First write up as an RN

[Leesha]

I work in a sub-acute unit at a physical rehabilitation center. It's my first job as an RN and I have been there for 7 months. I recently had 2 patients complain to me about how they were treated by a particular nurse on the weekend. I have never had a patient complain before for so I asked the DON what to do and was told to fill out a form. I filled out the form and turned it in as I was told to do. The next day I was called in to the office and was written up. I was accused of talking about another nurse on night shift to my patients which never happened!!! I find it very convenient that this happens to me after I report a nurse that has been there for 7 years. I thought we were supposed to advocate for our patients??? How am I wrong for following a policy that they put in place?

As frustrating as this is I will have to start looking for another job. They called the write up a class 3 so it is my first and final warning. Any insight on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Leesha

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

Oh wait. First and FINAL warning? That doesn't sound right.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I work in a sub-acute unit at a physical rehabilitation center. It's my first job as an RN and I have been there for 7 months. I recently had 2 patients complain to me about how they were treated by a particular nurse on the weekend. I have never had a patient complain before for so I asked the DON what to do and was told to fill out a form. I filled out the form and turned it in as I was told to do. The next day I was called in to the office and was written up. I was accused of talking about another nurse on night shift to my patients which never happened!!!

Wait. You said two patients complained to you (presumably verbally). How is that different from talking with them?

The patient says, "SuziQ this weekend was mean to me."

You say, "....." What, exactly did you say? "I'll ask the charge nurse to talk to you," that would be OK. Anything else, like, ""Oh, I'm sorry, what happened?" invites more conversation.

Something is missing in this story. Perhaps after you turned in your form, the charge nurse or DON spoke to the patient and asked him what he told you, and he said you said to him ... what, exactly? That's "talking about another nurse." Never a good idea. So... more details before we really have a clue.

[OCRN3]

Maybe the nurse you wrote up has some clout in that place. If you want to keep your job, apologize and keep your head down and keep working. If you don't mind switching because of this unfair treatment keep your head down till you find another job and ASAP! You did nothing wrong, it's just usually places have a hierarchy and if you're new and causing "problems" as they see it they might want to get rid of you. So etching similar happened to a friend of mine and they just fired her.

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[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

I think the only involvement I would have done is to tell the patient to talk to someone in administration about it. I find it strange that the DON you talked to did not speak to the patient, instead of simply giving you a form to fill out.

[Leesha]

There were two patients involved. The first one is throne that I filled out the form for. No nurses name was mentioned because she didn't have a name tag on and the patients didn't know her. I simply wrote down what she told me. The second patient is very confused and it was her daughter that brought her complaints to my attention. I spoke to the DON about her rather than fill out a form because she had numerous complaints which she had been writing down. The daughter stated that she had been trying to talk to the DON for weeks and was not able to catch her. The daughter spoke to another nurse as well as the day shift supervisor...not just me. I feel like I'm being targeted.

[Leesha]

Maybe the nurse you wrote up has some clout in that place. If you want to keep your job, apologize and keep your head down and keep working. If you don't mind switching because of this unfair treatment keep your head down till you find another job and ASAP! You did nothing wrong, it's just usually places have a hierarchy and if you're new and causing "problems" as they see it they might want to get rid of you. So etching similar happened to a friend of mine and they just fired her.

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I think she has clout because she has been there for 7 years. My immediate supervisor is her friend so if it got back to her I'm sure she would stick up for her. I did not apologize or sign the write up because I didn't do what I'm accused of. I plan on looking for another job and talking to no one anymore unless its strictly work related.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

Hmmm, I would have given the nurse in question the benefit of the doubt and talked to him/her first.

I mean, a couple residents complain about a particular nurse and you take that straight to the DON?? Maybe that nurse was behind and under a lot of stress. Maybe he/she was a bit short or curt or whatever and as a result the residents complained about that "mean old night nurse". It's not like LTC residents ever exaggerate such things. (sarcasm)

I wasn't there, I don't know what this nurse is like, or what these residents told you. But I can tell you that if your first response to residents' complaints in these situations is to report the nurse to the DON, your are gonna have one long and drama-filled career ahead of you.

Not saying what happened to you is "right" or "okay", just telling it like it is. Just my 2 cents.

[chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Hmmm, I would have given the nurse in question the benefit of the doubt and talked to him/her first.

I mean, a couple residents complain about a particular nurse and you take that straight to the DON?? Maybe that nurse was behind and under a lot of stress. Maybe he/she was a bit short or curt or whatever and as a result the residents complained about that "mean old night nurse". It's not like LTC residents ever exaggerate such things. (sarcasm)

I wasn't there, I don't know what this nurse is like, or what these residents told you. But I can tell you that if your first response to residents' complaints in these situations is to report the nurse to the DON, your are gonna have one long and drama-filled career ahead of you.

Not saying what happened to you is "right" or "okay", just telling it like it is. Just my 2 cents.

I have to say that I agree with the above. The reaction of the institution seems extreme and unwarranted but this seems like such a trifling thing, my first reaction would be to try to find the nurse in question and ask her/him about it. Writing it up would be pretty low on my list but perhaps my view is skewed by my gender.

In any event, I hope it all works out for you.

[Leesha]

I have to say that I agree with the above. The reaction of the institution seems extreme and unwarranted but this seems like such a trifling thing, my first reaction would be to try to find the nurse in question and ask her/him about it. Writing it up would be pretty low on my list but perhaps my view is skewed by my gender.

In any event, I hope it all works out for you.

I didn't know who the nurse was that the patient was complaining about since she didn't wear a name tag and the patient didn't know her. I asked the DON what the proper procedure was....I didn't "go running" to get someone in trouble. I guess being an advocate for patients is something they teach in school but not really what we're supposed to do in our practice. I got the point loud and clear.

Thanks for your input :)

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I didn't know who the nurse was that the patient was complaining about since she didn't wear a name tag and the patient didn't know her. I asked the DON what the proper procedure was....I didn't "go running" to get someone in trouble. I guess being an advocate for patients is something they teach in school but not really what we're supposed to do in our practice. I got the point loud and clear.

Thanks for your input :)

Don't get petulant, of course patient advocacy is something we must do. However, you were asked some good questions and given advice based on only what you told us on the first post. Try to go back and read what people answered more carefully; they all mean well. And try not to assume that just because everyone didn't jump up to agree with you on first blush that it's time to go out back and eat worms. :)

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I disagree. It is not my job to play investigator and ask a nurse about his/her relationship with a patient. If I were the OP and a patient complained, I would find out what the policy says and take it from there. I would not get caught up in "she said he said" stuff. If the policy is for the nurse to whom it was reported to to fill out a form of complaint then so be it. If a patient was to complain about me, I would rather for a formal investigation to be started so that facts would come out. I agree that we don't have enough info. to speculate but if the OP did follow policy and kept the convo objective, then she/he should not have been given a first and final. I don't agree with reporting any and everything to the DON unless it constitutes resident abuse.

Hmmm, I would have given the nurse in question the benefit of the doubt and talked to him/her first.

I mean, a couple residents complain about a particular nurse and you take that straight to the DON?? Maybe that nurse was behind and under a lot of stress. Maybe he/she was a bit short or curt or whatever and as a result the residents complained about that "mean old night nurse". It's not like LTC residents ever exaggerate such things. (sarcasm)

I wasn't there, I don't know what this nurse is like, or what these residents told you. But I can tell you that if your first response to residents' complaints in these situations is to report the nurse to the DON, your are gonna have one long and drama-filled career ahead of you.

Not saying what happened to you is "right" or "okay", just telling it like it is. Just my 2 cents.