I made a severe mistake at work. I’m a NICU RN since 1984. I’d been shocked by hearing of racism among doctor’s that’s caused a life threatening birth, seeing a girl being in seizures due to not diagnosed brain hemorrhage (to protect the racist doctor to be reported for her wrongdoing) unseen because of a cloth covering the incubator, and hearing a colleague trained for adult ICU tell of new routines, not suitable in care of preterm babies been implemented without evaluation “just for her… doctor’s accepted it… we do it in PICU…”.
I was hit by a flight and run
reaction and mixed sodium solutions. I reported myself. At least four doctor’s
had done wrong to protect the one in Delivery Unit. They all jumped on me.
Doctor’s spread by all Swedish media
the brain bleeding was connected to the girl having an infusion 0.8 ml/ hour,
26 times over the normal saline ordered, for about 9 hours.
The saying was of the child to
develop “brain injury not suitable for a worthy life” whilst the child thrived
and didn’t show signs of what prominent doctor’s had claimed in TV sofas.
The parents were severely criticized
by people believing them to demand a brain dead child to be held alive by a
ventilator. Their names were known. Mine was not. I could not tell them the
truth as they really hated me pushed by people hating me and wanting me
dismissed.
At age 3 month the girl was sent
home with a note of her not to be taken to hospital if her health deteriorated.
After one week she returned to PICU in ambulance, in seizures. Apnea’s had
occurred from day 2 at home, in rising numbers through the days at home.
No one had excepted the child to
return to the hospital. A doctor as sent from PICU to NICU to support me
telling “we all saw she had the bleeding in the brain before your mistake”.
As the parents pressed hard to be
moved to another hospital MRI was performed to start the process of ending the
girls life. She was killed by morphine and thiopental by unknown.
The parents went to police. Their
question was “What happened to our child from she was dismissed from NICU till
we brought her to PICU. An ultrasound of the brain before dismissal showed no
change in brain volume since several weeks. When she arrived in PICU her brain
was completely erased”. My answer to that question is this: As valuating the
whole situation I find it someone probably infected the brain of the girl the
day she was sent home, for example by inserting a dirty needle in the brain by
the fontanelle, to give her an infection to cause the brain injury she was said
to have had, which she had never had. The note in her medical records of not to
be taken back was part of a plan she should die at home, autopsy should be
performed and I should be accused of causing her death in a legal trial.
Why was this happening to me after a
mistake that did not harm the child?
I came to Karolinska University
Hospital in 1996, while divorcing my husband, with 12 years NICU experience,
11 years as team leader for a night shift.
My education included LPN in
psychiatric care 1975, RN 1983, 1 year pediatric RN 1986 – NICU education by
University Linköping neonatologist, 1 week intensive education in NICU on
physician level by University Lund neonatologists 1988, 6 month part time NICU
education for pediatric RN’s by University Örebro neonatologist 1994 and 1991
I’d restudied the basic RN basic
education in American literature and managed to successfully complete the
CGFNS.
Already before starting to work at
Karolinska I’d heard rumors saying “the role of registered nurses does not
exist there, hygiene routines are very poor, all children receives sever blood
poisoning, research from Karolinska is worthless because of the lacking nursing
care”.
Week one in 1996 was a shocker. In
weeks to come the Head nurse called me to meetings telling of her frustration.
They knew something was lacking in their unit but not what.
In 1999 I made my first try to
become a section leader. An informal leadership of low educated RN’s gaining
power from relationship with doctor’s made me the main target for hate. My
higher education and much broader experience was experienced as a threat.
In 2001 and attempt was made to kill
a girl to frame me and get me dismissed. It failed.
In 2004 I was offered mentorship by
lecturer and professor to doctoral degree with an idea created by me of how to
lift a RN group carrying only 50 % of
knowledge by RN’s in the rest of Sweden. Another RN begged to be in the project
with me. They broke her completely.
She had over 2 year sick leave. I lost power for some month,
thereafter, started studying Nursing science and after three years also
Organisation and leadership whilst applying for to become a head nurse.
Applications “disappeared” at two occasions.
