I get it, we on the floor don't see what you see- gunshots, knife cuts, fights, rape victims. But you chose that. Nursing is a wide, varied profession and ER is just a piece of it. So you work with firefighters, paramedics, police. Okay. But you're not a firefighter, paramedic or a police officer. You're a nurse. When you call the floor for report and we say we're too busy right now, we'll call you back, please don't call your boss, or the House Supervisor, and tell them we refused report. Again, I get it. Nobody is as busy as you. But we may have had our hands deep in poop, or in the middle of a dressing change, or with a doctor, or administering chemotherapy. Or we may be already getting report from the offgoing shift. And yes, another nurse is just as busy and can't take the report I would rather get first hand anyway. When we get report from you for a hip fracture patient and you say the BP is 191/92 and she has a history of hypertension, please don't get offended if I ask if you've covered the blood pressure. I know she's being admitted with a hip fracture and not for hypertension. But hypertension is something we're aware of, because it is also bad. If you send the patient up without covering the BP, by the time she's moved from gurney to bed that BP has spiked to over 200 and I have a possible stroke to add to that fracture. Will it kill you to walk over to your MD, the one with whom you enjoy a closer relationship, and ask for some Vasotec? And while you're at it, could you not forget some pain meds before you send the patient to the floor? You see, I have to call the admitting MD, that very MD your doctor just spoke with to admit the patient, and wait until he calls back, before I can give any medications. That can and does take hours. Meanwhile I have an increasingly uncomfortable, unstable patient and a family who is getting very concerned that this new nurse can't help their mother.
I'm sorry for the long post, but I just read another Megalomaniac ER blog slamming floor nurses as stupid and lazy, refusing report, fighting with ER because they're uncomfortable taking unstable patients ER wants to move because they need the beds. There is more than just you, ER.
Specializes in Acute Care Hosp, Nursing Home, Clinics.
I have read every post in this thread and I want to shout "STOP ALREADY". WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE? Therein lies the problem. No one is in charge. There is no coordination of effort. There is no plan of action. There is no blueprint to follow for who, what, why or where. If there is it is not evident in these posts. There are plenty of excuses and finger pointing but no formulated plan as to how the ER and Floor can coordinate their efforts to produce a reasonable transition from one discipline to another. Who is responsible for the chaos? The Administration? The ER Dr.?, The ER Nurses?, The Floor Nurses? The Patient? Why is there chaos? Short Staffing? the acuity of care? The level of stress? Where does it start? Maybe it starts in Admissions? Or maybe it starts with Policy and Protocols? Or maybe it starts with Human Resources, or Staff Education? Or maybe it starts with the D.O.N. or the Managers or Supervisors or Preceptors? Where does it start? What would fix or at least elevate the problem? What needs to happen to satisfy the ER and the Floor nurses? What is the level of expectation of patient care in each individual case? What exactly is the problem? Is it more than one problem? How can it be fixed? Is it fixable? Is going along to get along fixing the problem? Is getting angry and getting even fixing the problem? Is quitting or calling in sick fixing the problem? That is what needs to happen here.
Someone needs to take Charge. Someone needs to recognize there is a problem and it is very serious and it has been going on a very long time. Someone needs to think out of the box and take the first step to finding a solution. Someone needs to tell the bullies and those who think they are more qualified or more educated or more experienced than the dodo heads in some other discipline and who rather point fingers than share their education or experience they are not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Someone needs to take a step forward and begin the process of raising the bar of patient care by staying focused on the patient and how they will best be served. Think Teamwork guys. If you were in Charge what would you do to utilize everything you know and everything you have learned to give your patients the best possible outcome from your efforts? What would you do that would really make a difference?
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Oh jeez, I can see it now.... "M/S" ....alcoholic pancreatitis case pukes on nurse's shoes... GI bleed craps on nurse's shoes...old confused dude falls out of bed onto nurses' shoes... if anything it'd be a great way for Alegria and Dansko to get some business
*SNORT*
I'm in geriatrics, which is so low on the "cool" spectrum that it probably doesn't register. But at my age and stage of life, I'm so UNcool that I've become my own sort of cool.
i have, in another thread, discovered the er's true patron saint/deity.
it is buddha. hence forth, all ers will sustain a large buddha statue above the entrance to their er. and all his disciples (the er nurses) will be renamed (on this site and in rl) buddha1, buddha2...............and so on.
[hopes the er nurses never figure out, buddha was picked because all this statues show him sitting, a very good representation of er nurses indeed.]
ha! yeah, right. if ever there were flame throwing words....
I have, in another thread, discovered the ER's true patron saint/Deity.
It is Buddha. Hence forth, all ERs will sustain a large Buddha statue above the entrance to their ER. And all his disciples (the ER nurses) will be renamed (on this site and in RL) Buddha1, Buddha2...............and so on.
[Hopes the ER nurses never figure out, Buddha was picked because all this statues show him sitting, a very good representation of ER nurses indeed.]
Why was it a thread in the first place? If you have a job that pays and you have health care, then isn't that COOL? Whatever kind of nurse you are there is a patient that thinks you are cool.
