What is your biggest nursing pet peeve?

Kitkat23 · Feb 24, 2005

By working as a pool aide, student aide, and a hospital volunteer; I've developed a pet peeve about certain CNAs. The call bell will be going off and the aides will be nearby and they'll snap, "That's not my patient! You get it!" or "I'm going on break! I need to smoke my cigarette!" I've been always preached by my CNA instructor that when you're an aide, the wing is yours; always get the call bell; even if it's not your assigned patient. "The patients belong to all the CNAs!" is what she always said. It makes me so mad that their dumb cigarette break is more important than a patient needing help. :angryfire

Good_Queen_Bess · Feb 24, 2005

I hate it when a nurse call goes off and you are busy and nurses are sat at the nursing station doing nothing and ignore it!

"It's not my patient": So? Or they are lazy people who always avoid buzzers, or pretend to be busy. Or in "in charge" so "can't possibly move" from the nursing station. Have you noticed it tends to be always be the same people who do this and when there are ward meetings, it is mentioned yet again (no names obviously), but nothing happens.

BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN · Feb 24, 2005

because we "didn't take pictures of her" to prove that she was indeed asleep, we had no "real proof" that she was asleep.
:angryfire

so can we take pictures of our co-workers in 'action' (that was my exact thought as i was reading the begining of your post)? "cause i'll pack my camera in my work bag right now!! or is that some kind of violation of 'her' privacy?? un-frickin-believable!!!! :angryfire :angryfire

happthearts · Feb 24, 2005

I hate the "When will I be seen?", or "why did you take that patient before my daughter"...daughter in for nausea/vomiting, guy I took clutching at chest, diaphoretic, can hardly speak. on...I love the ER its just crazy sometimes!

I had just the opposite happen My Home health PT was haveing the attack and they took the PT with flu /cold .Go figure cause they were there first . I had spoke with the nurse at the desk .I finally spoke with a nurse inside just going inside and told her what the vitals were and my PT went right in.

Lazy nurses who figures they can set all shift and expect to pass the buck or have you help them .

In home health I would have to say the nurse or aide who can't follow a care of plan,doesn't report the changes plan and doesn't show up.Then they think this is perfectaly acceptable.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2005

This is minor but still a peeve...Not restocking the treatment carts with supplies or refilling the med carts. Years back as a new nurse I remeber an older LPN tore me a new one for not cleaning and restocking the med cart with cups, spoons etc. I don't expect much, just empty your trash...I will stock my cart first thing.

TBLPN, LPN · Feb 24, 2005

BIGGEST: "Oh, that's NOT my patient"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drives me insane!!!!!!!!!!!:angryfire

LPN1974, LPN · Feb 25, 2005

One of my pet peeves are nurses who will do write overs on the narcotic books, going over entries other nurses have made to make corrections.

I HATE that. If something needs correcting the nurse who made the error should correct it, and lined thru, never written over.

Kitkat23 · Feb 28, 2005

:angryfire My other pet peeve is when nurses try to get CNAs to pass meds or turn off feeding tube and IV alarms. Or mess with oxygen tank dials. One time when I was a pool aide, one of the nurses asked me to give a resident her aspirin, since she was busy. I told her firmly that I was an aide and couldn't give out meds. She got snappy with me and said, "It's only Advil! I have tons of paperwork to do." But she did it anyway.

Then I was at another facilty as a pool aide, and one nurse expected me to shut off the feeding tube alarm. She claimed I bothered her when I was busy; she was filing her nails at the nurses station. I wasn't going to risk my license to turn off the feeding tube alarm. Heck, she went to nursing school to learn how to turn off alarms and determine the problem. It's her job, not mine. I wasn't going to risk losing my license. My CNA instructor always said, "If it's out of your scope of practice, don't do it." Doing skills out of the scope of practice in clinical could get the student aide kicked out of the course. :angryfire

mamabear · Feb 28, 2005

:angryfire My other pet peeve is when nurses try to get CNAs to pass meds or turn off feeding tube and IV alarms. Or mess with oxygen tank dials. One time when I was a pool aide, one of the nurses asked me to give a resident her aspirin, since she was busy. I told her firmly that I was an aide and couldn't give out meds. She got snappy with me and said, "It's only Advil! I have tons of paperwork to do." But she did it anyway.
Then I was at another facilty as a pool aide, and one nurse expected me to shut off the feeding tube alarm. She claimed I bothered her when I was busy; she was filing her nails at the nurses station. I wasn't going to risk my license to turn off the feeding tube alarm. Heck, she went to nursing school to learn how to turn off alarms and determine the problem. It's her job, not mine. I wasn't going to risk losing my license. My CNA instructor always said, "If it's out of your scope of practice, don't do it." Doing skills out of the scope of practice in clinical could get the student aide kicked out of the course. :angryfire

