i hate to say anything bad about a fellow nurse, but i work with an incompetent nurse. i watch her and listen to her "stories" about why she is doing something and i just cannot believe she was passed through nursing school. to make it even worse she has the personality that does not know how to say "i don't know" so she makes up crazy stories. i thought maybe i was exaggerating her story telling but one day i made up a disease process and she actually started talking about it as if she sees it all the time. aaaahhh! i really do not know how to handle this. i watch her access ports without any caution to sterile technique, give wrong patient education and lie to the don about medication she had given during the day. i reported what i have been seeing to the don, but i felt like a total a**! there was no way i am going to let her harm patients. when i am with her i feel like i have to watch her every second in case she does something stupid and then tries to hide it.
has anyone else had to deal with something like this?
you can't do much about "annoying" except to suck it up and deal with it. there's always going to be at least one co-worker who annoys the everlivin' daylights out of you.
about unsafe practice -- document, document, document.
I work with a nurse who is VERY unsafe with patients....Every time I follow her, there are major issues. Two stand out:
1. Despite education(on my part) about PICC lines before, I have come on shift with a newly placed PICC line of hers, not having dressing changed within 24 hours. That is not a big deal, I'll do it. But she wanted to stay overtime to watch me do it because she's never done one. (I'm one that if you're still on shift, sure....but I had 2 people getting blood, docs, family issues gong on, not that shift to teach) When I went in, the dressing was all the way off. She didn't realize that the PICC ended all the way in the vein, she thought that if it came out, there was a little spot right inside the vein....like a regular IV cath, not a long one.
2. Started Heparin on a fresh surgery patient without surgeon approval....depsite us having that issue before.
I was told to document said issues....but when I did, I was told that I should have resolved it myself, instead of involving management. My incident reports have been labeled as tattling, instead of what they are: Report of unsafe conduct that need to be investigated to ensure patient safety. Such is life.
I've only done incident reports when told to by house supervisors. I ALWAYS check with them.....but you have to do the best YOU can when you're on shift and not worry about the rest of the time.
Just for chuckles... today she told me when I have a pt with a PICC line I have to measure from the hub to the end of the PICC every day. I asked her how to do that and she told me to palpate for the end!!! Ok....last time I checked you can't palpate through the chest wall into the vessel/heart to find the end of the line!!! I said dont they mean to measure from the hub to the insertion site? She said yes at the end of the tube by the heart. I was just dying in side!!!
perhaps she thinks the same thing about you. after all, if one has tunnel vision and looks for a colleague's mistakes, s/he will surely find them, real or imagined.
i thought maybe i was exaggerating her story telling but one day i made up a disease process and she actually started talking about it as if she sees it all the time.
this was an exorbidantly catty and pointless thing to do. if i ever do anything in remote resemblance to this, i will surely retire.
I like the suggeston to ask your DON how she wants you to let her know when the other nurse is endangering her pts. Beyond that, unless you are supervising this person you can't do much to change her. do you have a staff/unit educator? Perhaps you could approach that person with your concerns. Document, keep copies in case you are questioned at some point about her practice. Good luck.
perhaps she thinks the same thing about you. after all, if one has tunnel vision and looks for a colleague's mistakes, s/he will surely find them, real or imagined.
this was an exorbidantly catty and pointless thing to do. if i ever do anything in remote resemblance to this, i will surely retire.
better you than me. *wine
glad that you are holier than thou! you do not know me and only have a snippet of what has been going on. and yes when i see a dumb nurse i will make sure i watch them like a hawk so they don't kill anyone. it's called patient advocacy.
i was only trying to see if i was really seeing her for what she was or if i was making more of an issue of a problem that was not there. i never mentioned it to anyone (other than allnurses) it was for my own "assessment" to understand the type of person i was dealing with. now if i were to go around and make it known this nurse has seen and treated the made up disease....that is catty.
i like the suggeston to ask your don how she wants you to let her know when the other nurse is endangering her pts. beyond that, unless you are supervising this person you can't do much to change her. do you have a staff/unit educator? perhaps you could approach that person with your concerns. document, keep copies in case you are questioned at some point about her practice. good luck.
me too! i did approach my don and she came and did a shadow and found some unsettling things. at this point i feel good that i made it known to the don because she even said she didn't know how bad it was. since i have reported it i feel that i can breathe a little easier. as far as what will happen with her it is not my problem now; i have to trust my don on that one.
Perhaps she thinks the same thing about you. After all, if one has tunnel vision and looks for a colleague's mistakes, s/he will surely find them, real or imagined.
This was an exorbidantly catty and pointless thing to do. If I ever do anything in remote resemblance to this, I will surely retire.
Better you than me. *wine
I dont know why but when I read the initial post I felt the same way....btw OP are you trying to tell us you never had one of those "dumb" moments in your nursing career? Also havent you made any mistakes???
Ps...I hope I will never become of those "nurses eat their young" types...
glad that you are holier than thou! you do not know me and only have a snippet of what has been going on. and yes when i see a dumb nurse i will make sure i watch them like a hawk so they don't kill anyone. it’s called patient advocacy.
i was only trying to see if i was really seeing her for what she was or if i was making more of an issue of a problem that was not there. i never mentioned it to anyone (other than allnurses) it was for my own "assessment" to understand the type of person i was dealing with. now if i were to go around and make it known this nurse has seen and treated the made up disease....that is catty.
hmm has the nurse killed anyone yet??? i see you playing a superman who is trying to save the world...good for you really awsome.
I dont know why but when I read the initial post I felt the same way....btw OP are you trying to tell us you never had one of those "dumb" moments in your nursing career? Also havent you made any mistakes???
Ps...I hope I will never become of those "nurses eat their young" types...
Everyone does have "those" moments. It is when the moments string together to make a nurse unsafe. You can't tell me you have never met a nurse that should not be one!
I will never be that nurse who eats her young....that is a terrible thing to say! Recognize when a nurse needs to vent:)
I can see how the post read wrong to some people, but without knowing me people wouldn't know that I am not catty unless they just assumed so.
i see you playing a superman who is trying to save the world...good for you really awsome.
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
there you are, ruby.:)
this thread made me think of you.
leslie