Has this ever happened to anyone else?

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

For a while, I worked as an agency nurse at a certain hospital. Before they fired all the LPNs, they liked to do "team nursing", with an RN and an LPN. The idea being that the RN would do the charting and the LPN would handle meds. I arrived to work one evening to find that my LPN had called in. As the assignment stood, I would have 16 patients by myself. I objected, of course. The charge nurse even went so far as to say, "Just take report, and we'll try and get you some help. These girls want to go home." I refused, because I knew that, if I took report, I'd be stuck all night, they would say that they had tried to get help, all the while knowing that they never picked up the phone. I called my agency to let them know what was going on. They eventually redid the assignment. I still had 10 patients. What made me the maddest about the whole thing was a nurse calling her husband to tell him that she would be late because "the little b***h would not take report"! Did I do right? Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks!

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Unbelievable. NO, you didn't do anything wrong! You would, however, have been grandly in the wrong if you HAD taken that assignment (taking report on those patients, essentially being the same thing) and anything negative had happened.

I wouldn't have done it either. Frankly, would have said that either they give me a reasonable assignment (such as the OFFGOING nurses had) or they could replace me as well.

It's never happened to me, but let's face it, hospital adminstrators / staffing supervisors are always pulling the "we couldn't find anyone else to help" routine. Doesn't mean I have to deal with it. I get a reasonable assignment, or they can find my replacement with three week's notice!

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Specializes in neuro, med/surg/, cardiac care.

We are unionized and would take the assignment but also ask the supervisor for a "workload grievance" form, that usually gets the help from somewhere pretty darn fast. We also make sure to document that we have voiced our concern to the charge person, supervisor etc so it is identified that we find the assignment unsafe for legal reasons and followed through on our end. Your friend could have stayed four hours to help out , lol.

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I have never worked in a hospital setting but I know at our local hospital a huge assigment consists of 7 patients or so. In my setting, that would be normal but it is LTC but hospital around here I know do not take that many patients, even on the night shift. I do not blame you. I know that 10 is still huge around here.

Leslie

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you absolutely did the right thing. it is uncomfortable to take a stand, but after years of being taken advntage of you learn it is the best thing not just for you but the patients. You did your job. you were your patient's advocate. nothing wrong with protecting your license either!

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Specializes in LTC , SDC and MDS certified (3.0).

I would have done the same thing . GOOD JOB. Don't let the big mouth bother you , she would not have cared if you lost your licence

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Wow, that comment is just rude.

I applaud you for being a patient advocate first. You did the right thing.

steph

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For a while, I worked as an agency nurse at a certain hospital. Before they fired all the LPNs, they liked to do "team nursing", with an RN and an LPN. The idea being that the RN would do the charting and the LPN would handle meds. I arrived to work one evening to find that my LPN had called in. As the assignment stood, I would have 16 patients by myself. I objected, of course. The charge nurse even went so far as to say, "Just take report, and we'll try and get you some help. These girls want to go home." I refused, because I knew that, if I took report, I'd be stuck all night, they would say that they had tried to get help, all the while knowing that they never picked up the phone. I called my agency to let them know what was going on. They eventually redid the assignment. I still had 10 patients. What made me the maddest about the whole thing was a nurse calling her husband to tell him that she would be late because "the little b***h would not take report"! Did I do right? Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks!

She was probably frazzled from the long shift and didn't want to be stuck there just like you wouldn't want to be stuck there after you had done your part. What she may not have realized is that she had every right to leave. The BON states in writing that failure to work beyond your agreed upon shift does not constitute patient abandonment. She could have given report to the nurse manager and gotten out of there.

Things like that have happened to me, I was just sure to let them know not to blame me because something didn't get done. I was going to do what I could and let the rest go. I never got any rebuttal for that.

I don't like being dumped on but it happens. Some people won't allow it to happen and at times there is something to be said for that, but although the squeaky wheel gets the grease it's also the first to get replaced.

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Specializes in OB.

You absolutely did the right thing. If you had taken report you would have "accepted" the assignment with 16 pts. Then if anything had gone wrong you would have been held responsible. Wanna bet that the nurse with the "mouth" would have been the first one checking behind you in the morning! I've done the same thing a couple of times and it is amazing how fast they can dig up help or rearrange the assignment when they see you are not going to bend!

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you absolutely did the right thing!

and if the same situation ever happens again, you do the same.

the nurse you overheard, is the one with the problem.

do not let the likes of them, affect your morale.

by putting your foot down, your pts will now receive the safe care they deserve.

leslie

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

I can appreciate the fact that this nurse might have been tired, however, there was no reason to name-call because I refused to take a dangerous patient load. This was not being "dumped on", in the sense that I was being asked to do more than I wanted. It was unsafe, for my patients and myself. This "squeaky wheel" would have gladly left that night had steps not been taken to correct the situation. I did not make a habit of refusing report, that was the only time I ever did refuse, and was backed up 100% by the higher ups.

Thanks for all the support, everyone. I appreciate it.

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I can appreciate the fact that this nurse might have been tired, however, there was no reason to name-call because I refused to take a dangerous patient load. This was not being "dumped on", in the sense that I was being asked to do more than I wanted. It was unsafe, for my patients and myself. This "squeaky wheel" would have gladly left that night had steps not been taken to correct the situation. I did not make a habit of refusing report, that was the only time I ever did refuse, and was backed up 100% by the higher ups.

Thanks for all the support, everyone. I appreciate it.

No, the name calling was not necessary, and I'm sure she made sure to say it loud enough for your benefit, too. I get angry but I don't call names and that's the truth.

It would be nice if the facility where I worked had a pool of resources to correct understaffing. Since your facility obviously had alternatives you wre most certainly in the right to insist on getting help. In theory a nurse should never accept an assignment that could potentially be unsafe but the way I see it it would be as unsafe to have tired stressed-out staff that fulfilled the staff to patient ratio as it would be to have fresh workers who were understaffed. Someone has to take care of those people, even if it is just to see their immediate needs are met. The facility I worked in didn't have the resources to fix the problem and walking out and refusing to accept the assignment would not have proven anything in my case. The patients were not going to go away.

Yes, it puts your license on the line but everytime you touch a patient you put your license on the line.

Understaffing is a problem as old as the Sun and it will always be there.

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