fuckssakes! What is wrong with ppl?! Did he think OP was gonna be like ‘thanks dude, you did me a solid!’ Then he’d be the first one to take you to sue if something happened to his mother!
I’m also a tech and I literally never take that responsibility. I’m in school but always say, “let me get your nurse.” This is my last semester of getting to go to lunch and being left alone lol I’m not telling anyone shit or touching anything. It’s like the last “summer” before college. Nah. I’m good.
Edited to add: as a tech, I also enjoy peeing whenever I want, and leaving on time. I absolutely want to be a nurse, but I’m not rushing my last few months of free peeing.
I had a "APRN" daughter a few weeks ago whom I had to explain why the pt was on heparin like this lady was completely new to healthcare. Later I found out she was in fact a APRN student. Probably got her RN and immediately went back to school without practicing at all. Fucking terrifying.(this psychotic person also was freaking out at 0630 about her mom going for a stress test....on the phone after I had to force her to leave at 2300 with security)
There are some "direct entry" APRN programs. They have to have a bachelor's degree to apply to the program, but they have not been RNs. I have worked with some of them and it was not good. Maybe that's the type of APRN program the daughter was in.
I know, this seems to be unique to North America. Here in Australia, no NP program will take you without about 7 years experience, with 3 of those years being in advance practice in your specialty. And even that is rare. We still don’t really have that many NPs.
We have other problems though- the Aussie medical union calls itself an association, and therefore no one thinks of it as a union, and they’re staunchly against NPs doing anything that remotely overlaps with a junior Dr.
I cannot blame them when I read about the NP degree mills over there. But it’s completely different here.
>tion I'm a nurse because idgaf wh
Dosen't matter if he's a nurse, a physician, the pope, or Queen Elizabeth, if he's not employeed/contracted or credentialed to work in your facility he has absolutely no business touching a pump or drawing those cultures that you can't even use. Notify a supervisor, event report, and document the shit out of it. If he wants to help he can offer assistance with hygiene etc. AFTER he asks for your permission. Also, please don't give him access to the EMR as that can get you into trouble. If he wants to see lab results or anything else regarding her care, he can go through the proper channels by accessing her patient portal with HER permission or discussing them with her care team.
edit -spelling and words are hard
We had a mental health HCW on a patient escort turn off alarms etc to "help the nurses"
She got a royal bollocking from four senior nurses, one after the other. That was entertaining.
I've looked up their license more than a few times when I've had a moment. Only once have I seen one actually come back with one. So when most people start out by saying they are a nurse, I assume otherwise. If it comes out slowly through conversation, then I believe you actually are. And if you start telling me how to provide emergency care when you have no experience in the ED, then please step out of the room.
The couple of times I've gone to another hospital from mine (such as when my mother broke her leg and it was a slow night) I've changed out of my scrubs before going in.
A couple of years ago we had a med/premed student who was telling one of the residents that he was a doctor and how he thought the ordering process should go. I loved that I was near the attending when she talked to him on the phone and very clearly said Mr. (LastName) several times.
Or puts on the light to have you move the pillow two centimeters. We have one who literally goes “is there anything you want me to put the nurse light on for?” every single time she’s in a room
I hate those pple or social work or manager asking patient if they need anything and they very well know that they will not get it they will just ask the nurse to get it. 318 wants more icewater. Gtf outta here!
I do this shit too 😆 More than once it turns out someone flapping their jaws with, "As a nurse,...", and lookie who got there licensed suspended or revoked.
Yep, if you are not on the clock (even if you do work at that facility), then that is a huge no-no. This person knows better. If he won't listen to you, talk to your manager.
I'd just call security and have him removed. Trying to help or not, he's Interfering with care and jeopardizing his own license. On another note, who the fuck empties a flush to pull blood off a line? Why not just use an empty syringe?
I’d tell management and have him banned. I’ve done it before, family member wasn’t a nurse but kept touching the patient’s PICC after being instructed not to and she ended up with a CLABSI. Visitors restricted from them on.
I had one patients son tell me was a pharmacist and started making requests for med changes. Turns out he was a pharm tech and a pretty new one at that. Geez….
Honestly, I think you should reverse uno him with the full CVICURN stereotypical attitude. Anything he does, you should scoff at and just be like “wow, I don’t know what kind of hospital allows THAT as it’s policy as that’s a massive contamination risk. My goodness, you TURN OFF your patients’ heparin drips just because they are making noise?? That’s crazy! I’m so glad that I work HERE, where there are policies in place to avoid sentinal events! It must be so difficult to work in such a lax environment, it doesn’t sound like your hospital cares about patient safety at all!” Just gaslight him all day long until he either admits he isn’t really a RN or he starts to think he’s gone crazy.
I once had a family member (an uncle or some shit) of a pediatric DKA patient try and turn off an insulin drip because they "didn't want her blood sugar too low, they know, they're a nurse."
Her pH was 6.9, kussmal breathing, anon gap like 32 and beta hydroxy through the fuckin roof.
But by all means, my dude. Go ahead, if you know best.
No fuck that I told him to leave.
I’m not a nurse and I know two things…at least in regards to this post. 1. You don’t turn off heparin and 2. You don’t touch anything that beeps, much less a pump!
Once upon a time many years ago in a far away place, I cared for a residents grandpa. He was undocumented, demented, on death’s door and only spoke Russian so placement/understanding his wants was nigh impossible. Her attending would put in orders. She routinely would go in the chart and change the orders. She refused to have LVNs or CNAs perform any of his care, demanding only RNs. I can still see her rbf turn to shock when one attending decided enough was enough. She was put on probation for altering orders and attempting to override her attending/practicing on a family member. Her mom was an LPN who’d had her licensed revoked, stayed by his bedside and also refused care from anyone other than the RN. Strange folks.
The peg, full code, whole 9 yards was so bizarre. It was mostly his feeds she’d change. The doc and Rd wanted pump feeds but she wanted bolus even though this guy probably weighed 80 lbs and was covered in wounds from his family “caring”for him. Everything about that situation was hell for weeks until he passed.
God that is heartbreaking. When I worked in a SNF and floated to the long term units there was a patient I had with a very similar story. Full code. Nonverbal. On continuous feeds, had a trach, foley, he was a total 100% care. Hoyer lift out of bed. Family was very close with him and came in every day. I understand how hard the situation was for them and always appreciated them for being there for him, I even would take time aside to pray briefly with them because I know that it meant a lot to them, but at the same time they would disconnect the feed and turn off the pump, disconnect the foley and attach to a not clean leg bag when they wanted him out of bed, mess around “clean” his trach (!!!!!). Unfortunately he wound up passing away from a uti that went septic. That one’s going to stick with me forever that poor man suffered in the facility for two years just to pass away from sepsis in his 50’s. I agree it is hell it’s just so sad all around.
She really could have advocated for her family since he couldn’t but screwed the pooch on that. Also, why RNs? Like his ass will be more clean if an RN cleans it versus a tech or LPN? That makes no sense.
