[AmberL&D/RN]

Just want to throw an incident out there to get some feedback on whether or not I am over reacting...
This hospital I am working at staffs 1 L&D nurse, 1 nursery nurse and 1 PP nurse on nights. Days has 3 L&D nurses and the rest of the staff the same. They have one dayshift nurse that comes in at 0530, I thought to help get the inductions ready. Here is the situation... I had one patient all night, then at 0430 primip comes in huffing and a blowing, doing great! 0500 I am trying to get IV, table, ya know, all the goodies ready for her. The day shift nurse comes in at 0500, and two inductions start rolling in the door at 0530. Prior to them getting there I had pulled all the papers, prenatal, filled out as much as I could with the info on the prenatal, started the delivery papers, etc and put them all inside a chart (not in the brackets) I had also pulled all the things for each ones IV, catheter, fluid, etc and had the rooms set and ready. SSSOOOO>>> I am kinda busy with this one that walked in in labor and the day nurse is sitting right in the middle of the nurses station and says to me...you know...you should have had these IV's spiked and primed, Pit mixed and spiked and primed and everything hanging in the room so all I had to do was go in ans start the IV." Later I found out that she had said to the PP nurse that the admission papers should have been more completely filled out with all the papers in their respective dividers. When she made the comment to me I could feel my blood start to boil. All I could say to her was "I'll do what I can" I felt like the NERVE of her, here I am trying to get things ready for this delivery and she says something like that. I told her I didn't routinely mix up meds for a pt. that wasn't here yet and I walked off. She had also said to the PP nurse "I wonder what {the director} would think...two agency nurses here all night doing nothing" (the PP nurse is also agency) I had pretty much done all I felt I could do for these patients seeing that they weren't even here yet. She routinely gets a pat on the back for being so quick in getting the inductions started. Now I know how she does it. She has the other nurses so afraid of her rath that they fill out all the papers and I mean everything on the admission down to "lungs clear to auscultation bilatarelly"!!!! before the patient even arrives! I have a real problem with that. My dileema is now Do I confront her about it now that my blood is only simmering? Also, her comments have made me not want to do a gosh darn thing before the pt gets there. SO... do I continue and do the things that I can do or do I go above and beyond and do what SHE expects? I don't have a problem doing what I am able to do but if I have someone in labor they do take precedence over an elective induction. Part of me thinks ya know, I am not gonna do s%#t for her, then the other part says, you really need this contract don't blow it suck it up and do it
PLEASE HELP

[unknown99]

This nurse gets by with all that???
Does the day nurses that come in later not realize this??
You have 3 options:
1) Keep putting up with it
2) Talk with her, but by the sounds of it, it will not help.
3) Talk to the unit manager. Explain everything that she does and how you feel anout it. More than likely, it would help the most to talk with the manager.
I wish you luck!!!

[fergus51]

I would continue to do what is safe and reasonable. I have never been employed where we were allowed to document assessments without having seen a patient! Every hospital I have worked at required the nurse to mix her own pit and have it signed by another nurse. I would not start an IV with meds I had not seen mixed! Next time she says you should have filled out the paperwork more, ask her what exactly she means (as long as you don't have a patient that needs you at the time). If she says it should all be filled out, simply point out that you can not document an assessment you haven't done or leave a patient that needs you. Do the same for the IVs.

This is the main reason I couldn't stay in a rural area. I am spoiled by having all other the staff around.

[ktwlpn]

[quote][i]the day nurse is sitting right in the middle of the nurses station and says to me...you know...you should have had these IV's spiked and primed, Pit mixed and spiked and primed and everything hanging in the room so all I had to do was go in ans start the IV."QUOTE] Sounds like a bully to me-she was sitting there while you were running around like a chicken after it's head has been cut-off? Don't let her get away with talking to you in that manner....Come back with something like" You should get off your azz and do something" Do what you can for the next shift and hope that others treat you the same way but stand up for yourself when you run into a bully....

[L&D_RN_OH]

I think you should continue to do what you are able to, but I wouldn't go above and beyond. Tell her you are happy to help as you can, but when there are other pts on the floor, your help may be limited. I would also talk to the nurse manager about the situation.

This nurse really should be repsonsible for her own assessments and meds.

And just curious, why do inductions need catheters?

[imenid37]

I'd go to the manager and ask the pp nurse to come too. Yes, your agency needs the contract, but the hospital obviously needs nurses or they would not staff 2/3 agency nurses on a shift. I'd also call your agency. Maybe they can talk to the nurse manager too. No one, agency or staff should have to put up w/ this cr*p from some battle axe.

[AmberL&D/RN]

LD_RN_OH... That was a typo between "IV" and "catheter", shouldn't have been a coma. I meant IV catheter.
Thanks for the feedback, I thought maybe I was just being sensitive and feeling defensive. I have spoken with some of the other nurses on nights and they have a dislike for the way she is about the inductions but no one will say anything. I will probably just keep my mouth shut but continue to practice within my scope of responsibility

[MandyInMS]

Ask her if she needs to use the restroom...when she asks why..mention that you thought she may need someone to wipe her @ss for her since she is obviously incapable of doing anything for herself .....sorry, smartarse mode hit me....I can't stand lazy,griping people..blehhhhhh

[BETSRN]

I think what you are doing is reasonable. You were busy with a patient wo needed you more than doing stuff for the next shift. I would do two things: talk to the manager about these issues (you can do that without being confrontatinal) and I would talk to this particular nurse AFTER you hae talked to the manager (so the manager has a handle on this in case this nurse decided to go back to the manager to score points).

This is the kind of nurse no one needs to have around. She needs a wake-up call.

[BETSRN]

I am sorry but I have to add something else. I reread your post. This nurse writes out assessments on the patien before they even get there????? Excuse me, but I think that' grounds for a complaint right there! I wouldn' be comfortable with that, either and I would definitely mantion that to your manager and the agency!