Keys to the office?

[Kirsti1181]

Let me start by saying that I have been doing Home Health for about 6 months and I absolutely love it. However, I am getting very frustrated because management is making it impossible to do my job. I was on call this weekend and I discovered that they have changed the locks on the office door and do not want the nurses to have keys. This means that I have no access to patient charts, supplies, fax machine, etc. I had to send a patient to the ER because he needed and in and out cath for urinary retention and I couldn't get into the office to get the correct sice catheter for him. So I guess the point of this post is: do you have access to your office when on call? Am I overreacting? I just don't understand how I can do my job effectively under these circumstances.

[cookie102]

well i am on call this weekend too, and not the best of weekends, so should probably keep quiet

how is the world can you do your job if you don't have the necessary things,,,,even if you keep a car stock of things perhaps you used the last one on the pt before,,,so i makes no sense...they recently changed the lock on our chart room, so we have no access to it either, they say call the admin if you need to get in there, oh sure that will go over big.....i had to do a recert this weekend (it was forgotten this week---don't get me started on that) anyway i said to the sup someone will need to meet me inthe office to let me in to the charts as i didn't have any info,,,her response ---oh we will leave that chart on the table for you (aka-we don't want to come it) so i feel for you this weekend!!!!

[caliotter3]

Sounds like they are biting off their noses to spite their faces. If they are so distrustful of their on-call nurses, why don't they just lock up the doors or cabinets to the sensitive stuff and allow you access to what you need for your job? Or, they can meet you at the office and monitor what you do while you are in there. Tell them you want another position, like just plain visit nurse or shift nurse, and see what they say when you indicate that you don't want the responsibilities without the tools. If they get any more unreasonable than this, perhaps you should consider another agency. Good luck.