'Wrong' woman given abortion after nurse mixed up patients

Originally posted by Quazga
"There is something wrong with this tape measure!", the nurse said, almost frustrated.

"What do you mean?" Asked the doctor.

"According to this, the boy is in the 125 percentile for height!"

The Doctor added, "Yeah... And? Did you see his father?". I am 6 foot 5 inches, and so the doctor expected that the measurement would be off the charts.

The nurse looked at me, and then looked back at the doctor, "So? How can the boy be more than 100%?"

I swear to you this happened, and my jaw dropped. It was both hilarious and sad. After a little while the nurse finally grasped that there was nothing wrong with the tape measure.

OK, let me say I have many friends who are nurses. And I have great respect for the nursing profession.

However, and let me say this gently, -some- nurses are some of the dumbest 'smart' people I've ever met.

I was working with one nurse and she was very good at her nursing knowledge but she couldn't grasp a simple sequence of loading a piece of tubing into a machine I was training her to operate as a pump tech.

I turned to her and said 'You remind me of an "idiot savant''. It was sort of meant as a compliment, and an inside joke, since a "savant" is an exceptionally gifted person. The term 'idiot savant' means smart or gifted but only in one field.

The nurse started crying and immediately ran from the room even before I could turn and look at her and smile to share the joke.

She reported me for "calling her an idiot".

WTF? Here I was spending an hour patiently trying to train her on something she just couldn't do or grasp a simple concept. AND, she did not have any knowledge of a medical term that all nursing students should know.

We became friends again later, but she still could not grasp what a 'savant' was or what that term meant. Somehow she got through nursing school, but I swear I wouldn't be surprised to find that she couldn't read or write or tie her shoes.

I've seen a similar thing with other nurses, and it seems as though half of them are smarter than doctors and have tremendous knowledge and common sense. But some of them are just dumb as a box of rocks.

Again, I say this as a funny story and not as an indictment of the Nursing profession or the many fine nurses out there.






[edit on 20-7-2008 by Badge01]

Well Badge, thank you for that (I think). Good thing I'm not smart enough to know when I'm being insulted or I might be offended. J/K. I know you weren't insulting anyone on this board.

You do have somewhat of a point, though. As a nurse, I am expected to know when a doctor has written an inappropriate order or to suggest meds that might be helpful yet I am considered "just a nurse". If I know what treatments and/or meds to give in a particular situation and what orders are necessary and appropriate.....what do I need the doctor for? Who is at your bedside in the hospital? The doctor or the nurse? Who knows enough to alert the doctor that he needs to come right away? That's right. If you survive your stay at a hospital, thank the NURSE, not just the doctor who made rounds for 2 minutes, asked the nurse how you were doing, scribbled a few orders and left. Send us a fruit basket once in a while. Or even a kind word on the survey you fill out when you leave. We can thrive for months on little attaboys like that.

The last job I had was previously done by 5 people. I did it by myself. When I asked the boss if I would be receiving 5 paychecks, he laughed. I was not as amused.

There are so many policies and procedures in place that nurses (and doctors) get in a rut with their thinking. We once had a nurse that was exposed to a patients' urine. Infection control wanted to do a whole blood born pathogen exposure test on the exposed worker. I asked why we just didn't get a urine sample from the patient and test it for WBC's (sign of infection). Infection control blinked a few times and couldn't grasp what I was saying. Pretty pathetic really, so I had to explain it to him. Urine is sterile (unless you have an infection or there's blood in the urine)...it's a "closed system". There would be no need for a BLOOD born pathogen test on URINE. I never could make him understand so we had to go through the whole rigamarole. He had more letters behind his name than I did, too. I was actually a little embarassed for him.

The nurse that made this med error got in a rut with her thinking. It happens. It's physically and mentally exhausting to be 100% focused all day long. Try it sometime. Try it for 5 whole minutes. See how often your mind wanders to some other topic. Never mind the thousands of times she's passed meds correctly under horribly distracting circumstances, this once is enough to have her hanged. Try composing a well-constructed letter to, say, the POTUS using correct grammer, syntax, spelling, tabs, fonts, etc. Now try doing it with the phone ringing, 3 different people talking to you at once or trying to get your attention, a car backfiring outside your window, a Jehovah's Witness knocking on the door, your child peeing in the ficus, and your mother-in-law due to arrive for dinner in the next 10 minutes. And that's just trying to compose a letter that you have all day to do and can crumple up and start over if you mess it up. Nurses don't have that luxury. We have to get it right every time or people want to throw us in prison with the crotch-biters. No pressure, really.

