I Can't Believe My Charge Nurse!

[All4NursingRN]

So I've tried to work with my charge over the last few months and now I just think things are getting a bit ridiculous. Previously I explained my current work environment as a very small clinic that sees about 5-30 patients healthy patients a day usually about 10-15 on average. These patients are all participants for studies and mostly donate blood for money.

Those 10-15 people are split between 2-3 RNs and 2 NAs

Recently we had some incidents occur over the last few months that seriously has me questioning the competency' and work ethic of our nurse in charge.

1. We had a patient who suddenly deteriorated and looked as if they were not breathing in the waiting room, me and another RN and a doctor went out to assess and take vitals, patient was taken to hospital. Our manager came down to the unit wanting to assess the situation saw our charge nurse asked her what happened and she replied she didn't know and that she saw us in the waiting room with the doctor but wasn't there so she couldnt say what happened and didn't bother asking for details after the fact either. What bothered me later about this situation is that a) she later admitted that she saw the participant a few times and thought the participant didn't look right but shrugged it off b) the participant was assigned to another rn and assumed it was that nurses issue, and c) saw us all in the waiting room and decidedly avoided going to see what was going on and she's supposed to be in charge?

2nd incident: A participant comes in tells the clerk he is having chest pain and the clerk tells our charge. She then goes out to assess the patient doesn't know what to do, she then leaves the guy and goes looking for me and says ``can you come for a second I need your help I think you would be better at this'' I had to then instruct her to go get the vital sign machine and pulse ox because vitals would be your first line of action. Really I have to tell my charge this? Of course I ended being the one calling for EMS and doing all the paperwork while she stood as a spectator.

3rd incident: As a participant I was assigned to was leaving the clinic he mentioned to the clerk that he had a bad headache and needed to sit for a moment. Clerk calls nurses station, charge picks up asks for the patients name and sees on our assigned sheet that its my patient. At that time I was busy with another patient in another room, so she sits at the desk doing nothing but staring at her cell phone and on the computer finally sees me and ask hey is so and so your pt? You're going out to give him his blood results right? The clerk said he wasn't feeling well, can you just go check him out while you're out there?

Now I had no problem doing that but after the first two incidents where she as the CN played a backseat and with this incident were she was clearly sitting at the desk doing nothing and couldn't even quickly assess a patient? What if something happened to the patient as she was waiting for me to appear from a room?

Not to mention that she sets a poor example by doing the least out of all of us. She assigns herself to the quick in and out participants and never wants to roll her sleeves up and dig in unless she absolutely has to for fear of being seen sitting at the desk doing nothing while the rest of us are working. She is a terrible phlebotomist even though shes drawn blood for years but constantly needs help drawing blood, admits to hating drawing blood and doing EKGs so she will always assign those tasks away and will go months without drawing blood or ekgs, or even assisting with procedures. Then she complains when she's sitting at the desk for hours with nothing to do but on the flip side will be the first one to complain if it gets too busy and mind you our clinic is probably the smallest least hectic unit you can find.

She had no administrative duties, doesn't deal with staffing, admissions or discharges or transfers yet the 1 unexpected walk-in patient or having to close of the clinic and see the last 3 patients on her own will make her freak out. Its getting really absurd with her now and even some NAs are commenting on the fact that she can't handle anything and should just give up the position.

Ugh I just had to vent, sorry if long

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

Yikes! Who is HER boss? Seems like they need an earful. Sorry you have to deal with that mess.

[All4NursingRN]

Our manager who is her boss doesn't care and in fact may defend her incompetence, because she too hates her job and doesn't like confrontation by her own admission.