Want to hear your pet peeves in LTC nursing

[mondkmondk]

Right now I'm having an issue with the night shift LPN. She is always crabby when she comes in and criticizes almost everything I do or say to her. Supposedly she has a bad home life, but she shouldn't take it out on me. Sunday evening when I worked, I was really busy...and when she came in, she jumped my case about all the changeover paperwork not being done. Every other facility I've ever worked in, this was night shift's job. I apologized to her and offered to stay over and help her with changeover. Her response? "I don't need your help; the only thing I need you to do is stay the hell out of my way!"

I'm seriously considering filing a grievance against her. I asked my preceptor yesterday when I happened to see her which shift is supposed to do changeover and she said nights. So this night shift nurse is really chapping my hide!!!

I'm sure I'll think of other pet peeves too....what are some of yours?

Blessings, Michelle

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Oh, don't get me started............

1) I hate, hate, HATE intershift rivalries!!! LTC is a 24-hour business; if one shift can't get to it, the next ought to take care of it, and everybody just needs to lighten up about it because nobody is perfect or gets it all done 100% of the time.

2) Conversely, I dislike staff who stop working half an hour before their shift ends and leaves whatever work is undone to the oncoming shift.

3) Aides who are constantly making excuses for why they 'can't get' a resident to eat/drink/take a shower/allow his/her briefs to be changed/go to bed etc. There are indeed a few of them who will beat the crap out of you if you try to get them to do anything they don't want to do at a given moment, but for the most part this is just laziness on the part of the CNA. I know, because two minutes after they 'refuse' I'M in there asking them, and they go "Sure, I'm ready for a shower now".

4) Counting narcotics. It's a PITA, especially when you have to count everything, including the stupid Lomotil tablets half the residents were prescribed when the Norovirus went around last fall.

5) Pre-surveys. They're a bigger hassle than the actual state inspection, which, if you're not in management, is a piece of cake. With the pre-survey survey, you've got these corporate people in your face, following you around, telling you everything you're doing is wrong, snooping in the charts, yapping at you when you're trying to get your med pass done..........'nuff said.

[Siddhartha]

yes, counting the narcs or anything a bean bag stoner might think fun to shove into his head...if the word gets out that aspirin is a head trip we'll be counting out pills to eternity. LOL

peace

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

PAPERWORK!!!!! for everything omg......oh lets just chart the same thing a million times lol

[bubblymom373]

Cnas that run to you about every little thing. So the garbage is full? Empty it, big deal. Policy changes that are verbally passed on but when needed can't find them any where in the policy book. " We have always done it this way "just doesn't work for me sometimes. Getting new admits and the previous nurse on the floor can't give reason for admit, how they transfer or orientation when giving you report .

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

oh goodness dont even get me started........

[NurseNinaFla]

OMG let me see...

Nurses that spin their wheels all shift long and never seem to get it together or prioritorize and are still on the clock 2 hours after their shift and STILL leave you with tons of THEIR work to do (just leave already!

CNA's that ***** moan and complain all shift and act like they are so put out if you ask them to answer a light (when their co-workers are busy and can't get to it. The end of the shift skin tear or red bottom that wasn't noticed all shift long...Hmmm...The on-coming Nurse that doesn't give a damn that you just went through 8 hours of hell,just have everything perfect when they get there!

Petty nit-picking between aides esp when they accuse the nurse of showing favorites,playing referee between CNA's,baby sitting CNA's,reminding staff to do their job IE; extra duties etc.. (no one has to remind me what my job is day in and day out,fighting over "whose turn it is to float" (make sure it is written down to avoid confusion/conflict)Big messes left by previous shift,med carts not stocked (3 spoons 1 straw 5 cups,then get an attitude if you suggest that maybe they might want to stock the cart,agency staff that come in with an attitude (and in house staff as well) Interuptions during report,and oncoming staff that want to socialize (hey your gonna be working together all shift save it for later ...and on & on..having sed all this I feel much better!

[NurseKatie08, MSN]

I work on the subacute wing within a LTC facility...I've definitely got some pet peeves..

1. Coming on to the cart not being stocked/clean...no cups, med cups, straws, spoons, water, trash not taken out, etc. No insulin syringes when I know we have diabetics that have been getting insulin all day, etc. Why is it that I can take the two minutes to make sure everything is ready for the next shift but no one else can?

2. Patients having multiple cards of the same meds open---this one boils my blood. Since our patients are short stay, they are sent a 7 day supply of each med...usually we re-order when a 3-4 day supply is left. If Joe patient has two cards of Lasix 40 mg, by golly finish the first one before opening the second---that is why we put overflow backwards and behind the patients other meds!!

3. In addition to the above---meds not being re-ordered, docs not being called for rxs for narcs, etc. Don't wait until we're down to the last pill before reordering/calling the MD or NP.

4. Patient's rooms being left a mess--this is the responsibility of nurses and techs--if I do a sterile dressing change or put in a foley or whatever other type of procedure, I don't expect someone else to clean up my junk...it's so simple to just clean up after yourself!

Wow, this was a little bit of a vent for me!

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

People who won't stock the med cart, especially when I end up running back to the med room *twice* during The Big Med Pass because of empty bottles.

People who don't reorder meds or supplies.

People who get offended when you ask them to restock the med cart.

Residents who expect you to fix their TV, cable, or glasses.

Families who expect you to give medications without a doctor's order. "It's only Tums!"

Broken equipment, including equipment that needs new batteries.

MDs who don't return phone calls.

MDs who put you through to voice mail, then get upset when you called 911 because their patient was complaining of chest pain (true story).

Managers who expect you to play waitress in the dining room.

Babysitting CNAs, especially when they're my mother's age.

Residents and families who don't believe I'm a nurse, despite the RN on my nametag.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

other "team" members that love to say "I'll tell your nurse" or "Your nurse will do it" We are talking about opening mail, getting an extra pillow, plugging in a cell phone to recharge or just even flushing a toilet.....OMGosh.

[akanini, MSN, RN]

I love this thread!!!! Ditto ditto ditto!

[kathy313]

Let's see....Aides who won't answer a light because it's not on their assignment, the aide who says, "All you have to do is pass pills." Nope, I gotta watch your lazy behind too. The dayshift nurse who hides the critical labs in the resident chart and doesn't say squat about it, never mind that the lab came back at 1100 and it is now 2200 and I have to report them to the doc, transport the resident out....

Getting two admissions at the same time (usually in the middle of the big med pass) and if for some reason I don't finish the admissions, the night shift nurse who says she doesn't do them because "We never get admissions on my shift, I don't know how to do them." I'm talking simple stuff...labs for 48 hours later, dietary stuff.....

It's not just ltc though, hospitals have their grrrrrr moments too!