I graduated in the fall, and was hired after I took my boards. It's been my passion to work with women, and particularly in postpartum. I enjoyed my rotation and two internships in postpartum prior to graduation.
Now, I am working. I oriented for 4 weeks before I went to night shift. Because the hospital was so short staffed, I have 5-6 couplets per night. One of my first nights I had 3 admissions, 4 day 0 moms, a hemorrhage, and 3 babies on glucose protocols. I was in hell.
....I went home, and later that morning, my manager called to let me know a patient said that I told her specific ratios and told them that I said I had too many patients. I would NEVER say that. EVER, to a patient. I did spent a majority of the time in my patient's room who had the PPH, and every once in a while I had to let her I would be going to just check on my other patients and I would be right back (on top of the PPH, she was breastfeeding and her preemie baby had low glucose levels right off the bat). I was so broken hearted that I worked so hard, didn't eat, didn't drink, and barely made it through the night and getting everything done... and then she complained. And my manager called to tell me about the complaint.
I had another complaint recently, that was supposedly for me on a survey. The patient said I took her baby from the room without informing her where I was taking the baby, said I was unsupportive with her attempts to breastfeed, and made her feel guilty for wanting pain medication. I was absolutely floored, because NONE of those things are things I could ever imagine myself doing.
I'm not sure what I can do. Will I have a 45 minute conversation every time someone decides they dont like me? I feel like I cannot continue in their way. I am so disappointed and sad by how awful this experience has been. The manager is so quick to point out any little thing I have not done (which is rare!), and I don't get any feedback except for that my co-workers like me, and my clinical skills are excellent (which doesnt even seem to matter).
I am lost. Is this normal? Does it get better? I work nights and I never see my children or my husband. I feel so lost and alone and so frustrated that I left another career behind for this...
We have issues like this. We do LDRP and some GYN post-op. Sometimes a nurse has 3 couplets and is the delivery nurse for the shift. It makes no sense to me at all, and doesn't feel safe. Patients need more attention and you can't divide your attention between so many things, it becomes a juggling act and inevitably something gets dropped. I have a really hard time with staffing and assignment stuff, and as a new nurse I can sympathize. I suggest starting to look around. Unless you see the dawn on the horizon, sticking it out might just burn you out. Just my two cents. Best wishes in sorting it out!
I'm just going to echo the previous posters. That is an insane ratio, hardly doable even if all your patients are stable and the kids are all breastfeeding well. And I cannot believe your manager would call you about a patient complaint in the middle of your "night"! I work nights most of the time, and one time waaay back in the day, I had a pretty major (but quickly proven false) complaint made about me by a patient. My manager still waited until a reasonable hour to call me. That really speaks to a culture of disrespect. If I were you, I would be looking for other jobs, but I would definitely stick this one out until I found another position in this specialty. It is true that OBGYN can be difficult to get in to, and if this is your passion I think it is worth it to hold on until you find something better.
I also have to keep my phone on when I sleep during the day, in case my kids need me. My phone lets me block all calls except for a set list of numbers- can you do that?
RosaleiMae
55 Posts
We have issues like this. We do LDRP and some GYN post-op. Sometimes a nurse has 3 couplets and is the delivery nurse for the shift. It makes no sense to me at all, and doesn't feel safe. Patients need more attention and you can't divide your attention between so many things, it becomes a juggling act and inevitably something gets dropped. I have a really hard time with staffing and assignment stuff, and as a new nurse I can sympathize. I suggest starting to look around. Unless you see the dawn on the horizon, sticking it out might just burn you out. Just my two cents. Best wishes in sorting it out!