Was I at fault? the nurse embarrassed me in front of others.

Nurses Relations

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I am a nursing assistant in the float pool. I got floated to a med-surg floor. It was going okay, and then it got very busy when there were 3 new admits. I was in the room with the new admit and the nurse for that new patient. I was changing sheets, getting the patient situated, and getting vitals. When I come out, I check on each patient. One patient tells me he's in pain. I tell his nurse. Then that nurse asks me in a attitude in front of other nurses, if I heard the call bell going off for 1 patient for like 10 minutes. That patient needed a bed pan but ended up pooping on the sheets etc. I told her I didn't know because I was in the room with the new admit. Then she gives me an attitude in front of others saying that she cleaned him up. I was so embarrassed. I didn't know the patient had his call bell going off. I was in the room with another patient. Was I so at fault that she embarrassed me????

She was being a jerk.

I'm sure that with the admissions, she was really stressed out, but she did not have to be a jerk about it.

If you were doing your job and you could not hear the call light... well, you couldn't help that now, could you?

Why the heck did everyone else let the light go that long?

Don't feel embarrassed.

You did nothing wrong.

Specializes in Dialysis.

Not your fault. It was HER patient. If she noticed the call light, then she should have answered it and taken care of it! Especially if it was going for 10 minutes. She knew it was going off, but chose to ignore it. What if her patient had a real emergency? Fault would have been on her, if there was a poor outcome from ignoring the call light.

You were doing your job. She was out of line both for berating you in the first place and in public. Mention it to the charge nurse if it happens again.

You can't be in 2 places at once. Sounds like she was a jerk. Did you have a phone? Did anyone call you to tell you the patient needed you? If she saw it going off for 10 minutes that means she ignored it for that long. She had time, she did it. Problem solved.

Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

its everyones responsibility to answer call bells.regardless of whose pt it is.you were in a room with a pt.if she saw the light she should have answered it.not your fault and she was being a jerk.

Specializes in Cardiology and ER Nursing.

To quote Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, "Got your back Jack, ******* be crazy."

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I agree with other posters. If she noticed the bell going off for 10 minutes she could have A) Gone and dealt with it herself B) Gone to get you to let you know C) Ask someone else to go since you were both otherwise engaged. There is no excuse on HER part for letting the patient do that to himself.

I dont care what letters come after your name, RN, LPN, CNA, wtv. People who think they are too good to do things like help a patient walk, get a patient to the bathroom or on a bedpan, do a bedbath, they just make me mad. Its all nursing 101.

I had a colleague once who thought that kind of thing was acceptable. Really busy AM rounds. Patients ringing everywhere. She walks by a specific patient who tells her he has to have a BM and needs to go to the bathroom. She answers, 'I dont have time, just **** in your bed and the CNA will clean up after'. True story, her actual words. Needless to say, she did not last long at this hospital.

Grow thicker skin.. ultimately the patient care is the nurses responsibility anyways.

Specializes in L&D/NICU/Pediatrics.
Not your fault. It was HER patient. If she noticed the call light, then she should have answered it and taken care of it! Especially if it was going for 10 minutes. She knew it was going off, but chose to ignore it. What if her patient had a real emergency? Fault would have been on her, if there was a poor outcome from ignoring the call light.

You were doing your job. She was out of line both for berating you in the first place and in public. Mention it to the charge nurse if it happens again.

Agreed!

Specializes in correctional, psych, ICU, CCU, ER.

She's lazy. Plain and simple! It drives me crazy when RN's have time to complain about something that we could have taken care of ourselves. It would have taken a few minutes to answer the light and put the pt on a bedpan, instead if having the pt soil themself. I'm sure others called the RN on her nonsense!

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
I am a nursing assistant in the float pool. I got floated to a med-surg floor. It was going okay, and then it got very busy when there were 3 new admits. I was in the room with the new admit and the nurse for that new patient. I was changing sheets, getting the patient situated, and getting vitals. When I come out, I check on each patient. One patient tells me he's in pain. I tell his nurse. Then that nurse asks me in a attitude in front of other nurses, if I heard the call bell going off for 1 patient for like 10 minutes. That patient needed a bed pan but ended up pooping on the sheets etc. I told her I didn't know because I was in the room with the new admit. Then she gives me an attitude in front of others saying that she cleaned him up. I was so embarrassed. I didn't know the patient had his call bell going off. I was in the room with another patient. Was I so at fault that she embarrassed me????

We're supposed to be a team! She should clean him up if she is able but otherwise she could have come and told you. But we're all supposed to answer bells and we're all supposed to help each other!

Specializes in Telemetry.

if she knew it was on for ten minutes she could have done something about it. she could have asked anyone for help. especially if there were onlookers while she was rude to you. i have never made my PCTs feel that way, in fact im often throwing the sheets in the hamper before they even notice what's going on. people are crazy. sorry she made you feel small, i hope she regretted it later.

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