Baffled.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

So fair warning, this is probably going to be completely unproductive and may provoke the RN vs LPN debate. I'm really not trying to start anything, I'm just honestly at a loss about this situation. I work in a clinic that has a couple of awesome RNs who do great work and whose jobs I would not ever want to do. But there are also a couple other RNs here whose lack of common sense is just staggering. I am constantly fixing their mistakes. And I could understand if these were just slip-ups or they were busy, but that is not the case. They are either lazy so they're pretending to be stupid, or they're really just completely incompetent. I'm not sure which. The worst part is when I explain to them why they're wrong, they get upset and go to my supervisor. I've just explained to you why what you want to do makes absolutely no sense, and told you how to do it the right way, but you're so bull-headed you try to go around me instead. I've gone to my higher ups a few times when I was just too overwhelmed by it all, but nothing ever comes of it. It's hard to get fired here, they're more likely to just give your work to someone else if you won't do it. I'm just exhausted from running around trying to fix things. Today was so bad I actually cried from sheer exhaustion and frustration. The funny part is, these RNs have made comments about me being only an LPN, and said that I didn't have the critical thinking skills necessary to do their jobs. I'm tired. I can't get the higher ups to fix the situation, and I can't get these RNs to realize their mistakes, but I can't keep taking on everyone else's job. I know I should go to school and get my RN. Especially since some of my frustration stems from knowing that despite their ineptitude they are making more than I do. I also know I should look for another job. But I love my patients and I'd feel like an ass abandoning them to these idiots. I don't see a fix for this, and I'm not sure any advice will help, but I needed to blow off a little of this steam so here it is. Thanks for listening.

P.S. Please don't ask me what the mistakes are, I can't explain it without making it obvious where I work and I don't want these RNs seeing this or hearing about it. They already know how I feel, but I've had enough of getting in trouble just because they're offended.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Hope writing out the post made you feel better.

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Honestly it sounds like me with my family. I finally decided to simply keep my mouth shut and be oh so ever polite. It's worked well for me.

As long as a patient's life is not in danger your welcome try it.

It's eased my frustrations and honestly things seem to be going better

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care-Family Medicine.

If management won't do anything about it you have two choices: suck it up and deal with it or start looking for a new job. I personally would start looking for a new job, no job is worth extra stress and double work.

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It's simple, in every profession their are those who are good at it and those who shouldn't be near it with a 10 foot pole. I'm sorry that you work with those personalities, but I honestly think hey would be like that no matter what career they were in. Not really an lpn vs rn conundrum

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It's simple, in every profession their are those who are good at it and those who shouldn't be near it with a 10 foot pole. I'm sorry that you work with those personalities, but I honestly think hey would be like that no matter what career they were in. Not really an lpn vs rn conundrum

You're right, it's not really an lpn vs rn thing, but I figured some sensitive Sally would try to make it out to be one so I wanted to nip it in the bud at the beginning. Usually when I give a warno it stops the nonsense before it even gets started! :) I like your 10 foot pole comment, that describes these guys perfectly!

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Hope writing out the post made you feel better.

It did, thanks! Tried letting it all out to my hubby, but he just made asinine comments that make me even madder!

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You're right, it's not really an lpn vs rn thing, but I figured some sensitive Sally would try to make it out to be one so I wanted to nip it in the bud at the beginning. Usually when I give a warno it stops the nonsense before it even gets started! :)

But, no need to nip anything this time around because, like you said, it has nothing to do with that. :)

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
It did, thanks! Tried letting it all out to my hubby, but he just made asinine comments that make me even madder!

Hubbies do that. Yes, there are bad employees everywhere and it rankles even more when they make more than you, not to mention lord it over you. Can you just stop fixing their mistakes and let the chips fall?

It's a typical nurse thing to take the weight of a place on our shoulders. Your management doesn't seem to mind you doing that. You really need to scrape off what isn't yours. Good luck.

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I'm just exhausted from running around trying to fix things. Today was so bad I actually cried from sheer exhaustion and frustration.

You need to stop doing it. Seriously. If you feel you can't stop because these are serious situations where someone's life is at stake, then you need to report it through proper channels and then find a safer place to work anyway.

I'm tired. I can't get the higher ups to fix the situation, and I can't get these RNs to realize their mistakes, but I can't keep taking on everyone else's job.

Indeed. You must stop.

I know I should go to school and get my RN. Especially since some of my frustration stems from knowing that despite their ineptitude they are making more than I do.

A good insight, I think.

But I love my patients and I'd feel like an ass abandoning them to these idiots.

Have you considered that there is currently nothing to motivate change, practically-speaking? You haven't implied matters of life and death, so this may be one of those situations where you have to step back and let them do their work their way and hope that illuminates the situation.

It's certainly not worth your sanity. The fact is we are all replaceable. I know it may seem like the place would implode without you, but it won't, and that's not snark - just reality.

I admire that you want to provide excellent care and services - truly.

I wish you well in making a change ~

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Neuro/Oncology floor nursing..
It's simple, in every profession their are those who are good at it and those who shouldn't be near it with a 10 foot pole. I'm sorry that you work with those personalities, but I honestly think hey would be like that no matter what career they were in. Not really an lpn vs rn conundrum

I was going to say something along those lines. LPN or RN doesn't really have anything to do with it. Lazy people are lazy people. I had a similar situation with a co-worker. I wouldn't really call her lazy. She was just very slow and I hate to say it but she was just generally bad at her job. She was always making stupid mistakes and everyone was always covering for her, fixing her mess ups, helping her with her patients and paperwork. I really thought it was a dangerous situation actually and I thought she was going to seriously hurt a patient so I decided to go talk to my charge nurse about it. The charge nurse said that several of the staff members on the floor complained about her incompetence but no one wanted to report her because they didn't want her to get fired because she is a single mother with 3 small kids at home and needs a paycheck.

That was not reason enough for me to keep the patients at risk to I went and reported her actions to the higher ups in management. I'm not going take on extra work possibly putting my patients at risk just because she is a single mother..not a good enough reason. Sadly OP my management reacted much like yours they were indifferent and did nothing. This inept nurse kept working. It took a tragic incident and lawsuit for the hospital to finally do something about this idiot. She had a post-op patient who had an order for 6mgs of IV morphine she gave the patient 6mgs of IV dilaudid instead. 6mgs of IV morphine is equal to about 1mg of IV dilaudid and this patient had no tolerance to narcotics at all. The patient obviously crumped. Luckily narcan is a very effective medication and the patient lived..not without a nice long stay in the ICU though.

Like TriciaJ said sometimes you need to take a step back and let the chips fall where they may. You aren't responsible for your co-workers actions and bad behavior. If they keep it up they will one day wind up shooting themselves in the foot just as my co-worker did. Its a crying shame a patient had to suffer though. After that incident she was suspended from the hospital. I wound up quitting that job(for reasons unrelated to that incident) so I don't know what came of her. If these nurses are making your work environment miserable I would probably start looking for another job.

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Specializes in Case manager, float pool, and more.

Yes, there are those who make you wonder how they made it through school. No it does not matter what the title of the person is either. Glad venting here has made you feel better. My hubby does not get it when I try to vent either or he does not want to hear it. Just keep telling yourself you are not responsible for their behavior or actions.

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