Can you be forced to be charge nurse?

[yourfuturern22]

Hi guys! I've been a nurse for 1 year and 2 months. My charge nurse just recently came to me and told me that I would be charge nurse tonight and I would be the charge nurse when 2 of our other relief charge nurses leave in just 2-3 months. I was a nervours reck for that first night, we had 7 admissions and 2 unplanned transfers to special care, which left me feeling horrible and with a knot in my stomach the whole night. Btw. I work on an acute care peds unit. This charge nurse position is a responsibility that I do not want right now and neither do I feel that I have enough experience for. As I told u before 2 of the older nurses are leaving and they've only been nurses for 2-3 years. This leaves our night shift team with 10 new nurses that have been doing nurses for less than 1 year and 1 senior nurse that's part time with 20+ years experience. I'm overwhelmed and feel like all of this is unsafe. Can I refuse charge nurse position, do I have a choice? Is this unsafe nursing practice? If you were in my position would u start looking for jobs immediately. (Btw this is what I'm doing). All advice appreciated!!!

[DeeAngel]

I hate to tell you this but your story is the same story heard at every hospital in the nation from almost all new nurses. There is no escaping it. You need to assess your weaknesses and deal with them by whatever means will work for you. Try to study for 2 hours a day if possible, if not, then do one. Doing this will help you gain confidence and skills at an amazingly quick rate. When you don't "get" something or are confused, make a note to yourself and look it up that night, do some research if needed. Do this your whole first year of nursing and you will not recognize yourself in a year, you will be amazed by how much you've grown.

This first year will be horrible and then one day you will realize, it's not as horrible anymore. It's still horrible in truth but you will gain confidence as a nurse to the point where horrible is something you handle in stride, with confidence. Your daily horrible will change to the point where it's only horrible when the crap hits the fan and everything possible goes wrong.

It gets better.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

My old job has forced the new grads who got off the nurse residency program to be charge nurses because the rest of the staff were agency or newer to the facility than them.

[foggnm]

See if 'relief charge' is listed in your job duties/description. If it is not, then no you cannot be made to be a charge nurse. And if they are making you a charge nurse on a regular basis without pay then it is definitely not acceptable. However many nursing floors have 'relief charge' as part of the job description. I think you'll adapt to it fairly quickly, so don't get overwhelmed. But if you truly don't want to do it, then have an adult conversation with your supervisor. They probably chose you for a reason thinking you are skilled enough to do the job.

[manager123]

Use it as an opportunity to grow. In the ideal world, you would get some time with the charge nurse (preferably on that same shift) to go over the extra duties expected. At a minimum, ask for a written list of the extra duties and time frames for when they need to be done. Some common examples include predictive staffing for the oncoming shift and how to request extra help if staffing is short or if census is down how to flex in the appropriate order, any bed or huddle meetings that need to be attended, when and where they occur and what information you need to have before going. In some places, you may need access to certain programs. My favorite is pyxis access to request a temporary password for an agency RN. Can't tell you how many times that gets forgotten in bringing on new relief charge nurses!

Many places will offer a differential for relief charge and/or a lighter assignment.

If you enjoy puzzles and ability adjust a game plan quickly, you may find that you actually enjoy the role!

Good luck and let us know how it went!

[rachel10069]

Either do it or risk loosing your jobs. Those are your options. Are they unfair yes but it is the reality of nursing. Honestly I think I am eventually going to have to do it myself. It is what it is.

Nursing sucks!!

[OkieCat]

At my first job as a new grad, I was assigned as charge nurse for my first shift off orientation. Mind you, I had no instruction on what additional duties the charge nurse had. I made it clear that I did not feel comfortable doing this, but it was a staffing issue (me being the only RN on shift alongside two LPNs). We all had 8 patients each as well! We relied on teamwork to get the job done. I did get extra pay for it though and next time had a better understanding of what is expected! Overall a good (but terrifying) learning experience. :)

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Can you be forced to act as charge nurse for the shift? No. You have the right to refuse to do anything you do not want to do.

Nonetheless, depending on your employer's policies, you could potentially be subject to progressive disciplinary action for insubordination or dereliction of duty for refusal to complete a task that is listed in your job description paperwork.

[AvaRose]

I was thrown into being charge nurse right from day one at my job. Granted all of the nurses are charge nurses but trying to figure out how to handle my run of patients and then getting admits and discharges on top of that right away with no real training for how to complete an admit/discharge was very intimidating for me especially as I have never seen myself striving for a leadership role. The world has to have followers as well and that's where I do much better. I can't even get the CNAs to do something for me no matter how nicely I ask them or how firmly I tell them they need to do something (like a set of afternoon vitals since they have the only working vital machine). I guess I should go further and actually write them up but then our special snowflake CNA would most likely go to the DON and make up lies about me to get me fired...she's done it with 2 CNAs and an RN already. Anyway, Charge Nurse sucks but sadly they can make you do the work even if you aren't trained for it

[SmilingBluEyes]

"Forced" may be strong language, but yes, you can and are expected to be a charge nurse as an RN at some point.

[Icooka4u]

I would check the policy book/manual at your job. I can see occasionally being placed into that position. However, to be told that's going to be your new permanent role that you did not request nor sign up for. In most job postings I see, that position calls for 3-5yrs exp., and it also pays more. There should also be an orientation when you're doing it on full-time basis esp. as a new nurse.

[Calalilynurse]

You can be relief charge on my unit after 6months even overore experienced full-time and prn staff. Relief rotates between full-time and part-time staff. No training. I also work acute care peds where its you and another nurse 9/10. We do a few extra things like room checks, the crash cart, and controls on the glucometer.

[Catatonia]

What if you’re a travel nurse and have only been on a psych unit for a week and are expected to be charge nurse? I don’t think people are really thinking of the consequences if something goes wrong.

The charge nurse needs to be able to support other nurses and if you don’t feel confident in your abilities or are a newbie yourself how can you can you serve in a leadership role.

Some are saying, I did it and so can you not taking into account that we all work in different specialties and hospitals. We all know that all hospitals are not made equal. Some do a better job than others of supporting their staff and caring for their patients than others.

The typical non-caring approach to patient care is... I did it and so can you. It’s not about us as individuals who got the short end of the stick in training and preparation, it’s about excellent patient care. If your leaders are incompetent, care is not going to be excellent. Period!

Yes, Charge Nursing is an integral part of patient care. Nursing is a team sport and no individual nurse works alone. Especially, in a psych hospital where not only can someone medically decompensate, they could kill themselves or another patient.

This is the reality of taking on responsibility you are not prepared to handle. For all who feel unprepared go to facilities that support your growth. This is a reflection of bad management and inadequate staffing.

All of the educated men and women on this thread, I’m surprised no one pointed out the elephant in the room. Most are willing to risk their license for a hospital that doesn’t care if you have a license or not. They want to get paid and they don’t care at what Nurses’ expense.

New nurses and travelers go someone that will support you and listen when you say I’m not ready. When the facilities that do flyby night nursing can’t get good staff, they'll close and rightfully so.