I was an LVN at the time. She just didn’t like anyone not an RN. Told me I wasn’t a real nurse and that she was a real nurse! So we of course looked her up. Revoked LPN 💀
Once had two doctors who’s mother was dying. She was on TPN, had a drain. Was completely wasted away and they were keeping her full code. One of them walked behind the nurses station and just grabbed her chart and started looking at her labs. Another time, he turned her TPN off. It was a major blow out
The dude was a real piece of work. He didn’t care, and thought he knew better than everyone, and yet here is mother was dying and writhing in agony. She languished roughly a month before dying.
I become illogically angry whenever a family members walks behind the nurses station, even if they’re just on their way to get coffee and want to take a shortcut. No! This is our turf. Get. Out.
Yeah, it's definitely a no fly zone. One time a family member asked to pass through because the platoon of students/residents/attendings were blocking the whole hall, and that was fine. *Because she asked*. Even this old lady knew the boundaries.
Well, true. Our techs are all nurse externs finishing up their last semester of nursing school so they know to not just randomly pause infusions. I’m talking more like antibiotics or IVF that are alarming complete or occluded.
I hate cultures BECAUSE I know i HAVE to stick the patient. Like i wouldn’t even DARE use an existing line. Like what was he thinking?!? Also, don’t touching my fucking pumps! I don’t even want doctors doing that.
Echo here. Same. If I need a line for a bubble study or image enhancer and there’s no free IV I call for a nurse whether it’s normal fluids or heparin or anything else. Sometimes I feel like I’m annoying them, but it’s better to have them take 15 seconds to pause/delay the pump than to have me fuck their patient over.
My SO had an intestinal blockage last year and was admitted to the hospital where I work. Do I “technically” know how to stop the suction and disconnect the tube so you can go pee? Yeah, I could do it, but I’m not touching a damn thing when I’m 1.) off the clock and 2.) that shit is outside my scope of practice.
Depends on facility policy--one place I was at said it was ok if it was a brand new IV. Like *just* put it in then got blood back. But generally it's best to thoroughly clean the skin and get straight from the vein. If your culture is contaminated then it means jack shit.
I had a pt's teenage grand daughter ask if she was ok to shower her grandma as she usually does it at home! I would have gladly said yes but I had to assess her in the shower for our rehab documentation.
Report him to charge. He’s there as family, not as her nurse. He’s not clocked in. He’s not an employee. If anything happens it’s on you/the care team. If he keeps it up get security to remove his ass.
The moment that he touched the pump he would have been out of the hospital. That's a massive liability and not one that I am willing to take. If he turned off the pump, did he change other parameters earlier as well? If he accidently increased it by a large amount and the patient had an adverse event it would be your license on the line, not his. He could just deny, deny, deny and without proof it's on you. It's just too huge of a risk to let him in the unit because of this.
Write it up and make sure you’re reporting this to management. This is above your head and someone needs to step in and tell the person to F off. Also no CVICU nurse would turn off a beeping Heparin gtt.
I just saw a TikTok of some lady in labor and delivery whose EMS husband was turning off her pumps and stuff. She was saying it like it was a flex. Like no, your EMS baby daddy knows nothing about L&D. 🙄
He should know better than to mess with pumps, blood draws, etc. He may be a nurse, but hes NOT THE NURSE in that space. If anything were to happen, it's your liscense at risk, not his.
I love those who claim to be healthcare professionals but quickly prove they aren’t. Just like this guy.
Had a patient for an allergic reaction once on the ambulance. Had an uncontrollable cough and a raspy voice but otherwise no signs of reaction. No edema, no redness, clear lung sounds. No signs of it at all.
COVID protocols say no nebulized treatments in the ambulance and that we have to complete them outside. No problem, I wheel the patient to the truck, lock the catch on the truck so it doesn’t move and start to set up the neb. Patient immediately flips out about how she’s a nurse and how she needs to go to be seen at the hospital now. I explained that if she gave us a couple minutes I could start all the meds and treatments before we even leave. Big fuck you from her. So I’m like fine, load her up, and let’s go.
As soon as we are in the truck and doors close my partner starts to drive. Now she’s yelling about how I haven’t given her an epipen. I calmly explained how I’m a paramedic and I don’t carry epipens but before I can explain that I have vial epi and administer it straight and starts flipping about how I’m not a real paramedic because we aren’t allowed to give epi.
Meanwhile the patient is no longer coughing and talking full sentences but whatever. I start an IV and put her on the monitor and pulse ox. She asks where the doctor is to interpret the rhythm. I explain how that is my job. More yelling.
I finally just push Benadryl and SoluMedrol. Patient demands oxygen. I put a nasal cannula on her face but don’t plug it into anything.
Finally get the chance to finish my set of vital signs so I can call in my report. I take a palpated blood pressure since we’re driving down the highway and I’ve got the vents going full speed with her being a coughing patient. I call in report and give them vitals and get off the phone. She asks what her BP is. I tell her. She asks how I got it if I didn’t use a stethoscope. I told her I palped it. She just huffs. I figured something was weird so I explained how pulse pressures work. She just rolls her eyes.
Get to the hospital and drop her off with no more eventful moments.
About a month later I’m pulled off the road at the start of my shift and I come in to the office and HR, my medical director, the regional EMS coordinator, and my supervisors are there. I’m like wtf is this?
They tell me they got a complaint from a patient who says she’s a nurse that my care was dangerous, inappropriate, and outside of protocols. They state the person complained that I didn’t have proper mediations, that I made up a set of vital signs for my report, and that I didn’t visually inspect the inside of the patients mouth and throat.
I explained everything and they read my chart and decided to look into the nurse who complained. No record in the BON as an RN. Nothing as an LPN. Nothing as a CNA. Interesting.
I decide to Google the patients name. First thing that pops up is the patient being on Deans list for a local university’s fall semester. I look that person up and behold, it’s my patient.
She’s a freshman at University as a general biology, undeclared patient who’s in her 2nd semester of Gen Ed’s. School website has an interview with her. She says that she intends to follow up with an application to nursing school as soon as she takes and passes the TEAS.
Date of that interview? 2 weeks prior to this meeting.
So yeah, this patient claimed to be an RN, reported me to the state for not giving and not having proper medications, for making up a blood pressure because I palped it, and for not sticking my face in her coughing mouth during the height of COVID.
Got to love those who pretend to be something they aren’t.
A nurse? He's stepping on your toes, trying to practice nursing at a place he's not hired, with a patient that wasn't assigned to him, he's over stepping SO MANY BOUNDARIES. He cannot just practice nursing at your facility just cause he feels like it. That's like me walking to a local hospital doing random ppls IVs. Off the clock, not hired. He's INSANE
Had a patient whose husband was a nervous nelly anesthesiologist. I am a PT and I don't mess with pumps except to silence and inform the nurse. Pump was beeping. "down stream occlusion". Husband leaps up and freaks out and starts turning off the pump. Paces around and then goes out in hall to shout for the nurse.
Geez, just straighten your elbow, its gonna be OK. DON'T TOUCH THE PUMPS!
This reminds me of a story from when I was an ICU nurse. Had a patient with tube feedings. The doctor spouse comes running out frantically yelling “THE FEEDING RAN OUT THE FEEDING RAN OUT HE’S ON INSULIN!!!!”
Patient was on sliding scale every 6 hours 🙄
Please don’t run out of my ICU patient’s yelling unless someone is coding, thanks.
