What should happen to a medical professional who has been caught for violating safety and standards (and common sense)? Should they: 1) be suspended immediately without pay pending an investigation, 2) resign from their position, 3) face possible criminal charges, or 4) all of the above? The correct answer in this case is all of the above. In a seemingly unbelievable display of unprofessionalism, dangerous practice, and utter lack of concern for her patients, Nurse Qui Lan of Fort Lauderdale was caught reusing patient’s I.V. equipment, including the sharing of needles.
Though complete employment screening and criminal background searches are done prior to medical staff being hired, over 1800 patients are affected by this nurse’s health and safety violations. All are now facing the possibility that they’ve been exposed to deadly diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. These instances occurred during chemical stress tests on patients in the cardiac ward of the Broward General Medical Center. Cathy Meyer, the spokeswoman for the center stated that “It’s heartbreaking to every employee here.” Further, Meyer stated that the nurse “was aware that she was doing this. It’s no different than changing a sheet or BandAid. This is what nurses go into nursing school for.”
Nurse Lan was employed at the facility for nearly 6 years, and it is unknown if it is hospital policy to do infinity screening, or ongoing employment screening and criminal background searches for current employees. According to the patient files, they have urged all 1851 former patients to get tested (at the hospital’s expense) for blood-transmittable diseases. The hospital found out that the incidents were occurring thanks to an anonymous caller who reported seeing the nurse reusing saline bags and needles while performing the chemical stress tests.
She was suspended pending an investigation, but resigned. The hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, Alice Taylor, said that after she questioned the nurse about her actions, she admitted that she should have used new equipment with each new patient. When Taylor asked the nurse why she didn’t, she received no answer. CNN reported that the hospital has already been bombarded with over 600 callers and have personally met with 30 former patients. The question on everyone’s minds is: “if patients test positive for incurable diseases from the nurse’s actions, what will be done?” The hospital also added that the risk for patients was “low” based on the patient population seen in the cardiac unit.
In case there will be criminal charges against the nurse, the police have been called in to investigate. “We are investigating to see whether or not there was a crime that was committed,” said Sgt. Frank Sousa, one of the police detectives on the case from the Fort Lauderdale PD. If criminal charges are brought against her, it is impossible to speculate just how many could potentially occur. Since hepatitis and HIV can both also be passed to another through unprotected sexual contact, infected patients may not be the only ones affected by this nurse’s careless actions.
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