Strange Co-worker?

[lateblumer]

One of my coworkers has me wanting to quit. She is very strange. She has made numerous med-errors, signs off treatments that she hasn't done, gives narcotics without signing them off, and then goes around telling everyone that she is a "strickly by the book nurse". All of the staff that works with her with the exception of our unit manager all think that there is something wrong with her. We try to get along with her for sake of teamwork, but she has a holier than thou attitude and cannot be approached about anything someone sees her do, or says she has done. She has a lot of issues related to our job yet is unable to compromise on ways to make things easy, right, or what ever the case may be. She has told many lies about our coworkers including myself, yet no disciplinary action is taken against her. I think the med-errors alone would be enough for her to lose her job, yet she is still employed with us.

I tried to change units, but that fell thru, so any suggestions?

[BadBird, BSN, RN]

Document what errors you have personal knowledge off, management can't get rid of her without documentation. Have the charge nurses keep a really close eye on her too.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Document, document, document. No one can do anything about ANY problem without adequate documentation. And if she's telling lies about anything consistent, keep notes for yourself so that you can refute any lies she tells about you. It's pretty hard to do that if she just lies in general. But if she's consistently lying about "so and so took a 45 minute break," or some such, then keeping your own records should allow you to defend yourself.

[Brownms46]

I'm always amazed at how those who really suk at their jobs, always seem to remain employed, to the detriment of everyone else. How does that work??? .

Yeah I believe this person probably does have a problem. And I agree with Badbird, start keeping records. And maybe all of you guys who see her as a problem, might need to confort her in as non threatening a way as possible, and let her know that you feel there is a problem. Maybe she will just leave:).

[lateblumer]

I have kept my own documentation for several months now. It seems that i keep writing down the same things, and our charge nurse is very aware of what she does too. For about a year now, he has had our unit clerk auditing everything that she is told to do, to see if she has been doing it. A lot of paperwork goes undone, yet our supervisor tells us she has everything under control. I am not really sure but i think that last weekend she gave a patient who isnt on b/p med, someone elses. While doing some investigating i came across his chart saying he was on 24 hour b/p monitoring. that never happened before and his roommate is on a lot of med for it. no one will talk and there was no disciplinary action for it, yet. Most of the time when I am at work I find myself wanting to do her job to ensure others safety and to know that the job was done right. I don't know what the rules for contacting the board of nursing is about some of the stuff she does, but some of my coworkers are talking that they are going to do just that. Any more suggestions?

[Katnip, RN]

Have everyone else document as well. If she's really a danger to patients, report her to the BON. That's your responsibility to protect patients from truly incompetent nurses.

[lateblumer]

how do i do that if those in the chain of command claim to have friends on the BON? I feel really afraid to step on any toes but yet i really feel like something needs to be done about her.

[Brownms46]

lateblumer, this person obviously has you concerned for pt. safety. It isn't your job to try and find out what is or isn't being actually done, but the fact that you have a strong, honest feeling that it is. Let the BON deal with it. And if there are those who work in the chain of command, who would use their influence, (if it is possible), then they need to go down with this person!

Seems like this person may have something on someone, but never the less, the pts. need to be protected, so let the chips fall where they may I say! I don't think you or your co-worker would be able to live with yourselves, if you did anything less than protect all the pts there. I sincerly hope this works out to the best interest of the pts.

Why not just call the BON, and discuss what your move should be. Maybe they can offer some options for you.

[lateblumer]

Thank You All for your help on this matter. Now I know that what I have been doing isn't enough to ensure the safety of my pts. Now I just need to contact the right people and see what I can do about her.

Now I know why I am a member of this site and this profession! Thanks Again!

[Katnip, RN]

Having friends in the BON will make no difference once a formal complaint is filed. They are trying to intimidate you because they're afraid they could be held liable for not getting rid of this person.

Get the other staff to work with you on this also. Don't wait until this nurse does irreperable harm.

[lateblumer]

Our place is supposed to have an open door policy. There are rumors that fly around there all the time tho. and rumors that a nurse is calling the board always warns our supervisor who calls the BON and speaks to her friend. Then this nurse always seems to get away with just a talking to. I am afraid of what I may be getting myself into, and then think about someones life could be at stake and i don't know what to do first.

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

She will eventually hang herself...and, sadly, probably at the expense of a patient. It just p----- me off to NO end, what you have to go through, to get rid of sorry people like this.