Nursing Myths (Part I)

Nursing Myths. You've heard them; when some big-mouthed nurse spouts out something that everyone in the Nursing Station knows is false, but everyone's afraid to say anything about it for fear of losing their job?

It drives me nuts. It's the one thing about Nursing that makes me want to take up that fascinating new career in truck driving. Here's a few I've run across in the last month:

Black Ink is ONLY to be used on official documents.

Uhhmmm -- no, it's not. Here's why: the only official government standard for ink colors is defined by Medicare, which specifies "blue, black, or blue-black ink." Some hospitals have defined this down further to "black or blue-black ink," but Black Ink has never been defined as the ONLY ink acceptable for charting or documentation. Don't believe me? Go look at your own SOPs -- they probably say the exactly same thing.

Insulin must be refrigerated.

I've actually seen nurses go into a Tizzy when their refrigerators had to be cleaned because Insulin must be refrigerated. Check your Product Inserts that come with the medication: Insulin only needs to be refrigerated until opened. After it's open, it's good from between 28 and 30 days without refrigeration. And even if the insulin vial is unopened, it's still good as long as it doesn't get above room temperature until the expiration date on the label.


RNs are better than LVNs. This one is a particular favorite of mine. Case in point: one place I worked recently we had four LVNs, two RNs, and a physician on the floor when my patient started to complain of chest pain. The doctor ordered an EKG while everyone else stood around and looked at each other. Take a wild guess who (a) put o2 on the man, (b) gave him the Nitroglycerin under his tongue, elevated the head of his bed 45 degrees, and hooked him up to telemetry?

That would be me -- the LVN.

When the EKG was done I took it to the Charge nurse, who gave it to the doctor, who promptly said he didn't know what to make of it, and left the floor. The RNs put their heads together and hemmed and hawed about it but didn't see anything too bad about it. Guess who was the one who pointed out to the RNs that the man had (a) and inverted T wave, (b) prolonged QRS, and (c) a depressed ST segment -- all indicative of a current myocardial infarction (or "M.I." -- a Heart Attack) in progress?


That would be me -- the LVN.

So the Charge Nurse called the cardiologist, who promptly gave the order to transfer him to the ICU, give oxygen and Nitroglycerin, and start telemetry -- all of which I'd done a half-hour before. (Did I mention this was my first day at this facility -- everyone else there was either staff or had been there several times previous?)

So two days later when the Supervisor wanted to put me under contract with their facility, who was it that was signed up for long-term work at this facility? That would not be me -- the LVN with 26 years experience, a Bachelor's degree, and cardiac/ICU experience. No no, that would be fresh-out-of school Associate's Degree RN with less than a year's experience who stood around wondering what to do while my patient was having his M.I.

Why did they sign the brand-new RN instead of me? Because the Chief Nursing Officer of this facility is a moribund old-school nurse who "only wants RNs."

Which just goes to show that degrees don't give you brains, despite what the Wizard of Oz might say.

~~JD~~