Need advice/help w/bad situation!

eak16 · Nov 9, 2003

wow, it must be fun rocking babies all night

JUST KIDDING!

it sounds like you have management right where you want them, considering that if you quit, there would only be one nurse left working nights. i would tell them, look it is up to you- be left with one nurse at night, and have to hire and train a new one and STILL have the same unsafe levels, or just deal with the unsafe levels now and get it over with.

If it continues, look into all your other employment options, you hot commodity you!

cannoli · Nov 9, 2003

Who watches the babys in the nursery while you go to the c-section?

That sounds like a nightmare to me. I'd get the heck out of Dodge.

renerian, BSN, RN · Nov 9, 2003

Scarey. I would not stay. renerian

gypsyatheart · Nov 9, 2003

That's just it...there is only the tech left in the nursery many, many times, when we go to a section! Plus, the level2 babies are in a different room than the admitting nursery, so if I get tied up in there, there is no one, but the tech, to hear the alarms, etc! The other night I didn't get back into that room for more than 3 hrs d/t the premie and other babies coming in one right after another!

I tell you, I'm having nightmares about this.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who says "get the heck out of there"! Thanks.

Oh, BTW, management does know the situation...they apparently don't care! I do plan on going into the mgrs ofc tomorrow and giving her an earful, not that it will do any good, but I want "proof" that I tried to address these issues, before I quit after only a month or so of being back there! :imbar

BETSRN · Nov 9, 2003

If you are truly doing LDRP, you (in the nursery) need NOT be the one responsible for a newborn admission. the nurse taking care of the mother through labor and birth would be the one responsible for that.

I can understand why you are frazzled. I would push for the labor nurses to be doing their own admissions and baths, etc. I work LDRP and the nurwsery nurse is NOT repsonsible for anything unless the babay has to go into the nursery for some reason. All care in an LDRP is done at the mother's bedside. That should be your argument.

dawngloves, BSN, RN · Nov 10, 2003

OMGoodness!!! Incredibly dangerous! I can't believe they let you leave unliscensed personnel with sick babies! Run sister! RUN!!!!

Buggs · Nov 10, 2003

I am sorry for you, unfortunately sounds like the nightmare around here. I feel like nothing will change untill something bad happens. The government needs to step up and make more laws to protect the patients because the hospitals are not doing it. I was pleased to see the Reader's Digest writing about the nursing shortage. We need to speak out more. Easier said than done as we all need our jobs to feed our families. Get out of there if you can and keep some account of what's going on. We all need to bombard the press and governing officials with the reality we face everyday at the hospitals. The hospitals will keep things as they are if we don't make a stand, and surely they won't stand behing us when that awful thing happens, and we will have to live with it forever. Good luck!

StrongRN · Nov 11, 2003

Sweetheart what you need to do is run not walk straight to the closest state board of nursing, joint commission, and B L O W THE W H I S T L E on these heartless @#!~%$^*. And let them all know that you are quite willing to go to the nearest Malpractice Attorney in your area only to be followed by an interview with the local Editor. It boils down to one of the most important things we all learned probably 1st day in school - CYA- cover your @##. Good Luck and Happy Hunting.

unikuelady, RN · Nov 11, 2003

I agree with StrongRN. This situation is extreemly dangerous. Call the State, Call JCHAO, You only need 1 baby to go bad. The hospital is going to do everything it can to cover for itself, they will find "something" or "someone" to blame for the disaster. Don't be supprised if it is YOU! This can be a very difficult decision to make if this is the only place you have to work and make your living. Taking this route can very well mean closing down your unit or even the entire hospital. The most important thing to decide is "Can I live with myself knowing that a baby died or was permanetly damaged on my shift because of the unsafe staffing conditions that I might have prevented if I had blown-the-whistle?" If you can get work elsewhere, then by all means call the state and JCHAO. You would be helping out your fellow nurses as well as being a patient advocate. We are in the business of saving lives, aren't we!

imenid37 · Nov 11, 2003

Find another job. I had a similar situation at my previous job and I just had to get out. They begged me not to go ,but never did anything about the poor conditions they created. One night I had 14, though only 11 were in the nursery, full-term babies assigned to me. This included one on o2 for ttn and an 11lb'er w/ unstable blood sugars. NICU was full and could not help me and the postpartum unit (we did mother-baby, but at night usually switched between postpartum and nursery) was rockin as was L&D. No help! Not even a tech! I wrote up a protest of assignment and the bytch department director turned around and blamed postpartum charge nurse, who also was understaffed. She said postpartum Should've sent some help, but they not only had the moms of these babies, but 4-5 antenatals too. (on 3-11 they also liked to put tech in nursery-we had no nursery nurse on days and evenings when we had a phototherapy baby. This is not legal in the state of PA and in your case w/ specila care babies would not be acceptable anywhere)

The snot-faced co-ordinator who was supposed to be a sort of supervisor of the charge nurses on day shift for PP, L&D, and NICU in turn wrote me up when a nurse at 0900 (my shift ended at 0700) found twin A in twin B's bassinette and wrote me up for putting the two in the wrong cribs. HMMMM? I never picked up two babies together. I never do. This was found in mom's room, 2 hours after my shift ended and probably 3 hours since the twins were sent out to mom. Maybe mom did it. Maybe PP nurse did it, since she didn't really have a spare moment to help this mom breastfeed her twins. At any rate, I was told that "SUZYQ" the co-ordinator was livid that I wrote the protest of assignment letter. I was not a team player. If people start protesting assignments, then it would be chaos she said. She was too dumb to know it already was! I am so happy to be out of there. I loved my co-workers and patients, but my license and conscience weren't worth it. Go through the proper channels and try to change it, but if not get the H*!! out before something bad happens. I also reported the hospital to the state after I left because at the time, I often could not get non-latex gloves and was having terrible contact dermatitis, but they lied and said the gloves were readily available which they were not!

Jamiers · Nov 11, 2003

I agree with StrongRN also.....BLOW THE WHISTLE. You do not need all the stress, you know what you have to do.