Excellent advice! However, aspirin and Advil are not the same. Aspirin is, well, aspirin. Advil is ibuprofen :coollook:

Kitkat23 · Feb 28, 2005

Excellent advice! However, aspirin and Advil are not the same. Aspirin is, well, aspirin. Advil is ibuprofen

:uhoh21: Oops, my bad. Aspirin is white, like Bayer or Tylenol. Advil is ibuprofen and so is Motrin IB. That nurse asked me to give a resident her aspirin and when I refused politely; she snapped, "It's only advil!" I forget that advil isn't aspirin. I do take it a lot during flus, colds, and headaches. Motrin is good too. But aides should never administer meds at all; especially advil and ibuprofen. :angryfire I guess nurses love to test aides; especially the new ones out of school.

Kitkat23 · Mar 1, 2005

:angryfire What makes me mad is that I've seen aides cut corners and use shortcuts. As a pool aide, my short week in a nursing home, and my hospital volunteer job, I've seen them throw dirty linens on the floor, do pericare and linen change without gloves, or they use the same gloves for the next patient. They either don't wash their hands or wash them improperly. I've gotten fired last May at a nursing home for not going "fast enough" on third shift. For god's sake, I've only been there a week; that's not giving me a chance. I was still a rookie.

Plus after a few days; I was picking up speed and getting with the system. I was doing my rounds in 20-45 minutes. The time I took 45 minutes was when I had a resident with 4 bouts of diarrhea. I had to clean her 4 times and do 2 total beds on her. She was covered in it and it took awhile. The aide who was training me was always picking on me; saying I was too slow and that rounds are 10-15 minutes. She admitted that she leaves residents who are wet/soiled again for the next round!

She got me fired after a week saying I couldn't pick up and I was too slow. I was just doing my job and the right thing. I wished I brought up my rude trainer to the supervisor. She had made me dumb and uncomfortable, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to look like a troublemaker or something. Plus the DON said rounds are 10 minutes on grave shift and that was final.

I've heard the stories from aides saying that if they didn't "shortcut", that their rounds would take forever. I hear the best way to gain speed is experience and repetition of quality care, not cutting corners. Cutting corners could hurt a resident, the aide, and cause infections. I think that's a pet peeve and I just want to do the right thing as an aide and when I become a PCT. :angryfire I went to CNA school to give proper care, not neglect patients. :angryfire

NurseFirst · Mar 1, 2005

:angryfire what makes me mad is that i've seen aides cut corners and use shortcuts. as a pool aide, my short week in a nursing home, and my hospital volunteer job, i've seen them throw dirty linens on the floor, do pericare and linen change without gloves, or they use the same gloves for the next patient. they either don't wash their hands or wash them improperly. i've gotten fired last may at a nursing home for not going "fast enough" on third shift. for god's sake, i've only been there a week; that's not giving me a chance. i was still a rookie.
plus after a few days; i was picking up speed and getting with the system. i was doing my rounds in 20-45 minutes. the time i took 45 minutes was when i had a resident with 4 bouts of diarrhea. i had to clean her 4 times and do 2 total beds on her. she was covered in it and it took awhile. the aide who was training me was always picking on me; saying i was too slow and that rounds are 10-15 minutes. she admitted that she leaves residents who are wet/soiled again for the next round!
she got me fired after a week saying i couldn't pick up and i was too slow. i was just doing my job and the right thing. i wished i brought up my rude trainer to the supervisor. she had made me dumb and uncomfortable, but i didn't say anything because i didn't want to look like a troublemaker or something. plus the don said rounds are 10 minutes on grave shift and that was final.
i've heard the stories from aides saying that if they didn't "shortcut", that their rounds would take forever. i hear the best way to gain speed is experience and repetition of quality care, not cutting corners. cutting corners could hurt a resident, the aide, and cause infections. i think that's a pet peeve and i just want to do the right thing as an aide and when i become a pct. :angryfire i went to cna school to give proper care, not neglect patients. :angryfire

okay, there's something i've never quite understood. i'm gonna look really stupid here, but why can't you throw dirty linens on the floor? i've never done it, because i've been told not to, but, really, what is the harm? (someone probably told me once, and i've forgotten...)

i'm not sure i've ever done a linen change with gloves, but then, i've never had wet spots that i couldn't avoid. i'll have to think about this. (i'm sorry; i was a paramedic before aids and i think the only thing in the ambulance that had gloves was the ob kit--meaning, gloves were extremely rarely used.)

not to be a troublemaker, but, in a way, i can see the rationale for doing rounds every 10 minutes, and leaving a soiled pt for the "next round". it's a matter of priorities. what is the risk of a pt being soiled for a few more minutes vs. missing someone who has stopped breathing, or has developed respiratory problems, or sudden confusion? hard choices, to be sure.

nursefirst