charge

[mcpkin]

I worked as a "working charge" for over a year and a half. Usually taking one less patient then my coworkers. I am a tier, which is a prn position. I filled the position of a full time charge that left. She had taken a travel assignment and after 1 1/2 years decided to come back. I was 2 weeks late getting my acls renewed, when they told me I would have to removed from the charge position because I could not be charge without the acls. As charge, even though I also took a full pt load, I still helped my coworkers, helping with admits, orders, etc, plus all duties of a charge. My concern is the charge that returned, wont help, she will do the assignment for the oncoming shift, and the code carts. Even the other nurses I work with complain that she does not help. She can be sitting five feet from me, and the other nurses still come to me for advice. I have tried telling them to go to her, but they wont. There was one instance when the tele tech told her that room such and such was in v-tach. ( our tele station for the hospital is in our nurses station) she called down the hall, and told me your pt in room *** is in v-tach. I asked her in v-tach or a run of v-tach? she said I don't know and walked down the hall the other way. Fortunately the pt was not in sustained v-tach, it was however a long run, something like 19-20 beats. My point is even as a co-worker, I feel it you thought a pt might be in sustained v-tach you could at least help, let alone being the charge. I have voiced my concern to the directors,they listen, however nothing changes. I have been told as a charge I did a good job, but now they want the charge to be full time. My coworkers complain to me, that they want me back as charge. I don't know what to do, I can not afford to take a full time position. It has been 6 months since I left being charge, and the other night, after I asked the charge nurse how her Pals class went she said good, I take my acls class in 2 weeks, turns out she let her acls expire when she went traveling. This was the initial reason I could not do charge anymore? I don't know what I should do, I live at least an hour and 15 minutes from any other hospital. Any advise, help!

[RN1989]

You're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Anything you do to try and get this woman out of the charge role due to her poor abilities will only look like you are jealous for having the role taken away from you.

You can either just deal with it, remove yourself from the situation as much as you can and insist that the staff go to her for questions/problems; keep going the way you are going and be stressed out every day; or look for a different job.

This isn't fair to you, the staff, or the patients, but if you make any attempt to get her out of that position or let management know about her lapsed ACLS, you must tread softly and be prepared for dire consequences.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

Agree with above post. Good Luck.