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!!
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!!
Let it go what the RT said, as it is easy for them to remark on where to chart, but have them walk in your shoes for an hour. Really, let it go.
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.
that happens all the time, easier to point out a few minor infractions than it is to point out the numerous wonderful things you do. God forbid one makes a nurse feel they did a good job that day.
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!"
and the charge nurse has time to look at what is being documented where as the shift goes on, perhaps he or she could've jumped in and helped OP, rather than point out something that could be dealt with after the surge of activity. Just my opinion.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
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
i agree -- he should have come to you and only approached the charge nurse if you had blown him off. and personal comments have no business in a professional conversation. he's an a$$!
So he comments on your charting "error", and then fails to chart a Tx??!?? WTH!? Sounds like this guy is looking to get paged every 30 seconds for a bunch of stupid stuff!
Take it with a grain of salt....Most RT's I have seen are self-centered guys with no take on reality. They remind me of the macho-macho football guys in high school who date the popular "A" group girls.
Take it with a grain of salt....Most RT's I have seen are self-centered guys with no take on reality. They remind me of the macho-macho football guys in high school who date the popular "A" group girls.
Its the nature of the beast
Most RT's I have worked with can be your LIFE SAVER in a jam. I don't recall ever working with a dip like that. Chances are there are many who share your view. For someone who is keeping track like he is, sounds like he needs to add a few more floors to keep him occupied. I'd keep a tally of his indiscretions where your patients are concerned and do your job so there's nothing to worry about on your end, he'll fall on his sword eventually.
I work with a nurse like this. These people are insecure and they feel better when they point out others mistakes, it takes the focus off of theirs.
You can't control how he acts, but you can control your reaction. I say big whoop-de-do, at least you had charted your sats with as busy a shift as it sounds like you were having.
I believe in talking directly to the errant employee,( nicely) but I do know some people have been told,maybe by past employers, to go to the super,not the person who made the mistake, so you don't get tangled up in a mess,(to distance yourself), but his rude comment, seems to say more about his ego than yours.You might tell him sometime later he didn't enter his neb tx,but you aren't taking it anywhere beside to him ( smiley face of course !!!
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MassED, BSN, RN
2,636 Posts
Let it go what the RT said, as it is easy for them to remark on where to chart, but have them walk in your shoes for an hour. Really, let it go.