covering ones A double S

[hapeewendy]

I work with a certain little crafty nurse *and I dont mean martha stewart crafty either*

she is quite careless, silly with the attention span of a gnat at certain times......she covers all this but blaming things on other nurses.

case in point, a few weeks ago , I was in charge and gave her verbal orders from the dr to immediately give a bolus of N/S to a pt with low BP, she acknowledged what I was saying, And went on her way to set up the bolus , or so I thought.....I transcribed the order and thought nothing else of it, FOUR HOURS LATER she goes home and I get a call from the evening in charge asking me why I didnt tell the nurse to bolus a patient... I asked for clarification , although I knew exactly the pt and the nurse we were talking about and sure enough the incharge called sillynurse up and sillynurse said that I never told her anything about a bolus and left it at that. I confronted her in a nice way that time and told her that of course I told her about the bolus and that she acknowledged me, so sillynurse apologized and I left things alone

until today, when I hear from my co worker that yesterday sillynurses pt came back from endoscopy with a heartrate of 160, and sillynurse went to pick her up and get the report and brought her back to the floor and went on her lunch, didnt tell me anything out of the ordinary had happened to the pt in endo, and certainly didnt tell me that the dr gave a verbal order to her when she picked the pt up to do a stat ECG, so I go on my hapeewendy way home and my co worker again calls me saying that sillynurse told me about the pt being tachy and that I Didnt do anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ack!!!!!!!! what?!??!

I looked thru the pts chart when the pt returned to check for orders and of course there was no ecg order because it was a verbal to sillynurse herself!!!!!!!

luckily for my sanity and sillynurses safety she was off today, I'm just wondering how I can handle this situation without totally losing it on her!

shes done this kind of stuff to other ppl too so I'm not special or anything but I'm tired of her excuses for her own inadequacies.....

[mattsmom81]

This kind of person is dangerous and has no business being a nurse entrusted with lives of patients.

Along with documenting throughly, I would have zero qualms reporting to the BON in a case such as this, as this definitely 'shows a pattern of behavior dangerous to the welfare of the public.'

Best wishes, Wendy...I can tell you're a good 'un! :)

[KaraLea, LVN]

I agree with the others, DOCUMENT...DOCUMENT...DOCUMENT

:chair: :chair: :chair: :chair:

[ageless]

Please tell me about reporting someone to the BON. One writes a formal letter of complaint about a co-worker? How much weight does this carry and what is the response from the BON?

[mattsmom81]

I believe the state BON is obliged to investigate ALL complaints even from an individual. They decide how far to take it, but they WILL follow up. They have nurse investigators who do this. I'm not sure of Canada's laws regarding this process, perhaps Wendy can enlighten us. :)

The best way to deal with an incompetent nurse coworker is to document all events thoroughly and go through your chain of command. The employee can then be counseled and monitored for improvement. If nothing improves, your director will then have grounds to terminate or send the employee through peer review process, if your facility has one. Peer review Boards can recommend remedial education, termination, and can initiate official reports to the BON as well.

Complaining to the director or charge nurse is frustrating to everyone, as little can be done without the supportive documentation. I know it's hard...we may feel like we're being 'mean' to another nurse, but if they are truly incompetent and dangerous (as Wendy's coworker seems) we need to respond as professionals and alert our directors to the problem.

[ninaldunn]

Ahh, our night shift has a nasty habit of writing up every med error or incident they find. I used to take it personal - but bottom line - you are more careful when you are being held accountable. You document that you told sillynurse. Then before the end of your shift check on things and if they are not done, tell her very matter of factly that you are writing an incident report that it's not done. She can take her excuses to the DON. Tell her it's nothing personal. The order was such and such - the patient needs timely care. She gripe and moan and by the third write up she'll either shape up or ship out. Please be careful to be supportive and act as a mentor, etc. If she shapes up, you both feel good about it.

[ninaldunn]

Oh, sometimes if you can leave the tubing in her mailbox, help gather her supplies, help her organize, etc...

This is a judgement call - walk into the patient's room, hit the call light - tell the patient the orders - when she comes in - tell her the orders in front of the patient and give the patient a fair time frame. "Mrs. Johnson, give the desk a call if you don't get that medication by 1PM." Now you've got a witness - document you told the patient too. Even tell sillynurse that you'll do her the favor of documenting patient and nurse present while you reviewed plan of care and new orders.

Can't beat 'um - join 'um - crafty is as crafty does

[Teshiee]

She is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Write her azz up! I know noone is perfect but she is a dangerous practitioner big time. Clueless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coleen]

Hey I have same problem with silly RN supervisor. Only she hears only what she feels like working on that day - that big old pressure wound that woman came in with has been festering for 5 days and you haven't even peeked. How many times can you bug a supervisor about a problem before you start sounding like a nag and then when Dr. makes his rounds with Silly RN - She gasps "Oh my God - why wasn't I informed of this!" ANd you're caught between a rock and a hard place because Silly Rn and the DON have made a rule that LPN's are not allowed to chart that they reported a problem to RN supervisor. So I write it on report - very big - every day and I chart nurses notes of size and staging and I'm not really sure about the treatment plan's effects - until I hear silly RN and Incredulous Dr. stomping down the hall wondering why this was never taken care of until now. (Oh those incompetent charge nurses)

[Shandy12]

LPN's are not allowed to chart that they reported a problem? Why not? Who's hiding what? And since when are nurses not allowed to chart relevant information? Sounds like a funny interpretation of standards of practice to me. I'd still chart whatever is needed to cover my butt!

Lynda