Super Nurse had an interesting day. She started with the doctor. She recounted the blood sugar mistake. He was not happy either. The good doctor doesn’t seem to think that his patients need killin’.

She mentioned that a nurse had administered morphine and versed at the same time, apparently thinking that doing so was a good job. Super Nurse opined, ‘She’d already had Tylenol III not even an hour before. Normally you only give versed and morphine right before a painful procedure anyway. Are they practicing chemical restraint here?” She pushed a hot button. Chemical restraint is a big no-no. The help doesn’t get to sedate patients to make them easier to manage. The doctor turned to the nurse in the room with him and said, “You call that nurse and get an explanation of this RIGHT NOW!” The Super Nurse knows what buttons to push.

She elaborated on the poor procedure she’d seen with the PICC lines. Her Mother has a blood infection she just can’t seem to kick. ‘Does it not seem likely the PICC line is contaminated?’ ‘A hospital induced infection?’ (She used the technical term) Another hot button pushed. The doctor agreed and said he’d have it replaced.

She told him she’d written up a list of care problems she’d observed. He said he’d like a copy of the list. He was not aware of any of the problems. Then he said, this is who you need to talk to, if you don’t get any satisfaction then go talk to… right up the line. He was helpful. He almost sounded like he was ready to mount up for the Crusade himself.

Then she went to talk to the floor supervisor. ‘Uh-huh you have concerns.’ “I have a list.” ‘Can I have a copy of the list?’ She went back to check on her Mom. Management started showing up in the room. ‘You have concerns?’ “I have a list.” ‘Can I have a copy of the list?’ It went on that way with a couple other people. She was pleasant, she was helpful, she was their worst nightmare- she knew what she was talking about, and had seen bad things up close and personal. Hell, she was educating their nurses.

It would be interesting to check in on the hospital in a few months and see if any changes have occurred as a result of her free, intense performance review. You have to wonder how many copies of her list are floating around there now.

I’ve told her that she’d be an outstanding nurse manager. She really knows her stuff and has a heart for patient care. She could get a staff to competence and then some. She says she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bear to give someone a bad evaluation. Even though she just did it for free.

God bless her. She probably saved a lot of lives today.
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