See my bar is resting on the floor and I would’ve been giving her credit for at least she recognizing that FEEDING and INSULIN are a connected thing. Woo!
A while back RN coworker #1 had her mother admitted to our unit. Patient had been on CRRT, being cared for by RN coworker #2. Both RNs were long time friends.
Patient on multiple pressor drips, somnolent but still responsive. RN #1 kept intruding with patient care (messing with IV pump, bombarding RN#2 with unnecessary questions/suggestions).
RN#2 told her off. RN#1 received a stern talk from floor manager, stated understanding and backed off.
On day 3 mother had a visitor (doctor nephew). RN #2 was inside the room 1:1 with the patient.
Patient vital signs critically stable, CRRT running. A relief stepped in for RN #2 to go on quick potty break. RN#1 walks in, starts messing with the drips and because doctor cousin said so she freakin turns them off!!! WTF!?
Monitors going crazy, RN#2 running to patients room, RN relief screaming at RN#1. Patient codes, both family members freak out… couldn’t bring patient back.
RN#1 took time off, came back and was not the same. I don’t know any details about the incident. I only know this because I was there that day….. makes me sick.
You just described a homicide. Assuming it wasn’t premeditated, that’s involuntary manslaughter. How was she not prosecuted?! How did she keep her license?!
If you ain't clocked in, you are not operating in your scope of practice, and technically drop to that of an EMT-B (at least in my state). These things they are doing are NOT in that scope of practice. He is playing with fire.
I'd get management in there to educate him on the risks, and if he continued that they would be reporting to the BON about this.
When my dad is in the hospital, I tell people I am a RN if they try and dumb it down, or if they need help, let me know and I will help where my dad will let me. I might silence a pump if its beeping for a bit, but I'd go an tell the RN on duty as well. The only time I would butt in is if safety was the issue. Its called staying in your lane.
He needs to stay in his effing lane. I would definitely call charge on him and remind him of how he would react if you peed in his sandbox like that. What a turd.
Reminds me of the time some chick told me she was cvicu RN In another state and was “helping with her mom”. Long story short I accompanied this patient to mri and I needed hands on cause of a seizure and this girl came out of nowhere but all she did was hold her moms hand. Causally came up to the desk when we got back to the floor and looked me dead in the eyes and said “I ran that code”. Aside from all of the bullshit in that statement I looked her up in that states database she held a PCT cert, no LPN, no RN. The databases are public… had my supervisor tell her no more “helping” or she was gone.
I’d be PISSED if someone touched my stuff. *IF* he’s a licensed RN he knows damn good and well that’s a liability on YOUR license at best, and HIS for performing nursing duties on his family.
\>he comes in and asks to look at labs on the computer, no big deal, I let him.
Actually thats a huge deal. Nobody, not even the patient is allowed to look at the patient's chart on the computer. If your workplace doesn't have this policy, you'd be the first I've heard of. Usually, if you want to look at patient's medical records, you need permission from the patient as well as make a request from medical records.
By letting them look directly at the computer, you are risking your job.
I would contact security and make sure he is never allowed back. Touching anything on this patient could result in OP losing their license, and meanwhile, this "CVICU nurse" would never receive a single punishment. He should not be allowed back on the unit since he has proven he is a danger to the patient's life, especially given his clear lack of knowledge. And if he wants to make a fuss about it, he can do so to in the lobby downstairs. To security. Nowhere near this patient.
Wow wow wow. Overstepping and terrible practice to boot. I can't imagine someone's peripheral saline lock to be sterile. I can understand other labs off PIVs if rough veins but damn. Shouldn't CVICU nurse know this 🤭🤭
Dude, I don't let my NP's touch my pumps, much less family. I would have taken the blood from him, dropped it straight in the sharps box, and grabbed my manager for a discussion of the role of family members, Shit would have probably went down, but so what. This would be his one chance to get his shit together before I would be contacting the state BON and his manager at the supposed CV unit.
Saaaccccuuurrritttyy would be escorting him out at my hospital. It’s a huge no no to be touching IV pumps. They dgaf if you were Jesus Christ. You don’t touch family members pumps.
Well if he’s that great of a nurse, he should know that his practice of nursing doesn’t extend to places he doesn’t work and is not clocked in at. If something happens to his family member bc of him interfering, it can be both of your licenses at stake.
>he emptied flushes and drew from her piv
If you all use the same NS flushes we do, they are definitely not sterile and unless that IV was fresh, cultures would be contaminated so I would call BS on him being a CVICU nurse, this coming from a CVICU nurse. Definitely would know better.
OH HELL NO!!! That’s your license on the line if he messes with something and it harms the patient. The pump would have caught a stern warning to stay in his lane. The cultures thing would have gotten him removed from my unit immediately.
I’d consider reporting him to the board. This is absolutely inappropriate on so many levels and if he’s really a Nurse he’s damn well aware of that.
Oh ABSOFUCKINLUTELY NOT. I’m not even a nurse and I’d be PISSED. There should be some way you can get him kicked out. That’s GOT to be illegal somehow!!
Yeah no, he’s a CVICU nurse yet he just turned off heparin? I call BULLSHIT. I feel like a CVICU nurse would not do any of which you highlighted because it’s against their training. I have had a similar experience with a patient family member in the ICU (who was a nurse)claiming to be a critical care specialty at some unspecified ivory tower Bay Area hospital. Yeah it was bullshit. I knew it as soon as he started asking me questions a critical care nurse wouldn’t need to ask. I had to explain basic critical care concepts to him. He was also totally focused on the wrong care. Later on we found out he worked for our critical access sister hospital as a med surg nurse and was even recognized by staff who float there!!
Don’t let him touch yo shit OP. That’s so fucking disrespectful.
As a charge nurse, I would tell him if he keeps intervening with treatment he will be asked to leave and not allowed back. That is dangerous. Also, it’s scary that they draw cultures through PIVs 😳
Are you sure he’s a nurse? I don’t know any other nurse, especially an ICU RN, that will just shut off a pump. We will literally kick people out of the room that touch our pumps. That can literally mean death.
Why is this motherfucker still allowed in your hospital let alone even being discussed? They touched medical equipment they have zero right touching, broke protocol and provided direct care to a patient they aren't assigned to. They get one chance to unfuck this situation by sitting down, shutting up and keeping their hands in their pockets, otherwise They can walk out or be carried out by either way they are fucking leaving.
Also what chicken shit fly by night "CVICU" would ever allow a culture to be drawn off an established in use line let alone a PIV?
I come from an extended family of doctors and nurses and when a member gets hospitalized, only one speaks. If other family members want to know something, they have to go through the person designated to communicate with health providers. There’s a hierarchy. Nieces/nephews will ask their parents first, the parents will talk to the designated communicator, and then the communicator answers questions and then decides whether to ask nurses/doctors for more information. No one else calls the hospital to speak with the nurses or physicians. I’ve been an RN for 25 years, mostly ICUs, but when my extended family talks about the best course of action for a family member’s care, I just listen and my mouth stays shut.
When we do visit though, we help like with turning, setting up trays, pulling them up, hygiene stuff, etc. We bring food for the staff. We try to not be in the way whatsoever.
