Holy Moly!

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2008

Racing mom..............
I am starting to think there is really no fairness in the workplace today. Long ago, employeers treasured their long time employees and showed them how much they appreciated them.
Not today!
I would not enter another nurses orders or sign for her. If you do, that makes you legeally responsible. When you sign your name, you are accountable and if SHE is the one who makes the mistakes but you sign, your ass will be in a sling.....not her's.
I agreee with you that a union can be both good and bad. After experiencing being in one for 10 years, I would gladly be part of another one.
I wonder which states, if any, have unions for their nurses??
Brenda

Michigan is a Union nursing state. There have been some hospitals in Indiana who have tried to go union, but failed.

As far as entering orders under my name, they are lab orders, and I sit behind her and tutor her as she does it. My gripe is yes she should be honored for her years of dedicated service to the facility, but are we honoring her by doing her work for her? When I work with her, not only do I have to print off my Mars for the next day, but hers too, not only do I need to print of my patients paper work but hers too, then the labs.

So if I need to learn this stuff, why doesnt she?

The thing with union, is we can have a crappy nurse, one who is grouchy and mean and not helpful, someone who doesnt "fit it" they can be let go in the state of indiana. If we were union, no way. Just like the teachers...as long as the teacher is not harming the child, they have a job, doesnt matter what type of a teacher they are. Seniority is all that matters. So do we want that in nursing? I dont.

Innurse78 · Mar 13, 2008

Being in a union is more than what you speak of. Yes, it is there to protect the participant but there are also regulations that must be followed. And a nurse who does not do her work or does not how to do her work will be investigated and dealt with accordingly. Is her supervisor aware of this? If not, then someone should step forward and make them aware!

Why do you print her MARS and order her labs? I would not do it nor would many other nurses. Just because she is older does not excuse her for not having the knowledge that she MUST have in order to keep her status as a nurse.

If you are teaching her, she can surely click the right labs to order and put her initials in the computer just as easy as order them. Letting her get away with this is only reinforcing her actions and she will continue to do it. Makes one wonder if she follows through with her patient care????

Unions are not all about seniority. They are also there for disipline and correcting the behaviour of nurses who break the rules. They are also there for the employeer.

If this nurse would have been reported ( as she should have been), her place of employment should have looked into the accusations. With a Union, they have a legeally binding obligation to do so.

So don't cut up a Union unless you have been in one or are more educated about them. They work for both parties and not just for seniority.

Canada has some of the best nurses in the world and one of the best nurses unions in the world.......that is why the nurses stay at one job. They treat them very fairly and justly. Also of note, once you are over a certain age in Canada, you need to do your nursing testing again to make sure that you are up to date and understand your job. They have continual Education credit hours that you MUST take in order to keep your license active.

So I guess the biggest question I have for you in reply is............why do YOU do it for her? She ovbiously knows she's got it made when you and other staff members do her work for her.

Innurse78 · Mar 13, 2008

PS- Firing someone because they don't fit in - as you say........is so not right. Thats the reason there is a Civil Rights Commission that is loaded down with complaint cases of people who" don't fit in" and are fired.

Maybe they have a reason to be crabby, grouchy. If they are that way to patients then I am all for firing them as that would be a justifiable reason.

With all the new technology today, maybe thats why she's grouchy. We have a lot of docs who are the same way. They are old, don't understand it and get ****** off about the new system but they are still excellent doctors.

If that were I, I would say to her" I'm sorry but I am loaded down with my work. If you do not understand the training you have had, perhaps you need to speak to the supervisor who can help you get into more training classes". If you are supposed to be training her and not seeing any progress, then that is your responsibility to report that to the supervisor.

This is not about her grouchiness, this is about the safety of patients lives.

bluegeegoo2, LPN · Mar 14, 2008

Wow! That really sucks to get fired for being sick. I was "wrote up" for missing work d/t being dx'd with the flu. I had a Dr.s excuse and all. Our company policy pushes us to work regardless of disease or illness, lest we be reprimanded up to termination. In fact, my supervisor told me the only excused absence d/t illness is one that lands you in the hospital. About Dr.s orders: We have certain nurses who will "flag" new orders they have written but "didn't have time" to note, and expect others to note them. Personally, I leave them where I find them. One of our nurse's was wrote up for noting someone else's orders that were written wrong. We also have a very poor system of obtaining orders through faxes, which go through the front office. They end up in our unit's mailbox. Each shift is supposed to check the mail 3x/shift. (Yeah, right.). Just last night, (I work nocs), I found orders in the mail that had been there since 1230. Hmm. Since I "found" them, I had to note them. How about that for convience! I couldn't leave them because then I would have gotten in trouble for "not checking my mail". I am still new to nursing, and the politics in the workplace are very disheartening to me. We have "the chosen ones" who do no wrong and the super will take up for at all costs, and then we have the "whipping boys" who take the fall for every little thing they do. Irritating. Oh, how I could go on! Anyway, I would be all for unions here. How lovely to feel secure in your job! As well as be fairly represented when accusations fly! The thought makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But, then reality rears it's ugly head, and off to work I go.