Like a lot of new Nurses, delegating hasn't come easy to me. I worked as an NAII throughout nursing school and busted my rear to help the Nurses in anyway possible. I did anything they asked (as long as it was within my scope of practice). Even Nurses that were much younger than me, I respected their position of authority (they were the Nurse, I wasn't).
Most of the techs on my floor are very good at what they do, delegating usually isn't necessary - they know what is expected of them and they do it (really helpful bunch). Unfortunately, I've run into a couple who seem to have major chips on their shoulders and one of them takes the cake - she's just plain nasty. At first I had no idea who she was or if she was even an employee - everytime I saw her she was sitting down eating, on the phone, surfing the net, etc. It took me a few weeks to realize that she's a tech. on my hall and was supposed to be helping me out. She does the bare minimum, then makes herself "very scarce" the rest of the shift. I worked a few night shifts with her (she seems to love that shift - spends most of it nodding at the nurses station) - easy money I guess, get paid to sleep.
The first time I asked her to do something (change a wet bed), she gave me a disgusted look, mumbled something under her breath and suggested I do it to get the experience. OMG, I've changed so many stinky sheets, it's the last thing I need experience in. Not that it's beneath me - I still make up several a day, but I was very busy giving out meds and she was sitting on her throne eating a bag of chips.
Anyways, the few times I asked her for help after that, got rude comments, dirty looks and eventually stopped asking her - just did whatever it was myself. The problem is, I have major time-mgmt problems when she's my tech because I'm doing my job and hers. I hate confrontations and since I'm new, didn't want to ruffle any feathers. I told my Preceptor tonight that a tech was giving me a hard time - she immediately said - you mean "X", yah, don't take it personally and basically said she was useless and hated everyone. She said she even gives the Mgr. grief at times. She's even extremely unpleasant to the patients - I have no clue what she's doing working around sick people with that rotten attitude.
I don't care who she hates, what her problem is - this is an extremely busy floor and I Need Help. You know that old saying "kill them with kindness" - I tried that, I think it made her worse. I'm running myself ragged trying to do everything and not sure how long I can keep this up without blowing my top. I can't delegate tasks to "someone I can't even find"... I've heard lots of others have had issues with her - but for some reason, she still has a job, so I'm not going to the Mgr. about it. I'm at my wits end, and would appreciate any suggestions on how to get some work out of someone like this? Sorry for the length, it was a very, very long night with her and I had to blow off some steam. :angryfire
