Deliberate sabotage?

[greenerpastures]

Recently, our "manager" has been deliberately going behind people to remove a "mandatory object" after rooms have been set up for days to see if the staff is checking the room every shift. It could be taking the 02 connection set up apart in a room where the pt is on room air, unscrewing the flowmeter, disconnecting the suction tubing that runs behind the patient's headboard, taking the yankuer out of the room, or replaced a water pitcher with an unlabeled one. Now, I'm all for making sure things are set up right, but deliberately sabotaging people? Seems odd to me. I know if I set up my room yesterday on admission, I expect it all to still be there the next day; unless the patient transferred rooms, there should be no reason for anything to be missing. I give a cursory glance around during report, but I don't thoroughly check it after I've already worked a shift with that patient. I get that sometimes things get taken down or removed, but doing it on purpose? I feel like I have more important things to do than checking behind myself every day now that I'm concerned my manager took something in between shifts. Does anyone else have managers or teams that come and do this?

[Farawyn]

I did. I quit because of her. She was Teflon and went on to get a great job. I don't know how she did it, because anyone who actually worked with her knew what a POS she was. She fooled the right people.

Luckily, none of our nurses, MAs or patients were hurt by her manipulation. She didn't "catch" anyone.

I can only hope it all comes crashing down on people like this. Document, go to HR, do what you have to do to protect yourself. Good luck.

[spacemonkey15]

Deliberately removing clinical equipment from a room that's been set up for an admission is a patient safety issue. I get that you should be checking it, but what if something's removed and you need to admit in a hurry in the middle of the night and you don't have something you really need. A patient could come to harm because of this person trying to catch people out, reckless behaviour if you ask me.

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

When I was in high school I worked as a waitress. The head waitress would set up little messes in obscure places to make sure we were cleaning behind equipment. I thought that was obnoxious until I read the OP. That is immature and unsafe.

I agree with documenting any occurrences of deliberate missing supplies. This is an obstacle to performing your job, and you should be able to work with the necessary supplies.

[proud nurse, BSN, RN]

Oops. Duplicate post.

[caliotter3]

Not a manager, but a coworker, did this where I once worked. Backfired on her when she killed a resident on another nurse's assignment and her DON friend decided to fire her "friend".

[llg, PhD, RN]

Is she leaving the room "short" of needed supplies so that it is dangerous to the patients? Or is she just removing something for a brief period while she is observing to check if the nurses are doing their jobs of checking -- only when she is there to return the supplies if needed for a patient? There is a big difference. One is a danger -- the other is just an annoying way of evaluating her employees.

The OP wasn't clear on that and we shouldn't make assumptions without getting the full information.

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

Good management would be for her to inspect the rooms, note any deficiencies, and speak privately with the nurse who set the room up to discuss any additional training needed in order to meet the standards of the unit.

The actions cited in the OP's post are not good management, just dangerous mind games. They need to be written up and reported to risk management. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I know if I set up my room yesterday on admission, I expect it all to still be there the next day; unless the patient transferred rooms, there should be no reason for anything to be missing. I give a cursory glance around during report, but I don't thoroughly check it after I've already worked a shift with that patient.

I agree with the rest: this is a potentially dangerous practice that your manager is engaging in. Unfortunately, you may also be as liable as she if you're not thoroughly checking your room as you should be.

Also, in all honesty...unless you've been monitoring that room 24/7, you really don't know if everything is still there the next day. For example, a rushed coworker may have borrowed something from the room but forgotten to replace it as she thought she would when things slowed down.

You NEED to check further than a cursory glance every time, even if you believe it's all still there.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Good management would be for her to inspect the rooms, note any deficiencies, and speak privately with the nurse who set the room up to discuss any additional training needed in order to meet the standards of the unit.

The actions cited in the OP's post are not good management, just dangerous mind games. They need to be written up and reported to risk management. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

My thoughts exactly. With all of the time the manager is spending setting up staff to fail or perhaps putting patients in danger, they could have just helped the staff out instead. These are the morons running the world, and this is one reason that healthcare is failing and employees leave employers in droves.

[greenerpastures]

To answer a few questions :

1. It is removed permanently until you "find" the issue.

2. I appreciate the comment about "what if someone borrowed something in a hurry?" I have done this during a code - grabbed a 02connection of the wall next door as one was missing in the room I was in. However, when I was done, I walked to the supply room and replaced the connection in the room I borrowed it from. I do, however, appreciate what you were trying to say.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

To answer a few questions :

2. I appreciate the comment about "what if someone borrowed something in a hurry?" I have done this during a code - grabbed a 02connection of the wall next door as one was missing in the room I was in. However, when I was done, I walked to the supply room and replaced the connection in the room I borrowed it from. I do, however, appreciate what you were trying to say.

And the problem is that the other nurse may not be as conscientious as you are about replacing it. They may forget, or they may have been totally swamped and never get to it period. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt...from both sides :/

Hence why I stress your need to do a proper check every time.