Our new hire, new grad charge nurse

Nurses General Nursing

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Let me ask you guys your opinion on this. They just hired a graduate nurse on our med surg floor and made her the charge nurse. She has zero experience. She is a BSN nurse, and the majority of us are LPNs that have been here a while. I don't have a problem with a grad nurse being a charge nurse, but with no experience at all? Has management in this hospital lost their minds? :confused:

I totally agree with that. I don't have a problem with having someone with a higher educational background as charge nurse. I just think they need to have a little more experience than no experience. I think that experience is just as important, if not more important, than the educational background. Oh and this is not a LTC facility, its a hospital.

And exactly what do any one of you know about her "experience"?

Just because she has not gotten a paycheck yet does not mean she has not gotten a lot of floor experience.

You DON'T know her, please don't judge her yet! Live with her for 2 weeeks, and THEN make an assessment!

I'm not at all sure she is the right fit for this floor either, I'm not sure about new grads in charge positions. BUT, if you trust your manager, you have to let this one decision play out; and if you don't trust your managers judgement; you all should have spoken up long before this decision was made.

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op, i suggest you chart everything when dealing with this "charge". for example, when you have a change in status of the patient, always chart "charge rn made aware" or "reported to charge rn". of course you do have to report it to her first before charting you did.

angel

sorry "angel" but no dice on this devious tactic. i've worked with a couple of lpn that tried to play your game. the lpn is responsible for her own patients and works under her own lpn license! i used to work with a lazy lpn who thought he could pawn all of his problems off on me by charting "rn made aware". a total bs way of nursing. i quickly got it in writing from the nm that he was responsible for his patients.

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
sorry "angel" but no dice on this devious tactic. i've worked with a couple of lpn that tried to play your game. the lpn is responsible for her own patients and works under her own lpn license! i used to work with a lazy lpn who thought he could pawn all of his problems off on me by charting "rn made aware". a total bs way of nursing. i quickly got it in writing from the nm that he was responsible for his patients.

sorry "njmike" but check your npa or sop. an lpn is under a supervision of a registered nurse. it is not a "devious tactic" or a "game". an lpn in my state (new jersey) is not supposed to "assess" so an rn has to do it. so yes an lpn should chart rn supervisor made aware. notice i said "rn supervisor made aware" not "rn made aware". there is a difference.

maybe you worked with a lazy lpn, put i did not chart this way because i was lazy or wanted to "pawn" all my problems to the rn supervisor. like what i said, my former rn supervisor was lazy and incompetent so i had to protect my lpn license. i actually did everything for my patients because i did not trust my former supervisor so i would call the md and do all the interventions myself then i will inform rn supervisor. thank god i am an rn now so i can officially "assess" and do not need my rn supervisor to cosign me.

i am both an lpn and rn so i know what i am talking about in regards to npa.

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Originally Posted by 2012_RN2B viewpost.gif

Well I guess the economy for new grads isnt so bad after all :)

yeah, really! lol.

kimbo - what state are you in?

This doesn't mean the economy is good for new grads. It just means this hospital is 'using' the new grad's RN license. It's not a safe thing to do but it happens a lot more than it should. When something goes wrong the hospital can easily AND WILL hang the new RN grad out to dry. Lots of new grads suffer through BON complaints when the hospital is or SHOULD be partially responsible for putting them in over their head with too few resources.

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Originally Posted by 2012_RN2B viewpost.gif

Well I guess the economy for new grads isnt so bad after all :)

This doesn't mean the economy is good for new grads. It just means this hospital is 'using' the new grad's RN license. It's not a safe thing to do but it happens a lot more than it should. When something goes wrong the hospital can easily AND WILL hang the new RN grad out to dry. Lots of new grads suffer through BON complaints when the hospital is or SHOULD be partially responsible for putting them in over their head with too few resources.

i'm not saying it's a good idea. in fact, if i were that nurse i don't know if i'd want that position/responsibility. i was just agreeing with the poster because you see all over this forum how new grads can't get jobs and nursing school is a big conspiracy and then there's someone complaining about a new grad getting a "good" job. kind of ironic.

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

Without knowing much else about this person and their previous background, I don't think a new grad is the BEST choice for charge nurse on a med/surg unit.

The charge nurse should be a resource for the other staff in regards to protocol as well as clinical matters.

Nowhere did the OP say they would be mean/rude/unhelpful to this new person.

