[bollweevil]

Originally Posted by psychnurse1998

Thanks, glad someone has experience something similar to me. One place I worked, I was running late on my meds and treatments. I got by,
and even got called to return, but I refused assignment to protect my license. Sometimes people want to help but cant. And sometimes people do help.

But as others have posted it takes a special nurse to jump into a totally new facility and feel safe doing it. I guess I am not that special nurse. I guess this is the reason regular staff would not be willing to help, they probably expect you to not need much assistance.

I think regular staff sometimes don't help a brand new-to-their-hospital agency nurse is that maybe they think you don't need help. But I've also heard staff nurses say that they resent the higher pay the agency nurse is getting or they are overwhelmed by life or their work or they are sick or they just whatever.

[BrokenRNheart]

Originally Posted by denicu

Actually Linda Aiken who did the BSN vs AD research -"pt had better outcome with BSN graduates" also did a research on temp/agency nurse vs staff and reports there are no differences in nursing care . I have been doing agency nursing for the last 6 years and the change from staffing is the best decision I have made in my nursing career-better pay, schedule etc. But it is important to me that whatever hospital i am assigned to work - its in my best interest to know the policies and procedures of that hospital. I am proud to say my nursing care is the same-no difference as a agency or staff nurse. I have seen poor nursing care given by both staff and agency nurses.

Over the years I have seen way more quality agency nurses. They have been very sharp and respected and accepted as part of the team. I remember one with a personality that seemed totally labile and psychotic and she was one of the sharpest nurses I know. While she was loud and crazy, we loved her. We accepted her.

I can tell you also that one of my recent experiences was regular staff NOT working and only float and agency doing quality care. That hospital is under extreme staffing issues and they don't get it. They want to be a Magnet Hospital.....ain't gonna happen. But they don't want to hear it from a nurse that cares or works. They are too busy listening to the bodies that cause patient dissatisfaction and take it out on the agency nurses they so desperately need and beat to death. Cover up is a BIG game there. I was also just called by a friend who told me of one of her friends that was just a patient there and said the care was aweful. I know that.

[Jynell]

Okay, the first thing that I see with this case is that it is on SuperBowl Sunday. How many nurses were working? They must have been understaffed, esp since there was an agency nurse working in the first place.
Second, we do not know the particular circumstances that were taking place at this time. It is an emergency room, and there could have been an "emergency" going on. This man would not be on my top priority if there was an "ABC" issue next to him. There could have been any number of patients with acute problems of breathing, circulation, etc... get the picture?
Now, I have worked Neuro for a while, and have had my share of confused patients. It only takes a minute for some confused person to get out of bed. There should have been one-on-one care if this was going to be an issue, or the family should have stayed until they actually took the patient to ICU. I'm not sure, but I have not seen any bed alarms in the ER. A bed alarm is the first line of protection in this case. It was never stated, but the top siderails were probably up x 2. There could have been 3. With 4 rails up (seizure precautions) it usually calls for restraints to be ordered. That's the way in my facility. 4 rails up with pads are restraints.
Finally, this may be the most important role in a situation like this. The doctor has to share blame here!!! He/she should not try to cover his/her A** with such an order ( Check on him more often ) What kind of order is this? . If there was any concern for safey or need for frequent monitoring, then a personal sitter should have been ordered. Nurses are NOT personal sitters, especially in an ER. This could have happened to any nurse, not just an agency nurse.

[rentalnurse]

I think everyone should be sending Bob an email and clog his inbox with our responses to his lame article. Ive been an agency nurse for over 7 yrs and a traveler too. Ive seen the good and the bad in both agency and staff. It is so easy to blame the agency nurse but there are more parties at fault here than the article shows. I did ER hold in one facility and had to tell the charge nurse I wouldnt take another patient since i had 3 icu patients and 2 floor patients. Agency nurses did all the admitting paperwork just like the floor. this all changed when the staff had to start taking them too suddenly the paperwk was cut in half. I got DNR from one facility when i told them how dangerous thir floor was.