Vent about nurses

Specialties Private Duty

Published

Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Certain nurses are just so obnoxious. I came in to work to find that this nurse I work with has done even more to annoy me.

The humidifier tubing is due to be changed once a week, drainage bag twice a week. I changed the tubing on the scheduled day. Come back in to work and she changed it a day later because the drainage bag was due to be changed. But she left the tubing too short so it was pulling on my pts neck. Plus she doesn't get that we will run outif she keeps going through supplies like that. She's so anal, to the point that she documents every shift that there is antibacterial soap and paper towels!! Ok, that's a bit much to me. She has it on the maintenance sheet to check the smoke alarms daily...again, a bit much. But yet, she documents some of the maintenance on the MAR and some on the maintenance sheet. She writes in every month on the MAR a place to initial for changing the gauze and felt the need to get an order for that. Its nursing discretion and already on the 485 for us to do that. We have an order on the MAR to spot check o2 every 2 hours and she has to add on the MAR "document on the flow sheet every two hours"....really?....every case we have we are required to document every hour on the flow sheet and we just record the vs as ordered without all the over kill. She is supposed to do all of the ordering for supplies but doesn't have a clue and we always run out because she doesn't call until we are out of something. The office has told all of us that we aren't allowed to order supplies and that only she can call. She got an order for us to wash our hands and had it documented that the soap was safe to use for the nurses. Again, really? I thought hand washing was a given. She makes the pt get up at the start of the 7a shift even when nothing is going on for the day. She won't let the pt who likes to sleep in get rest. The family stays up late on weekends, holidays, etc and it doesn't matter if the kid was up until 3am because that nurse is going to have her up at 7. She documents the angle every time the pt adjusts the level of the HOB and the pt adjusts the HOB sometimes every 5 min. She even documents what position the fan is in on the floor and at what speed it is running.

Every time I come in to work she has changed something. Great if its a necessary change! But 9 times out of 10, its ridiculous changes. She managed to get the office to agree to leaving the sxn machine unplugged until it dies before plugging it in. I refuse to work with a dying sxn machine. I leave it plugged in and charged because anything could happen. Policy is that the machine is plugged in or charged, but she still managed to get the director to agree. The director isn't a nurse and has no clue. I challenged the sxn machine issue and was told I had to do it the crazy nurses way. I still won't and I continue to document that the machine is charged and plugged in at the end of my shift to cover for myself.

The family complains to me that the nurse is always on the phone with the office about something. No case requires constant contact with the office like the family is claiming. The family says the nurse will give o2 just because when the pox was being turned on, a low number showed for a split second, but the pt before o2 will show a sat of 100% consistently.

Everything is overkill and its driving me crazy!

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Specializes in Peds Homecare.

People like that drive me crazy. When I encounter nurses like that, I just ignore them. I've seen the same attitude on here, reading old threads. You know, the "I'm quoting the procedure manual here, it has to be THIS WAY!" I tend to ignore people like that. No one reads my notes from my present case but the office. Oh, and you hissy fitters out there, no on this case we do not leave our notes in the home. People like the nurse you describe, I think they just waste their time going on and on about such trivia, maybe they are trying to impress the charting gods? As hard as it is , OP, shut her out of your mind, do your job, that is all that matters!a

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Sounds like she is making the parent nuts so ultimately the parent may ask to not have her return. I would consider documenting the overuse of allotted supplies as there is a finite amount of supplies permitted by insurance companies. When care cannot be safely performed because OCD nurse decided to change tubing daily instead of weekly ...

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Ugh. There is this one nurse that documents "pink lips" every 30 minutes of her shift. She reads our notes and calls the office if she doesn't like them. She has no less than 4 pages per 8 hour shift. Even overnight shifts (it's a general Peds case, Mic-key and some small occasional seizure.) The agency wants us to chart like her. I call it fluffing, any utilization review nurse would see right through it.

"Pink lips","Pink lips","Pink lips" ...... Ugh.

Every time she works she claims pt had a seizure. Pt never had one on mine or any other nurses shift in years.

