i am a dialysis RN with 10 years total experience, one in dialysis. I know I am smart but I have made a few bad decisions to which our medical director held me accountable. one incident was a pt had a fever. I emailed the MD, (doesn't like to be called). while waiting for his response i had 8 other patients with various problems to address on the floor. the febrile pt said "i want to come off the machine early." ok i said to him, and off he went. 30 min later i checked my inbox only to find the MD's email that had orders to give abx and draw blood cultures. I sent him an email saying the pt signed off AMA. I was written up because I should have had the pt wait until the MD responded. I didn't so technically I let an unstable pt (febrile 99.4 temp) go on his way. I get it. a mistake, yes. more of a failed communication on my part i would say.
I received a verbal warning and was told by my boss that he, in the five years of being a mgr, has never seen the doctor that ****** off.
Last week a i sent a pt to the ER before her treatment as she was c/o chest pain and left arm pain/numbness. thats a no brainer as I told the medics they couldn't get here fast enough! this incident happened at 0545 in the am. meanwhile pts start coming in at 0550 at which time its very, very busy until about 0900 because of meds, problems on the floor, etc. at 0845 the MD came in, who dislikes me since the time of the first mentioned episode. He asked where the pt was. not having time to email him as of yet, i expalined to him that I sent her to the ER. He was livid and demanded i be disciplined yet again.
my manager, who i consider a friend and a boss is taking the heat and has no choice but to act like a boss in the matter, now writing me up for a second time. he then responds to me, "you know i need you here but you are on the doctors **** list." i expressed anger in the way the MD handled the situation. my thought is, why couldn't the MD just pull me aside and say hey you know you let an unstable pt leave and expect that to never happen again and be done with it? but i think its something deeper, a genuine dislike or even hatred for me. instead, he believes that i am incompetent, not smart enough, and def not a good fit for dialysis.
However, i am very good at my job and have the ability to think critically, a key requirement of a good dialysis nurse. yes i know i screwed up, twice now, but I am human. I see my mgr make mistakes all the time. not necessarily in a sense of poor decision making, rather technical errors as in running the saline bag dry while giving meds and denying doing so. or leaving a tourniquet on a pts arm. "nope not me i know better. " is his attitude toward his own mistakes.
what should I do? should i start looking? plain and simple i think this MD is wanting me out of there and is forcing my boss to start putting me under the microscope. I am sick and tired of living in fear of royally screwing up again, only this time to be terminated. again, i have only been in dialysis for a year, the other 9 were med surg.
your opinions and suggestions would be helpful. thanks
I'm not a nurse yet, but I am an adult with plenty of job experience. I agree with the first two posters as well.
The way I see it, you have two choices:
1. Deal with it
2. Find a work environment that doesn't contain this element (The manager who is your friend--keep that in mind. Have the discussion and this person to be your reference at that facility. Give him/her a proper notice and be on your merry way)
valliloves
118 Posts
I'm not a nurse yet, but I am an adult with plenty of job experience. I agree with the first two posters as well.
The way I see it, you have two choices:
1. Deal with it
2. Find a work environment that doesn't contain this element (The manager who is your friend--keep that in mind. Have the discussion and this person to be your reference at that facility. Give him/her a proper notice and be on your merry way)