Worst night ever - Page 2

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  1. Jun 16, '12 by
    I am so sorry you had a rough night, OP. That CN was WAY out of line. She was very unprofessional and maybe shouldn't have assigned that patient to you. Next time, just go with your gut and call RR. Better to go ahead and call and then it end up being nothing instead of waiting and having to possibly code a patient later on. It doesn't matter if you have years of experience - there are some nights where you will be running because of the patient load. Keep your chin up...
  2. Jun 16, '12 by
    I just wanna give you a You did the best you could considering your circumstance. Give yourself so credit and not be so hard on yourself. I'm sure you are a great nurse. Good job and keep it up. :kiss
  3. Asst. Admin
    Jun 16, '12 by
    Quote from beaker
    I had a horrible shift last night. It was the worst one I have had so far. I finished my orientation mid April and have been on my own since then. I am still slow but feel like I have been getting better and I have had some good shifts and some that have been hard and hectic. Last night I had drowned completely. I just don't know if I can do this.

    . Next time, I will just call RR. I ended up calling the on call doctor several times for orders, respiratory therapy came to help (they were awesome) and I ended up spending the entire shift in that room. Between her and the other patient, i feel like I completely neglected the rest of them. I ran in and out of their rooms so fast, I doubt they could pick me in a lineup.

    Towards the end of the shift the charge nurse, at the nurses station, told me I had the easiest patient load on the floor and that at this point I should not need so much help. She gave me a loud long lecture on basically how much I suck at everything and how I ruined her night. I have never felt so incompetent in my life. I cried and as I was leaving the station I heard everyone laughing. I wanted to die.I though I had been doing ok so far. I was just starting to feel like I was doing ok on my own. I guess I do ask a lot of questions.

    A few of the other nurses later came to tell me I have been doing fine and reassure me, but I can't forget hearing them all laugh. When the day shift arrived the charge nurse pulled me aside to ask what had happened, I guess you could tell I had cried. She came in to see the patient and immediately called to have the patient transferred to CCU. She said next time just call rapid response regardless of what the CN says.

    She helped me finish up and made me feel slightly better. I am thankful for her being so nice. I was a mess. I am still a mess. My supervisor left me a message today telling me I did fine and that it was a hard patient, I have not called her back yet.

    I am still a mess. I am not normally a crier, but I cannot stop. I am DREADING going back to work. I don't know if I can do that again.I still feel like there is so much to learn. It is overwhelming. I think the combination of being new and working nights is making me tired and emotional. The stress is really building up.
    . I am sorry you had a bad night. We ALL have them when we feel overwhelmed and leave feeling that you were lucky no one died from the (perceived) neglect. I had to chuckle at you reference that the patients "wouldn't be able to pick me out of a line up".....Man... I have had those nights. Yes, you have a lot to learn but You did good .......

    Shame on that charge nurse for assigning that patient to you. Shame in her for accepting a patient on drips that are not normally handled on the floor....or had an acuity that would have been better served on a different floor/unit. Shame on her for not calling the RR for a patient that unstable. Shame on her for publicly humiliating you for her inadequacies. I'll bet come morning she was realizing she made a bad decision and was trying to put you in the bad light to make her look better.

    The day charge nurse will let your manager know how well you did. I am glad she has the leadership qualities to reach out to you and let you know you did well and acknowledge (just by calling you) that the other charge nurse was wrong. Those other nurses came to you because they realize they were wrong for their behavior. The charge nurse? She was irritated because she had NO CLUE how to handle the situation "AEB" () her failure to recognize the critical nature of the patient and act accordingly.

    Now cry and get it all out....you were overwhelmed, tired, and she hurt you.

