I got written up by a surgeon for contacting the primary medical practice instead of the surgical practice. The pt is okay, no bad outcome. I talked to my charge nurse and another more senior nurse who takes charge several nights a week to get their input on which to call; both suggested I call the primary.
I'm new, only licensed 6 mos. This is my first time getting written up, and I'm dwelling on it heavily. I even had a dream in which the surgeon asked me, "Why did you call Dr. X instead of me??" I need to let this go!
This happens, right? We pick ourselves up and learn from it and go on, right?
I'd like someone to tell me that getting written up is just part of the job and that I shouldn't let it eat at me.
I agree that someone without nursing experience doesn't have a clue about nursing.
I have to add to the discussion that for the number of times I've threatened to call every 10 minutes I've actually only done it to harass the doc into transferring the pt to ICU, not just to drive him/her nuts. If it was your relative would you want the harassing nurse, or the nurse who defers to the doc's order of "don't take any more vital signs until 6am" (True story)
After working in 5 hospitals and with hundreds of nurses I have not yet met the Q10 minute caller, but I have met lots of nurses who have kept calling because they were truly concerned. so maybe, maybe, MAYBE the poster was just joking
i disagree - i know many folks whop are NOT in nursng who have a cllue about nursing - they are good friends and listeners and learn a lot from me and others who are thier friends that are in nursing. i have two friends who are "running" docs offices the head honcho in the offcie - are NOT nurses and can do any procedure or tell you any educational advice better than any nurse i know - its not just because you have a license that makes you a nurse- i know many nurses who should not even be called nurses as they are that dense. so dont go generalizing that only nurses know nursing - that is just a falicy.
Incident reports aren't the same as being 'written up' by your supervisor. Incident reports don't mean ANYTHING unless your supervisor says they do.
They're like lawsuits. I can sue anybody for any reason, but unless the judge and jury agree, it don't mean a thing. Your judge and jury is your manager.
Besides, a good manager will 'yes, sir' some jerk doc with his/her tirade, and then blow him/her off the sec they're out the door. . .
But, that doc now gets called first every time and for every little reason. "I know it's 2am, but the pt's temp is 100.6, and the orders say to call for >100.5, and you did want me to call you first, RIGHT?"
We had a doc that used to say 'oh just write it and I'll sign later'. Until he found an order he didn't like, and wrote the nurse up. OH NO YOU DIDN'T! Well 2 weeks, ~14 nurses, and ~200 calls later (about every half hour at night, all night, every one of his call nights), and she got a huge 'No Mas!' apology. . .
I've always said that I can ALWAYS find a reason to write up any nurse I follow, as they can me. It's kind of Mutually Assured Destruction. But you know what? I can also ALWAYS find a reason to call a doc at 3am. . .
After the first night, he was in the manager's office: 'six of your nurses purposely called me and kept me up all night last night!'
'Well I did relay your concerns that you weren't being called. I'm glad my nurses took my counseling to heart. Ummmm, that is what you want, right?"
~faith,
Timothy.
DEAR FELLOW NURSE:
IN NURSING IT SEEMS AS IF ONE CAN GET WRITTEN UP FOR WHAT THE UPPER HAND CHOOSES HIS FANCY. LIVE AND LEARN. TRY NOT TO REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKE, AND MOVE ON. AS YOU HAVE PROBLY HEARD MANY TIMES BEFORE "TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY, LEAVE THE PAST IN THE PAST" AND ALSO USE YOUR EXPERIANCE TO HELP OTHER NURSES WHO FEEL DOWN AND HURT D/T SITUATIONS YOU HAVE BEEN IN. IT IS ALWAYS NICE TO KNOW WHEN SOMEONE HAS ALREADY BEEN THERE, DONE THAT! JUST PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE, AND STRIVE ON.
Porterwoman, you need to blow it off. Some places encourage a severely punitive attitude of "writing people up" and writing incident reports. The more evolved places realise this is counter productive and immature.
Example; my zipper is down (for lack of a better example. Roll with me on this one and allow a little artistic license, OK? it's late).
The neanderthal punitive approach would be to gather witnesses, document evidence, and "write me up."
Or the more positive way to handle it is for you to say "hey dude, your zipper is down."
Which one is the better work environment?
Porterwoman, take pride that you got this far, and enjoy learning to be an expert. There are lots of jobs for nurses out there, so you'll never be unemployed unless you work at it. Just accept that the easiest thing in the world to do is to fire a nurse. One place I worked 6 years and anytime they wanted to change the staff they told them all that their "charting was inadequate." It became such a standing joke that people just laughed when it happened.
Hope this helps and doesn't get me a ticket to the looney bin because my charting is inadequate.
Porterwoman, you need to blow it off. Some places encourage a severely punitive attitude of "writing people up" and writing incident reports. The more evolved places realise this is counter productive and immature.
Example; my zipper is down (for lack of a better example. Roll with me on this one and allow a little artistic license, OK? it's late).
The neanderthal punitive approach would be to gather witnesses, document evidence, and "write me up."
Or the more positive way to handle it is for you to say "hey dude, your zipper is down."
Which one is the better work environment?