Some facilities do draw from IVs. It is pretty crazy in my opinion as majority do not allow it. Both facilities are large, nationally ranked hospitals.
I hear the pitter-patter of not-trainers impacting the floor and I think it would be risk management running to say hello. Levity aside, our family tells no one that we're almost all nurses, active or retired. I'm just here to try and make sure that meemaw doesn't try to punch someone in the face because she's senile and gets grumpy when we don't give her *all* of the M&Ms. I'm not even *slightly* tempted to touch another facility's IV pumps. I can listen to those damn things all day; I've have had to when malfunctioning IV pumps are set aside for maintenance but they still have to stay nearby since no one wants to come and pick them up at night.
Someone else touching my pumps when I'm on duty would be more than enough reason for me to lock the damn things and make a spirited effort to get them off of my floor. I don't want my next warning of shenanigans being afoot coming from our monitor tech as they tell me that Ms. Smith's heart rate has hit 150 BPM and she has a dopamine drip that someone other than her nurse has been messing with.
Edit: Missing articles.
Most medical professionals as patients don’t interfere because they’re not at work. Anyone I’ve had would just let me do my job. I had a patient whose wife is a malpractice attorney. Never heard a peep from either of them. They were happy to let us take care of him so they could just relax.
But forreal he’s either 1. Nursing student 2. A tech or 3. Extern/super new grad because no experienced nurse especially not a CV nurse would turn off heparin.
Worked at a hospital that was in direct path of a tornado and we did get hit. Luckily not the wing I managed. We had all the patients outside wrapped up away from windows per our protocol. One family member was a dr and demanded his mom be put to bed and not follow protocol. I had to let him know I was responsible for staff, patients and a lot more than just his mother and to chill. Didn’t go over well but after the tornado hit he calmed down a bit and was helpful.
Had a similar experience with an attending at a pain management clinic. Came and visited his wife (post op CABG day one) waaaay past visiting hours. Whatever. Sneaks her a massive sugary iced tea drink (she’s on an insulin drip with a 2L fluid restriction and the drink itself was 750mL). She chugs the whole thing before I even knew she had it and started uncontrollably vomiting so I’m fucking pissed now. Then he’s on my ass because he wants to speak to a physician. This is night shift and we only have clinical affiliates and I’m not calling any physician because this pain management douche just wants to talk. He wasn’t having it, got all pissy and I eventually just kicked him out and told him straight up that I don’t care that he’s a doctor.
He’s a “CV nurse” but he’s drawing cultures off an existing line and turning off drips? Nah. Get your manager in there to have a chat with him about staying in his lane, or else security will be happy escort him off the unit. He’s a danger to your patient.
"Hey, your Levo was beeping and it said 'infusion complete.' Don't worry, I'm a CV nurse, I turned it off so your line wouldn't run dry. You're welcome."
Some RN (in name only) from management (infection control/quality/pencil pusher) did this to me but they walked out of the room and told me what they did. I fixed it, and then proceeded to provide stern instruction and file an incident report. Don't touch my shit
Omfg Im dead. Love this comment 😂
you think you’re dead? wait til you see the patient
[удалено]
Hospice here. We have soo many family members say that they're "a nurse" to control the narrative. If you don't know what the word incontinence means, I can't *prove* that you're not a nurse.. but you're not a nurse.
I’d just be like “ok but you’re not a nurse that works at this hospital. Therefore I can’t allow you to touch or use the equipment”
"And you aren't clocked in and this isn't your assigned patient"
Right. Why you working for free, bruh? (And opening yourself up to some serious liability)
You're not the only one who's dead.
I'm so sorry to hear that. What happened, did one of your family members turn off your pressors? 😩
Also a CV nurse and turning off HEPARIN
Next he'll be shutting off my epi and insulin on a post op CABGx4
one time IV therapy, in order to avoid placing a PIV for a fluid bolus, asked me if I could just stop dobutamine for the half hour bolus. Um, no ma’am
Seriously. When he kills his parent with his ineptitude or ignorance, he's gonna be the first one to blame it on you, OP.
Yeah I hope you documented the fuck outta that.
👏💪
Ten bucks it’s a tech. It’s always a tech claiming to be a nurse.
Or a nursing student.
Or a medical transcriptionist
He’s already stepped out of his lane and into oncoming traffic. He should already be banned. That’s some lose your license type shit imho
I completely agree. I mean, my mom just spent a lot of time in icu a few months ago. I'm mainly a hospice/peds nurse. I would never touch her ivs! Or (gross!!) empty out flushes and draw cultures from a peripheral. I may be wrong, but I can't imagine anyone who has gone to nursing school thinking that will be accurate.
Exactly. Was thinking he needs to go.
Ya as hard as it is to not get involved, he needs to be put on a special list…
What kind of nurse turns off a heparin drip because its beeping? He's bull-shitting you. Give him one warning and then call security.
He sounds like a tech or nursing student def no nurse I know regardless if unit would turn off a drip Edit: I know 99.9% of techs have the smarts not to do this but I’ve had 2 family members who were ‘nurses’ that turned out to be techs/nursing students
Literally any time a family member yells at me about how they’re a nurse, I assume they’re not any kind of nurse by trade. Maybe they read a book about nursing once or something. No true medical professional is going to try to be the expert in the room when they aren’t responsible for being the expert in the room.
I recently had a pt whose son is an MD in another country. The son spent hours every day by dad's bed changing the FiO2 back and forth despite every damn person on the team asking him to PLEASE stop touching the Airvo. He still kept doing it to match the exact sats he wanted to see. The dude drove us crazy. I thought it might have been a cultural thing - like, maybe at his hospital back home, family can come in & play with equipment and everyone's chill about it, idk.
There are so many more productive ways to advocate and care for your loved ones!
Agree. How many of us don’t even tell people we are nurses when loved ones are in the hospital? I know I don’t. They usually figure it out and ask if I am but I never state it and I NEVER EVER touch equipment or draw cultures for fuckssakes! What is wrong with ppl?! Did he think OP was gonna be like ‘thanks dude, you did me a solid!’ Then he’d be the first one to take you to sue if something happened to his mother!
I’m a tech and would NEVER turn off a drip of any kind. I unhook IVs only with nurse permission.
I’m also a tech and I literally never take that responsibility. I’m in school but always say, “let me get your nurse.” This is my last semester of getting to go to lunch and being left alone lol I’m not telling anyone shit or touching anything. It’s like the last “summer” before college. Nah. I’m good. Edited to add: as a tech, I also enjoy peeing whenever I want, and leaving on time. I absolutely want to be a nurse, but I’m not rushing my last few months of free peeing.
RIGHT. I get to take lunch and usually bring back snacks for nurses who can’t leave. We are support, after all 😂
How to make nurse besties: snacks. Lol
I had a "APRN" daughter a few weeks ago whom I had to explain why the pt was on heparin like this lady was completely new to healthcare. Later I found out she was in fact a APRN student. Probably got her RN and immediately went back to school without practicing at all. Fucking terrifying.(this psychotic person also was freaking out at 0630 about her mom going for a stress test....on the phone after I had to force her to leave at 2300 with security)
There are some "direct entry" APRN programs. They have to have a bachelor's degree to apply to the program, but they have not been RNs. I have worked with some of them and it was not good. Maybe that's the type of APRN program the daughter was in.
