Lab coat nurses.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Do any of you work at a hospital that is full of older nurses that walk around in lab coats, look important, have their own offices, seem to have the time to make it to every meeting and social function during the day, but you really have no idea what they actually do, but you are sure they make a whole heck of alot more money than you do, and probably haven't seen a patient up close for many years but still like to tell you how to do your job even though it's obvious they don't have a clue what nursing is like in today's reality?:rolleyes:

Just curious.

Sherri

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

NO.

I am one of the MUSHROOMS on nights ...ya know the one who lives in the dark and is fed shyt to keep her happy...rofl.

Actually, right now, we have a "working manager" who wears scrubs and pitches in on the floor when things get nuts. I respect that!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

aimeee I think we might have the same don haha... hmmm Oh wait I just remembered mine refuses to work the floor from michigan to nm is a long ways!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

ok hey thanks... i think i know what im doing wrong. for one thing my lab coat has the wrong stains...poop pee puke and blood....supposed to be COFFEE. well i get some of that too along with whatever i have for dinner. ..but in the wrong amts. more coffee no fluids.

my hair and my nails dont match either. my hair is always a mess from running up and down the halls and lifting and such. my nails are never painted cos i cant find the time and are short cos i dont want to jab ppl.

i dont have any pins either. i lost mine.

no heels

no clipboard

i need to say more things like....ill look into that....we are working on it...i am aware of the situation....we all have to pitch in right now

thanks you guys...i dont know tho...i dont think i can do justice to my labcoat. im kinda too busy

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I worked at a place that downsized big time. Eliminated all those jobs and forced the suits with license to go back to bedside. They were rude to family and staff cause they were so stressed and made horrible errors in nursing judgment. I came in one day to find a patient burning up with fever, also had change in mental status. Obviously septic but former nurses manager who was now a staff nurse thought the sweating and chills were due to low blood sugar. She gave her juice. I think the woman would have done much better if her sepsis had been identified sooner. Was really a struggle to save her once she started to crash. None of them lasted at bedside very long, they would just stand in the hall and scream and scream. I don't mind suits and lab coats as long as they admit they don't know jack.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I work the evening shift, just when the "lab coats" are leaving. We're staffed two RN's for 19 pts, two of which are vents. I'm the senior RN with 3 yrs exp. My help has only been an RN for 9mos. All they say is "we tried" "just hang in there it will get better." It did, we both got an admission that night, no more help, but lots of overtime... Where was the adm? At home in bed... RN super was a psych RN for a couple of years, then went straight to administration...knows alot of nothing about floor nursing. - The RN manger will help out on daylight, very rarely see her on evenings, unless she's saying goodbye, and never see her on nights. Needless to say...spotless lab coats...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

PS I should note that the nurse manager to staff nurse that I mentioned in early post was a good nurse manager, hers was one of the nicer floors to work on. It is just that when you get away from it for a while you just lose your touch. She actully was upset about the oversight, admited the mistake to me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by P_RN

Now a lot of us DID wear labcoats. The difference in us and them? Our coat tails were the ones flapping in the breeze. Theirs were the ones wrinkled from sitting.

:rotfl: I love that! :roll

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by thisnurse

i need to say more things like....ill look into that....we are working on it...i am aware of the situation....we all have to pitch in right now

You forgot....

"You need to think outside the box..."

"Let's review performance management issues..."

"Due to budget constraints..."

"Think of how you can manage your time more efficiently..."

"I'll be glad to discuss with with you after my meeting..."

And go to lots of meetings. Lots and lots of meetings. Meet to discuss meetings. Have a meeting to look at all the meetings. Meet to plan more meetings...:p

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My favorite ICU NM was promoted from a staff position. After she'd been an NM about a week, she was in the nurses' station one day and we asked her how it was going. She confessed, "I can already feel my ass spreading from sitting in meetings all day long!" :chuckle

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ok, everybody, get the hand grenades ready, because here goes. I'm hurt and I'm angry. I don't wear a labcoat, but I suppose I could be called a "lab coat person". I didn't become what I am (a CNS, not a manager) because I wanted to leave the bedside. I went on because after 20-odd years at the beside and loving every minute of it, I felt like I was ready to grow and give back. I started out wearing scrubs, but I found out that if I needed to get between a doctor and a chewed-on nurse, or present a patient care issue to a committee, I seemed to carry more weight in business clothes. (Yes, there are plenty of committees, and I respect them a helluva lot more now that I know what they do). I agree that that isn't right, but it's how it worked out for me. If I'm going by in the hall (sans clipboard, thank you) and an IV pump is going off or a call light is on or someone needs help cleaning poo; well, my butt isn't sacred, and I can roll up the sleeves and put on the gloves with the best of them. I can also research evidence-based guidelines and policies for practice (something the staff nurses don't have time to do), go to bat to get nurses the safety equipment that they need (one of my worthless committees came out of back safety concerns voiced by staff nurses), and try to improve patient outcomes (another one of my useless performance initiatives involves lab errors). For my pathetic efforts, and my Masters, I probably get paid less than most of you do, especially if you work nights, specialty units or agency.

And by the way, I'm working with managers who have gone to bat for their staff members against doctors, upper level managers, and even patients and their families. If they aren't out on the floor helping, it's probably because they are having it out with human resources over paying you overtime for the 2 hours that you spent working that code in the parking lot before you had even clocked in.

Whew! I feel much better now... :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I wish I could take credit for the saying, but someone on a board called them the "pearls and pumps" nurses. So true.

I was not happy when a new dress code came out and nursing management was apparently required to wear lab coats. A little re-reading showed it was *only* if you were in streets--and I was always in scrubs, so I put that nasty lab coat away!

I don't know where the obsession with lab coats began anyway. IIRC, in the hospital where I trained many moons ago, everyone was required to wear a lab coat when off the unit, supposedly as an infection control measure. Wouldn't want to bring nasties back to your working area.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

LOL, Jeannie got fired up! You go girl. :kiss

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment