I have never in my nursing career been so angry!!
That said I need advice. I work on an acute Ventilator unit where pain and anxiety reign supreme. After dealing with 2 pts who were in such a state that one was ripping her skin to shreds and the other was pulling at her trach/trach tubing so badly that the tubing and HME were filled with frank blood.
After trying relaxation, diversional and communiction techniques to no avail (done by myself, resp therapy, 2 other nurses & the CNAs) I asked the med nurse (A float, unfamiliar with the floor) if they were due for their prn meds.
Ready? She told me that the off going med nurse had told her under NO circumstances were these pts to be given their prns!!
I showed her the MD order, I showed her the VS I had taken other than the normal elevations you would expect to see with pain/anxiety they were stable & then I told her that she needed to use her own nursing judgement at which point she started to cry. ( I still feel like a turd) She did give them at my request with a positive effect inside half an hour.
I then went to the Nursing Supv. explained the situation & she asked me to write it up. I explained that this would be a fruitless gesture as the offgoing nurse is favored by my UM. This nurse gets away with yelling, swearing ( daily ) and has even thrown the med keys at other nurses. Withholding prns is not new for her, she has been seen telling pts no she will NOT give then pain meds as they are NOT in pain.
In the end I did write it up & gave a copy to the nursing supv & the DON, bypassing my UM. However I know that I have effectively put my head on the chopping block. I know there will be hell to pay from my UM no questions asked.Her response to our various complaints r/t this nurse is always "oh thats just her way", "Oh, thats our girl". How much more frustrating can you get??!!
I know in my heart I did the right thing. On further investigation it was discovered she had given the same directives to another float nurse.
Other than letting me vent, TY. I would like to know if anyone has any idea if this is a state reportable offense? besides the fact I don't think that there will be any repurcussions for her, only me.....This whole thing has really gotten to me & I want to make sure that I do everything I should but I don't want anger to cloud my judgement!