Needing a little advice on where I stand in my current predicament. Here is the background, I am currently in the nursing program and work PRN as CNA and I normally work every weekend on day shift. My job has been going through a lot of changes and very short staffed with nurses and aides. We have 3 different floors with a full staff CNA can have 4 aides to each floor. I arrive for my shift and go to my assigned floor for the day. We are scheduled with 3 with one aide being agency. At 7:15 the second floor is staff with 2 due to a call out and the 3rd floor no aides have arrived. The nurses call one aide who is known for being late ( 8:30 or later at times) or not coming at all when asked would he be coming in states " I don't know I will think about it. At 7:30 we have one floor with 3, one with 2 and the last with one aide. Being that I am the PRN staff it is normally me who has to change floors due to call outs or no-shows. This is an occurrence that happens every weekend, and normally because of the same person. I moved floors to make 2 aides on each floor and the previous stated CNA walks in 30 minutes later and I'm supposed to go back to my original floor. I am very frustrated and angry at this point of the constant flip-flop and the allowance that allow this one particular CNA who is PRN as well but only works one assignment. By this point I am so upset and angry that I am shaking, I continue to deliver breakfast trays. I attempt to calm myself by taking a smoking break to calm my nerves but I felt that I could snap and blow up. Unfortunately, I couldn't shake the feeling. I talk with my nurses and let them know how I was feeling and that I might not be staying. The current assignment log does not have my name on it being that I was supposed to be moving to a different floor. I continue to help with breakfast and feed while trying to get ahold of my emotions. I told my nurse that I couldn't and I felt like I could snap and possibly end up saying the wrong thing to any patients and didn't want to be charged with abuse. I felt that in my current emotional state that it would be best that I leave and the assignment stays the same from when I was moved. I informed my charges nurses and talk to the Supervisor about my feelings. I clocked out at 10.
Question is so is this consider patient abandonment and how could this possibly affect me while trying to obtain my nursing license.
I'm sorry this is so long I wanted to get you guys as much detail to provide a full picture.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
For goodness sakes you need to cut her a break. We get it, its tough being a nurse and she has a long road ahead of her, but you can give her advice without the snarkiness. I bet if this was happening to you you would be furious as well.
I didn't detect any snarkiness. The post was blunt and to the point. Of course anyone would be furious. No one is arguing that OP shouldn't be angry and frustrated about her work conditions. The point is that as an RN it stands to get much worse. First of all, as an RN, it WILL be patient abandonment to walk off or take a smoke break. Even if you report off, your coworkers and supervisors will really hate you for doing this.
The biggest part of being a nurse is that it isn't about you any more. You will not be allowed to let your emotions guide your behaviour. You are expected to roll with crap and keep your head down and just make sure your patients are cared for. You learn to address unacceptable working conditions in other ways than to melt down while you're providing patient care. It shows very poor self control when you tell the charge nurse that you can't continue because you might snap and be charged with patient abuse.
None of this makes you a bad person, OP. It just shows that you will need more emotional maturity to function as a nurse, be an asset to your employers and not be in constant hot water. Meanwhile, I hope they finally fire the jerk who thinks he can just show up when he feels like it.
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
The only thing in this life, whether a nurse or not, that you ultimately have control over is yourself. Control what you can - and in these cases, that means your attitude, your reactions and your emotions. You 100% do have the capability of doing that. You aren't going to have a good career trajectory if this is your way of coping when things aren't the way you wish they would be.
You can't control whether or not someone fails to show up for their shift.
You can't control how your employer deals with that.
You can't control which floor you get assigned to.
You can't control what kind of help your patients need.
You CAN control how you treat other people.
You CAN control how stressed out something like this makes you.
You CAN control the way you react when you are stressed.
Controlling these things doesn't mean that the universe somehow "won" or got one over on you. It means you are refusing to let outside influences make you their b**ch.
The difference between happiness and unhappiness is often the image in our mind of how we think things ought to be versus how they really are. The realities of today's medical environment is that we work short. It is the norm, not the exception. As CNAs. As nurses. As managers. As an educator. We work short handed and we make do. Part of how we make do comes from forging good relationships with our coworkers and working together to get things done for the sake of the patients. If you are this reactive, you aren't going to forge those relationships and you are going to be more stressed, more short-handed, disliked and generally hung out to dry. This becomes its own vicious cycle.
Seek help in learning to control your emotions. The patients, your coworkers and you yourself deserve better than this.
I think it stinks that a particular aide doesn't reap the punishment for being a total jerk. I think it stinks that the bosses don't get rid of him or, at least, make him toe the mark that you and other aides have to toe. Who is he sleeping with? Who is he related to? What do patients say about him, if you happen to know? if I were the boss, he'd be terminated. Now don't start gossiping or trying to find the answers to these questions. I'm just thinking out loud about why he is given so much slack and encouraged to be a terrible worker.
I don't think you abandoned your post. I understand why you were frustrated. He simply should have to take whatever post is left over, if and when he decides to show up. you should not have been jerked around.
That said, I guess you'd better seek life elsewhere or get used to this. Sorry you have to deal with this, but there are jerks in every job, terrible bosses all over the world.
And believe me, it is just as hard for a nurse to be overloaded as for an aide. i hope you never have to find out. What a miserable profession we have become.
TriciaJ, RN
4,328 Posts
I didn't detect any snarkiness. The post was blunt and to the point. Of course anyone would be furious. No one is arguing that OP shouldn't be angry and frustrated about her work conditions. The point is that as an RN it stands to get much worse. First of all, as an RN, it WILL be patient abandonment to walk off or take a smoke break. Even if you report off, your coworkers and supervisors will really hate you for doing this.
The biggest part of being a nurse is that it isn't about you any more. You will not be allowed to let your emotions guide your behaviour. You are expected to roll with crap and keep your head down and just make sure your patients are cared for. You learn to address unacceptable working conditions in other ways than to melt down while you're providing patient care. It shows very poor self control when you tell the charge nurse that you can't continue because you might snap and be charged with patient abuse.
None of this makes you a bad person, OP. It just shows that you will need more emotional maturity to function as a nurse, be an asset to your employers and not be in constant hot water. Meanwhile, I hope they finally fire the jerk who thinks he can just show up when he feels like it.