Why was it a thread in the first place? If you have a job that pays and you have health care, then isn't that COOL? Whatever kind of nurse you are there is a patient that thinks you are cool.
Sometimes I feel that exact same way. Too many people out there hoping to find work before their house/car is gone. The little things about my job only seem like a big deal because I have all my finances in order, no "late payment" notices coming in the mail etc etc..............
Other days, I get to the point with working where sometimes I wonder why I even bother showing up. You run here, run there busting your tail making up for gross system/facility failures..........just to turn around and be told you are a bad nurse because you didn't help the CNA deliver fresh water. Now on those days, being caught up with bills and all isn't much comfort.
I have, in another thread, discovered the ER's true patron saint/Deity.
It is Buddha. Hence forth, all ERs will sustain a large Buddha statue above the entrance to their ER. And all his disciples (the ER nurses) will be renamed (on this site and in RL) Buddha1, Buddha2...............and so on.
[Hopes the ER nurses never figure out, Buddha was picked because all this statues show him sitting, a very good representation of ER nurses indeed.]
I replied as just another ER point of view, not because I didn't read the arduous posts.
Actually it is not a different point of view. It is exactly the same as all of the rest of the ER defender's points of view. I actually was trying to enlighten you to the fact that I had commended the ER personality and understand why it exists. I did not start this post, but like many of the other writers, I have experienced the attitude the OP is talking about. Perhaps this post is to the point and will not be too arduous for you to read. Again the statement that I quoted in this posting represents the attitude perfectly in 2 ways:
1. The use of a word such as arduous( this word means difficult or straining) when so many other words on a normal, common speaking level will do.
2. The fact that it is such a strain for you to read these posts indicates how far "above" the rest of us you must think you are which is a perfect display of said attitude.
I come on to this website in an effort to learn something new,or help someone, or just catch a laugh while I have a break. Awful lot of very sensitive people on here that need to lighten up. Where are those folks who want to have a good time and enjoy being nurses?
Actually it is not a different point of view. It is exactly the same as all of the rest of the ER defender's points of view. I actually was trying to enlighten you to the fact that I had commended the ER personality and understand why it exists. I did not start this post, but like many of the other writers, I have experienced the attitude the OP is talking about. Perhaps this post is to the point and will not be too arduous for you to read. Again the statement that I quoted in this posting represents the attitude perfectly in 2 ways:
1. The use of a word such as arduous( this word means difficult or straining) when so many other words on a normal, common speaking level will do.
2. The fact that it is such a strain for you to read these posts indicates how far "above" the rest of us you must think you are which is a perfect display of said attitude.
I come on to this website in an effort to learn something new,or help someone, or just catch a laugh while I have a break. Awful lot of very sensitive people on here that need to lighten up. Where are those folks who want to have a good time and enjoy being nurses?
Oh FFS. You're seriously going to dog MassED for that word choice? I'd say reading every post in a 30+ page thread is certainly starting to become an "arduous" task. Speaking of needing to lighten up
Oh FFS. You're seriously going to dog MassED for that word choice? I'd say reading every post in a 30+ page thread is certainly starting to become an "arduous" task. Speaking of needing to lighten up
You are right of course and I apologize. It's not really the word choice so much as the attitude. I gave ER nurses compliments in my earlier post.
timetoshine
74 Posts
I have read every post in this thread and I want to shout "STOP ALREADY". WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE? Therein lies the problem. No one is in charge. There is no coordination of effort. There is no plan of action. There is no blueprint to follow for who, what, why or where. If there is it is not evident in these posts. There are plenty of excuses and finger pointing but no formulated plan as to how the ER and Floor can coordinate their efforts to produce a reasonable transition from one discipline to another. Who is responsible for the chaos? The Administration? The ER Dr.?, The ER Nurses?, The Floor Nurses? The Patient? Why is there chaos? Short Staffing? the acuity of care? The level of stress? Where does it start? Maybe it starts in Admissions? Or maybe it starts with Policy and Protocols? Or maybe it starts with Human Resources, or Staff Education? Or maybe it starts with the D.O.N. or the Managers or Supervisors or Preceptors? Where does it start? What would fix or at least elevate the problem? What needs to happen to satisfy the ER and the Floor nurses? What is the level of expectation of patient care in each individual case? What exactly is the problem? Is it more than one problem? How can it be fixed? Is it fixable? Is going along to get along fixing the problem? Is getting angry and getting even fixing the problem? Is quitting or calling in sick fixing the problem? That is what needs to happen here.
Someone needs to take Charge. Someone needs to recognize there is a problem and it is very serious and it has been going on a very long time. Someone needs to think out of the box and take the first step to finding a solution. Someone needs to tell the bullies and those who think they are more qualified or more educated or more experienced than the dodo heads in some other discipline and who rather point fingers than share their education or experience they are not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Someone needs to take a step forward and begin the process of raising the bar of patient care by staying focused on the patient and how they will best be served. Think Teamwork guys. If you were in Charge what would you do to utilize everything you know and everything you have learned to give your patients the best possible outcome from your efforts? What would you do that would really make a difference?