Are all depts of the hospital trained to tell pt and family tell your Nurse?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in ER, Tele, Cardiac Cath Lab.

Its simply incredible the things nurses have nothing to do with but are blamed for. Since my career has started i have been blamed for things from Physical therapy, resp therapy, maintenance, pharmacy, doctors not talking to family, house keeping, cafeteria, etc... I have actually brought tools from home to fix tvs and toilets due to lack of response from maintenance. I recently bought a walker to help pt when physical therapy refuse to come. I have also gone to cafeteria and paid for food out of my own pocket when they refuse to bring the pt food.

At no time are these depts held accountable for these refusals. It must be great to have a job where they can decide whether or not to show up. Im sorry just need to vent!!!:angryfire

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in School Nursing.

i don't have an answer for you, but i do want you to know that you are a wonderful person for going the extra mile for your patients. you are a dedicated nurse ! :bow:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency/Trauma.
i don't have an answer for you, but i do want you to know that you are a wonderful person for going the extra mile for your patients. you are a dedicated nurse ! :bow:

sounds like you are going above and beyond for your pts, that's wonderful. as for getting blamed, i look at it like i would a restaurant. if the eggs are runny, or the carpet dirty, it's the waitress who takes the blame.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU/ER.

I have never gone as far as bringing in a walker for a patient!!! You really take the extra step. I have bought a coffee pot for our unit since ours broke and the hospital informed us "we sell coffee in the cafeteria"--ya OK well your only open till 6:30pm and I work nights!!!

In my humble opinion nurses by nature are care givers and mgmt knows this. They know we will and do go the extra mile for the patients. But in reality we are going the extra mile for the facility.

THe pt you brought the walker in for is typically not going to say Nurse Scott was the best, They will say though Clark County hospital is the best. YOu may get a mention here or there but it is the hospital that will get the bulk of the credit.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

Good for you going above and beyond. I hope your pts appreciate it. Yes we do get blamed for everything..if the MD rounded late, dietary forgot their juice, CNA didn't bathe them etc. I just smile and apologize.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I agree you are a rare nurse who is going above and beyond making sure her patients have the very best and I commend that... However, while I support you, by doing these tasks that are out of your scope of practice you are enabling the other workers to continue their slacking... Please do not flame me as I am on your side, I just wanted to point out the other side of the coin. While I hope you continue to go above and beyond as necessary, I hope you are informing management and if they do not listen, administration, and if they don't listen go above their heads. Your job is to care for patients within the nursing scope of practice, it is someone else's job to fix toilets. Speak up or the hospital will continue to abuse you. Right now you are doing the job of multiple people but I bet you are not getting their wage... Good luck to you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Tele, Cardiac Cath Lab.
I agree you are a rare nurse who is going above and beyond making sure her patients have the very best and I commend that... However, while I support you, by doing these tasks that are out of your scope of practice you are enabling the other workers to continue their slacking... Please do not flame me as I am on your side, I just wanted to point out the other side of the coin. While I hope you continue to go above and beyond as necessary, I hope you are informing management and if they do not listen, administration, and if they don't listen go above their heads. Your job is to care for patients within the nursing scope of practice, it is someone else's job to fix toilets. Speak up or the hospital will continue to abuse you. Right now you are doing the job of multiple people but I bet you are not getting their wage... Good luck to you.

Flame you haha are you kidding . I agree with you 110% !!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

I also think you are doing too much, although for the right reasons perhaps. If I were your supervisor I would wonder why you have time to do all those things. Are you wanting attention from patients and visitors? As you have stated, your actions have not yet fixed the problem. You cannot continue to do the same things and expect different results. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Tele, Cardiac Cath Lab.
I also think you are doing too much, although for the right reasons perhaps. If I were your supervisor I would wonder why you have time to do all those things. Are you wanting attention from patients and visitors? As you have stated, your actions have not yet fixed the problem. You cannot continue to do the same things and expect different results. Good luck!

I dont have time for this extra stuff that other dept should clearly be doing. But to get the pt and family off my back i do this. The family calls the cafeteria and the cafeteria tells them to tell your nurse making it my problem. I call maintenance and they say they cant come again the families follow me everywhere until its resolved.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

There are times when an incident report is appropriate. Not because the patient was harmed- though they may have been, but so the problem gets brought up through channels in an official fashion. If someone needs a walker and it takes 2 days to get one they are going to be in the hospital longer, be more likely to get complications, etc.

I would also recommend closing rooms when things are not fixed. If a toilet isn't working you can't really have a patient in that room. Losing beds is a kick in the money-maker for the hospital, and it's a way to get their attention.

Involve the family as much as you can, TPTB will listen to family complaints faster than nursing. Try to get a script for the walker and have the family bring it in. Tell family that the kitchen has stopped serving (or that they tend to be slow to respond after supper) and ask them if they'd like to go down and pick out something and bring it up. Put the blame for the problem back where it belongs, tell the family what you have done to attempt to solve it, and tell them who to talk to so they can help you. Give them the NM office number saying, "Yes, this is a problem that comes up frequently, and although I've done A, B, and C, I sure understand why you're frustrated that it hasn't been solved. My boss's number is here, and her office is right down the hall, maybe she'll have a little more influence, or some other ideas." A few of those complaints will bring some change.

Don't accept blame, and give them constructive people to follow up with. As an old and jaded nurse I don't bring things in from home for patients because then patients and coworkers will expect you to supply those things regularly, and it gets to be too much quickly.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.
I dont have time for this extra stuff that other dept should clearly be doing. But to get the pt and family off my back i do this. The family calls the cafeteria and the cafeteria tells them to tell your nurse making it my problem. I call maintenance and they say they cant come again the families follow me everywhere until its resolved.

If you call the cafeteria why do they say they can't feed the patient? What's the problem? If it's lack of staff send family down for the tray, or ask them to call transport for help. If you can't get down, or it's a reoccurring problem, call the supervisor every time it's an issue and follow up with a note to your nurse manager. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do it yourself, but only ONCE. After that the supervisor can make time to talk with the irate family, or she can call the cafe and straighten out the problem.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ED.

Nursing has become the scapegoats for the hospital industry because we allow ourselves to be scapegoats. We bend and scrape and apologize for other's mistakes! Why?! As a profession we are known as kind, caring, nuturing and selfless. So naturally, the blame is always placed on us. The reality is, we as a profession, have to make those to blame accountable for their actions. We cannot be doormats. There is way to much expected of us now to let others walk all over us. I agree with Canoe, make out the incident reports. Inform the patient and family that you are doing everything in your power to meet their needs. Let them know exactly who is dropping the ball and who they can complain to. Most patients are not stupid. If they see you are making an effort, they will not blame you when another dept. doesn't do their job. But seriously, we have to learn to stand up for ourselves and demand to be treated with respect.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment