New RN Charge nurse

[ltcnurse4u, CNA, LPN]

I have been an LPN for a while..over 10yrs...all in LTC. I have worked at the same place for several years... I can say I know a few things about my job. That being said..how do I approach an RN charge nurse who clearly does things wrong? Like...basic nursing 101? Like how to treat a skin tear? She will put in standing orders completely wrong and will get upset if myself or other LPNs change her orders. According to her..LPNs cannot change orders. And forget it trying to find her if you need help. She will not answer call lights, if they are short a nurse..she will call to find someone to cover it instead of working the cart herself. She even tried to get me to stay bc they were short..I said I wasnt able to and she tried to tell me I was going to be mandated....I just laughed..um..nope you can work it..she said she wasnt hired to work the cart.

Today she really tried me....I normally work 16hr shifts...every Sat and Sun...7am-11pm...today I had been scheduled to only work till 6pm because I had requested time off this evening. So I always make a list of treatments that I need to do. I have the TCU unit and have 3 residents on IV meds via PICC line and two of them needed the dressings changed today. I have done a zillion of these and its well within my scope of practice . Its written in our policy and procedure book. How do I know? Well ..today..she pulled me out of my resident's room and demanded to know who do I think I was by doing what "only an RN can do" and how I just lost my license and blah blah...So I took several deep breaths..and calmly told her it was okay..LPNs who have been trained and signed off can change a PICC line dressing. She did not believe me until I pulled out the policy and procedure book and showed her. I just walked off and went back to my resident. Later on..she told me I was not to do those kind of dressings without her until she talked with the DON . She then later got upset because my shift was over and she didnt have another nurse to work the rest of the shift so that meant she had to cover. It was written on the assignment sheet and schedule...It was just going to be 3 hours on the cart...if that..the HS med pass is a cake walk ...She was on the phone trying to get someone to cover...

I am trying very hard to respect her..she is the RN in charge...but that being said..she has only been an RN for year......this is her 2nd job since graduating. She has no common nursing sense...its like she woke up one day and said..Oh..I think I will go be a nurse. All I want to do is teach her the right way..how we are a team....but she has no interest in learning from me. My DON is well aware of all this..I just want to approach her and work this out. This is one of my weakness and I am trying to be a unit manager one day.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Wowsa! So many things to say about this one!!!

How do the other RNs feel about her?? As an RN, I would love to have a few words with her.

I'm not sure anything you say to her would help. Sounds like she needs an education on scope and practice. Can you speak to your sdc and ask them to talk with her?

[ltcnurse4u, CNA, LPN]

She hasnt made many friends with the staff...and she has been talked to several times by the DON and the administrator. The unit managers have spoken with her because she is doing the RN assessments wrong and on the wrong dates. She is constantly writing staff up for everything and has sent staff home even when we are short staff.