[CapeCodMermaid]

So in walks the agency nurse this afternoon. She had 15 patients to take care of. Once she heard one of the patients had a PICC line to flush, she freaked out and called her agency to try to find a replacement.
PICC lines are pretty basic stuff. I asked her why she was 'uncomfortable' and she told me she wasn't certified in IV's. Jumpin' Jehosaphats!!! An agency nurse is supposed to be able to jump in to any situation. It's a sub acute unit for goodness sakes and they send me an LPN with no IV certification.
Is this usual for agency nurses to be so skittish about assignments? I worked for an agency years ago and we were expected to be able to handle most anything in LTC/SNF.

[caliotter3]

All I can say is if she is skittish, she is skittish. It is something to do with her as an individual, not agency nurses in general. But my observation of agency nurses that I observed in LTC, was that there were many who did not possess basic skills. They were very obviously not suited for their jobs. This is what happens when agencies hire anyone who walks in off the street. Usually due to lack of experience, although have also met people working for agencies that were obviously just all around poor employees with reputations of having been let go from every full time job they held. Some of these people also displayed poor attitudes. I wondered how even the agencies put up with them.

[bigredrn57]

Why was this nurse alowed on such a unit? It sounds like management wanted a warm body. She was also probably paid less than a qualified RN. It is also obvious the LPN did not know what she was getting into. Whose fault is that? As far as attitudes go. I find it interesting to note that agency usually end up working in areas with an endemic morale problem. The problem is already there or there would not be a need for agency.

[CapeCodMermaid]

Yah---the nursing shortage doesn't have anything to do with it. We could all go through the day singing and helping eachother out and we STILL wouldn't have enough nurses to staff the building. Morale does not play that big a part

[KaroSnowQueen]

I can't get past the 15 patients part!!!! Tell me this is in an LTC and not in acute care!!!!

[CapeCodMermaid]

SNF. sub acute

[Haunted]

Originally Posted by KaroSnowQueen

I can't get past the 15 patients part!!!! Tell me this is in an LTC and not in acute care!!!!

I second that! But even in a SNF 15 patients sounds like a lot. Also, I didn't know LVN's could flush PICCS. But, good for the agency nurse for being upfront from the beginning and making that call.

[susan farmer]

Flushing PICC lines is outside the licensure of an LVN and LPN. She totally did the right thing to try to leave. You should become familiar with scopes of practice before asking registry to do something, and then blaming them for not doing it (when they are right in not doing so).

[CapeCodMermaid]

Unless you know the practice acts from all 50 states, I suggest you stop giving advice about it. In this state, LPN's in long term care do everything RN's do except pronouncement of death.
Perhaps she should not work for an agency if her skills are so limited. Or at least take the initiative BEFORE accepting the assignment (and the keys) to find out which unit she will be on.
This particular nurse also said she doesn't 'do' admissions. Anything in YOUR practice act about that?!?

[Altra]

There are states where LPNs are unable to do initial assessments in LTC - thus not being able to "do" admissions.

The fault here is not with this nurse. Somewhere between HR at your facility and the recruiter at the agency, communication broke down re: the specific requirements of the position. I don't see this as a case of "skittishness" - just a poor mismatch. This is what comes from the "a nurse is a nurse is a nurse" mentality so often prevalent in nursing management which ends up treating nursing professionals as day laborers.