In 28 years of bedside care, I have had exactly 4 people out of the thousands I have taken care of say "thank you". I wonder if 7-11 is hiring. Their managers make more than I do.

Originally posted by whitewave
There are so many policies and procedures in place that nurses (and doctors) get in a rut with their thinking.

I think this is a rather brilliant way to put it. We all have these experiences where we have so compartmentalized our expertise that we fail to see a common sense explanation.

I've worked with nurses for many years, being a pathologist (non-MD) and they are the backbone of the medical system, not the doctors.

They are the ones who teach the Med Student and shepherd the new Docs through their Residency but they get little credit.

When I started working in the Heath Care field, it was the nurses who helped me learn my job (I worked as an attendant or 'orderly' during college).

I have to say I'm very impressed with your posts and it's evident that you're one of the real 'gems' out there. You understand the system and the patients and can see the big picture.

I hope you can get through your rotation and maybe move on to something more satisfying if that's your desire. Some nurses go back to school and get an MBA and end up working in administration or even teaching. There's a lot of fulfillment in such a career path.

You have a very hard job and I would not want to be in your shoes, because as I said, you guys are the ones who get all the tough jobs and little of the credit and when the 'blame' starts being thrown around, you're there to take the bulk of that too. It's not fair how they are trying to cut costs by making you guys (and other medical professions, such as lab workers) do several jobs. In fact when you retire, be assured they'll have to hire three people to do your job.

So, hang in there, but also keep in mind that you have a great deal going for you, and nurses usually have a good union as well. If you should decide to look for other options you might be surprise at how far your skills and experience will take you.

Have a great evening and thanks for all your great comments on this thread.

I have one more thing to add to this thread.

Some food for thought here - If this case had been a doctor administering the wrong drug to the woman instead of a nurse, you would not have heard about it ..... and that is true.

reply to post by Wotan


What makes you say that? Just curious- not trying to put you on the spot. You spoke with such certainty that I wanted to ask what led you to feel that.

Originally posted by AshleyD
reply to post by Wotan

 

What makes you say that? Just curious- not trying to put you on the spot. You spoke with such certainty that I wanted to ask what led you to feel that.

Because they close ranks ....... I dont need to say anymore than that.

reply to post by Wotan


But what about all the stories in the news about doctors who commit major errors?

Originally posted by AshleyD
reply to post by Wotan

 

But what about all the stories in the news about doctors who commit major errors?

They are just as you say the major ones. Most go unreported to the media. The GMC keeps things quiet or its dealt with 'in-house'.

Remember the Medical Profession is pre-dominantly male whilst the Nursing Profession is predominantly female ........ 'Old Boys Club' anyone?

reply to post by Wotan


Great. Thanks for your response. I'm still pretty curious but will leave it at that as to not derail the topic. Interesting, though.

reply to post by AshleyD


Basically, it's the philosophy among Doctors that medicine being more of an Art than a 'Science', it's expected that sometimes patients expire and sometimes it's caused by, uh, circumstances out of someone's control.

After all, doctors have patients die all the time for regular reasons (illness, old age, surgery, injuries).

So there's a tendency to, um, obscure or deflect all but the most egregious incidents.

The old boy's club explains some of it also. The hospital depends on the doctors for revenue and vice versa.

Fortunately the nurses do have a pretty good union, but it's true they do sometimes get blamed for things not really their fault.

It can be a dicey situation at times. Not all hospitals are like that, nor all doctors, but more often than not, there is a tendency to look for root causes rather than blame an individual, and in some ways it's not a bad system if they do it right.


2 cents.


[edit on 20-7-2008 by Badge01]

reply to post by Badge01


Great. Thanks for the reply. I was approved and am due to start nursing school in the fall so now you know why I was so curious. lol I have already been having reservations on whether or not to proceed with it as a career path and tales such as these make me worry even more so.

reply to post by AshleyD


Wow, that is really cool. Don't be discouraged by this thread or the comments. For one thing nursing school and the profession is really a good choice.

There are other paths besides being a floor nurse on a busy ward. You can teach, you can be a doctor's office nurse, you can do privates, you can go back to school after your degree and get an advanced degree and often get scholarships through your foundation. Some people get the nursing degree instead of college and then get an MBA and go into administration. You can even get into research, or work as an apheresis nurse in a blood bank.

Medicine is a great field, especially if you feel you have a 'calling' to help people, or you like science and learning about the human body.

You just need to keep your head on straight and be aware of what is going on and make good choices.

