She Got A Nurse Fired And She’s Wondering If She Overreacted

Gorodenkoff  - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
Gorodenkoff - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

While healthcare providers are human, they often make mistakes just like us. But what if your nurse or anyone else on the healthcare staff performs a practice that may be disturbing or unethical?

A 23-year-old had a port placed in her chest that needs to be flushed at least once a month. This patient has been going to her local hospital and has seen the same nurse the last two times.

During their first encounter, the nurse did not feel for her port and went to stick the needle into her skin based on her scar.

Unfortunately, this nurse put the needle in the wrong spot and hit the bottom sidewall of her port, which caused the patient to have excruciating pain.

While screaming and crying for the nurse to stop, the nurse ignored her and continued to dig around her body with the needle while pushing and pulling saline to get the blood to return.

The nurse then told her that her port was occluded and to see her doctor.

She called her doctor immediately and had it flushed. So she went back last week and, to her luck, found out that she would have the same nurse.

This time, she moved her port around to show the nurse where it was.

Shocked, the nurse of 20 years told her patient that she had never seen a port above a scar. Apparently, they are usually below it.

Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

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To make matters worse, the nurse was out of it. She asked if she was okay, and the nurse responded, ” I have a case of the Mondays.”

The nurse then proceeded to get things ready without washing her hands before touching anything.

The nurse then put on gloves and began to touch items that she should not, including the garbage can, cabinets, and drawers.

Before flushing the port, the nurse did not put on a sterile mask or gloves.
In the end, she hands the patients the sterile mask and gloves that she did not use and says, “take these, so don’t go to waste.”

“I was really upset,” she explained. “I had to stop my partner from causing a scene because he saw it all and was pretty upset himself.”

“I am a slight infection risk, but what about every cancer patient that comes into that clinic for chemotherapy??”

After the port was flushed, she went home and reported this issue to her doctor, who then carried out an investigation.

After further review and a few weeks later, the nurse was fired.

Her mother is telling her that she overreacted and it was sad that they let the nurse go.

Should she have requested a new nurse for her next visit, or did she do the right thing by contacting the hospital?

You can read the original post on Reddit here.

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