First day as agency nurse, asked to do admission

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Specializes in Oncology.

I took a 2-10:30 pm LTC assignement trough an agency yesterday. My concern is, the charge nurse came at 5pm to give me notice of an upcoming admission. I was appalled. She said it is done all the time for agency nurses whether it is first time or not. At the hospital that I work we do not let agency nurses do an admission. So, I did take the admission at 6pm, but left the facility at 3 am because of the paperwork and documentation. I finished my 9pm meds pass at 12am. I would like to know if this is the norm out there for agency nurses to do?

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As an agency nurse, you are expected to perform every duty a facility nurse would perform, and perform it timely and competently.

Experience is so necessary to be a successful agency nurse.

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Yep..you are expected to perform at full capacity as an agency nurse. If you don't know something, ask someone.

Sometimes, agency nurses get the crapiest assignments.

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yep. Normal...were there other nurses to help out or at least show you the paperwork?

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Specializes in LTC, SNF, PSYCH, MEDSURG, MR/DD.

yep they expect you to do 200 percent of the work the regular staff does......

welcome to agency nursing:yeah:

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i am a long time agency nurse, and you got used and abused.....no way would i have done it.....good luck

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Specializes in ER, CCU, CVICU, Neuro ICU, Cath Lab.

as an agency nurse, you have to exceed the standard attitudes of the staff :crying2:and present yourself as a team player all the time or you will not be called back! so many of my co-workers have really bad attitudes :angryfireand with these hard economic times, management does not want to have another "rotten apple" in their basket while paying more for that apple.....remember 2 things: 1) nursing is a continuum of care and 2) the most important, the patent's needs always must be put first! keep a smile on your face and get the job done, then at the end of your day you can decide if you want to return to that facility in the future. but always leave a good impression of yourself:saint: to the staff as you never know when you may need to work there again!:redbeathe

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Why would you feel that as an agency nurse, that you should not be admitting a pt?

As agency, you are expected to do anything that staff is able to do, and usually expected to do more.

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Agency nurses are NEW at their position. Someone could have helped you with this new admit. For the love of man, you were new and just started that day. I know many agencies expect their nurses to "hit the ground running", but when there is NO ground, how can that be possible? I don't like the answers that I see here for your post. You passed your meds, had charting to do, a new admit, didn't get to leave until 3 am and looks like you did more than was expected of you. No way in this world would I have been able to keep up with that amount of work. I wouldn't have done it. I would have spoken to someone and told them that as an agency nurse you want to be part of the team, but need to have at least a few days to learn your way around the facility and get your bearings.

I hear the complaints coming already... hear that? Complain away anyone who has something more to add. We nurses are NOT miracle workers.

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Specializes in jack of all trades.
Agency nurses are NEW at their position. Someone could have helped you with this new admit. For the love of man, you were new and just started that day. I know many agencies expect their nurses to "hit the ground running", but when there is NO ground, how can that be possible? I don't like the answers that I see here for your post. You passed your meds, had charting to do, a new admit, didn't get to leave until 3 am and looks like you did more than was expected of you. No way in this world would I have been able to keep up with that amount of work. I wouldn't have done it. I would have spoken to someone and told them that as an agency nurse you want to be part of the team, but need to have at least a few days to learn your way around the facility and get your bearings.

I hear the complaints coming already... hear that? Complain away anyone who has something more to add. We nurses are NOT miracle workers.

All I can say is :bow: (Best advice I seen yet)!!! Also telling you to sign her initials? NO WAY!! Also the rest you describe leaves way too much room for error and my license is way too important to hit the floor running.

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In our facility, we would never allow an agency nurse to do an admit. Not because we think she can't do it, but because they don't know our policies and procedures very well, they don't have computer access to put in orders--it just isn't a good idea, for the nurse, facility or other residents.

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Specializes in Medical/Chemotherapy, Rehabilitation.

This is exactly the reason I have avoided agency or travel nursing so far. You pretty much just get thrown out there. I have seen many agency/travel nurses get dumped on and treated bad by nurse managers and some of the staff. As a charge nurse, I always tried to be as helpful as I could to agency/travel nurses b/c without them, many nights my staff and I would have drowned without them. If you run them off, there will be no help. Many people don't understand this concept. They get so upset b/c the agency/travel nurse is making so much more than them, but fail to realize that the reason why they are is b/c they are expected to adjust quickly to an unfamiliar environment and get the job done quickly and efficiently even though they have had little or no orientation (which I believe is dangerous).

Someone could have offered their help to you or at least a quick run down of the paper work. Some facilities are better than others as far as their treatment towards agency/travel nurses. It makes a huge difference in whether that agency/travel nurse will come back or not. Maybe one day management and our fellow nurses will realize this and do a better job of making agency/travel nurses feel welcome. Sometimes all it takes is that one nurse to show you something one time, and you'll have it from there, but you must be given that chance.

Good luck to you in the future. Hopefully the experience will get better from here. :nurse:

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