Don't Want to be Charge Nurse

[pnurseuwm]

I'm a fairly new RN and just started with an LTC which has mostly LPNs. I swear from the first day the managers and charge nurses have been telling me I'm going to be charge nurse because I am an RN. I'm JUST learning how to give 50 million pills to 35 people for goodness sakes! The charge nurse calls the docs, handles paper work and helps on the floor if needed but I really do not want to be charge nurse because I want to continue to hone my clinical assessment skills (something that the charge nurses here rarely use).

Can I REFUSE to be a charge nurse in the future, or is it something I have to do?

[caliotter3]

Whether or not you refuse the position and the title, if anything should ever come up in the future and it is proven that you were the only RN in the building at the time, guess what? You is the charge nurse if you is the RN. It comes with the territory. If you really don't want to be the house supervisor, then you should transfer to another shift, where you are not the only RN.

In most situations, our RNs and LVNs each worked their own assignments. Separate supervisors were hired later at one place. Everything worked out ok and people helped each other when necessary. In another place, on night shift, the DON had a certain LVN as the house supervisor, even though she had RNs on duty, because she wanted him in that position. Nobody questioned the situation. There were lawsuits going on. I'm sure if there were problems with that arrangement, it would have come out in the lawsuits and there would have been some explaining to do.

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

Why not just work at a hospital and get more experience?

[Jo Dirt]

Also, if it is clinical skills you are really concerned about you should probably look into a hospital job. I went straight out of nursing school into a (low skill) nursing home and lost out on so many clinical skills I could have learned.

[Mrs. M.]

If you don't feel ready to be a charge nurse right now, perhaps you just need more experience, as others have suggested. However, an RN is a leadership position. If you can begin to shift yourself toward preparing to be a leader it will serve you well in your career.

[RNHawaii34]

I was oriented in LTC for a month, then after that I was on my own. I had 4 nursing assistants to help me take care of 40 residents. at first, I felt so lost, but I got used to it. oh yeah, it gets crazy sometimes. but thats where you have to use good prioritization. I have a few residents who drives me crazy, but my DON said, as long as nobody is bleeding, just take your time, focus on what you should be doing, and you will be ok. If you dont want to be charge nurse? try working in a hospital.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Why not just work at a hospital and get more experience?

Perhaps CRNA you should read some of the previous posts about the kind of skills one needs working in a SNF these days....IVs, wound vacs, dialysis, and you need excellent assessment skills because it's only YOU there...no docs at arm's length, no 100 other nurses to call on, no IV team or lab people...YOU.

While medsurg experience is certainly helpful, it is not the be all and end all and neither is hospital nursing the be all and end all.

[nurturing_angel]

At my small community hospital, all RN's are expected to be charge nurses and we take turns....no exceptions. All must serve a few shifts as charge on a regular basis.

:balloons:

[Mrs. M.]

Perhaps CRNA you should read some of the previous posts about the kind of skills one needs working in a SNF these days....IVs, wound vacs, dialysis, and you need excellent assessment skills because it's only YOU there...no docs at arm's length, no 100 other nurses to call on, no IV team or lab people...YOU.

While medsurg experience is certainly helpful, it is not the be all and end all and neither is hospital nursing the be all and end all.

I think that's the point. In an acute care hospital you have more support around you. In a SNF you have to hit the floor running. For a new nurse who isn't comfortable with a leadership position yet, a SNF might not be the right place.

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

Perhaps CRNA you should read some of the previous posts about the kind of skills one needs working in a SNF these days....IVs, wound vacs, dialysis, and you need excellent assessment skills because it's only YOU there...no docs at arm's length, no 100 other nurses to call on, no IV team or lab people...YOU.

While medsurg experience is certainly helpful, it is not the be all and end all and neither is hospital nursing the be all and end all.

And I believe that's exactly why the OP may want to try working in a hospital first so they can develop those skills. you can't do those things without experience right? Who will teach them without the support of other nurses? The OP is basically saying people are looking to THEM for direction, when they have very little experience themselves. LTC is not known for their great orientation programs.