leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2003 6:28 am Post subject: NOT a fantasy
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DEO, Inc.<
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>Wow ? you should have seen the dialysis unit yesterday. I wish this was just a fantasy that I was writing by unfortunately it is true.<
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>I start dialysis early afternoon. There is a shift change at 2:00pm so luckily these events did not effect my treatment this day.<
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>At 2:00 a tech comes in with a trainee tech. It is the trainee?s 3rd week of training on the floor after 4 weeks of classroom training. They proceed to take one guy off the machine, not sure of the time. Then the trainee begins to start the treatment process for another gentleman. I wasn?t paying too much attention to this process but noticed it took quite a long time to get the needles placed and the treatment started. At one point the Trainer became very excited when the trainee attempted to re-cap the needle the trainee had used to administer lidocane to the patient. After some discussion between then the Trainer ended up physically taking the needle from the trainee and placing it in a used needle container.<
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>Anyway, the patient?s treatment was started, another patient?s treatment was ended and she was moved out. The next patient had arrived already so the Trainer set up the machine. The Trainer told the trainee to proceed with the check-in process and to put her needles in. The trainee appeared to be disoriented or confused at what to do next. The trainee could not tell if it was a fistula or a graft, didn?t seem to have a clue what to do with regards to cannulating her. The trainee went over to the treatment supply cart and drew up a syringe of lidocane for the patient and commented to the trainer that he didn?t know what the big deal was before, he just re-capped this syringe. She informed him that she was teaching him how things were supposed to be done. If he wanted to risk sticking himself with a used needle after he was on his own that was his business but that he has NOT going to do it while she was training him.<
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>The Trainer, who was observing from the nurses station, came over and told him how to tell if it was a fistula or a graft. He became even more frustrated. The Trainer then commented that she was tired of telling him things over and over that he should have learned in class. He made some comment that maybe the trainer should just cannulate the patient and he would go read his book. She responded that maybe he should observe and pay attention and that he might have known this already if he had not been sleeping in class. The trainee walked over to the treatment cart visibly upset, then stomped back to the patients chair and demanded to know from the trainer who had said that about him (assuming this was in regards to the sleeping in class comment). This was happening over the patient!!! Yes, over the top of the patient!!!. The patient is wheel chair bound so could not get up and leave the area until the situation was resolved. <
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>Naturally this made him even more frustrated. He said something to her that I can?t recall and starting pacing. The situation was becoming very tense at this time and frankly I was becoming concerned with regards to what was going to happen next and going over the clamping procedures in my mind with regards to disconnecting the lines from treatment if this were to become physical and I would need to leave the area for my own safety. The trainee then he stormed off to the nurse?s station, took his gown off and said something about he was leaving.<
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>The Trainer was visibly upset also, but did proceed to start the treatment for the patient and to then discontinue my treatment. She performed all of her duties very professionally as she calmed down from the previous exchange. Frankly, I was glad that the trainee had not returned before I was able to leave the building. <
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>Besides the obvious, that this exchange should never have taken place in front of the patients I am very concerned about a tech that has no sense of responsibility and just walks off. What if sometime in the future something is going wrong, a line is unclamped, blood leaking everywhere. Will the tech become frustrated and walk off? I do not want to find out.<
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