I need CN advice!!!

ebear, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2008

I don't think 1 yr is any where NEAR ample time to be a charge nurse--especially in an ER. You are still honing your nursing skills at this point. As a CN, you must be very experienced not only in nursing, but in interpersonal relationships and professional development of the staff. Conflict resolution for staff and patients is another area you need to develop, as well as legal issues of the department. The staff nurse can simply do their time and go home. The charge nurse continues to think about and work on issues after their regular hrs. are done. There are MANY more issues to consider, but I don't want to write a novel. Bottom line: DON'T GO THERE YET!!!!:smackingf

siggie13 · Jan 1, 2008

At the ED I work in, after a year, you can have a charge nurse position. We are needing a CN to replace an old one and it's about that time for me and no one else in the ED seems interested in the position. I was wondering if I could get some advice on being an effective CN, or even more information about why no one else in the department would want to do it...

Listen to EBEAR. I see the charge nurse as the one who has all the answers in a pinch and who can effectively deal with any situation that might arise. Having been a charge nurse, I can say that the buck stops with you and you need to have the experience to deal with anything. Give yourself time to grow and learn before taking on all that responsibility.

purple1953reading · Jan 2, 2008

Perhaps,it IS the years of experience speaking, when others don't seem interested. Along with years of nursing experience, and skills, many look at other types of qualifications, including the personal, administrative, how you interact with those you are working with now, whether your co workers have lots of respect for you and trust you to make a splitsecond decision in a life or death situation. Even your personality, whether you handle things effectively in a calm manner, or become flustered as things go wrong. IF I were questioning my ability or whether or not I should apply, I definitely woud NOT do so. GIVE yourself time to be SURE you are the one for the job. There will always be another position opening up. CN wear out easily, and often with the administrative worries, long to go back to floor nursing.

911RN · Jan 2, 2008

I worked in the ED for 3 years before I became a CN. You are the person with ALL the answers. You should know all of your ED policys, hospital policys, prehospital policys, law enforcement policys, legalitys of your state. Yes, I know that the charge nurses are "lazy". I am responsible for staffing, assignments, putting in admission orders, transfer patients, transportation arrangements from outlying hospitals, MD orders, narcotic counts. I try to get into every room to which an ambulance comes, triage "urgent pateints"

Don't forget the disgruntled patients, family's, and staff.

If you think you are up for it, go for it. I think you may need a little more experience.

Trauma Columnist · Jan 2, 2008

The reason few people want the CN position is because they are smart - lol! I'm only half-kidding. Be very wary of an ER that will put a nurse with only 1 year of ER exp as the CN. Just asking for problems. You also need to find out what your states says about CN - are they supervisors? Are they responsible for everything that goes on?

Example (true) - I worked in a level one trauma center for 10 years, 5 of those years as charge. I was told to call the police one night to come see a DUI who had driven drunk, wrecked his car and had his twin sons in the back seat (fortunately in car seats). I called the police and it turned out the patient was the asst fire chief of the small town and the police were trying to let it slide. Okay...next day its in the newspaper, radios, etc., that "a charge nurse at XYZ Hospital" violated HIPAA!!!"

What a total mess. I had done nothing wrong but it was a horrid mess. The pt was even going to try to sue me in civil court! So...for two years (the statute of limitations), I sweated bullets that I was going to be sued.

I decided then and there I was not going to be responsible for anyone else except my own actions. I've never regretted that decision either.

911RN · Jan 7, 2008

In IL, we are required to call the police in cases of suspected DUI, stabbings, shootings, sexual assault, physical assault. It should not be a HIPPA violation.