I just wanted to run this instance by a few other RNs and see if I am the only one who thinks that it could be a problem in the future. I am an agency nurse, and as such I work in different hospitals. The hospital I frequently work at has hired several new nurses in recents weeks, and I had the sheer joy of precepting one a few days back. Normally, I love to precept, but let me go over what happened:
First, the nurse showed up for report 15 minutes after I had started, and, despite my telling her that I would give her what she missed after we finished (so the poor night shift girl could leave), she insisted we start again, and proceeded to ask the same questions on each patient; "Is he a DNR? What did he come in with?", etc. These seem like good questions, however, all that info was printed on the report sheet! She then proceeded to tell myself and the other nurse that she had "ADD". During report, a code was called, and while several other nurses and myself were working on the patient, I asked this new nurse to get the Doppler unit, and told her where it was. Her response? "Someone needs to be writing this stuff down". I asked her 3 more times for the Doppler, with the same response. She never moved, not to get the Doppler, not to get a pen and paper to write. Finally I said, "Either get a pen and write, get the Doppler, or get out and let someone else do it". Later, the nurse manager told me that this nurse would give my meds for me. It was 0930 (the code took a while). Around 1000, I asked her if she needed any help with the meds, since I did have 7 patients. She declined. At 11:30, while I was doing a tube feeding, this swet little geriatric patient asked, "Honey, do you know where my pain medicine is?" The medicine had been due at 1000. I went to find the nurse and ask her, and she was gone, along with my MARs. 15 minutes later, she came down the hall, from the opposite end of where her assignment was. I asked her where she had been and she said, "Oh, I was in with Mr. So-and-So." This man was not one of our patients, and when I asked why she was in there, thinking she was helping someone else, she said "Oh, he's attached to me". I asked her where the MARs were, and when she handed them to me, she had only given 3 out of 7 patients their meds in 2 HOURS!!!!! I was furious and after I finished the meds myself, I spoke to the nurse manager. She proceeded to take up for the nurse by saying the we were practicing "relationship-based care". Like meds were there in case you got around to them. The clincher? I found out that this "new" nurse had been a nurse for 10 years!!!!! She had taken some time off for "personal stuff" and still had "issues". And to add insult to injury, 3 weeks after this fiasco, she got Employee of the Month. I got blown out by family members and patients who did not get their meds on time, and was told, "Milly is not responsible for the medicine errors, even though she was giving them. You need to watch her."
Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong? Thanks!
