Nursing as maid of all trades

[canoehead]

I am so often (almost continually) frustrated at work by all the people that feel they can delegate to nursing or dictate how we do our thing. One of our docs treats us as "her" nurses, and refers to us as such to patients. If equipment is in the room she will write an order for us to pull it from the drawers, and leave rather than get it out herself. She is BUSY you know!

RT dept, maintenance dept and materials dictate what we keep in our crash cart and where we put everything. Doesn't matter that the nurses who work in the dept all agree that items we use most often should be easier to access. Their order sheet is listed like so, and thats how they want the supplies stored. And why should they go to the trouble of changing their sheet because the nurses want to change something?

Our thermometers are routinely 2-3 degrees off, we have only one that is accurate. We steal BP cuffs from another unit, and pharmacy crabs that our narcotic count is sometimes not in temporal order, but the Pyxis has been sitting unprogrammed for months.

Yes, the NM is aware of all this, yes she promises to do something about it, but the lag time between promises and action means there is more building up (for me) than is getting solved. I'm trying to look at it as a challenge- how much can I get done safely without optimum equipment, but it is wearing on me.

I LOVE the people I work with, I'm not thinking of leaving, but does anyone have a different mind set to approach this from? Of course, a little co-venting is great to hear too!

[Siouxz2]

Don't ever let the docs treat us like their "handmaidens"! Be firm, this happens everywhere. It happens in my department too, we even bring up such issues to the HOD. However old habits and being stubborn are something difficult to change. It takes time, all of you need to stand together and do it.

If equipment are not working properly, get it changed or fixed up otherwise our patient's safety may be jeopadised. Don't be disheartened there's problem in every place even if u choose to go, can u be very sure that history will not be repeated?

Have faith.......

Last night while on OB clinicals, I was sitting at a station, entering patient info into the computer. A doctor walked in and announced that I was in his chair. Being a student, I didn't know what to do, so I asked if he needed me to move. He kind of muttered, but said, no. Later the nurse told me she was glad I didn't move, as there were FOUR empty chairs, two of them in front of a computer screen if he needed!!! Duh!

[DusktilDawn]

This is typical of dialysis units. There are no other staff there besides the nurses and techs. There is no one else to do the grunt work.

At the last unit I worked at before I became a traveler, housekeeping was cut down to only 3 days a week. So after a 12 hr days of azz busting w/ the pts, we were assigned to MOP FLOORS and CLEAN TOILETS.

Only when I was charge did I get out of doing it. But,I still had the enviable task of deciding which techs and nurses had to stay over to do it.

One of the many reasons I quit.

Mopping floors and cleaning toilets, yep, excellent utilization of 2-4 years college/university education.

Sorry if this comes off as snobby, but housekeeping was the job I did before I became a nurse.

[jpp246]

I totally understand about being a maid of all trades!!! I work for a family practice center with residents and nurses who LOVE to delegate. They expect me to do their jobs and mine too, in a timely, efficient, safe, clock on for lunch on time, return from lunch on time, manner. All of this while the manger (RN) and assistant manage (LPN) sit down all time and try to finger out what I'm doing!! I don't mind helping other nurses with their pt load or whatever, but its extremely hard for me to help someone when they're sitting around talking, with 3 pt to bring back to their empty rooms, and a doctor that's pacing the floor wondering where their patients are!! I'm all about getting the job done, but what about those that waste time everyday, every shift, and get nothing accomplished.

[kadokin, ASN, RN]

I'm all for teamwork and doing what it takes to get the job done. I'm not too good to empty the trash or clean something (I've done it many times). But . . . do the bean counters who make these decisions ever stop to consider that they are paying nursing wages for people to do a job that could be performed by someone getting paid much less per hour? I just don't get it. Who are these geniuses?