ego problem??

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I worked night shift last night. I got a rotten assignment. I had 2 confused patients (one who had fallen at home but no one bothered to put her on a bed alarm) someone found her with her iv's pulled out, another huy who asked me for suctioning 3x in the first hour i was there, and a pt who was wheezy and having trouble breathing. the fourth had some major gtts running.

No aide on floor.

I dealt with them all simultaneously it seemed. I called the MD about the man who was having trouble breathing, who didnt want his neb, called RT. RT came. then my charge nurse came up to me and said (hour 3) that I was charting the sats in the wrong spots. Actually, in my haste, I double charted them in the sat column and the fio2 column. big deal, I had people on their lights, breathing diff, and about to fall out of bed.

Then RT came to me and said that he had told me charge nurse that (about the charting) I said, it would have been nice to tell me, not my charge nurse, i have been busy. He said my chg had a right to know, "as its a legal document". I said its pretty tacky to tell my charge nurse instead of me. He said, "if your ego is so easily bruised, you should not be working here" (!!!!!)

I told my chg nurse about that. Later my chg said this RT didnt chart a neb he gave...

I was very upset!! I worked so hard, and I get that!!! Or is my "ego easliy bruised" and maybe I need to get a less stressful job?? Please advise!!

Specializes in med/surg.

You were busy, he should have told you first. then told the charge only if the issue wasn't resolved. In healthcare we need to be part of a team, across all disciplines. it is hard to work on that team when you are constantly worried whether or not he will report you for every little thing.

Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

He should have come to you first.

this has nothing to do w/ego.

it's a matter of courtesy.

he should have approached you.

and he also should be keeping personal comments out of the conversation.

leslie

why am I so upset by this?? Should my charge nurse have told him to tell me instead, or tell him i was busy? Who does he think he is to tell me I should not be working there (I have never seen this guy before)?? is this place too stressful for me??

In my short time as a nurse, this has become my number one pet peeve.

If it was a pt safety issue, I can see going to the charge/manager.

There are a lot of people who truly seem to enjoy reporting other's mistakes, no matter how small.

And it's so hard to take when you've worked so hard, maybe solved some difficult problems, managed a lot of issues at one time, etc.. and all you get recognized for is some little nitpicky charting screw-up. It takes the wind right out of your sails.

ac, you got it!!

Specializes in Med Surg, LTC, Home Health.
Then RT came to me and said that he had told me charge nurse that (about the charting) I said, it would have been nice to tell me, not my charge nurse, i have been busy. He said my chg had a right to know, "as its a legal document".

This RT certainly sounds either new or dense. Did he think the charge nurse should be the one to draw a line through the mistakes and initial them as well? All our documents are "legal". This roving auditor's concerns are misplaced and thus his opinions of where you should work are about as valid as his thought that the charge nurse would actually want to know that you had "Oh my God made a mistake on a legal document!"

Specializes in School Nursing.

yeah, the rt should have notified you first. professional courtesy and all. you have the right to be miffed. hang in there ! :heartbeat

Specializes in ICU.

The RT sounds like the one with a problem, not you.

:smiley_ab:smiley_ab:smiley_ab:smiley_ab:smiley_ab

Tell him there is NO 'I' IN TEAM, he is supposed to be working WITH you to meet the patients care needs, not scoring points with the Charge because he found something that you had double charted.

Specializes in ICU.
I was very upset!! I worked so hard, and I get that!!! Or is my "ego easliy bruised" and maybe I need to get a less stressful job?? Please advise!!

The thing you should learn from this experience is that some people are just major pains in the patootie and you have to learn to not let what they say get to you. Which isn't always easy because sometimes you want to smack the self-satisfied smirk off their face. The fact that he said, "If your ego is so easily bruised. . ." shows what an *** he is.

If I had a quarter for every time I wrote something in the wrong place, I would have A LOT of quarters. Sounds like you are doing great with what is a very stressful job. :icon_hug:

you could always write up an incident report about the neb he gave and didn't chart

see how his ego likes that

after all, "it's a legal document"

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