How in the freaking world are you a nurse???

[Daisy_08, BSN, RN]

I work with a nurse who is not a new grad, she had been nursing for 5+ years and is 40+years old. She is just plain incompetent. Doing narc count with her is like doing narc count with a monkey who is trying to be bad at it, I mean come on second graders could do a better job. She does not get treatments done, is pathetically slow to respond, sometimes does not respond at all (a pt was found on the floor at shift change with a head injury and she wanted to finish report and count narcs while the pt was on the floor) I told this nurse her pt was asking for nitro and having chest pain-she didn't know what nitro spray was:eek:!!!! And said the pt was lying about the chest pain, she never did VS or any assessments. For two person changes she just stands there, I have to tell her what to do, once she even asked me what to do with a dirty pad:confused:! I noticed one pt had 4 med patches on one night and asked her if she takes one off before she put on another, she said its not her job (maybe she thinking of the little nurses fairy who comes around and does things like take of patches, gets water and warm blankets).She can be very nice, always greeting me nicely, but she can turn on a dime. If you question her on anything, or tell her she missed something she blows, yelling and screaming about how we are all equals and she knows how to do her job half the time I don't even know what she is talking about her words are English, but her sentences are incomprehensible. The next day its like nothing ever happened. I refuse to work with her now if I can help it, if they call me I always find out if she is one before I say yes.

So, have you ever worked with anyone who you are shocked made it through middle school let alone nursing school???

[eslvn]

Yes there is a nurse I work with who scares the living daylights out of me. I come in and she is still doing her med pass, and has all the little cups with meds in them stack up on eachother 13 high. She takes almost an hour to give report, loses meds all the time. But not as bad as this nurse, at least mine can respond when someone is on the floor. Thats scary, you should report her.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

Hmmmm.....drug test perhaps??? Is your supervisor/charge nurse aware of this person? Report her before someone dies.

[EmergencyNrse]

I work with a nurse who is not a new grad, she had been nursing for 5+ years and is 40+years old. She is just plain incompetent.

Yep, that about sums it up. Not the only one either...

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

hmmmm.....drug test perhaps???

or she has a psychological disorder, where she is not taking her medications. i had a boss with this problem once... she was eventually fired after a lot of documentation both internally and externally (clients complained and accounts were lost)....

report her before someone dies.

agreed!!!!

[MHSA LPN]

I work with a nurse who I graduated with. We work at a substance abuse facility. She leaves the narc keys dangling from the lock, if anyone complains of any kind of skin condition she gives them Bio-Freeze, she turns her back on patients and even leaves them alone in the med room with the narc drawer wide open, she once said she didn't know that demerol was a narcotic and that's why she didn't lock it up, she encourages patients to not take their meds because she went cold turkey when she was an alcoholic, and she thinks chest pain is just a sign of stress. I'm so happy I was at work last night, not her, when a patient had chest pains unrelated to stress.

[nnob89]

with that situation, it signifies that we nurses should always ready for any battle... always expect the unexpected! :redlight:

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I have worked with a nurse like this. She had 8 years experience, and she was scary.

Thought it was ok to leave IV tubing indefinitely, and argued with me when I said it should be changed every 3 to 4 days. Used whiteout multiple times in the MAR, even after we explained this was not allowed. Did not do a pain assessment on a 90 year old stroke pt, or offer pain meds at all in her 12 hour shift. Left a dressing on a wound for 4 days without checking or assessing the integrity of the wound or the dressing. The dressing was in such bad shape that it took me 20 minutes to take off....something that was not complicated and should have taken 5 minutes to do. And doing wound care in the middle of the dining room during lunch...a stage 4 ulcer that smells really bad.

Virtually no common sense. I wondered how this person survived as a nurse too.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

or she has a psychological disorder, where she is not taking her medications. i had a boss with this problem once... she was eventually fired after a lot of documentation both internally and externally (clients complained and accounts were lost)....

yep! i was thinking the same thing!

[nursingcares, RN]

I was precepted by a nurse like this at a LTC facility! He was PRN as well which made me question why in the world he was precepting me! It was really frustrating and I had a lot of those "Really??? I'm brand new and know better than that!" moments. Most shifts I just told him to go do menial things and I handled it myself!

[ANH_RN]

(maybe she thinking of the little nurses fairy who comes around and does things like take of patches, gets water and warm blankets)

:rotfl:

Sometimes I seriously wonder if people I work with have this same belief. It is so sad to see that there are actually nurses who are taking care of human beings and their lives that present themselves as being incompetent. Nursing really isn't the type of profession that you would want people thinking you're an idiot in.. for real.

[nursel56]

I work with a nurse who is not a new grad, she had been nursing for 5+ years and is 40+years old. She is just plain incompetent. Doing narc count with her is like doing narc count with a monkey who is trying to be bad at it, I mean come on second graders could do a better job. She does not get treatments done, is pathetically slow to respond, sometimes does not respond at all (a pt was found on the floor at shift change with a head injury and she wanted to finish report and count narcs while the pt was on the floor)

Did you report this incident and fill out the required paperwork? What did you do when you saw a patient lying on the floor with a head injury?

I told this nurse her pt was asking for nitro and having chest pain-she didn't know what nitro spray was:eek:!!!! And said the pt was lying about the chest pain, she never did VS or any assessments.

Did you report this incident? What did your manager have to say about that?

For two person changes she just stands there, I have to tell her what to do, once she even asked me what to do with a dirty pad:confused:!

Wouldn't being confused about so common an item indicate the need for a medical evaluation? I hope she got one! 40 is a little young to start having symptoms of dementia, but what if she has a neoplasm of some sort where timely treatment could save her life!?!

I noticed one pt had 4 med patches on one night and asked her if she takes one off before she put on another, she said its not her job (maybe she thinking of the little nurses fairy who comes around and does things like take of patches, gets water and warm blankets).

Did you report this incident? If you know of a medication error you must report it!

I don't even know what she is talking about her words are English, but her sentences are incomprehensible.!

Again, this is an indication of something more serious than can be explained away by her age of >40 years old! You need to protect the patients! Here in California it is the law and we can lose our license if they find out we knew of an error or serious incident and did not report it!

Are you the only other nurse who works with this person? Seems to me if it is that bad everybody would be aware of it.