Should I complain about this nurse

[AprilF00L]

or just let it go?

My very vulnerable, very elderly neighbour fell in his house recently and was treated in his home by paramedics.

Today as I was rushing out to an appointment a district nurse approached me and said that she was there to visit my neighbour but he wasn't in/ This really alarmed me due to his vulnerabilities and physical state. I asked if she'd looked in all the rooms and she said she had. I got her phone number to contact her after my appt.

On my return an hour later I came across her again. She told me that she had returned to see if my neighbour had returned home.

He'd never been out. He was sleeping in bed. She lied. She hadn't looked in every room. He could have been dead for all she knew.7

I'm so annoyed at her lying. So unprofessional. AIBU to report her.

I’m speechless.

Poor nurse.

Just so you know for future reference- the hospital, care agency and social workers and district nurses all use different online systems and don’t automatically have access to the keysafe number unless specifically given to that dept don’t assume it’s passed around as that’s breach off GDPR.

How on earth do you know such sensitive information about your neighbour?

OP's username is interesting.

If she was skiving why would she come back an hour later?

Oh for goodness sake. Of course the NMC wouldn’t be remotely interested. This nurse evidently knocked on the door, rang the bell and looked in the various available window and couldn’t see the chap. She then got accosted by a busybody and gave her a diluted version of the above and came back in an hour to follow up. What exactly do you think the regulator would care about?

A key safe means naff all unless you know the code and if she’s going to go to the trouble of coming back in an hours time, thus doubling her workload for this particular patient, if she had proper access don’t you think she might have, I don’t know, used it?!

OP you have absolutely no idea if this nurse had proper access to the house, back off and beak out.

She told me she would come back after she had visited someone else in the area - to "see if he returned".

Tbh OP, it sounds like you need to get yourself a hobby.

And she did. What's your point?

She made a mistake like humans sometimes do.

Sorry but there is something about your story that doesn’t add up. No nurse would deliberately avoid trying to find a client in their home then return and pretend not to find them again an hour later. It just doesn’t make sense. And frankly you sound a bit unhinged.

Me too, you are looking to get someone into trouble OP, the nurse went back, you do not know the circumstances and the poor nurse does not owe you a explanation.

I think you have a bit of a cheek to be quizzing anyone really.

Look at the username, this is either a wind up or the OP suits the second part of the user name.

This! I'm a mental health nurse, and people within one team rarely record a key safe number somewhere everyone can find it easily.

I'd also feel a bit uncomfortable looking through every room in someone's house without just cause. It could be that a relative had taken him out or anything.

I work with over 65's, and I've had plenty of occasions where people haven't answered doors and I've come back later on, after looking through windows. Then if there's still no answer,you start getting in touch with family, etc.

So she's a woman of her word.

What's wrong with you?

When my relative was on end of life care, the carers (local authority) had the key safe number, the nursing teams (nhs) didn’t. Different policies, different IT systems, different patient/client records.
So as per pp your faith in joined up agency working is misplaced.

I’m a doctor who regularly visits patients in their homes, along with a nurse, and occasionally we get neighbours asking questions… we are deliberately vague and never give them any info, as they’ve no right to it. Some of what we say may be contradictory or inconsistent, not because we’re not doing our jobs but because the patient has a right to confidentiality.

Oh stop it for heavens sake.

Why is the first thought to come into peoples heads 'I must report this'.

No you don't. You get on with your life and your life only. The nurse ended up seeing your neighbour. You think she lied? You probably got more information than you should have done anyway. She doesn't have to answer to you!

Who do you think you are?! Sort yourself out.

She was concerned enough to return and check. That sounds like someone who cares, to me. I'm not sure why there's all this argument about keysafes, it's absolutely routine for healthcare staff to have the key safe number on the patient notes.

I used to be a district nurse, they are only allowed to use a key safe if they have permission from the person, this permission can be withdrawn at any time. If it is used without this, it is breaking the law and the nurse could be prosecuted for breaking in. The only people who have powers that override this are the police. One example is my neighbour who died last year, we knew she was inside, either incapacitated or had passed away, paramedics had to wait 2 hours for the police to turn up before they could enter the home.
Sounds like this nurse acted appropriately. Nurses have limited time, limited resources and people are often out when they are expecting visits and this wastes SO much time. In my old team, we wouldn’t even go back, simply pop a slip through the door asking the person to ring when they returned. The fact she went back a second time is going above and beyond and if you reported this nurse then quite frankly you would be laughed out of the door. How ridiculous.

Definitely complain about her because what this country needs right now are lots and lots more complaints about NHS staff.
That'll teach em.
And when they all finally break and quit under the fucking ridiculous amounts of pressure.. we will.....?
Do what exactly?

Why is the default setting of so many people "complain".

Another DN here. Agree with all of the above. We rarely go back if the patient isn’t there.

We are not allowed to record keys safe numbers on a gp practice system or in the notes for security reasons.
Op is complete nonsense and just trying to boost their ego by complaining.
Do it Op !
They will just put your complaint bullshit in the bin