In 2007 I was called for a 1-hourinterview with the two dominating doctor’s. I tried to explain to them Stockholm NICU care was outdated, both external and internal education was outdated, not suitable for e modern University Clinic. I presented the plan I’d had already in 2003 to go in and by using a technique developed by me while Walraffing their unit for years, to develop a modern leading well-functioning super unit. I had strong but hidden support.
The reaction by the leading doctor’s became to me the definitive proof for them not even being close to wish to give good enough care to the babies, born from gestation week 22. Their aim was to feed their research by causing the babies the injuries they wanted to study as was it a research factory.
Lung injuries were created by using antique equipment for
inhalation and buying ventilators known to damage preemies lungs. Infections
was given by forbidding disinfection of incubators, to reuse equipment by
normal hospitals seen to be for one-time-use. By thereafter not treating
infections known to pass to the brain due to not functioning blood-brain
barrier with antibiotics that doesn’t pass BBB, brain injuries was inducted.
Also, by ordering too low oxygenation levels for enough blood flow in the
mesentery a lot of babies developed necrotizing enterocolitis and needed
surgery, often twice. This fact was used to persuade Board of Health and
welfare all babies under gestation week 28 needed care in a clinic with
pediatric surgical unit. To add to numbers of children with damaged intestines
in the country one doctor fought hard to persuade units with no pediatric surgery to stop adding Heparin in the neutral saline 9 mg/ ml (which I mixed with
sodium 4 mml/ ml) in the umbilical catheters. It’s known blood cloths are to
attach to the tip of the catheters. This can be seen by eye when blood samples
are drowned from the lines. By stopping the use of heparin in all lines also
babies elder than week 27 had to be sent to Karolinska for surgery.
In 2008 Karolinska Institute lost
its rights to examine RN’s at base level education due to “low scientific standards”. My doctors
might have suspected me to have alarmed Board of higher education. I had not. I
knew Karolinska education was seen as a shame in the country.
Asked if this was not a bit
embarrassing the principle answered in 2008:
- When we talk about being Europe's
leading medical university, it is above all the research part you measure. The
most urgent thing now is to take care of those who are worried and upset about
this decision, says Harriet Wallberg-Henriksson.
She also says:
- We think it is very good that the
Swedish National Agency for Higher Education places high demands. It is only to
be regretted that we have not finished our improvement work. The staff has done
a fantastic job but has not quite reached it…
She had no clue of what she was
talking about.
A rise of Swedish education for
registered nurses had been decided in “Vård 1977”.
A rise in teachers' education had
started before 1980 to lift the educational system for RN’s from senior high
school to university level. One part was for the teachers to mentor nurse’s to
be in research leading to Bachelor's degree.
I’d gotten my BSc in 1986 in a
period of transition.
RN’s with older education was lifted scientifically in adding education such as
pediatrics, anesthesia, psychiatry, and more.
Mine and two more pediatric RN’s to
be, included litterateur studies, interviews with staff caring for children with
cancer and a questionnaire to parents of children with cancer.
From early-mid 1990’s all Swedish nursing colleges and
universities required a scientific study, a regular study of Swedish nurses'
older experience-based knowledge on base level. From 1995, it was required that
older nurses should upgrade their knowledge by a year-long education in nursing
science finished with a 15-point bachelor's thesis. Previously written thesis's had lower scores and was seen of so low level an upgrade was required.
In 2008 the principal of Karolinska Institute, what should have
been the initiator, the stronghold of Swedish Nursing Science had NOT upgraded
education at base level and has NEVER given the upgrade for its older RN’s that
had in Jönköping started in 1995 or 1996.
I was in the first course and
participated in all lectures and read the literature, ethics, whilst my marriage
deteriorated as another woman, according to her husband, wanted our
family’s “exciting and varied life, all your travels and your cozy motorhome”.
In 2009 the Pediatric Clinic of Jönköping, where I’d
been a leading night RN in role as had I been a NNP (neonatal nurse
practitioner) after Lund education, was awarded notification as “Swedish
quality” as first unit in healthcare to ever get this award.
The clinic is rewarded for "a
well-established and efficient business system and a strong quality
culture". The process-oriented approach and the committed and open
leadership are also highlighted in the motivation.
https://www.dagensmedicin.se/artiklar/2009/11/30/barnklinik-prisas-for-kvalitet/
This was where I have my roots,
which I wanted to transfer to Karolinska NICU.