    Then go back to work and show her who's the better nurse....Well done!
    diva rn, anotherone, jt43, and 5 others like this.
  4. Jun 16, '12 by
    I'm with the crowd here. Why did the charge nurse care if you called rapid response? It's not like she was the primary nurse of that patient. I've called rapid responses that turned out, in hindsight, to be completely unnecessary, but oh well! Who cares, seriously? That charge nurse sounds like she needs a smack or two. Maybe you can get on days at some point? They sound more supportive.
    anotherone likes this.
  5. Jun 16, '12 by
    Thanks guys!I appreciate all your support, I really needed it. I feel a little better today. I am thankful I have one more day off before I have to go back. I checked, my next shift on is with a different charge, I think that will be helpful. I am just hoping for a good night back. I really need one. I am so nervous it is making it hard to sleep. I think working nights is taking a toll on me, because I never get to see my friends or family. I just work and sleep, repeat, repeat. I am tired all the time, I rarely sleep more than a few hours at a time. I doubt my decisions a lot. But I feel like I need to just keep at it until I can get a little more experienced and feel like I know what I am doing. I think it is going to take a while. I also know that when I do work with that charge again, I am going to be afraid to ask for her help. I will stick with asking coworkers that are a bit more supportive. Ugh. I think it is going to be a long week.
    anotherone likes this.
  6. Jun 16, '12 by
    Don't stop asking questions - that's how we learn. Better to ask than guess and make a mistake. I have a charge nurse on my floor that acts like that too, and it is very upsetting to me that she continues to have the role of charge. If someone is not willing to answer questions and help when needed, charge nurse is not the position for them in my opinion.Hang in there
    nurse671 likes this.
  7. Jun 16, '12 by
    things will get better.
  8. Guide
    Jun 16, '12 by
    You should be proud of the fact that you. YES YOU, realized a number of things about this patient--they were an incorrect admission to the floor, that her condition changed, and that a rapid response should have been called. That is pretty awesome assessment skills!! Be confident in the fact that you assess correctly. For some that takes years (and for the CN that evening apparently she still doesn't get it). Do not let her lack of a soul (<---ok overdramatic, but you get where I am going with this...) deter you from the fact that you have amazing critical thinking skills, which was obviously recognized by the day charge and the supervisor. So here's the thing, the laughing the yelling and such is not professional. And uncalled for--you know that. If it is brought up again I would be the first to say "well, it has made me more confident in my assessment ability, that I can call an RRT in the future for the same type of thing, lets be thankful everyone came out alive". Additonally, I would keep a note about this incident (along with your desire for a higher level of care), to put in your personnel file or in the supervisor's file, as a difficult family can sometimes come back and bite you in the butt, and your attempts at interventions were thwarted by the charge nurse. Just CYA. Hugs, and I say Kudos for looking out for your patient!!
  9. Jun 16, '12 by
    1) I saved a patient's life by NOT listening to the charge nurse's advice. I got an order for the EKG which concluded a STEMI (Charge wanted to ignore it, because the pt was homeless and yelling out anyway). The patient told ME that the pain in her chest was shooting from one arm to the other, the charge RN just heard yelling. I got the EKG.

    Remember, YOU (and your CNA) are the nurse that is spending the most time with the patient. Charge nurses, doctors and supervisors pop in for brief moments compared to what you see, hear, smell and sense. Trust your gut.

    2) Any person in a place of leadership who chastises you in any way for asking questions is an ineffective and dangerous leader. Ineffective because that kind of behavior does not inspire teamwork or patient safety, dangerous because new nurses should never ever ever be discouraged from getting information clarifying their thoughts.

    3) Don't take the laughing personally. Your colleagues could be laughing because they are all remember their first cry as new nurses, or perhaps they are laughing uncomfortably because of the inappropriateness of your charge nurses behavior.
    anotherone, LilyRoseRN, and RNfaster like this.
  10. Jun 16, '12 by
    OMGoodness, I am literally shaking with anger!! How dare the charge nurse treat you like that? And how dare the others laugh??? Seriously. That is repulsive.

    A hug for you. It sounds like you are doing a great job! For crying out loud, you're 2 months off orientation! You were given a totally inappropriate assignment. Your charge nurse is a nasty *****. Your co-workers don't sound much better. Kudos to the day shift charge nurse, and to your supervisor. I certainly hope your supervisor knows how your CN behaved, and that the others laughed.

    Keep your chin up when you go back in, sweetie. WAY up!!!
    MJB2010 likes this.