Being taken advantage off-I should have handled this better

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

I had a situation over this weekend that is still bothering me, and I am ashamed of myself for not standing up and for letting others cross firm boundaries.

So, I recently took a weekend PACU position. Over the weekend, I am responsible for recovering all the surgical cases, and often endo cases as well especially if they receive propofol. Basically anyone who gets the magic milk, I am responsible for. I don't like that I have to recover endo cases over the weekend but if there is only one weekend endo nurse and multiple cases following one after the other, or if the endo nurse is an LPN, I have no choice.

But this weekend, I felt like I was being taken advantage of when I was asked to recover an interventional radiology patient who received minimal sedation with fentanyl. No propofol, only fentanyl. Worse still was that I was taken out of commission for 3 hours because that is how long this patient had to be on bedrest. Oh, and he was an outpatient on a weekend. Fortunately there were no surgical cases so I could afford to sit on my ass for 3 hours until bedrest was done.

Next, I had a cardiac cath patient who only received versed, the very minimal amount of versed. Patient was also outpatient. I was tossed a carrot with that one, with the promise that someone else would discharge this patient back home.

Those are not in the purview of the PACU nurses during the week. So why should it be different during the weekend?

I feel like I gave in too easily and accepted taking care of these patients. And I have now set a precedent that will lead to other PACU nurses being taken advantage of when they are on call at night or on holidays that don't fall on a weekend. Hence the shame. What can I say or do in the future to stand up for myself better?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

What is your job description and how many OR patients were you recovering?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

In my book, if you are on the clock, and are asked to do something you are qualified for, you do it.

[llg, PhD, RN]

In my book, if you are on the clock, and are asked to do something you are qualified for, you do it.

Yeah ... that "It's not my table" type of thinking doesn't go over well in nursing, especially on the weekend.

To the OP: It sounds like you were scheduled to work that shift, qualified to do the work, and that you had time to do it. Do you really expect them to call in someone else from home on a weekend to do that necessary work while you put your feet up?

[brownbook]

It sounds to me like a normal weekend for a PACU on call nurse?

[noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP]

Sounds better than my weekend.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Weekend duties are usually variable, and not set as they are during Mon-Friday because there is a skeleton crew. If the workload was not excessive and you are competent, I see no issue.