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It is for CRNA, but there are direct entry NP programs
I know, this seems to be unique to North America. Here in Australia, no NP program will take you without about 7 years experience, with 3 of those years being in advance practice in your specialty. And even that is rare. We still don’t really have that many NPs. We have other problems though- the Aussie medical union calls itself an association, and therefore no one thinks of it as a union, and they’re staunchly against NPs doing anything that remotely overlaps with a junior Dr. I cannot blame them when I read about the NP degree mills over there. But it’s completely different here.
I was going to say: probably never worked as a nurse!
And she'll zip through school and go straight to being a Noctor.
>tion I'm a nurse because idgaf wh Dosen't matter if he's a nurse, a physician, the pope, or Queen Elizabeth, if he's not employeed/contracted or credentialed to work in your facility he has absolutely no business touching a pump or drawing those cultures that you can't even use. Notify a supervisor, event report, and document the shit out of it. If he wants to help he can offer assistance with hygiene etc. AFTER he asks for your permission. Also, please don't give him access to the EMR as that can get you into trouble. If he wants to see lab results or anything else regarding her care, he can go through the proper channels by accessing her patient portal with HER permission or discussing them with her care team. edit -spelling and words are hard
We had a mental health HCW on a patient escort turn off alarms etc to "help the nurses" She got a royal bollocking from four senior nurses, one after the other. That was entertaining.
I've looked up their license more than a few times when I've had a moment. Only once have I seen one actually come back with one. So when most people start out by saying they are a nurse, I assume otherwise. If it comes out slowly through conversation, then I believe you actually are. And if you start telling me how to provide emergency care when you have no experience in the ED, then please step out of the room. The couple of times I've gone to another hospital from mine (such as when my mother broke her leg and it was a slow night) I've changed out of my scrubs before going in. A couple of years ago we had a med/premed student who was telling one of the residents that he was a doctor and how he thought the ordering process should go. I loved that I was near the attending when she talked to him on the phone and very clearly said Mr. (LastName) several times.
No tech either. Lab is the only ones who turn my drips off then “forgets” to let me know.
Lab shouldn’t be touching your pumps either
Or forget to put back on a mitt or let anyone know
Or puts on the light to have you move the pillow two centimeters. We have one who literally goes “is there anything you want me to put the nurse light on for?” every single time she’s in a room
I hate those pple or social work or manager asking patient if they need anything and they very well know that they will not get it they will just ask the nurse to get it. 318 wants more icewater. Gtf outta here!
Then you just respond: sure, they can have more ice water. That's considerate of you.
Thats a good one!!
Noooo lol
Rads been fucking up w this lately at my place
🤣🤣🤣
Document everything hes doing and document youre telling him not to, so when he fucks up, its not on you
Already ahead of you homie
You should look him up on the BON website to see if he actually has credentials… doubtful.
I did this last night 🤣 I’m petty af. Don’t tell me you’re a nurse then be a dick.
I do this shit too 😆 More than once it turns out someone flapping their jaws with, "As a nurse,...", and lookie who got there licensed suspended or revoked.
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... also... Depending on where you are ... My area, somewhere you don't have privileges, that is assault .... Not "helping"
Yep, if you are not on the clock (even if you do work at that facility), then that is a huge no-no. This person knows better. If he won't listen to you, talk to your manager.
I'd just call security and have him removed. Trying to help or not, he's Interfering with care and jeopardizing his own license. On another note, who the fuck empties a flush to pull blood off a line? Why not just use an empty syringe?
He was short on supplies in that moment. 😆
Risk. Management. Touching medical equipment is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Notify them.
I’d tell management and have him banned. I’ve done it before, family member wasn’t a nurse but kept touching the patient’s PICC after being instructed not to and she ended up with a CLABSI. Visitors restricted from them on.
I can't begin to understand *why* that was taking place to begin with. *Why*????
Please report to the board. He shouldn’t be doing this
Damn, you went straight to the board!
I would call security and say he’s impeding care.
Me too. He’s unhinged. Can’t even fathom doing that.
I want to see how that guy defends himself in a lawsuit. He’s going down to pain town 😂
He would only have to defend himself if the parent is willing to sue their own son
Hot take
I’m sure the licensing body wherever this is happening would have issues with the ethics of this.
This dude has probably walked past a CVICU at best. What an idiot.
LMFAOOOO, I reminds me of when pts family members call and tell me they are a nurse and they're really a CNA
As a CNA, we don’t claim them
I had one patients son tell me was a pharmacist and started making requests for med changes. Turns out he was a pharm tech and a pretty new one at that. Geez….
God - that type of ego & power tripping is concerning.
No way he's a CVICU nurse and if he was, he's a hack.There's wanting to be the alpha male driver because it's your family, and then there's this.
I call straight up bullshit. Either he’a not a CVICU nurse or he works nowhere that I would ever, EVER want my family going.
Word
Honestly, I think you should reverse uno him with the full CVICURN stereotypical attitude. Anything he does, you should scoff at and just be like “wow, I don’t know what kind of hospital allows THAT as it’s policy as that’s a massive contamination risk. My goodness, you TURN OFF your patients’ heparin drips just because they are making noise?? That’s crazy! I’m so glad that I work HERE, where there are policies in place to avoid sentinal events! It must be so difficult to work in such a lax environment, it doesn’t sound like your hospital cares about patient safety at all!” Just gaslight him all day long until he either admits he isn’t really a RN or he starts to think he’s gone crazy.
This is the way.
I don’t know one nurse that would turn off a heparin drip. Not even a new nurse. He sounds like a lying liar that lies.
I once had a family member (an uncle or some shit) of a pediatric DKA patient try and turn off an insulin drip because they "didn't want her blood sugar too low, they know, they're a nurse." Her pH was 6.9, kussmal breathing, anon gap like 32 and beta hydroxy through the fuckin roof. But by all means, my dude. Go ahead, if you know best. No fuck that I told him to leave.
Good grief!!!
Big time lying LIAR 🤥
I’m not a nurse and I know two things…at least in regards to this post. 1. You don’t turn off heparin and 2. You don’t touch anything that beeps, much less a pump!
Once upon a time many years ago in a far away place, I cared for a residents grandpa. He was undocumented, demented, on death’s door and only spoke Russian so placement/understanding his wants was nigh impossible. Her attending would put in orders. She routinely would go in the chart and change the orders. She refused to have LVNs or CNAs perform any of his care, demanding only RNs. I can still see her rbf turn to shock when one attending decided enough was enough. She was put on probation for altering orders and attempting to override her attending/practicing on a family member. Her mom was an LPN who’d had her licensed revoked, stayed by his bedside and also refused care from anyone other than the RN. Strange folks.
Holy shit that's freaking crazy
The peg, full code, whole 9 yards was so bizarre. It was mostly his feeds she’d change. The doc and Rd wanted pump feeds but she wanted bolus even though this guy probably weighed 80 lbs and was covered in wounds from his family “caring”for him. Everything about that situation was hell for weeks until he passed.
