Hello all, I would really like some input on this. I work in a LTC facility where the DON, ADON and other floor managers do not work the floor in the case of a shortage and they are on call for that particular night. There were times when the 11-7 nurses (two) had to pass to about 85 residents and do all the treatments. Also just recently one of the 3-11 nurses called off and I was asked to stay and pass the 5:00 meds for the team I worked on earlier (which I did). I ended up leaving at around 7:00.
I have never worked part of a 3-11 shift and honestly from what I noticed, I feel the two nurses could have handled or one of the managers that were there could have done since they all found time to be "breaking" as I was leaving out.
What's the protocol at your facility? Do your managers help work the floor?
On most nights, we have 2 supervisors and a charge RN. Should we be so short, the charge will then take patients of her own and one of the superviors will step down to take the charge RN role. If we are REALLY short, there have been nights when the charge and one of the supervisors take patients, leaving the one supervisor in the charge RN role. Luckily, those nights are few and far between. I had to take 3 patients the other night for the first time and it was almost overwhelming. I had to sit down and figure out how I was going to organize my night....LOL. But it turned out okay and I was able to bathe 2 out of the 3 patients, which made me feel good. Taking 3 patients is not something I look forward to doing again....especially since it was my 8th shift in 9 days!!!
I work on a Pediatric floor and have an AWESOME nurse manager, she regularly gets out on the floor and works right along side of us, she is willing to do whatever is needed at the time. She has also covered shifts when no one else was available. I have worked several other floors in the same hospital while I was finishing school and none of the other nurse managers were willing to work the floor at all. My current nurse manager is the only one at this hospital that I have seen on the floor.
At my job, all nurse mgrs are on call for a week at a time. If there is a call off they are responsible for working that shift. I have personally had to work night shift as a CNA on more than one occassion. Because of this I fully understand their work load and can make effective changes in their responsibilities i.e. changing shower days, changing work times, etc.. My policy is whenever a nurse request help I stop what I'm doing and help. Sometimes it's nothing more than wanting assistance with writing a nsg note or careplan.
jolie that sounds like a beautiful situation. where are all these in touch nurse mgrs? ours is so "hands off" we hardly see her. work the floor? you've got to be kidding, she might ruin her silk blouse.
jolie that sounds like a beautiful situation. where are all these in touch nurse mgrs? ours is so "hands off" we hardly see her. work the floor? you've got to be kidding, she might ruin her silk blouse.
Maybe it's because I don't own a silk blouse!
I must add that my hospital's "environment" made it possible for me to work the floor without being unduly "penalized". On any unit, there is work that only the manager can do. If the manager is constantly pulled to do patient care, then evaluations, policies, procedures, budgets, staffing, etc. go un-done, which is not desirable, either.
When I scheduled myself for "off shifts", it was always in place of my regular schedule. When I worked OT, either to do patient care catch up on "management stuff", I was allowed to take comp time later. That's not to say that I never worked uncompensated. If I stayed an hour or two late, it was not worth my while to fill out paperwork for comp time. I only did that if I worked 4 or more hours overtime. But it was nice to be valued by my boss, and trusted to keep track of my time.
At the LTC where I now work, the Administrator and DON are both nurses, but it's understood that they will NEVER work the floor. The DON will occasionally help with treatments on the day shift - but has NO idea what goes on on the other shifts.
I've asked her to come in on noc's - we have a CNA who regularly sleeps on that shift - I've had major conflicts with him, but he then tells mgt. that I'm 'lying'. The other two noc nurses have confirmed this, but I've requested that she come in to catch him 'in the act', but so far, she hasn't.
When I worked in ICU, the manager would come in anytime we called her for extra help - altho we tried very hard not to abuse it.
i remember working at one "union" hospital where the managers could not work the floor, until after all available staff nurses were called first. usually one staff nurse would be available to come in.
has anyone ever encountered this situation?
i work ltc in missouri. it's against state regulations for the don to work the floor if the census if more than 60 residents. the rational is that it prevents the don from haveing adequate time to manage the facility.
My DON is awesome, she has been known to work the floor in times of scheduling crisis. I've taken carts myself when needed. One thing that I think helps me to be a better supervisor is that prior to taking this job I had held jobs as a CNA (while going to RN school) and a floor nurse (after graduating), so I've been in everyone's shoes and have no qualms about stepping in when needed.
The DON will occasionally help with treatments on the day shift - but has NO idea what goes on on the other shifts.
LilRedRN1973
1,062 Posts
On most nights, we have 2 supervisors and a charge RN. Should we be so short, the charge will then take patients of her own and one of the superviors will step down to take the charge RN role. If we are REALLY short, there have been nights when the charge and one of the supervisors take patients, leaving the one supervisor in the charge RN role. Luckily, those nights are few and far between. I had to take 3 patients the other night for the first time and it was almost overwhelming. I had to sit down and figure out how I was going to organize my night....LOL. But it turned out okay and I was able to bathe 2 out of the 3 patients, which made me feel good. Taking 3 patients is not something I look forward to doing again....especially since it was my 8th shift in 9 days!!!
Melanie = )