She used to document "applied Vaseline to pt's lips" until I Mom asked me why I never write that and I mentioned that Vaseline says "do not apply or use on mucus membranes".

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Umm, no. She would have been gone from my house the minute she tried to change something or the minute I saw that her notes were insane. If she wants to be an administrative nurse, she needs to go back to school and get her MSN and take over an admin job somewhere.

Our MAR had nothing on except medications, eye drops and the VEST times. There was a totally separate thing for maintenance (that I made up) and another separate form for things like bathing, teeth cleaning, applying lip balm. Why is there a form to sign the flowsheet? It would be painfully obvious if you didn't sign the flowsheet because it would be blank.

Any nurse that wasted my son's supplies would have a problem with me. Granted we had TONS of supplies but I moved them from the closet to the drawers on a monthly basis so I would know how fast we were going through things.

I would never let a suction machine "die" ever. What if that machine is dead and the other one has a 4-hour battery and there is an eight hour power failure?? As a parent, if I went into the room and went to suction on a nearly dead machine because Nurse Busybody had it unplugged for 8 hours on purpose, Nurse Busybody would be Nurse LookingForANewCase.

Also, who wakes a sleeping child unless there is an appointment, especially when the family clearly doesn't have the child on any sort of schedule?

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Yep, this nurse charts pages and pages too. Really unnecessary! Pink lips repeatedly is funny!

The nurse had to add "may alternate Tylenol and Motrin". Both meds are PRN. If they couldn't be given like that, it wouldn't be on there. Same when the kid was on narcotics. We had the PRN Tylenol order. She had to call the Dr to ask if it was ok to give the Tylenol while the pt had codeine in her system. The Dr knows the meds and orders the kid has. She got an order for us to hold the TF when the kid throws up...last time I checked, it was nursing discretion and expected that the TF is held or stopped when a pt throws up.

I really wouldn't be surprised if she asked for orders to wipe the kids bottom when she has a BM!! It could be fun to make up stuff for her to call for orders for...she would probably do it and then look silly.

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"Pink lips. Pt had small bowel movement, exact weight of feces 0.2kg, buttocks wiped with 5 baby wipes per doctor's order, 2 cm pink orifice, diaper secure with 2 tabs per side. Pink lips" - super nurse

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
"Pink lips. Pt had small bowel movement exact weight of feces 0.2kg, buttocks wiped with 5 baby wipes per doctor's order, 2 cm pink orifice, diaper secure with 2 tabs per side. Pink lips" - super nurse[/quote']

There are no words for someone with so much free time to not only write that but calculate such nonsense and measure a rectal opening.

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Super nurse to the resc.....destruction of everything!

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This person seems to have OCD. Too bad the office does not transfer her to the office so that she can work auditing charting or something else that is anal. But wait, then all of the nurses would be called daily to come to the office to fix their charting because the dot at the end of a sentence was not large enough, or too large! Short of getting the parents to have her removed from the case, there is nothing you can do except try to ignore her baloney. I am a perfectionist when it comes to paperwork but I know when to draw the line. This lady sounds like she has a bigger problem than annoying her co-workers. Almost feel sorry for her.

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

I'm picky about my paperwork. I make sure I'm covered legally. I've taken charting classes from nurse lawyers. I make sure I document per policy. For example, at the bottom of our notes we are supposed to write something about the outcome of the shift/goals. They have to be listed in order by number based on the goals on the 485. This nurse writes a paragraph about all sorts of goals she creates that aren't necessary.

The parents have made a few complaints. But they aren't quick to get rid of staff. They almost got rid of her in the beginning, but they decided to give her a chance. They are quick to get rid of bad personalities and behaviors. But they tolerate her just enough. I wish the family would remove her.

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Start a clandestine campaign with the parents to get rid of her. Engage the assistance of other nurses if possible. Sure it is passive aggressive and not professional or maybe even not ethical, but if it accomplishes the goal of normalcy for everyone else concerned, so be it. You certainly won't be getting any help from the clinical supervisor if they are like most CS's. It is not like this sort of culling of the herd does not happen for less legitimate reasons every day anyway. Good luck with this.

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