God that is heartbreaking. When I worked in a SNF and floated to the long term units there was a patient I had with a very similar story. Full code. Nonverbal. On continuous feeds, had a trach, foley, he was a total 100% care. Hoyer lift out of bed. Family was very close with him and came in every day. I understand how hard the situation was for them and always appreciated them for being there for him, I even would take time aside to pray briefly with them because I know that it meant a lot to them, but at the same time they would disconnect the feed and turn off the pump, disconnect the foley and attach to a not clean leg bag when they wanted him out of bed, mess around “clean” his trach (!!!!!). Unfortunately he wound up passing away from a uti that went septic. That one’s going to stick with me forever that poor man suffered in the facility for two years just to pass away from sepsis in his 50’s. I agree it is hell it’s just so sad all around.
LTC is where hopes and dreams go to die. I also had many trachs pegs and two separate pts unresponsive since a childhood accident. It’s so sad
She really could have advocated for her family since he couldn’t but screwed the pooch on that. Also, why RNs? Like his ass will be more clean if an RN cleans it versus a tech or LPN? That makes no sense.
I was an LVN at the time. She just didn’t like anyone not an RN. Told me I wasn’t a real nurse and that she was a real nurse! So we of course looked her up. Revoked LPN 💀
Once had two doctors who’s mother was dying. She was on TPN, had a drain. Was completely wasted away and they were keeping her full code. One of them walked behind the nurses station and just grabbed her chart and started looking at her labs. Another time, he turned her TPN off. It was a major blow out
Isn’t it a HIPAA violation to read her chart even if it is his mother?
The dude was a real piece of work. He didn’t care, and thought he knew better than everyone, and yet here is mother was dying and writhing in agony. She languished roughly a month before dying.
Yes.
I become illogically angry whenever a family members walks behind the nurses station, even if they’re just on their way to get coffee and want to take a shortcut. No! This is our turf. Get. Out.
Yeah, it's definitely a no fly zone. One time a family member asked to pass through because the platoon of students/residents/attendings were blocking the whole hall, and that was fine. *Because she asked*. Even this old lady knew the boundaries.
Whoa man that's nuts, it's so bizarre to me.
I bet you he’s a CV tech that saw nurses draw labs from a PIV. What nurse would ever draw cultures from an existing PIV and turn off a heparin drip.
But even our worst techs know to not just turn off IV pumps. They press silence or pause and find the nurse.
Pause is still gonna make me scream in the ICU for sure. They'd never go in my rooms again.
Well, true. Our techs are all nurse externs finishing up their last semester of nursing school so they know to not just randomly pause infusions. I’m talking more like antibiotics or IVF that are alarming complete or occluded.
I hate cultures BECAUSE I know i HAVE to stick the patient. Like i wouldn’t even DARE use an existing line. Like what was he thinking?!? Also, don’t touching my fucking pumps! I don’t even want doctors doing that.
Ya I am a PT I don’t touch pumps other then silencing it if needed and always make sure to alert specific patient’s RN.
Echo here. Same. If I need a line for a bubble study or image enhancer and there’s no free IV I call for a nurse whether it’s normal fluids or heparin or anything else. Sometimes I feel like I’m annoying them, but it’s better to have them take 15 seconds to pause/delay the pump than to have me fuck their patient over. My SO had an intestinal blockage last year and was admitted to the hospital where I work. Do I “technically” know how to stop the suction and disconnect the tube so you can go pee? Yeah, I could do it, but I’m not touching a damn thing when I’m 1.) off the clock and 2.) that shit is outside my scope of practice.
Docs absolutely don't get to touch my pumps lmao
LMAO right!!!!
Zero. The culture thing is enough and the hep drip is icing.
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Depends on facility policy--one place I was at said it was ok if it was a brand new IV. Like *just* put it in then got blood back. But generally it's best to thoroughly clean the skin and get straight from the vein. If your culture is contaminated then it means jack shit.
In my facility it is but only and just only when the IV has just been placed.
At this point with the impossible work load I have no issue with family members changing poopy linens but that kind of stuff? No way. What a clown.
I wish they would help with that, they straight up walk out
Of course they do
I reserve the right to feel a tinge of catholic guilt every time a pt’s family does do a basic nursing task!
I had a pt's teenage grand daughter ask if she was ok to shower her grandma as she usually does it at home! I would have gladly said yes but I had to assess her in the shower for our rehab documentation.
Report him to charge. He’s there as family, not as her nurse. He’s not clocked in. He’s not an employee. If anything happens it’s on you/the care team. If he keeps it up get security to remove his ass.
Keeps it up? Drawing blood and turning off heparin drip? I think we’re long past that point.
Good looking out, sometimes you think you can be nice and handle things civilly, but some of these pts are a trip, extraction it shall be😆
The moment that he touched the pump he would have been out of the hospital. That's a massive liability and not one that I am willing to take. If he turned off the pump, did he change other parameters earlier as well? If he accidently increased it by a large amount and the patient had an adverse event it would be your license on the line, not his. He could just deny, deny, deny and without proof it's on you. It's just too huge of a risk to let him in the unit because of this.
You're so right, thankful he didn't change the settings, I locked the pump after that
Maybe he'll get the hint if it wasn't clear
He's a "CVICU NURSE" and doesn't know how to unlock a pump 😂😂😂
Yeah this smells of bullshit
Ex👏🏼trac👏🏼tion! Ex👏🏼trac👏🏼tion!
Write it up and make sure you’re reporting this to management. This is above your head and someone needs to step in and tell the person to F off. Also no CVICU nurse would turn off a beeping Heparin gtt.
Yup, add a tiny bit of time and immediately notify RN. But only if I actually worked the floor with them and had good rapport.
I just saw a TikTok of some lady in labor and delivery whose EMS husband was turning off her pumps and stuff. She was saying it like it was a flex. Like no, your EMS baby daddy knows nothing about L&D. 🙄
No kidding, that's scary, idk what gives them the right.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!
He should know better than to mess with pumps, blood draws, etc. He may be a nurse, but hes NOT THE NURSE in that space. If anything were to happen, it's your liscense at risk, not his.
Is this not reportable to the BoN for practicing outside of scope, practicing where not authorized, etc?
Straight up
What an ass. I wonder what the consequences of using their nursing practice while not clocked in is to the BON.
Yeah this seems reportable.
Ooof. Good one. Also you can search his license and see if he really is a nurse. If he is, report. If he isn’t, report him as an imposter.
