I am posting this on behalf of myself and 2 other "newer" nurses at work. We need HELP!
I received report on my patient load at 0700 and I work 8 hours. I received a report that a patients "drainage tube needs to flushed "daily"" and the night nurse reports to me that it was being done at 2000 in the evening since the patient has been on the unit for days and it is written that way on the report kardex. NOW, in between A THOUSAND "daily" medications, doctors rounding during the day, radiology/lab and pharmacy interruptions all with that important "patient AM care" that the RN's do during the day, I must have not RAN MY BUTT off enough in the 8 hours, I did not get time to do the "drain flush".
I got a tongue lashing from a PM nurse at 1500 that "daily" means only 7-3pm. She was bent out of shape :angryfire and states "well.. I am not doing it... when you are done here you can go do it yourself.. you should not leave that for me to do!" :angryfire She was rude for the rest of the report and ordered me to stay late and do the procedure:o I got up and I did it. I felt as though my 8 hours of hard work was for nothing and to be honest I felt lower than dirt. NOW, this is a trend on my unit, evidently. I spoke with another newer nurse who has had the same issue. Pm's receive the same # of patients day shift does, with a significantly less amount of meds to pass, no AM care, few doctors, and minimal procedures. Another new nurse on the unit is experiencing the same attitudes and we feel like we are just being "pushed over". I can't always give a "nice, pretty patient package with a little bow on top" in which nothing else needs to be done that day.
How can we stand up for ourselves?
Does "daily" only mean 7-3pm?
What is wrong with saying "I did these 10 things for this patient, I could not get to 1"? I rarely leave anything and will stay 1-2 hours late taking off routine orders written at 1430-1530 by late rounding MD's just so I don't have to listen to the PM shift complain. How can I (we) get out of this cycle? We feel like we are powerless because we do not have the "experience" or NERVES to tell them.... "this is a 24 hour hospital facility.. I can't do everything."
I can remember feeling like this when I was a new nurse. things did not change until I finally got up the nerve to stand up for myself. I took the person(s) aside there was more than one and told them that I was tired of taking their abuse. I told them if they had a problem with me then write me up but otherwise stop belittling me in front of others. And I stopped worrying about what I was leaving for them to finish. The things that came at the end of the shift such as admissions or orders if not stat were left until my daily things were done. They still grumbled for a little while but it soon stopped and we actually started working better together with mutual respect.
Nursing is a 24 hour job and daily can mean different things to different people. To me daily means ONCE DURING A 24 HOUR PERIOD. If it is done at the same time the liklihood of it being missed is small. The nurse giving you report said it was being done at 8pm so why did you not just explain the reasoning given to you by the night shift? What does your hospital handbook say is "daily"? I have been in nursing over 20 years and for some reason NURES HAVE ALWAYS EATEN THEIR OWN. Don't ask me why but my advice to you and the others is to go to that person(s) as a group and let them know how you feel. You are definitely busier on dayshift as opposed to evenings and nights. You have to deal with families, doctors, ancillary depts plus the ever famous, "morning care" YOU and the others should not have to endure rude nurses. If you feel that you can trust your NM go and speak to them but my advice is to go to the individual giving you and the others trouble.