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op, i suggest you chart everything when dealing with this "charge". for example, when you have a change in status of the patient, always chart "charge rn made aware" or "reported to charge rn". of course you do have to report it to her first before charting you did.

angel

sorry "angel" but no dice on this devious tactic. i've worked with a couple of lpn that tried to play your game. the lpn is responsible for her own patients and works under her own lpn license! i used to work with a lazy lpn who thought he could pawn all of his problems off on me by charting "rn made aware". a total bs way of nursing. i quickly got it in writing from the nm that he was responsible for his patients.

angel you actually said "charge rn made aware". i agree with mike. by your logic as an staff floor rn i should always chart "charge rn made aware".

this will probably be a moot point soon as few hospitals will hire lpn's if their practice is so restricted.

even in ltc lpn practice is very restricted. i worked in one 480 bed ltc/skilled facility where the lpn's told me i had to do all the diabetic nail care because they weren't allowed. hmmm besides my hall of 19 skilled patients and 11 residents i had to do weekly nail care on all diabetics in the whole nh.

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
op, i suggest you chart everything when dealing with this "charge". for example, when you have a change in status of the patient, always chart "charge rn made aware" or "reported to charge rn". of course you do have to report it to her first before charting you did.

angel

angel you actually said "charge rn made aware". i agree with mike. by your logic as an staff floor rn i should always chart "charge rn made aware".

this will probably be a moot point soon as few hospitals will hire lpn's if their practice is so restricted.

even in ltc lpn practice is very restricted. i worked in one 480 bed ltc/skilled facility where the lpn's told me i had to do all the diabetic nail care because they weren't allowed. hmmm besides my hall of 19 skilled patients and 11 residents i had to do weekly nail care on all diabetics in the whole nh.

please re-read my response to mike. i was suggesting charting that way to the op who is an lpn because like what i said an lpn is supposed to be under the supervision of an rn and only an rn can do an "assessment". you are an rn already so you can assess on your own and chart accordingly. this is in my state of new jersey. each state is different.

here is the npa for an lpn in nj:

the practice of nursing as a licensed practical nurse is defined as performing tasks and responsibilities within the framework of casefinding; reinforcing the patient and family teaching program through health teaching, health counseling and provision of supportive and restorative care, under the direction of a registered nurse or licensed or otherwise legally authorized physician or dentist.

link: http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/laws/nursinglaws.pdf

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Specializes in Medicine.

I wouldn't want to be that new grad. I can barely function on my own on a hectic day. To be on charge as a new grad would probably give me an early silent MI.

Good for her though. I just hope you guys are supportive and show her things rather than hold it against her that management decided this fits better for them. I'm sure she will come to realize whether the job is suitable for her or not.

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Specializes in SICU/Trauma ICU/CVICU.
lol!!! this position sounds like it has a high turn-over rate. does this new grad know that she/he needs to be able to run a code like the back of his/her hand and be a resource of experience to those she/he of is in charge... not to mention make assignments based upon patient acuity and skills of the nurses caring for the patients (all of which means she/he must draw on experience..)??? probably not.... she/he will not be there for too long. if you and your co-workers do not take a big bite out of her/his bottom side, sadly the environment will!!!!

most hospitals have code blue teams who run codes and we all know codes are a team effort and usually the house supervisor runs the code plus physicians etc so that wont be a problem.

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Specializes in SICU/Trauma ICU/CVICU.
really?

lpn: charge rn, i need help starting a peripheral line. can you start it for me please?

charge rn: umm.....sorry i never really started a peripheral line. i only did it on a dummy in school. can you ask the other lpns? plus i am not iv certified yet.

rn's dont hv to be iv certified. its inclusive in our education.lpn's are the only ones that need iv certification. plus rn's have the benefit of having hours and hours of clinical experience in the hospital where we start iv's all the time. please dont confuse the two, rns spend lots of hours in the hospital during school dealing with complex patients.

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I think they have lost their minds. I have been a nurse for only 3yrs. I work as charge nurse alot, I am on a mental health unit.I run onto things all the time for which I have no experience and working on med/surg as charge wow! But I also would like to give a piece of advice to all. You are not happy about this, and it reminds me of my clinicals on med/surg. The LPN's were horrible to us! I admit some students looked down on LPN's because the were RN students. It was obvious we were not wanted even to do all the grunt work for the day, they would hide the vitals machines. She may be new, and experience short, but don't make her life anymore miserable, help her out. I do not ever see the LPN/RN shield, I depend on my LPN's alot, they are the workhorses and along with aids I willing admit RN's would not be able to keep up.:nurse:

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