Why oh why did i bother!!!!?

some of you may recall that I mentioned that a know a nurse that works in the smae place as me sleeps whislt on duty. In the UK and where I work it is forbidden for a trained nurse to do this as she has to be alert and able to act in an emergency at all time. I too am a trained nurse but don't ever work with this woman. Recently I had several angry carers come to me telling me that she would make a bed up in the office, shut the door and sleep for about 3 hours. The carers told me that on one occasion when they needed help she didn't ake up when called as she was too deeply asleep.
Well I reported this to the matron and I feel that she thinks i am just trouble making as some of the carers that complained then stated that she doesn;t sleep on duty!!!!!!
The carers told me they were too scared to get involved and report her to the matron so it was easier for them to deny all knowledge!!!
I feel so frustrated as I just did what i thought was right to protect the patients.

Allen B
You obviously do not understand the implications i faced knowing this info if i chose to ignore it. patients lives are at risk when a nurse sleeps. Would you want a nurse sleeping when she should be observing you or a loved one of yours? How would you feel if your loved one died as a result of a nurses negligence by sleeping when she should have been awake. In the Uk the NMC have strict guildlines and that is that we do not sleep whilst on duty and if we do we face being struck of the register. Also if it got out that i knew this info and failed to act then i too could be in trouble.

Firstly I must say, "Don't ever let the Trolls get to you.
Maintain your sense, of what is right and what is wrong.
Everywhere you go there are people looking for something
for nothing. i.e. Hoping to get paid for time which they spend sleeping.

I have spent a considerable amount of time in hospital and the Nurses with a vocation, stand out like beacons, in comparison to the ones who just see it as a job, in which you do as little as possible.

Please don't ever change your standards to suit the rabble.
Finally I would just like to wish you and yours, "A Happy
Peaceful and Prosperous New Year".

Keep up the good work.

If the carers were worried they would have reported her, not just gossipped to you!
Mind your own!

Additional Details

"..the matron.. thinks I'm just trouble making "
Okay my dear, you keep griping, and when you're out on your butt try and find another place of employment where the staff will be willing to work with you.
Go Girl Go, everybody loves a martyr!
"Allen B I don't think you know the implications"
How condescending, is this the way you interact with patients, you do not know me, you know nothing about me!
Carry on as you are at work and I feel you will soon learn the real implications to your job prospects, good luck with it!

You did the right thing! I hope the matron pulls her up on it anyway...it may give her a fright and stop her doing it in future.
Don't beat yourself up about it...peoples lives are at risk here x

You've absolutely done the best thing for everyone. Also, now you're covered from the political liability if she's to hurt someone with her negligence.

You'll ultimately be revered as the person who tried to intervene and prevent deadly situations.

Trust me, you did the right thing.

I work psych in the US and although some of the rules in our facility are relaxed a bit - it is still never okay for a nurse to sleep on duty unless on break and then only for the 30 minutes of that break.

I would say, don't give in. Be a little sneaky about it and get yourself out of the dog-house; the nurse in question will probably try to be on her best behavior for a bit, but won't be able to keep it up for long.

Try to determine when she sleeps and where on a regular basis, then oneday at random ask to speak to the matron about a personal issue - make something up - and ask her to meet you at that room, during that time.......

See? She will walk in, find the nurse snoozing for herself and be forced to act.

In the meantime, the care givers you mentioned would be on my ****-list for sometime to come.

I'm a nurse too and we arent allowed to sleep on duty...day or nights. sleeping beauty was obviously in the wrong but i know plenty of nurses who sleep on night duty and i have never reported them...basically because i know if i need them ,that they can easily be on hand! As you havent worked with this nurse, you shouldnt have taken the carers word for it...you had no proof and maybe thats why they see you as making trouble...you were brave to report her...i wouldnt have ,but next time make sure you have proof.

it's only a question of time before something happens and she'll get found out good & proper. Bide your time.

You need to go higher up. This is peoples lives we are talking here. Don't give up until something is done. At the end of the day, it will be your colleagues, that will be in trouble when the truth does come out. Maybe you should point this out to them.

Good luck & do not give up.

wow! I had a similar situation where the manager of our store was abusing her authority but even when she didnt pay us correctly I was the only one willing to stand up to her. It ruined my work environment. I tried everything from talking to my coworkers to talking to the area manager but it did no good. I eventually quite my job and moved on. Later I went back and found out they had finally transfered her to another store across the country but the damage had already been done. When lives are in danger, you are obligated to do all you can to prevent someone from being hurt. You did the right thing reporting it. Perhaps you can get some proof, like video tape, inviting the matron down during "nap" time etc. If not, you tried and maybe you need to move to a different facility where they care about the safety of their patients. Good Luck, I know how hard it is to cause waves where you have to work every day! You are brave for doing it and you will always have the knowledge that you did the right thing!

Your duty is first to the patients. At least you spoke up! If something happened you would feel bad for NOT speaking up. Now you are on record as to speaking out. I did that in my job (I refused to lie for my nursing home to the state investigators about a rape) and got fired!! I hope it turns out better for you because you did the right thing. Can you go back to the Matron and tell her that they all denied it becasue they were afraid? Maybe if you explained a bit more about your concens and their concens you wouldn't seem like a troublemaker (to her!!) good luck!

she should bloody well be fired. my grandfather was in hospital a couple of weeks ago and the nurse was so lazy and ill-tempered that i ended up having to change his sheets and tend to him myself!!!

You did the right thing friend. But who said doing the right thing is easy or that you'll be appreciated for it. One day things may not work out for her and she will be caught. Cheer up and keep doing the right thing. The world needs persons like you.

This is called "life experience".
I work in the "Caring community" and have found that basically what people tell you is sometimes NOT what they will tell anyone else for fear that it comes back to them and they are asked to back up those claims - and they can't!
What's happening is not right, you know it and I know it, BUT, unless you want to stir up a hornets nest, and probably get an undeserved reputation as "tittle tattle", - leave well alone safe in the knowledge that " what goes round, comes round" ( i.e. - she'll get caught out oneday!)
Carry on being concienscious in your duties and don't feel guilty.