Did I make the right decision?

[FreddyRN]

I would like to get some opinions on something that happened to me the other day.

I am a new R.N. and work 3-11pm on an Ortho/Neuro floor. We get alot of admissions on this shift. The floor setup is like a square and most of the rooms are around the square but there is also a section that juts off of the square where there a six more rooms far in the back(furthest away from the nurse's station).

I was assigned the rooms in the back which included an empty bed. I heard the charge nurse say she was going to be getting two admissions. I offered to help and take one of the admissions since I had an empty bed. She didn't say yes or no when I offered so I went about my business.

About 20 minutes later she said I'm going to give you on of these admissions but the patient has to be up front by the nurse's station. She then handed me the fax regarding the patient that the ED sent up. I started to read it and discovered that this was a 90+ yr. old female being diagnosed with dementia. She is alert but confused. I told the charge nurse that I didn't feel comfortable taking this patient since all my other patients were out back, far away from this room and I felt that the patient needed to be monitored closely and should be assigned to the nurse that has these rooms. She replied by saying "well she is close to the nurse's station". I'm sorry but that doesn't mean anything when all the nurses are busy and the only person at the nurse's station during our shift is the unit-clerk.

So anyway she blew a gasket and had a tantrum like a 2 year old and yelled just give her back to me(she was the nurse that had the patients up front), slammed down a few papers and stormed off and made sure everyone working that night heard her. She refused to talk to me the rest of the night and made sneed comments, she even refused to waste with me when I asked her, she just ignored me, so I had to find another nurse.

I was just appauled at the way she handled the whole situation, especially considering she was charge nurse that night. I offered to help and would have gladly taken a patient as long as the patient could have been assigned to my room.

I have to work with her all the time and I'm not sure if I should just let this go or should I say something. I don't want her to make my life miserable and be dumped on which is what I think will happen if I say something. Opinions please!!! I would really appreciate any input.

Thank you

[TazziRN, RN]

if things happened just the way you say, no she didn't handle it well. if this is not the way she normally is, she may have had something else going on that you don't know about, but that's not an excuse to take it out on you. refusing to waste with you was just plain childish.

i would have refused the assignment too, based on where she was being placed and the location of the rest of your assignment.

my suggestion: ask to have a meeting with her and talk it out calmly. ask her to share with you why she was so upset, that because you're a new nurse you want to learn so you don't make the same mistakes again. not saying you made a mistake, i don't think you did, but it puts it back in her lap.

if she refuses to discuss it with you, or it goes badly, request a meeting with her and your nurse manager.

[nyapa, RN]

my suggestion: ask to have a meeting with her and talk it out calmly. ask her to share with you why she was so upset, that because you're a new nurse you want to learn so you don't make the same mistakes again. not saying you made a mistake, i don't think you did, but it puts it back in her lap.

if she refuses to discuss it with you, or it goes badly, request a meeting with her and your nurse manager.

ditto. don't let it slide. be assertive, but show that you care.

[Ahhphoey]

I agree with the others, talk to her about this problem. If you let it go now, thats is telling her she can treat you any way she wants and act childish whenever she wants. If you nip it in the butt now, you shouldn't have any problems later. Just do it in a non-confrontational way so she doesn't feel like you're trying to attack her. Good luck.