May I vent about rural hospitals? LONG rant!

[mattsmom81]

I agreed to work ICU at a local rural facility. When I arrived for the first time, as usual 'nobody had time' to orient me properly (the norm) so I poked around and got my bearings.

It was a 5 bed ICU, 2 vents, 2 unstable DKA's and a screaming old lady in CHF. They don't say a word to me til shift change then they announce proudly (like I should thank them) 'Well you were going to be alone but we found another nurse to work with you." I was amazed and my jaw hit the floor I'm sure.

The 2nd nurse arrives and airily announces "I want Bed 5...I had her last night"...I thought, OK fine...she is on her way to CT and the nurse needs to go with.... and I wanted to stay in the unit and get organized anyway.

Well, day shift leaves (they had 3 nurses all ICU qualified) THEN this 2nd nurse starts whining. "Never had a vent before" (so why is she in ICU and why did she ask for bed 5, I ask?)" This is just too hard for her and she is a NEW GRAD and I need to help her." She can only handle the 1 vent patient... so I need to take the other 4 patients and 'help' her with her one.

At this point steam is coming from my ears and I am truly feeling dumped on. I call the supervisor who says "I'm no ICU nurse...this is your problem". I say, nobody told me I would be in charge and be given a new grad to precept as my coworker in ICU...my first time out here. She shrugs. The DON doesn't care, isn't ICU qualified either, the unit director is out of pocket.

I figure...XX#OO%....just get through it...and don't look back. Well this new grad drives me nuts all night...basically I should have taken all 5 patients myself and delegated tech stuff to her because she had no clue, was a total drain on me, majoring in minors, has to walk out of the unit numerous times to 'get some air' while I never even got a sitdown break (didn't DARE leave her alone with the patients) Calls her floor friends to tell her how 'hard she is working' (with her one vent patient...whom I am supervising closely so she won't hurt her)

Shift end: the new crew comes in and tries to RECRUIT me...please come back, etc. I have to stifle guffaws and various other expletives...LOL! Trying to think exactly what I will tell my agency....but calming down first...!

Anywho, thanks for letting me vent ya'll...I LOVE the freedom and flexibility of agency work but I'm learning to stay clear of these small rural hospitals...I seem to get the same kinda crazy trip every time...guess I'll learn someday, eh? :roll

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

Amethyst, I know and fully understand some of these situations can cause added stress and added work to an already overloaded day. I know being made to feel like the "left out" member on any nursing team can hurt and cause deep feelings of anger/resentment. Most especially when evals are usually good. Please try to find some stress counselling in your area. Once a person goes through a situation like the one you were in and it goes on for a long time, there are always residual issues that need to be resolved. You sound like a kind, caring, knowledgeable nurse. I hope your job situation has improved . Let us know how it is going with you.

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

that is so scary! i can't believe that they just dropped a GN in the ICU to let her run wild!

in our units, our gn's get at least 12 weeks floor in addition to hospital orientation. also, they usually get an extra couple weeks.

it is written in our policy that a new grad will not be in charge of a unit.

[Sheri257]

Question: What are your contractural requirements when you pick up an agency assignment like this? Especially if you're a traveller that's signed on for, let's say, three months.

If the place is a disaster, do you have an option to get out of the assignment? Or, do you have to typically stick it out? How does this work?

[mattsmom81]

As for me, I don't do contracts. Just perdiem. so...if I don't like the place I literally never have to go back...BIIIGGG plus. :)

[nosonew, BSN, RN]

Living in a small town and working in a rural hosp as a new grad...I quit after one year. I was the only nurse on the floor (dayshift) with 15 patients and one tech. In the first hour I had assessed most of my patients, and found one with 4 resp per minute (night shift nurse upped the morphine on the pump and didn't realize patient was hitting the button FREQUENTLY), another patient that was unresponsive with a bs of 22, and a patient post colon resection who's incision had completely opened during the night! I called house super requesting immediate assistance, and she told me she would "get to it after her breakfast!" I started grabbing doctors as they walked in to do rounds and made them deal with what I couldn't do immediately (I had 3 patients who needed IMMEDIATE attention - and I am ONLY ONE person!) So, after the day from hell, I gave my notice at the end of the shift. *I also admitted 6 patients, dismissed 4, send one (colon) to ICU, who was later shipped out.

Oh, and house supervisor showed up to "help" 2 hours after I had called her. Then she tried to bite my head off because an IV med had been given 45 minutes late. Luckily, one of the docs was still there, and he took her head off.

I was also told that the "acuity" was fine, as there were 5 nurses working that day. I was like, "WHAT?" ...apparently they were counting the worthless HS, the nurse educator, DON, and infection control nurse...who were all in dress clothes, holed up in their offices. How can they be counted anyway????? URGH!

Anyway, just thought your post was too on the mark! Hope all is much better now! *And I realize this post is old, but oh so true!

When I gave my notice, all 3 of those doctors offerred me a job.