Our floor used to rock, weak nurses were few, heck even nurses who were just competent were few. Then we lost many strong experienced nurses on days in a matter of weeks. (This happened a few months ago.)
So now we have many new grads or those who are new to tele who were trained by nurses with barely a year's worth of nursing experience themselves. Which has led to nurses who consistently leave my shift with clean up duty.
I swear if I hear one more nurse give me a list of things they are passing on b/c "I didn't have time" when they have less patients and better staffing than I do I'm going to snap.
I'm not trying to be down on the new grads...several of them might turn out to be great nurses evevtually...and it's not their fault that they were screwed by being trained by nurses who have no business orienting people yet.
However, it should not fall on us to spend hours cleaning up after them shift after shift either.
When I walk into labs from hours ago still needing to be called to the doc, at least one bad IV every shift, 1800 meds not given, admits not completed that have been there for hours, etc ALL THE TIME it makes it hard to be pleasant and not start screaming. Especially when I point out all the stuff that is getting dumped on me and I get the response "but you'll have plenty of time to do it tonight, right?"
The day charge nurses know how bad it is, to the point that they apologize to night staff, and tell us "I did the best I could but I can only do so much to get four different nurses caught up."
It doesn't help that the attitude from days now is that it's night shift's responsibility to cleanup whatever they didn't want to do. I worked a 16 hr shift not that long ago and almost every nurse on days made the comment "I'm not doing XYZ, nights can do it"...while they were sitting there bs'ing.
I want a constructive way to be able to tell the new nurses that regardless of how they were trained, nights as a whole are getting ticked off to the point of going to upper management so they need to shape up. I'd much rather see the issue get resolved without management intervention, especially since so many of the newbies seem to have potential if they could just get the right kind of support.
I'm afraid this made me come across as a total B, but our floor used to be awesome day and night, and it (and morale) have taken a major nosedive in the last few months. The strong nurses on both shifts are getting burned out and frustrated dealing with this situation, and we'd like to get it fixed before more leave.
After I put this post up a co-worker of mine had a private chat with one of the preceptors about the issues that have been coming up. It took the two of us working side-by-side for two hours to get everything fixed that night. He's not as concerned with stepping on toes as I am, and he did let her know that her job is to orient and follow up on her orientees, not sit back and watch her orientee drown and then pass off a disaster like that. So maybe there will e change coming.
To the poster who stated it sounds like an "us vs them" mentality, it is becoming that way on our floor and I hate it. It used to be we looked out for each other from one shift to another and when clean-up duty got passed on it was always for legit reasons (pt coded @ 1800, two new admits hit the floor @ the same time at end of shift, etc) and no one minded.
I did pull one of the more outgoing day nurses aside last nite and told him "I know a lot of you got crappy orientations, any questions you have or advice you feel like you need let me know. That goes for all you new nurses. I know I can't help much b/c we're on different shifts, but please use the old night nurses for a resource whenever you get a chance." I'm hoping word will spread and at least they'll know there's recognition that they're in a tough spot.
Are all the night nurses new grads? If there are one or two "seasoned" nurses, would it be possible for one of them to work a couple of nights without an assignment and just be there as a resource nurse? He/she may be able to steer them in the right direction regarding getting back on track, time management, doing admissions, etc during the shift while it is happening in real time?
Or perhaps a night shifter can come to days for a few resource shifts? I think it is time to pull management into the situation and explain it from a safety angle. You are trying to prevent some serious errors that could occur...
I was pulled off the floor with a new nurse as a last resort. She wasn't cutting it, kept getting out late, meds were late, etc. All I did was shadow her and help her try and make better decisions about which direction to go or what do prioritize first. By the way, it didn't work and we ended up letting her go.
We have lost many experience nurses, due to (many reasons). But, that leaves us with very few experience nurses, and mostly all brand new nurses. I can hear your pain, and I also feel it. I have on many occasions called new people at home, offering to take them out for coffee. I let them know I appreciate them, and am there to support or help them if they want it. You most likely already know that it will take new nurses quite a while to get up to speed. It's hard when they think you will be there to pick up the slack, because your stuff is overwhelming too. But I would rather be freindly, and take the time- away from work if possible, because I just don't have extra time while at work. There are always ones who just don't get it, and are shocked at how much is required of them. But I believe most people really want to do a good job. Just look at the myriad of posts from people begging for help. I have on occasion made enemies out of new nurses, and now years later I am still paying for it. People tend to remember how they are treated when they are stressed and overwhelmed on a new job. Hope this helps.
Music in My Heart
1 Article; 4,111 Posts
Or even better... you need to learn to ignore posts which you find so detestable as you apparently find mine.