to leave or not to leave

[noellepage2000]

Leaving and switching jobs because of all these nursing related issues has left me an old nurse who will always be new.

There are times when you really need to move on for the sake of your mental health but I have been in this path many times and

I am frankly not sure if what I did is right. I have over 10 yrs experience as RN, 2 of them in the critical care and all sort of

issues comes out where I felt as though I am being treated as new all the time and of course it is a pain in the neck because I have over 10 yrs nursing experience and I look young but I am new on that particular unit. It is tough to work and have fellow nurses eat you.

Like the other night, my a-line is constantly alarming because the pt is moving his hand as he is dominant on that hand despite the arm board. I have tried all sorts of action from changing the whole dressing, taping and retaping the arm board, angling the hand and taping it, ensuring no bubbles , length of tubing, etc but the wave will dampened as soon as I come out of room after fixing it and the bp drops which is inaccurate . Then this travel RN talks about how my patient has been alarming all night and I am not doing anything about it. She doesn't know a thing about what I did and yet she has the nerve to talk like that. I asked her to see if she can work her magic into it and of course she was boasting and teaching things I already know at the bedside ( I used to work in CCU where we handled multiple swans and a- lines) and boasted she fixed it bec. the wave is excellent so I said ok as soon as you sit down it will dampened, lets see...and lo! and behold it did dampened after she came out of room. This pt needs his a line for a q1 hr blood draw and she is talking about discontinuing it . If this is not enough she is not done making my otherwise nice night a living hell, by complaining about my 2nd pt who is alarming because of sats of 89-91% on a 70% fio2. This pt has bad lungs and the doctor accepts a low 02 sats of >88% and to think she has had this pt the previous night, she boasts "not on my watch". She was a military RN and I do not know how they do it there but she sure is upsetting. Now, how best do you handle this kind of person who thinks she is the only high and mighty RN on the unit???? In my younger days I would leave and find a different job as these kind of upsetting things piles up but I do not think this is an option to my best interest at this point in my career. My hospital is unionized , values seniority, and for profit.

[el_peon]

I worked ICU for a long time and we had the reputation of "eating our young". You have to have thicker skin and a stronger backbone. Its a high stress area, and people deal with stress differently. It makes some a know it all and others just come across as mean. I'm not saying its ok to treat other people that way, it just seems to be the nature of the beast.

If you know what youre doing, act like it. When the military nurse started "instructing" you. Tell her "i've already done that....and that....and that...and that. If you have any suggestions of things i havent tried, please let me know" Be willing to learn from an "older and wiser" nurse, but you have to stand up for yourself and be confident in what you know or you'll always be walked on.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

and be willing to learn new things.

[nyteshade, BSN]

If she is a traveller, isn't she leaving anyways?

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

I've never been known for my tact. Having said that, I would just say "you know what, I can hear you talking about me, and it's not very helpful. I have already tried those things." Or use humor and say "gee, since you know it all, why don't you come fix it?".

Why on earth would you consider leaving because of one know it all witch? Don't let other people determine how your night goes if you can help it. Mind your business, do you work, and leave it at that.

[forthebirds]

Do you have an option to re-set the alarm parameters? It is frustrating when the alarms are going off like crazy and you are doing all you can think of to remedy the problem, I've been there. A-lines go bad, but they can still be useful for blood draws, as you said you were doing. When that is the case and I know the readings are inaccurate anyway (wave dampened continually), I will change the alarm settings to lessen the frequency of alerts.

[noellepage2000]

I do most of the time but at other times I just keep quiet. It is getting old each time I have to ,it seems like, explain myself . Why do I have to prove myself each time when I had finish 4yrs of nursing, took the tests, has about >10 yrs experience do I hv to prove myself? Why can't people just give you a basic trust that you know what you are doing. I actually thrive in environment where people trust each other mutually, eventhough you are new you are treated with respect (from past experience) and not with mistrust that you are going to mess up. As if messing up is your goal for the night...Who wants to mess up their license? Nobody.

I am now going to reset the alarms eventhough at my other job you are not allowed to play with your alarms below or above what the policy says. I think my problem sometimes is I am by the book and it is mistaken by some as a new nurse. I'm anal and I'd like to do it by the book. That is not a crime. I used to be a skills expert teaching other RNs skills on the job based on our policies so this is how I got trained from the start. And what is it about nurses who think they know everything and mention it to the point of bragging? In reality, even experienced nurses don't know everything so I am apalled at the act that they know everything about nursing and you don't kind of attitude.

I only talk of leaving because apart from this there are other issues I do not like on the unit such as politics. If you hang out with the charge RNs outside of work you just might become a charge RN yourself. You are given easier patients , made a leader etc when you know that the nurse hardly turn her pt., possibly copies assessment of another RN in the computer, doesn't clean until 4am when shift is almost done...among other things. I actually want to put a stop into moving because it is not doing me any long term good, perhaps short term relief from a situation I don't like but in the long term I am the one who is at a disadvantage from moving around. What is my best course of action? Keep quiet and endure it? If I talk and made my concerns known it seems like it is going to be a big deal and to my disadvantage. They don't like complainers...IF you don't talk, then you are walked all over or taken advantage of...sigh!

Thanks for all the replies and the encouragement. I wish I talk to a bunch of co workers like you guys... Life will be better.

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

If the A-line is for blood draws only, I would've disconnected it from monitoring.

As for the other nurse, she would've been talking and talking--doesn't mean I am paying attention.

I have an "off" button implanted in my brain.