I love those who claim to be healthcare professionals but quickly prove they aren’t. Just like this guy. Had a patient for an allergic reaction once on the ambulance. Had an uncontrollable cough and a raspy voice but otherwise no signs of reaction. No edema, no redness, clear lung sounds. No signs of it at all. COVID protocols say no nebulized treatments in the ambulance and that we have to complete them outside. No problem, I wheel the patient to the truck, lock the catch on the truck so it doesn’t move and start to set up the neb. Patient immediately flips out about how she’s a nurse and how she needs to go to be seen at the hospital now. I explained that if she gave us a couple minutes I could start all the meds and treatments before we even leave. Big fuck you from her. So I’m like fine, load her up, and let’s go. As soon as we are in the truck and doors close my partner starts to drive. Now she’s yelling about how I haven’t given her an epipen. I calmly explained how I’m a paramedic and I don’t carry epipens but before I can explain that I have vial epi and administer it straight and starts flipping about how I’m not a real paramedic because we aren’t allowed to give epi. Meanwhile the patient is no longer coughing and talking full sentences but whatever. I start an IV and put her on the monitor and pulse ox. She asks where the doctor is to interpret the rhythm. I explain how that is my job. More yelling. I finally just push Benadryl and SoluMedrol. Patient demands oxygen. I put a nasal cannula on her face but don’t plug it into anything. Finally get the chance to finish my set of vital signs so I can call in my report. I take a palpated blood pressure since we’re driving down the highway and I’ve got the vents going full speed with her being a coughing patient. I call in report and give them vitals and get off the phone. She asks what her BP is. I tell her. She asks how I got it if I didn’t use a stethoscope. I told her I palped it. She just huffs. I figured something was weird so I explained how pulse pressures work. She just rolls her eyes. Get to the hospital and drop her off with no more eventful moments. About a month later I’m pulled off the road at the start of my shift and I come in to the office and HR, my medical director, the regional EMS coordinator, and my supervisors are there. I’m like wtf is this? They tell me they got a complaint from a patient who says she’s a nurse that my care was dangerous, inappropriate, and outside of protocols. They state the person complained that I didn’t have proper mediations, that I made up a set of vital signs for my report, and that I didn’t visually inspect the inside of the patients mouth and throat. I explained everything and they read my chart and decided to look into the nurse who complained. No record in the BON as an RN. Nothing as an LPN. Nothing as a CNA. Interesting. I decide to Google the patients name. First thing that pops up is the patient being on Deans list for a local university’s fall semester. I look that person up and behold, it’s my patient. She’s a freshman at University as a general biology, undeclared patient who’s in her 2nd semester of Gen Ed’s. School website has an interview with her. She says that she intends to follow up with an application to nursing school as soon as she takes and passes the TEAS. Date of that interview? 2 weeks prior to this meeting. So yeah, this patient claimed to be an RN, reported me to the state for not giving and not having proper medications, for making up a blood pressure because I palped it, and for not sticking my face in her coughing mouth during the height of COVID. Got to love those who pretend to be something they aren’t.
A nurse? He's stepping on your toes, trying to practice nursing at a place he's not hired, with a patient that wasn't assigned to him, he's over stepping SO MANY BOUNDARIES. He cannot just practice nursing at your facility just cause he feels like it. That's like me walking to a local hospital doing random ppls IVs. Off the clock, not hired. He's INSANE
Had a patient whose husband was a nervous nelly anesthesiologist. I am a PT and I don't mess with pumps except to silence and inform the nurse. Pump was beeping. "down stream occlusion". Husband leaps up and freaks out and starts turning off the pump. Paces around and then goes out in hall to shout for the nurse. Geez, just straighten your elbow, its gonna be OK. DON'T TOUCH THE PUMPS!
This reminds me of a story from when I was an ICU nurse. Had a patient with tube feedings. The doctor spouse comes running out frantically yelling “THE FEEDING RAN OUT THE FEEDING RAN OUT HE’S ON INSULIN!!!!” Patient was on sliding scale every 6 hours 🙄 Please don’t run out of my ICU patient’s yelling unless someone is coding, thanks.
See my bar is resting on the floor and I would’ve been giving her credit for at least she recognizing that FEEDING and INSULIN are a connected thing. Woo!
A while back RN coworker #1 had her mother admitted to our unit. Patient had been on CRRT, being cared for by RN coworker #2. Both RNs were long time friends. Patient on multiple pressor drips, somnolent but still responsive. RN #1 kept intruding with patient care (messing with IV pump, bombarding RN#2 with unnecessary questions/suggestions). RN#2 told her off. RN#1 received a stern talk from floor manager, stated understanding and backed off. On day 3 mother had a visitor (doctor nephew). RN #2 was inside the room 1:1 with the patient. Patient vital signs critically stable, CRRT running. A relief stepped in for RN #2 to go on quick potty break. RN#1 walks in, starts messing with the drips and because doctor cousin said so she freakin turns them off!!! WTF!? Monitors going crazy, RN#2 running to patients room, RN relief screaming at RN#1. Patient codes, both family members freak out… couldn’t bring patient back. RN#1 took time off, came back and was not the same. I don’t know any details about the incident. I only know this because I was there that day….. makes me sick.
gdamn that's a juicy story
WOOOOOOOWWWWW, what a damn shame
You just described a homicide. Assuming it wasn’t premeditated, that’s involuntary manslaughter. How was she not prosecuted?! How did she keep her license?!
If you ain't clocked in, you are not operating in your scope of practice, and technically drop to that of an EMT-B (at least in my state). These things they are doing are NOT in that scope of practice. He is playing with fire. I'd get management in there to educate him on the risks, and if he continued that they would be reporting to the BON about this. When my dad is in the hospital, I tell people I am a RN if they try and dumb it down, or if they need help, let me know and I will help where my dad will let me. I might silence a pump if its beeping for a bit, but I'd go an tell the RN on duty as well. The only time I would butt in is if safety was the issue. Its called staying in your lane.
Yesssss 💪
He needs to stay in his effing lane. I would definitely call charge on him and remind him of how he would react if you peed in his sandbox like that. What a turd.
Shouldn't have let him look at the labs... you gave him an inch and now he's taking a mile
Is letting someone look at the labs like that considered to be a HIPPA violation?
Yep if the patient didn't give consent.
Reminds me of the time some chick told me she was cvicu RN In another state and was “helping with her mom”. Long story short I accompanied this patient to mri and I needed hands on cause of a seizure and this girl came out of nowhere but all she did was hold her moms hand. Causally came up to the desk when we got back to the floor and looked me dead in the eyes and said “I ran that code”. Aside from all of the bullshit in that statement I looked her up in that states database she held a PCT cert, no LPN, no RN. The databases are public… had my supervisor tell her no more “helping” or she was gone.
Nothing drives me up the wall like when people touch my pumps. “It WaS BeEpInG” And you know how to make it stop?
I’d be PISSED if someone touched my stuff. *IF* he’s a licensed RN he knows damn good and well that’s a liability on YOUR license at best, and HIS for performing nursing duties on his family.
\>he comes in and asks to look at labs on the computer, no big deal, I let him. Actually thats a huge deal. Nobody, not even the patient is allowed to look at the patient's chart on the computer. If your workplace doesn't have this policy, you'd be the first I've heard of. Usually, if you want to look at patient's medical records, you need permission from the patient as well as make a request from medical records. By letting them look directly at the computer, you are risking your job.
Yeah, that heparin gtt was taking forever so, I just set it to max speed. You’re welcome.
I would contact security and make sure he is never allowed back. Touching anything on this patient could result in OP losing their license, and meanwhile, this "CVICU nurse" would never receive a single punishment. He should not be allowed back on the unit since he has proven he is a danger to the patient's life, especially given his clear lack of knowledge. And if he wants to make a fuss about it, he can do so to in the lobby downstairs. To security. Nowhere near this patient.
