Help, nurse in distress!

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I have been a nurse for 2 years now. I spent 1.5 years working at a rural med surg hospital. 3 months ago I transfered to the city hospital in the critical care PCU. The thought is to transition from PCU to CCU. I have many concerns about the unit, and have addressed them to my supervisor and nothing has changed or been said. I am very unhappy with where I am at, feel unsafe, and feel my patients are unsafe. To transfer within the system I am in, I need to get a written release from my supervisor, so I am allowed to apply for other jobs. What is a good way to bring this up to him? And what if he says NO? Could use some good words of advice on how to go about this.

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So, let me get this straight. You've been there for 3 months and have informed your direct supervisor of all the things that are wrong with the unit. Did he ask you your opinion or did you just offer it up? If you offered it up I can see this going one of two ways. He'll sign your transfer paper just to get rid of you because I'm going out on a limb here to say I doubt he was very appreciative of your unsolicited advice. Or he will refuse and enjoy riding you hard until eventually getting you to quit or outright firing you. As the new kid on the block I'm fairly certain you have dug yourself quite a hole while simultaneously shooting yourself in both feet. You might want to start looking elsewhere for employment. I'm honestly not trying to be mean but I literally cringed when I read your post. There's a way to do things and going in with guns blazing just isn't it. Especially in the nursing world. And new to the unit. Frankly I think your best bet is to try to fly under the radar for awhile.

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I am not the only one that has expressed concerns multiple other people have also went in and talked to them. Before I started 5 people left before me, for reasons of safety, management issues and them not being true to their word. I did not go in guns a blazing. I expressed my concerns, while also offering up solutions which I believe is the right thing to do. Why would I wanna work at a place that isn't

safe and doesn't value there employees input. As a nurse it is my responsibility to care and keep my patients safe, it's not right that I feel unsafe for my patients. Especially when there is 1 nurse on and no aid, and families are pissed because they are afraid to leave for the night due to the patient climbing out of bed and no one is around.

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I am not the only one that has expressed concerns multiple other people have also went in and talked to them. Before I started 5 people left before me, for reasons of safety, management issues and them not being true to their word. I did not go in guns a blazing. I expressed my concerns, while also offering up solutions which I believe is the right thing to do. Why would I wanna work at a place that isn't

safe and doesn't value there employees input. As a nurse it is my responsibility to care and keep my patients safe, it's not right that I feel unsafe for my patients. Especially when there is 1 nurse on and no aid, and families are pissed because they are afraid to leave for the night due to the patient climbing out of bed and no one is around.

If it's truly not safe and patients are at risk then a prudent nurse would call "safe harbor" which will certainly get attention. If this is the culture of your unit you can be certain it is the culture of the institution and transferring units will not change this. So answer me this, why would you wanna [sic] work there?

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It is not the culture of the institution, for my orientation I had to train on the 2 other PCU units in the hospital, where these issues are not a concern. It is the unit I am specifically on that is having these issues. After I was hired the yearly nurse survey came out showing the CCU/PCU nurse job satisfaction and management are 30% under where they should be.

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It is not the culture of the institution, for my orientation I had to train on the 2 other PCU units in the hospital, where these issues are not a concern. It is the unit I am specifically on that is having these issues. After I was hired the yearly nurse survey came out showing the CCU/PCU nurse job satisfaction and management are 30% under where they should be.

If this is the case and patients are at risk then most certainly call safe harbor. This would get the attention of upper management and shine a spotlight on the unit's issues.

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Can we get a little more info on the problems specifically ? How are the patients in danger? Not doubting you, just curious as to what is so bad that you felt the need to report it to management 3 months in

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I was approached by my supervisors asking how things are going, then I expressed my concerns. But for starters I got 3 admissions at once by myself no other aid or nurse help. 2 of those patients had femoral sheath caths in and on q15 checks...not realistic for one person to do and unsafe cause what if something happens to one of the pateitns with a sheath in, it didn't but it easily could. Also night shift by myself. Patient that is dying, a patient that ate a fentanyl patch, and a patient that pulled out a PEG tube. How is one person suppose to care for those people. The people aren't getting the care they need and deserve. They are in a PCU for a reason but what good does it do them when you can only get in to see them every 2 hours. I'm not saying days aren't crazy, I know that and understand that. But stuff like that should not be the normal for a unit where people are suppose to be getting extra care and monitoring. Not realistic or safe for one person to do.

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I was approached by my supervisors asking how things are going, then I expressed my concerns.

Well, that's a different scenario altogether and was the reason I asked if your opinion was solicited in the first place. Had I known this, my response would have reflected this fact and been much more palatable to you. In the future, details will always get you better answers. Otherwise we are left to fill in the gaps and often are not very successful at it. Regardless, the patient assignment situation you described is not safe and again I would suggest if this is a regular occurrence you call "safe harbor" to protect yourself and your patients.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I think you honestly cannot lose here. You request the transfer and hope for the best. If refused, you find a different job. I agree that it sounds like a very toxic environment on your floor.

Before you ask though, make sure there are not policies you should know about regarding transferring units. Every hospital I have ever worked at required 6-12 months on one unit before you can transfer.

If your manager is a good one, he/she will not want to stand in the way of your career advancement.

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.
I would suggest if this is a regular occurrence you call "safe harbor" to protect yourself and your patients.

I thought Safe Harbor only existed in Texas?

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I thought Safe Harbor only existed in Texas?

Nope. Although it is likely called by various names depending on the locale.

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