Do you have any authority in your LTC facility?

[NurseLoveJoy88]

Last night a GNA called the unit supervisor to ask to leave early. She didn't even have enough courteously to ask me first. The unit supervisor said yes. After the GNA got permission to leave early she then told me she was leaving early. I replied " Is everything ok, are you not feeling well" She states " Oh I'm fine, I just want to leave early to meet up with my boyfriend to have sex" She then states" I'm going to have my feet up in the air and I'm going to have fun":eek:

I was appalled at her response and angry that I don't have the authority to say no. She already asked the unit supervisor and received her answer.

I'm also not allowed to write anybody up, call the family with updates, and not allowed to call 911 without ok from unit supervisor or DON.

BTW- This is a catholic facility so its ran by nuns so everything is way different than I'm used to.

[horrorxgirl]

That's ridiculous. I would have told the supervisor, maybe have her reevaluate her decision. As far as needing permission for everything else, that seems so asinine to me. I don't know what the laws are where you live, but in PA we are able to call doctors and write verbal orders, and in LTC do pretty much everything an RN in LTC can do besides pronounce death, act as a supervisor, and IV pushes (almost never see those in our LTC facility). As floor nurses, we are equals at my facility, since a floor RN can't really do much extra than the LPN, and the things they can do occur rarely (pronouncing death being the most common.) However, there are some facilities around here that still will not allow an LPN to call a doctor and other common LPN duties. I would never work in a facility like that because to me it's as if I'm being slapped in the face when I am not allowed to perform things I've been trained to do, as if I'm not smart enough to do them being a lowly LPN.

[shesarriot]

I STILL think this is total BS. No one leaves early and offers their nurse this excuse. I do have experience. As an RN and an aid and I find this rediculous. As an aid, if I needed to leave early I would NEVER.....get that....NEVER ask the LPN I was working with. They have virtually no authority over when an aid goes home. That is a supervisory decision. LPNs are generally not in those positons to ask.

[Sparrowhawk]

Um...as LPN charge nurses they sure do have authority.

[wifeandmomoftwo]

Yes I do. One of the advantages of working 11-7. I don't work under anyone's direct supervision. My boss isn't there. I can clock them out if they are insubordinate. If someone doesn't show up I can call around and fill their spot.

I can absolutely believe she said that to you. I sent one home a couple of weeks ago who sat in the break room for 2 hours and thirty minutes. I work the middle hall so I have 24 residents on one end and 16 on another. I was on the other end the first part of the shift. Anyway, when I told her to go home she said "No. I'm not going no where. Even if you clock me out I'll still stay." I had to threaten to call the police. If she had worked when she was clocked in to start with there wouldn't have been a problem.

Just this week an aide was sent home for being obviously under the influence of something. She said she "started a new medication" but couldn't remember what and didn't have it with her. Her gait was unsteady, her speech was slurred, and she didn't make sense half of the time.

So, in short, not much surprises me. I'm glad that when my bosses come in at 7am that they back me up.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I do believe that someone said this, since some Aides are out to lunch and very disrespectful. Where I work, I am one RN in charge for my shift. We have a head nurse, but if you're working the shift, you're in charge. That said, sometimes it seems as though the Aides are the ones in charge. Everyone belongs to a union, so disciplinary action is not an easy task. We have some great people, and a couple of people who should work elsewhere.