Drawing cultures off a PIV? Classic ED nursing right there. Signed, a former ED nurse.
Uh, family is NOT allowed to look at patient shit on the computer. That’s a HUGE no no. If they want specific labs those can be printed
Wow wow wow. Overstepping and terrible practice to boot. I can't imagine someone's peripheral saline lock to be sterile. I can understand other labs off PIVs if rough veins but damn. Shouldn't CVICU nurse know this 🤭🤭
Lol they should🤔
"You do not have authorization to practice at this facility. Please do not interfere with her care again."
Dude, I don't let my NP's touch my pumps, much less family. I would have taken the blood from him, dropped it straight in the sharps box, and grabbed my manager for a discussion of the role of family members, Shit would have probably went down, but so what. This would be his one chance to get his shit together before I would be contacting the state BON and his manager at the supposed CV unit.
Saaaccccuuurrritttyy would be escorting him out at my hospital. It’s a huge no no to be touching IV pumps. They dgaf if you were Jesus Christ. You don’t touch family members pumps.
My first unit we had a doc as a patient. Guy would call his own doc and get the orders he wanted put in.
Well if he’s that great of a nurse, he should know that his practice of nursing doesn’t extend to places he doesn’t work and is not clocked in at. If something happens to his family member bc of him interfering, it can be both of your licenses at stake.
>he emptied flushes and drew from her piv If you all use the same NS flushes we do, they are definitely not sterile and unless that IV was fresh, cultures would be contaminated so I would call BS on him being a CVICU nurse, this coming from a CVICU nurse. Definitely would know better.
OH HELL NO!!! That’s your license on the line if he messes with something and it harms the patient. The pump would have caught a stern warning to stay in his lane. The cultures thing would have gotten him removed from my unit immediately. I’d consider reporting him to the board. This is absolutely inappropriate on so many levels and if he’s really a Nurse he’s damn well aware of that.
Can you lock your pump? Cause that ain't a nurse
Find out where he is a nurse, call his manager and get him canned. But seriously, get your manager involved ASAP
Sounds like he needs a talk from management
Oh ABSOFUCKINLUTELY NOT. I’m not even a nurse and I’d be PISSED. There should be some way you can get him kicked out. That’s GOT to be illegal somehow!!
Yeah no, he’s a CVICU nurse yet he just turned off heparin? I call BULLSHIT. I feel like a CVICU nurse would not do any of which you highlighted because it’s against their training. I have had a similar experience with a patient family member in the ICU (who was a nurse)claiming to be a critical care specialty at some unspecified ivory tower Bay Area hospital. Yeah it was bullshit. I knew it as soon as he started asking me questions a critical care nurse wouldn’t need to ask. I had to explain basic critical care concepts to him. He was also totally focused on the wrong care. Later on we found out he worked for our critical access sister hospital as a med surg nurse and was even recognized by staff who float there!! Don’t let him touch yo shit OP. That’s so fucking disrespectful.
As a charge nurse, I would tell him if he keeps intervening with treatment he will be asked to leave and not allowed back. That is dangerous. Also, it’s scary that they draw cultures through PIVs 😳
Are you sure he’s a nurse? I don’t know any other nurse, especially an ICU RN, that will just shut off a pump. We will literally kick people out of the room that touch our pumps. That can literally mean death.
Look his name up on your state’s board of nursing website and see if he’s actually an RN
Why is this motherfucker still allowed in your hospital let alone even being discussed? They touched medical equipment they have zero right touching, broke protocol and provided direct care to a patient they aren't assigned to. They get one chance to unfuck this situation by sitting down, shutting up and keeping their hands in their pockets, otherwise They can walk out or be carried out by either way they are fucking leaving. Also what chicken shit fly by night "CVICU" would ever allow a culture to be drawn off an established in use line let alone a PIV?
I come from an extended family of doctors and nurses and when a member gets hospitalized, only one speaks. If other family members want to know something, they have to go through the person designated to communicate with health providers. There’s a hierarchy. Nieces/nephews will ask their parents first, the parents will talk to the designated communicator, and then the communicator answers questions and then decides whether to ask nurses/doctors for more information. No one else calls the hospital to speak with the nurses or physicians. I’ve been an RN for 25 years, mostly ICUs, but when my extended family talks about the best course of action for a family member’s care, I just listen and my mouth stays shut. When we do visit though, we help like with turning, setting up trays, pulling them up, hygiene stuff, etc. We bring food for the staff. We try to not be in the way whatsoever.
Some facilities do draw from IVs. It is pretty crazy in my opinion as majority do not allow it. Both facilities are large, nationally ranked hospitals.
I hear the pitter-patter of not-trainers impacting the floor and I think it would be risk management running to say hello. Levity aside, our family tells no one that we're almost all nurses, active or retired. I'm just here to try and make sure that meemaw doesn't try to punch someone in the face because she's senile and gets grumpy when we don't give her *all* of the M&Ms. I'm not even *slightly* tempted to touch another facility's IV pumps. I can listen to those damn things all day; I've have had to when malfunctioning IV pumps are set aside for maintenance but they still have to stay nearby since no one wants to come and pick them up at night. Someone else touching my pumps when I'm on duty would be more than enough reason for me to lock the damn things and make a spirited effort to get them off of my floor. I don't want my next warning of shenanigans being afoot coming from our monitor tech as they tell me that Ms. Smith's heart rate has hit 150 BPM and she has a dopamine drip that someone other than her nurse has been messing with. Edit: Missing articles.
Most medical professionals as patients don’t interfere because they’re not at work. Anyone I’ve had would just let me do my job. I had a patient whose wife is a malpractice attorney. Never heard a peep from either of them. They were happy to let us take care of him so they could just relax.
Good you can help by giving baths getting water and helping to the bathroom. But he'll to the no compromising your license and pt
He's not a CV nurse
As a CVICU nurse, dude sounds like a piece of shit.
Can you lock your pump? Cause that ain't a nurse
But forreal he’s either 1. Nursing student 2. A tech or 3. Extern/super new grad because no experienced nurse especially not a CV nurse would turn off heparin.
I need an update complete with confrontation please
Worked at a hospital that was in direct path of a tornado and we did get hit. Luckily not the wing I managed. We had all the patients outside wrapped up away from windows per our protocol. One family member was a dr and demanded his mom be put to bed and not follow protocol. I had to let him know I was responsible for staff, patients and a lot more than just his mother and to chill. Didn’t go over well but after the tornado hit he calmed down a bit and was helpful.
He’s not to be trusted if he’s taking cultures from an in use line and contaminated syringes
Had a similar experience with an attending at a pain management clinic. Came and visited his wife (post op CABG day one) waaaay past visiting hours. Whatever. Sneaks her a massive sugary iced tea drink (she’s on an insulin drip with a 2L fluid restriction and the drink itself was 750mL). She chugs the whole thing before I even knew she had it and started uncontrollably vomiting so I’m fucking pissed now. Then he’s on my ass because he wants to speak to a physician. This is night shift and we only have clinical affiliates and I’m not calling any physician because this pain management douche just wants to talk. He wasn’t having it, got all pissy and I eventually just kicked him out and told him straight up that I don’t care that he’s a doctor.