I just wanted to know if any other agency nurses have been put on a DNR list in the past. I have been an agency nurse for 3 years and go mainly to one hospital and once in a while to their sister hospital. The one hospital I work for I've have no problems with in 3 years of contributing 16-40 hours/week consistantly. I went to the sister hospital last Saturday for a double and I was beyond dumped on. My assignment was split between two halls (of course I was the only one). I had 6 patients that were "problem" patients per the other nurses. Between 7am and 7pm I was given a 30 minute break, thats all. Finally, at 7pm when I was thinking of going to lunch, the charge announced that she was giving me an admit (after being told agency doesn't take admits). I had just finished discharging one patient and was down to 5.
I was upset and didn't yell, but said "you're giving me an admit? I have to go to lunch first. I'll take it, but I'm telling you I am leaving here at 11:30pm and whatever isn't completed, the other nurse will have to pick up". The admit was cancelled. Then the charge was upset because I was on a remote tele floor and had a problem pt later that night. The doc ordered labetalol IVP 10mg now. If no drop in SBP, double and give 20mg. If still no drop, double and give 40mg. I of course being a med/surg nurse and not tele certified said I was not comfortable with this. The house supervisor was called and said to have the charge nurse (who consequently did my eval) give it. The charge was not happy and ended up giving it. By the end of the night I apologized to the charge nurse and I really did feel terrible. I think I was overwhelmed to say the least and this led to my most unprofessional behavior. First ever in 6 years of professional nursing. I am embarassed and ashamed to say the least, but know my agency says that the hospital I've been going to for 3 years without problem won't take me because they go off of the same list.
I guess my only other alternative is to go to another agency, since my agency services a different area than what I live in. I guess it'll be better to work closer to home, but still, it's not a black mark I wanted.
If you've ever had this and can offer any advice I'd appreciate it.
