assignment issues

[tennisjdh]

I had a recent situation where, I was was ask to take a 5th patient, all the other nurses had 3, I had a blood transfusion just starting, a patient with a stent with frequent vital signs and I told the charge nurse, we have no pca's, I could not safely take a patient and I told her she would have to give the patient to someone else, she ask who, I said if no one else can take it you will have to, she yelled across the nursing unit "are you refusing a patient?" I said if that's what you want to call it, I can't safely take that patient, after looking and seeing the other nurses had only 3, she said "sometimes it bees that way" never offering to help or anything, another nurse offered to take the patient. My question is, was I wrong to not take the patient, even though, I knew I couldn't care for that patient safely? I want a nursing union in Birmingham, Alabama, it's crazy the things we are forced to put up with, b/c of egos and poor management.

any comments are appreciated.

[passredskins1]

well...You did the right thing...the charge nurse is ultimately responsible for finding care for that patient. If you had patients that needed frequent monitoring, you were right to refuse that particular patient and that patient could go to your other colleagues who had 3 patients.

what kinda charge nurse you got...i hope you reported him/her to management..and put it in writing so that a trail could be developed.... because if it happened to you ...if "it bees that way"...he has probably done it to someone else...

You have to protect your license by yourself...b/c NO ONE ELSE WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

In my state you did what is expected of the nurse. You are responsible for knowing your own limits. Our NPA allows us to declare "safe harbor" in these situations. There is a little paperwork, but the point is that the nurse's license is protected.

[kcochrane]

You did the right thing. If someone had gone wrong, you would have been asked why you accepted another patient, given you already had a bigger load. It was unsafe and the charge nurse was wrong. If this gets reported, let her explain why she made her decision. I would start keeping notes of this type of stuff (without pt names of course :) ) . Unless the other nurses that had 3 had really involved patients, I can't see why the charge nurse would do that.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

I would fear for my job if I refused to take a pt. I know, I know ....better my job than my license. In 15 years I have only seen one nurse one time refuse to accept another pt r/t acuity. She didn't loose her job. But things were very tense in the nurses station for awhile.

[mykrosphere]

agree with other responses.

i think sometimes if you are competent, they think you can handle things like this, getting the short end.

you definetly did the right thing, because its not about anyone else except the patient.

[noreenl]

What is "safe harbor"? I have never heard that term before. what legal rights does it give you?

[caliotter3]

I also agree that you did the right thing and agree that you need to start keeping notes. You should also look for an example of the written statement of refusal that is used in some institutions to refuse an assignment for safety reasons. You need to keep notes and use written statements in order to protect yourself against future retaliation from this supervisor or another. Just on the surface of it, it seems that it would have made more sense to give another nurse a fourth patient rather than to overburden you with six. Don't be afraid to do the same thing again, if necessary.

[Sunnysidegirl]

I agree with all the above posts and Absolutely you did the right thing! You did the right thing for you and your patients! I hear nurses question their assingments from time to time. I personally have never had to.However we have peoples lives in our hands and we owe it to them to work with in our scope.The charge nurse seems a bit off could this be lateral violence? Is anyone else having problems working with her?

[nursinger]

it seems that it would have made more sense to give another nurse a fourth patient rather than to overburden you with six.

I agree 100%. Have you had other problems with this nurse? Kudos to you for doing the right thing.