Porterwoman, take pride that you got this far, and enjoy learning to be an expert. There are lots of jobs for nurses out there, so you'll never be unemployed unless you work at it. Just accept that the easiest thing in the world to do is to fire a nurse. One place I worked 6 years and anytime they wanted to change the staff they told them all that their "charting was inadequate." It became such a standing joke that people just laughed when it happened.
Hope this helps and doesn't get me a ticket to the looney bin because my charting is inadequate.
i have to agree - as short staffed as we are we are not indespensible - as soon as a new nurse comes ina nd they can pay them less they can and will take them over the tried and true ones. its sad however i have seen it in several nursing homes and hospitals - they will find a reason - any reason - from bad charting to snagging a cracker cause your nausoes saying your stealling - its sad. hang in there and just go woth the flow doing the bbest you can. i have seen them fire someone who was working at the place for 32 yrs - 2 days after her hubby died "cause her family medical leave act ran out" ( which i KNOW they did not HAVE to do as i was on that once and i was never fired though i needed more time....) they just wanted to get rid of her cause then she lost her vacation and retirement stuff cause they knew she was gonna retire. never trust the powers that be totally - get your own insurance against liability and always keep records of things you do each noight ( a smal notebook works great) so if anything happens you have recall - there is NO place that will take your side if it means their butt may be in the ringer. hang in there- youll be fine.
I got written up by a surgeon for contacting the primary medical practice instead of the surgical practice. The pt is okay, no bad outcome. I talked to my charge nurse and another more senior nurse who takes charge several nights a week to get their input on which to call; both suggested I call the primary.
I'm new, only licensed 6 mos. This is my first time getting written up, and I'm dwelling on it heavily. I even had a dream in which the surgeon asked me, "Why did you call Dr. X instead of me??" I need to let this go!
This happens, right? We pick ourselves up and learn from it and go on, right?
I'd like someone to tell me that getting written up is just part of the job and that I shouldn't let it eat at me.
tx, porterwoman
I am so sorry but do not let this get you down. I have been a nurse for 13 months. When we call a dr we call admissions and they verify who to call and they page the doc. Lately one of the girls has been calling the wrong doc and they call the floor and curse us out, and have been telling the other docs how stupid we all are. The SUPV is now the only one allowed to call some of the docs and they will only talk to the supv. The other night I was sitting at the desk while the supv yelled questions back and forth because the doc had questions about my patient but because he only talks to the supv we have to play his stupid game. I told my don that someone was going to get hurt because of lack of communication.
Our supv is now having us to write up the girl in admissions so that they can do something about her making so many mistakes. Her supv has been talked to several times before.
I have been writing up by 2 different nurses, once for not checking that what the previous nurse told me was true and once for not passing something on in report. The last one I refused to sign because I had witnesses that I had passed it on and the nurse who gave report is notorious for "forgetting" to pass things on. We have had 2 nurse managers who have used the "disciplanary action" statement for things such as cna's not taking vitals for them when it is their shifts responsibility to do them, forgetting to call a family for a tylenol order etc. Unfortunately they ignore the things that actually affect the patients. Like leaving them on the bedpan for hours, leaving them unattended with out a call light, disrespect to residents from staff and not doing treatments. Our don has gotten good at determining what is done for spite and what is a real problem. I will write another employee up if it directly affects a patients safety, health or mental well-being and I let them know at the time instead of writing them up and leaving it attached to the time clock for everyone to see.
Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.
Unless you injured a patient do not let this bother you. I have been a nurse for 26 years and I cannot even remember how many doctors I have upset, and had complain about me because I didn't have their ego on the forefront of my attention. Actually, some of my funniest stories are ABOUT irritating the doctors, and these all happened accidently. I have always said and still say that if I didn't have to deal with doctors and administrators, my job would be perfect. You are first and foremost a patient advocate. You are there for the patient.
Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.
i disagree - i know many folks whop are NOT in nursng who have a cllue about nursing - they are good friends and listeners and learn a lot from me and others who are thier friends that are in nursing. i have two friends who are "running" docs offices the head honcho in the offcie - are NOT nurses and can do any procedure or tell you any educational advice better than any nurse i know - its not just because you have a license that makes you a nurse- i know many nurses who should not even be called nurses as they are that dense. so dont go generalizing that only nurses know nursing - that is just a falicy.
I take great offense to this ludicrous post. I don't care how much I talk about my job and what I do at work with my family/friends, they could not do what I do, nor can anyone who sits in an office and has never provided patient care. I guess, in your world, nursing education could consist of on-line chat rooms.You must work with a truly abysmal group of nurses if you can say the things you said about their performance. By the way, YES IT IS THE LICENSE that makes one a nurse, as well as the education, experience, blood, sweat & tears that are behind the license. I absolutely agree that it IS only nurses that KNOW nursing.
twotrees2
913 Posts
i disagree - i know many folks whop are NOT in nursng who have a cllue about nursing - they are good friends and listeners and learn a lot from me and others who are thier friends that are in nursing. i have two friends who are "running" docs offices the head honcho in the offcie - are NOT nurses and can do any procedure or tell you any educational advice better than any nurse i know - its not just because you have a license that makes you a nurse- i know many nurses who should not even be called nurses as they are that dense. so dont go generalizing that only nurses know nursing - that is just a falicy.