Don't let this situation get anymore out of hand, take a stand. If not for yourself then think about all the 'newbie' nurses that will come after you. I can promise you this nurse has been getting away with this behavior for years and it probably all comes down to 1) she's lazy as all get out and 2) no one has called her down for it or stood up to her. Listen, nursing is a 24 hr continuum of care, if it wasn't then hospitals would close at 5pm (Lord wouldn't that be nice). Check the policy in your facility and see if it says daily is from 7-3, because I have strong doubts that it does. Daily most everywhere stands for sometime in a 24 hr shift. I have worked night shift for 2 yrs and I have worked day shift and I can honestly say I had it made on nights except for the lack of CNA's our floor had on nights. Pt ratios to nurses were higher on nights, but for the most part they do sleep...except for your 'sundowners'. The hardest thing I found about being a new nurse is that you take everything to heart...whether it's that you feel like you aren't doing enough, or someone else is saying that you're not doing enough....ect. Biggest thing you need to learn is to take a deep breathe and say to yourself I am one person and am doing the best I can do at this moment and move on. Trust me when I say this nurse is probably very low on the 'good' nurse pole. It's also kind of a given in most facilities (and sometimes an actual policy) that if an admission comes within 30 min of the next oncoming shift it becomes the oncoming nurses admission, assess the pt, orient them to the unit, and then give report to the next nurse. You've done admissions and D/C's all day. You've been there 8-12+ hrs; you've done your job, now it's their turn. Next time she gives you a 'hard time' confront her with it, state you have done all you can do in your shift and it's time for you to go home and rest (say whatever you want to say, just get your point across). If she still gives you a 'hard time' I would then take this problem to your NM, this is what she is there for. I can guarantee you your NM knows this nurse is a problem child, but she's let it slide for whatever reason. Move up the chain of command if something is not done about it. There is too much of a nursing shortage for you facility to be running off new nurses with her kind of behavior. If they can't or won't do something about it I would move on to another facility or a different area from within. Life is hard enough; your job/career shouldn't make you feel miserable. Sorry this was so long but this is something I feel strongly about as you can tell, been there done that. Sorry someone is out there calling themselves a nurse and treating you this shabbily. It's not right EVER and don't tolerate it. It just takes one person to instigate change! Good luck and keep us posted.
this is what happens when poor communication exists. Do what the policy says. If that is not actual practice, notify your supervisor, but continue to perform according to policy until there is a change. If no policy exists, push for one. Then tell the nurse who follows you if she has a problem with it, she can write you up, but you are working according to policy. Some people just need to be shut up.
I think that the first thing you should do is contact your Nurse Manager. Dooking it out with the nurses on both shifts would not be beneficial. You need to know if there is a specific policy related to this. You ( and your friends) are new nurses and haven't learned the ins and outs of the hospital yet, and the older nurses are taking advantage of your naivete. As wonderful a profession as nursing is, some nurses (not all) tend to "eat their young", it is an unfortunate thing and happens a lot in the hopsitals.
Secondly, although nursing is a 24 hr job, there are days when you have to do a thousand things. Work on your time management skills, and after awhile, you'll be able to handle doing a thousand things in one day--that's part of nursing. You'll do fine. Good luck.
I'm a new nurse too! (6 months) I know with time I will become more organized and will be able to get more done in a day. I'm still spending a lot of time picking up the pieces for the next shift....I just count it up to being new. The overtimes isn't so bad - so far no complaints from my manager. I think there will always be "rude" nurses - don't know why but it seems to be the reality. I like my job, still slow as a snail, and do deal everyday with a "rude" nurse or two. I just take it as part of the job - and I try not to be rude back - when I'm really tired I have been known to say "My days over - sorry". I don't have the extra energy to try to change a rude nurse to a nice nurse so I chuckle inside and think - glad my day is over. I think with time we will become more confident and able to just let it go...rude is here to stay-might as well get use to it - it's not right but it is. Hang in there, we worked hard to become nurses, and we will get better and quicker and will learn as we go what's important and what's not. Remember the first year is usually the most stressful - we're in the middle of the stressful part- it will end. Good Luck, take a deep breath and know that it must be doable because there are nurses that show up everyday to do your job - they've figured it out or they wouldn't come back - we will too!
You are doing what you are supposed to do and going past the call of duty,this nurse you are speaking of is just lazy, DO NOT take her crap. There is only so much you can do when a pt comes up that late in your shift. Tell her you did what you could. I would not have started the admission paperwork though. It's hard to do admitting paperwork that has already been started, more likely to miss something. Getting the pt settled, faxing admitting orders, etc was more than enough. She's lazy and nasty.
I don't know what the nurse read earlier but when i said "nurses eating their own" I DID NOT MEAN ME!!! I always treated others as I wish to be treated. THere is never any stupid questions. We as nurses should help each other. Nursing is a 24 hour job and we should all share in the work. THe quote i made was from a seminar from Laura Gasparis Vonfrolio, my CCRN instructor. As far as going to the nurse and speaking with her/him, I did not mean to ramrod her/him. We are all professional's here and should act accordingly. If going to them does not help then go to the NM.
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.
