Hi everyone--I am troubled about something and would like to have your feedback. I am a postpartum/newborn/high-risk OB nurse. Yesterday I was charge in the nursery. An L&D nurse that I normally get along very well with brought me a baby without calling report first. She just dropped the baby off, saying (as she was heading out of the door) that she would call report "in a little while." I was checking on another patient and my tech was holding down the fort when this occurred. The second I walked back into the nursery and my tech gave me the rundown, I grabbed a report sheet and headed right to L&D to find this nurse and TAKE report. I told the nurse that I was not comfortable taking a patient without getting report first. Maybe I should have said "how dare you," or "are you crazy?," or "this is against hospital policy," or something a little more blunt, but I was trying to be non-offensive. As soon as she told me that the baby's temp was 35.2, I called the nursery and asked what the kid's blood sugar was. (They were working on getting it.) The L&D nurse stated that she "put the baby on mom's chest and the baby's temp dropped" after that. That does not make sense. Unless the mother no longer had a pulse, that should've warmed baby up. She should not have transported a hypothermic patient to a stable-baby nursery. If she had called report, I wouldn't have accepted the baby. I would have told her to call the NBICU. I have gotten hypothermic kids before and they often go to the NBICU anyway. (The day before all of this happened, the SAME nurse brought a tachypneic, tachycardic, hypothermic baby to us. The blood sugar was 12. The kid needed a D5W IV; we don't do IVs in the regular nursery. It's not that we CAN'T; for some reason our hospital has decided that we aren't to do IVs in the regular nursery. The NBICU team was scrambling to get the kid into their unit. We were gavage-feeding that kid every 20 minutes or so until it was transported. It should have been in the NBICU in the first place, but she [the L&D nurse] wanted to get the baby off of her hands.) So, anyway, later on in the day, this L&D nurse got wind of the fact that I wasn't very pleased with her no-report, patient-drop-off tactic. She called me and said that she thought that I'd "get it" from report that the reason she brought the baby down without report was because of the temp. She said, "I wouldn't just drop a baby off without report because I just wanted to." However, when I originally got (read: made her give me) report, she stated that she "just wanted to get the baby to me," without citing the reason of hypothermia. (The mother is an OB/GYN fellow and the L&D nurse was busy attending to her every need.)
I thought that was very disrespectful of her to talk to me that way. She didn't so much as give a "heads-up" that a patient was coming. We at least always do that. For example, if we have a critical baby like we did the other day, our charge calls the NBICU charge to tell them what's going on and to make sure there's a bed. We don't just show up and say "We thought you'd get it...".
I try very hard to promote harmony between my unit and L&D. I have been asked several times by several L&D nurses "when" I am going to work for them. That is very flattering to me. That tells me that they view me as a team member, or at least I think they do. I don't know what they'll think of me now, because their nurse was written up for what she did (editted to mention that she was written up for compromising patient safety, not for personal reasons).
Her calling me and speaking rudely on the phone to me really offended me. It's bad enough that postpartum nurses aren't regarded as "real nurses." We put up with a lot of disrespect. We went to the same nursing schools, learned the same skills, and can do everything that other nurses do. Most of us just love our jobs, and that's why we do what we do. L&D nurses usually understand that postpartum nurses have an important job, too. In a lot of ways, they are my professional "sisters." But this time, she treated me like I was a stupid, second-rate nurse.
I want to confront this nurse. How should I do it?
I embarrassed myself in my OP--I must have come across as though my feelings were more important than patient care. I apologize. My primary concern is for my patients. I am kind of like a Momma Bear when it comes to them. The unsafe patient care issue was the reason the nurse was written up. I did immediately notify management about the issue. I should have stated that in my OP.
Dont feel embarrassed. (Look at me telling you how to feel, lol) This forum is an excellent place to vent- and your feelings and attitude affect your patient care. If the mom of the baby you spoke of was and OB fellow- was she in tune with the fact that baby may be in distress? Also what is an OB fellow exactly?
A fellow is a doctor that has completed a residency that starts another residency in a specialty. For example, a doctor who has completed a pediatric residency wanting to become a pediatric surgeon becomes a pediactric surgery fellow. Or something like that.
I don't know what the scoop was with Dr. Mom. She was recovering from a C-section, so I am guessing she was groggy from the anesthesia. We received baby when it was only 48 minutes old.
I agree with the rest. Just unexceptable to run out the door without giving report. Not to mention she has done this on a sick patient. I feel she should be fired. Her attitude and nursing skills are dangerous.
I agree with the rest. Just unexceptable to run out the door without giving report. Not to mention she has done this on a sick patient. I feel she should be fired. Her attitude and nursing skills are dangerous.
You'd rather fire her than give her a chance to learn and do the right way?
This is why our profession is so cutthroat. One mistake and you're out the door.
maryloufu
238 Posts
Originally Posted by maralenn
I embarrassed myself in my OP--I must have come across as though my feelings were more important than patient care. I apologize. My primary concern is for my patients. I am kind of like a Momma Bear when it comes to them. The unsafe patient care issue was the reason the nurse was written up. I did immediately notify management about the issue. I should have stated that in my OP.
Dont feel embarrassed. (Look at me telling you how to feel, lol) This forum is an excellent place to vent- and your feelings and attitude affect your patient care. If the mom of the baby you spoke of was and OB fellow- was she in tune with the fact that baby may be in distress? Also what is an OB fellow exactly?