Of course all nurses will be required to get 'floor experience' and have to deal with patients, usually after their first year. Most schools are a 2 or a 4 year program and you can do 2 years and get an LPN, or go to 4 years and get a BS in Nursing (I think that's how it goes, it's been a while)

Anyway, good for you. See what I said about a 'good soul'? I was right!

Originally posted by AshleyD
reply to post by Badge01

 

Great. Thanks for the reply. I was approved and am due to start nursing school in the fall so now you know why I was so curious. lol I have already been having reservations on whether or not to proceed with it as a career path and tales such as these make me worry even more so.

Dont let this thread put you off going into Nursing, its an honourable and noble profession.

I never went into nursing till my 40's after a successful 20+ year as a graphic artist.

Nursing has a vast area that it can cover, its not all about working the wards or clinics.

Good luck to you in your chosen career.

Originally posted by quaple_pouge

Originally posted by xeroxed88

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
If you're driving a car wrecklessly or carelessly, strike someone, and they die you are charged with manslaughter and frequently do jail time. The nurse just did the same thing only with a murder pill rather than a car. She should be tried for negligent homicide or manslaughter, and given a pridon dentence as her negligence and lack of concern just directly caused a human being to die.

While I do agree with what you are saying, if that happened then it would be only fair if EVERY doctor/nurse/parent that has carried out/agreed to abortion to stand trial for manslaughter.

It's like if a prisoner is executed for murder, shouldn't the person doing the execution be sentenced to death too?

[edit on 19/7/08 by xeroxed88]

This case is not the same as a woman that willing seeks out an abortion. Woman A was not planning on terminating her pregnancy, therefore the nurses actions could be considered manslaughter.

What I got from the article is that patient A was in there for the consultation for the abortion procedure, not that she was keeping her baby. She received the wrong pill and was told to get a surgical abortion because of the error. There was also no written consent.

The first woman attended the Calthorpe Clinic in Edgbaston, Birmingham - which offers abortion, sterilisation and vasectomy - in October, 2006.

You dont go to this type of clinic for prenatal care and vitamins. But this is still a case for malpractice, probably.

reply to post by whitewave


I know you've never been my nurse, but I just wanted to say:

Thank You for all you do.

And why are we to believe this was a mistake? What is this woman’s background? She didn't get very much punishment did she? Was she playing God and decided that this woman didn't deserve to be a mother?

Was it an experiment form the militant pro abortion crowd?

the nurse was allowed to carry on practicing as a nurse with a three-year caution order after it was found to be an 'isolated incident'.

If so they were right. No consequences... The Nurse is set free and allowed to do it again.

Originally posted by Perplexed
If so they were right. No consequences... The Nurse is set free and allowed to do it again.

Just like the mothers of the aborted babies...set free to go do it again without any consequences...yet people only want to punish the nurse.

And people trying to equate this to drivers, death row inmates, and other stupid stuff...there is NO comparison. A man and women get together and have sex...she gets pregnant...there is no VICTIM...this type of accident is NOT like a car wreck....this was THEIR doing, by THEIR choice...and when the reality of it (a baby) comes into play..they take the easy road...KILL IT..then we can go back to our lifestyle..not have to change it and become responsible parents!!

Originally posted by rcwj75

Originally posted by Perplexed
If so they were right. No consequences... The Nurse is set free and allowed to do it again.

Just like the mothers of the aborted babies...set free to go do it again without any consequences...yet people only want to punish the nurse.

And people trying to equate this to drivers, death row inmates, and other stupid stuff...there is NO comparison. A man and women get together and have sex...she gets pregnant...there is no VICTIM...this type of accident is NOT like a car wreck....this was THEIR doing, by THEIR choice...and when the reality of it (a baby) comes into play..they take the easy road...KILL IT..then we can go back to our lifestyle..not have to change it and become responsible parents!!

Wait a minute here dude.. The woman didn't go there for an abortion from what I understand? She was a victim of a plot or an accident of the nurse. Which one we believe is up to us but there was a VICTIM here and it was the paitent. I don't see how you can see it any other way?

Tip of the iceberg. There are people working in retirement homes administering drugs who aren't even nurses. I know somebody who works in one and the lack of control and complete lack of professionalism is frightening. Still as long as the money keeps flowing who cares....they are only old folks after all.

Stand by, your parents and grandparents will be killed by an SVQ3 in the very near future.

reply to post by Perplexed


I suggest you re-read the article again. The clinic is a place for terminations and she was there for a termination consultation.

Plot? What plot? Are you out of your mind?