I have seen these orders with piccs and other tubing..."once daily". I have those changed whenever I see them to exact shifts so that there is no doubt when it should be done at all! That leaves the door open for something not getting done because of a busy day or misunderstandings about who should have done it!
I would ask that there are exact times or shift times on those orders! For us...once daily means that...once in a 24 hour period. Typically I do them no matter what shift just in case (if I don't see a signiture by it). I don't want to be left out for blame if it wasn't done...or I will document that it wasn't done, why, and that I verbally reported that to the next RN on duty (and document name too!). That way I cover myself, and still implemented the ways of conveying that it must be done.
If all you are getting is disrespect and sorrow...you may want to check around at other facilities for work, or do what I did (if you have experience enough)...go agency! When I don't like a facility or the way I am treated...I just don't go back, and in the case of one facility...reported them to the BON for extreme safety violations and workplace harrassment for patients and staff (oh this place was a nightmare...I still cringe when I think of that facility!).
Do not let this other nurse walk all over you. If you fail to get to something, (and we all fail at one time or another) then tell her in report and move on.
My first nursing job had dayshift nurses like that. No wonder they coudln't keep any nurses there. Those women ran that place and they knew it, teh NM knew it, and new nurses definately knew it. I lasted a month. Driving home in tears every day was NOT worth it.
The job I went to is wonderful--5 minutes from home, $3 more/hour, and some of the nicest, most helpful nurses and administrative staff ever :) So, there ARE other, better opportunities waiting for you. I've only had one nurse intimidate me the whole time I've been there, and that's only b/c I let her. She didn't do something sceduled for 10 am (I work 6p-6:30a), mentioned that it was a refused dressing change, and said no more about it. I had to flush a foley on the same resident, but had too much going on and usually don't work that floor so I didn't take the time to do the dressing change at the same time. An aide made it a point to go to her the next morning before I even gave report and said that I "flushed her b/c she needed it but didn't do the dressing change which was really dumb". Of course the nurse gave me a hard time about it and went on for 5 whole minutes about how now she ahs to do it first thing. I went in at 5 that day so she could leave early, had only worked that hall once before and pulled a 13 1/2 hour shift with one 10 minute break b/c I was so busy and she wants to whine about that when she has 2 dayshift nurses? I think not. Yes, she made me feel bad, but I did my job for the night. I overheard another nurse the next night talking about how lazy she is and treats the LPN's like servants, so I realized that it wasn't me, she does it to everyone. Luckily all the other nurses there have been very understanding, always answer questions, and are kind enough to let me know the difference between delegating and passing the buck (which is what some of the dayshift RN's are good for doing there). You just have to learn how to stand up for yourself, although it can be very hard sometimes.
When are your daily treatments done? At my facility all treatments are done in the morning, this includes drains. I work 3-11 so the number of treatments I do is few and far between, generally only PRN or the random "elevate legs three times a day" type order (11-7 only have to change the dressings on GT's). In fact, the AM nurse I come in after is so adament about doing treatments on "her" patients she'll change the time so she can do it.
It's funny how things can be so different is different places -- I work 3-11 and I CONSTANTLY get dumped on by the day shift (after getting a bad report), and not bec they did not have the time, bec there are a few nurses who are just LAZY! I am new so they use the "she needs experience" excuse but I know better bec I have worked days as well and find both shifts equally busy for different reasons. On evenings we are constantly doing our own transports to radiology, the OR etc., have much less support than days, get more admissions etc. Each shift has its ups and downs -- but as has been said many times, NURSING IS A 24 HOUR JOB -- if you cant get to it, report it off and the care will continue. But only if you are truely busy, not bec you just dont feel like it.
to tell them.... "this is a 24 hour hospital facility.. I can't do everything."
lrae42
2 Posts
I can remember feeling like this when I was a new nurse. things did not change until I finally got up the nerve to stand up for myself. I took the person(s) aside there was more than one and told them that I was tired of taking their abuse. I told them if they had a problem with me then write me up but otherwise stop belittling me in front of others. And I stopped worrying about what I was leaving for them to finish. The things that came at the end of the shift such as admissions or orders if not stat were left until my daily things were done. They still grumbled for a little while but it soon stopped and we actually started working better together with mutual respect.