I am currently casual at a LTC facility. The orientation was 5 shifts... lol no previous LTC experience.
Anyways, I've been on my own for about 4 shifts so far and I
ve really enjoyed my last 7-7 day shift. I know every day is not going to be a good day... but I CANNOT live with this kind of stress. I am helping out another nurse who is ssupposedly on 'light' duty because she 'supposedly' fell outside of the facility. I was scheduled to have a bunch of shifts this week (about 40 hrs) but she called down to management and told them that it's not needed... So my shifts got canceled and I had only 6hrs today and I have 6 hrs tomorrow (again helping her).
But it's not helping.. it's me doing everything whil she sits there... I'm like her slave. One of the men working there said beware of her... she's lazy and will work you to the bone.- no Joke...
She fell asleep for about 4 hours... mouth wide open and snoring. The personal support workers were short staffed so I offered to lend a hand. I'm always willing to help and learn as much as a I can. She of course NEVER once moved from her seat. She even went as far as telling me to document for her residents who I never even met. I did all the documentation, meds, etc etc.
Ok she's lazy but that's not the worst thing... she's the type of person that seems to be out to get others.... not that "team player" where we work together... building fellow nurses up, she's the type that would report you in a second.
So I made a mistake today... I mis-counted one of the narcotics (tylenol #3) and signed for it- I honestly thought I counted it correctly and have been trying my best at everything but apparently they were 2 short. Not that this is a defence because I take responsiblity for it but she didn't move a damn finger and I haven't slept for about 2 + days. I worked a night shift with her and didn't sleep the day prior and they called me at 8 am after my damn night shift to say my shift with her is now changed to earlier = no sleep. End rant We sign off narcs on shift change and everything is on paper (so the sheets are often sloppy) She wrote an incident report and said she would call the DON. I don't know what happens now... I know this is proper protocol but i have seen written changes on the narcotic sheets and I doubt people are reporting each other like this. I'm new what are they going to try to do something with my licence?
I thought nurses work together... she never helped me... I told her I felt horrible/dizzy (hinting that maybe she could share some of the work) I'f they pull me into the office for this I'm going to have a backbone and say everything about my day, her sleeping and everything.
Why doesn't someone report her
This place is giving me horrible vibes.
I start orientation for a F/T hospital position and I hope to God this mistake and her don't stop that from happening. I don't know what comes of this or the incident report. She made it sound as if I'm licence is on the line.
I didn't take the pill.... Give me a break!!
She also added "She's never made a mistake" Wouldn't her first mistake be falling asleep on the job?
I made a mistake. I'm new, new grad... trying my best, willing to help, willing ot learn and friendly. I've never met those residents and I was doing all her work while she sat, ate and slept. I haven't slept and am honestly beyond exhausted. I'm hoping nothing serious comes from this....
I was set on keeping this casual position along with the full-time position at the hospital.... but not when I leave there feeling like this!
I know she's going to say more like "she was overwhelmed, etc etc... took her a little long for a her med pass" SHe's not understanding at all.
ps. so many of the other nurses and staff are lkeep applying to hospitals... you wouldn't want to lose your licence here... this is all making me sick... I can't even imagine what I'd do. It was an honest mistake... everything else was counted fine.
You documented on pts you didn't know and hadn't seen.
I couldn't get past that sentence. I read the whole post, but kept going back to that piece of info.
There's a ton of stuff in that post that's just wrong. Sounds like the lazy nurse is the least of your worries.
THIS! This is what stood out to me! Why would you do that? Never, ever, never , ever document or sign off on something you yourself have never seen, given or done. I'm a student nurse but with a numbers/business background and i'm anal about stuff like that.
I have no problem saying now and why would someone fix their mouth to ask you that. That was your first mistake. Seriously, it's also an actionable offence on your for falsifying documentation.
I wouldn't worry to much about this but I would take this as a learning experience:
Never, ever document what you haven't done
Don't be afraid to say no
When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
Now you know that you can't trust this nurse
Become anal about your narc count and documentation
take a picture of said nurse sleeping, I would , lol!
Never accept a shift/extra/helping out if you are not physically and mentally able to do it. Helping out or being a 'team player' is not a defence if you mess up do to exhaustion.
You documented on pts you didn't know and hadn't seen.
I couldn't get past that sentence. I read the whole post, but kept going back to that piece of info.
There's a ton of stuff in that post that's just wrong. Sounds like the lazy nurse is the least of your worries.
She asked me... I never said I did. I documented on the residents I personally dealt with.
I spoke with the DON.. she was very understanding and I told her honestly I have no idea what happened with the count. (it was the only mistake) She said she would try to figure it out... but I ensured her that i was obviously 100% honest.... that I'm trying my best, trying to get everything done in a timely manner and etc. I also informed her of my F/T position...
That nurse still gives me nightmares.... I guess this too is a challenge
where i work, i count my narc in the beginning of the shift with the off going nurse and make sure all the narcotic sheets are signed for. then 30 minutes before my shift is over, i count my narcs again to make sure i sign everything and everything is accounted for. then when the next shift comes, i count with her.
i am very anal when it comes to counting my narcs. i often find unsigned narcotic sheets and wrong count on the counting sheet. the off going nurse is still there so i make her fix it before i start anything.
i am wondering if anybody else has access to your narcs? does somebody else has another key?
i've learned to check the narc count after each narc that i give. i know that it may not always be easy when you are giving them out in bulk, but it's not impossible. it also helps you figure out exactly where the discrepancy might be (e.g., forgot to sign one out for a patient, gave the wrong one). i also don't accept or release keys until any discrepancies are resolved. i kept someone there for 45 minutes once and i didn't feel one bit bad about it. turns out the narc had fallen into a drawer, but i wasn't taking liability for any missing narcs when it didn't happen on my watch.
imo, if someone else has a key to the narcs, then they need to be counting--and be held liable for any discrepancies--along with you.
We sign off narcs on shift change and everything is on paper (so the sheets are often sloppy) She wrote an incident report and said she would call the DON. I don't know what happens now... I know this is proper protocol but i have seen written changes on the narcotic sheets and I doubt people are reporting each other like this. I'm new what are they going to try to do something with my licence?
imintrouble, BSN, RN
2,406 Posts
You documented on pts you didn't know and hadn't seen.
I couldn't get past that sentence. I read the whole post, but kept going back to that piece of info.
There's a ton of stuff in that post that's just wrong. Sounds like the lazy nurse is the least of your worries.