Nurses who don't assess

[penny186, ADN, BSN, CNA, RN]

Why is it that in med surge tele I constantly get made fun of by other nurses for carrying a stethoscope, taking vitals, and doing an assessment. How am I supposed to complete the required documentation without doing so? They are already sitting 15 minutes into the shift and laugh about how they make up vitals and assessments. They say copy and paste. Well its my license and I actually care for my patients. And Im not talking about 7 patients. Im talking about 3 or 4. I ask them if they have pain. I wash them with soap and water. I reposition and educate them.  I make sure they are voiding and having bowel movements. I chart thoroughly and accurately. If it takes me 5 minutes to make sure an order is in place I do it for the sake of the patient. I am nowhere near perfect and I learn daily! I am not there to watch videos all shift. Im rarely sitting down! Is there anyone left who actually still does these things? I became a nurse to help people!

[John2018]

I worked for a government hospital as a new nurse and the co-workers that you have there are the same as the senior nurses I had worked with. Really don't get why they make fun of us for doing our job. Anyways, we are on the graveyard where senior nurses are extra extra lazy, we had this 1 Dengue Fever patient that was endorsed to us by the afternoon nurse as a stable patient with normal VS (which I highly doubt if they really assess the patient) because we are not halfway within our shift and that patient suddenly had a narrow pulse pressure. How did we know that the patient had a narrow pulse pressure? well because we did our job to take the patient's vital signs. The patient was saved from possible shock. So continue what you are doing, let them laugh at their own silliness.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I often seem to be the last one that gets to my charting. I'm generally in my patient's rooms for the first couple hours of any shift. Whether I'm in the ICU, step-down or med-surg, there are things that need to be done for the patients. Don't worry about what other people are (or aren't) doing, you're doing what's right for your patients and that's the important part. 

[asoundchoice]

Because you make them look bad.  Don't ever lower your standards for other people.

[phoebebrat, ASN]

They are putting patients lives at risk. These people aren’t in the hospital because they are healthy. Things can and do go wrong, vitals can change, pain levels can change, you may notice something with a patient that just seems “ off.”  You are doing the right thing and doing what you are getting paid for. The nurses that aren’t checking vs and doing assessments are falsifying documentation and not taking care of their patients. They wouldn’t even realize if their patient started to show a sign of decline.  I wouldn’t want their work ethic and I definitely wouldn’t want to be their patient!

[LifeandHealth]

I agree with the previous posts. Be a real nurse and do your assessments. It's what you learned in school. Assessments legitimize your practice as a nurse.  Do not allow others to influence what you know to be right.  It's not about you, it's about patient safety.

[Tired nurse]

Why are LPN forced to do assessments in LTC but cannot in a hospital. Yes it is not in their scope but done every day in LTC were there are no spoiled RNs.

[Tired nurse]

And to the pts son who screamed and yelled at the nurse at LTC because it was not a hospital. Simple said **** you I am not a machine. Go to ****!