Are all newer nurses scape goats?

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i feel and have felt that i and other "new" nurses are scape goats for management.

here is the looong story!! i worked a double yesterday. all was well. i have worked there not quite a year but close. half way through my day i get 3 new admits. then my manager calls me into the don office. they have written me up for an admit i did on last week. they say i didnt chart a stage two on the buttocks, i only charted the heal and bruises. she asked if i really did the assessment, i stated i did. the aide and daughter were in there with me. she then says well you know we have had issues with skin assessments with you before.

brief history...months ago i came into work with a write up for not doing a skin assessment that was scheduled to do. i did actually do the assessment but didnt initial it. so i took the write up because if it were not signed it wasnt done right. prior to this i have never even had a verbal or talking to aobut this. then three days later i got a call to come in and work from 7 p to 11p, i did it. well the nurse that worked from 7a to 7p that i relieved didnt do any of the 3 skins that were due that day, so i did get two of them done along with my charting, the third was not done. they wrote me up, still had not talked to the person writing me up. two days later, i got sent home at 7p due to low census. i didnt know about this till 6:30. well again there was 2 skins due, i made sure one of them was done and passed or endorsed the next one to the nurse finishing the afternoon shift. well i recieved a write up when i returned to work for the skin not being done. i spoke to the mgr about it and they said ok they would take care of it. so i really only was responsible for one of them.

so yesterday when she said "we have had issues before with skin and you" really ****** me off. anyhow, i supposidly missed this stage two (1 by 2) however the next am the nurse did her daily skin and wrote off. skin clean dry and intact, with a scab on the heal, exactly what i seen!! then the next afternoon they ordered cream for this wound that the aide found. the mgr went and crossed out my daily skin assessment and changed the braden scale by making my 2's into 3's so it would be a weekly skin instead of daily and added the stage two to my assessment. i went back into the don's office to talk to her about this but she was gone for the day. now i have to wait till tuesday to talk to her.

now i dont know if i should bring this all up because it involves my mgr and i dont want back lash or if i should just go and try to defend my case of the following nurse not seeing the stage 2. i like my job but i dont stick up for myself and i think they have caught on to this. i am worried that my job is in jeapordy due to skin issues that i am not even responsible. i also dont want to rock the boat so much that everyone hates me.

i am very anxious about this and dont know how far to take it. my husband is laid off and i can not afford to lose my job. please help!!!!! if you have any ideas or something similar let me know how you resolved it. oh and let me add i hate conflict.

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Specializes in MSP, Informatics.

"the mgr went and crossed out my daily skin assessment and changed the braden scale by making my 2's into 3's so it would be a weekly skin instead of daily and added the stage two to my assessment."

i have a problem with that.... the manager changed your note? that is a no-no.

and if you are sent home early, and pass on something that needs to be done, you should't take the fall for it. unless there is a specific time frame the assessment needs to be done by.

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Specializes in Telemetry, CCU.

Not that you can go back and change it, but it sounds like when you endorse something to another nurse, you really need to document that somewhere. I got talked to by a nurse doing our chart reviews for our JACHO visit and she pointed out something that wasn't done on my assessment, which I had endorsed to the next shift. She was the one that taught me to always have proof that you've passed it on or it will come back to you.

Aside from that, it does sound like you need to talk to your DON and STICK UP FOR YOURSELF WOMAN! No one else will do it for you. You may not be able to change what's already happened, but you can move forward from here and do better. And report your manager by all means, changing your Braden is falsification of documents and a really big problem.

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Yes the mgr did change my braden scale numbers, clearly. I am going to try and be firm when I talk to her but I get all nervous and tongue tied. I am going to work on it. I also spoke to the nurse that was on the next am shift who did the skin assessment AFTER me. She said there was NO wound on the buttocks. This particular nurse is "friends and long time employee of the DON" So I am sure the write up will not stick.

What is some of your opinions if she says it does stick. Would you just not sign it? Find another job? go to the administrator? I mean how far should I go? Is it insubordination if you dont sign the write up?

What I dont understand is that if the majority of nurses feel like they are not appreciated, not respected, and are pushed to far boundries why havent we done anything about it? Why do we allow ourselves to be made to feel so incompetent and abused? Why havent we banded together and done something?

Thanks for the replies!!

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I have a problem with it also. I mean this particularly isnt an isssue but it could be if they were to do it to other documents. I have not decided yet as to what if anything I will do about it.

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Specializes in Acute Care.
the mgr went and crossed out my daily skin assessment and changed the braden scale by making my 2's into 3's so it would be a weekly skin instead of daily and added the stage two to my assessment. i went back into the don's office to talk to her about this but she was gone for the day. now i have to wait till tuesday to talk to her.
um, illegal!

false documentation!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

If you feel the write up is in error, you can refuse to sign. I would just write my reasonings for refusing on the write up in the comment section and write refused in the signature space. This advice I recieved from a lawyer when I questioned the samething. He said by signing the write up you are accepting the problem as yours AS IT IS WRITTEN, even if it is in error.

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great advice, thank you

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Um, illegal!

False documentation!

Oh yeah. This is a huge problem. I would take this up with her superior. She can't be falsifying docs and her manager needs to be made aware of the situation pronto. This puts the facility at great liability.

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If you feel the write up is in error, you can refuse to sign. I would just write my reasonings for refusing on the write up in the comment section and write refused in the signature space. This advice I recieved from a lawyer when I questioned the samething. He said by signing the write up you are accepting the problem as yours AS IT IS WRITTEN, even if it is in error.

Correct. Never sign anything you disagree with. This is great advice.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
Oh yeah. This is a huge problem. I would take this up with her superior. She can't be falsifying docs and her manager needs to be made aware of the situation pronto. This puts the facility at great liability.

if the manager does not sign off that she made the change, it could look like you did. This would put you in a VERY BAD position. I had a supervisor change my documentation and throw-out some forms I had filled out. I went screaming into the DON's office, made them open the pre-schredder box to retrieve the paperwork and rewrite the documentation the way they wanted it done AFTER they d/c'd the paperwork I wrote. My paperwork was then put into the patient file. It's your licence and you are the only one going to CYA!

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i am a new lvn and my don treated me very badly. maybe these are signs that i should've left but i stayed cause i am still a new nurse and needed the experience and be yelled at, unfortunately. i dont know maybe everywhere the dons may be like that.i mean if they liked me and wanted me to stay and do their slave work they'd actually treated me better and actually have a real conversation with me instead of telling me negative mistakes everytime they come to me. it seems like this kissing don's ass thing has to be done or something. i mean the 2 i've had are like foriegn dons. i;ve seen some american dons actually pull u over to the side and talk to u in a calm matter. or maybe everywhere its just like that. i;ve been in 2 facilities and the work and patient load is crazy and its impossible to even be perfect and on time. i've sseen don's good lvn friends make mistakes and they sorta... let them go cause they are good friends with the don. its probably going to be unfair everywhere. : / . i dont know. so is it really who u know and not what u know in the nursing field?

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