Forgetful nurses and techs

[jollor]

Hey has anyone else had a problem with techs and nurses forgetting to do something like putting on a glove or administer medicines? I know they are busy and have alot going on but it's very scary to me to witness them forgetting things. I've definitely learned that I have to be very observant about my treatment. I've always had a problem speaking up but I've quickly learned to get over that. Just curious if anyone's had similar problems.





EDITED: Moved Thread to Proper Topic: Dialysis Workers - Sluff, Moderator

[kitkatz]

You have to watch them.  It is just good sense to keep an eye on your treatment.

[RichardMEL]

Yesterday my nurse set the machine for 4 hours instead of 5. Alas she spotted the mistake on her hourly check I was so upset! LOL

I definitely keep an eye when they are setting up to check the pump speed, the UF etc to make sure it is what I expect and question them if I think something's amis. Usually they are pretty good...

[Zach]

I've always had a problem speaking up but I've quickly learned to get over that.

Don't get me started.

Trust but verify!

Remember, you can't be everyone's friend.

[jbeany]

yup - do your owm math, and check all the settings.  Whoever is on the machine ahead of me always has his saline set a notch above normal.  They forget to set it back, since it's on an old machine with the saline setting on the side.  Check, and double check.  The nurses, no matter how good, caring, or dedicated, are still human, and they make mistakes. 

[Zach]

I told this one before on another thread:

Once, instead of receiving Mannitol, I was given about 20cc Lidocaine as an IV push by a nurse at my center.  I went into cardiac arrest (I was dead for about two minutes), but came back to tell the story because of some fast thinking technicians doing CPR and giving me about 2L of saline.

[Amanda From OZ]

wow Zach that scary.... i have been warned of the dangers of lidocaine! Glad you made it through!! 

[renal30yrs]

Annoys me to no end whenever they forget to pump epogen and sensibar and insist on injecting them AFTER I get off dialysis.  Don't they know 2 pokes a night is enough for most of us?

[Russ]

Techs forget to draw my labs quite frequently.  They are also supposed to take my blood sugar each tx but I have to remind them 75 percent of the time.  I've also walked out of the clinic without being accessed.  A couple weeks ago, the tech set the machine for 4 hours instead of 5 hours so I was pulled harder than necessary.

[thom]

I went up north over christmas to visit my dad so i had 3 sessions of dyalisis and when i got back home they did monthly bloods and my blood count was 8.0 somehow it dropped 4 points over a week. felt like shit for ages. i dunno how it happened but it makes me wonder

[DeLana]

I told this one before on another thread:

Once, instead of receiving Mannitol, I was given about 20cc Lidocaine as an IV push by a nurse at my center.  I went into cardiac arrest (I was dead for about two minutes), but came back to tell the story because of some fast thinking technicians doing CPR and giving me about 2L of saline.

You have described my worst nightmare    - lidocaine will definitely affect the heart (including stop it), which is why the bottle of lidocaine goes in the trash the minute I'm done with it - and nowhere near the heparin vial (I work in an acute/hospital setting where we don't keep the med vials for repeated use).  In the clinic, where we did keep the same lido vial for a month, I would write all over it (highlighting the name, etc.) and keep it far away from the heparin vials, some of which were the same size.

There is no excuse for this happening - all nurses are taught to (at least) triple check all meds that they give.  You are a very lucky man, as I'm sure you know.

DeLana

[Zach]

You are a very lucky man, as I'm sure you know.