5.
“I’m an RN. By law, you cannot perform a procedure that you have not been trained in and signed off on. While working in the ER, I was ordered to do a lavage (purge the stomach of toxins using a tube and fluids) of a drug overdose patient. It’s not a common procedure, and I had neither been trained to do it nor signed off to do it. When I notified the charge nurse and ER doctor about this issue, neither cared and ordered me to do it or be fired on the spot. I asked if at least another nurse who had done a lavage before could assist and instruct me, and was told no, because we were short-staffed.”
“I reviewed a video of the procedure on my cellphone quickly and proceeded to complete it, terrified I was going to harm my patient. Fortunately, it all went well, but afterward I submitted my resignation with two weeks’ notice and switched to working in hospice. I never went back to working in a hospital ER or ICU again. I warn people never to use that hospital for their care, that it isn’t safe to go there. Profit always seems to win over safe patient care.”—Anonymous, 72, Florida