Phasing out Unit Clerks???

Dazglue, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

The unit clerk I work with is useless. She is either yapping on her phone all night (or the unit phone), or she is sleeping (which means she often doesn't pass on call light requests or gets the room number wrong). If not those two options she is going off on a foul-mouthed rant about whatever has ****** her off that day. Apparently she is a valued employee and is allowed to do those things and get paid for it. That being said, I have no desire to answer call lights or the phone or try and figure out how to add patients to our unit when they show up, I have enough on my plate with my other duties. The hospital has tried phasing out clerks on a couple of units recently and I have not heard positive things about it.

Do we work at the same place??? Lol.

whichone'spink, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

The unit clerk I work with is useless. She is either yapping on her phone all night (or the unit phone), or she is sleeping (which means she often doesn't pass on call light requests or gets the room number wrong). If not those two options she is going off on a foul-mouthed rant about whatever has ****** her off that day. Apparently she is a valued employee and is allowed to do those things and get paid for it. That being said, I have no desire to answer call lights or the phone or try and figure out how to add patients to our unit when they show up, I have enough on my plate with my other duties. The hospital has tried phasing out clerks on a couple of units recently and I have not heard positive things about it.

Now there's a unit clerk that needs to be canned. This kind of BS is inexcusable on my floor. There's tons of nursing students that would love to get their foot in the door and have her job.

JenLPN001 · Apr 30, 2012

Working in an ALF, unit clerks are like a mythical creature... we've all heard of them but never seen one! But I don't care if you're God himself... you sleep on the clock, you get shown the door!! If our administrator was the one giving the boot, you'd have to go straight from work to the local ER for a BOOTECTOMY because you'd definitely be tasting shoe laces :madface:

whichone'spink, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

There are many nurses who have no idea how to put in lab and image orders, and the unit secretary is a very good resource if they have any questions about how to order tests. If there is no unit secretary, and if the charge nurse is up to his or her eyeballs in work, then the nurses who have to enter their own orders are SOL. Someone like me who is very used to order entry will be okay, because I am familiar with how to order tests. Others, not so much. Why in the world would admin want to get rid of personnel they only pay 11.00 bucks or less? I suppose they figure nurses are the jack of all trades, so they get their money's worth.

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

Our hospital went to doctor-entry electronic orders (or for the lazy docs, nurse-input via telephone/verbal order -- sigh) several years ago. Even the secretaries who have been around long enough to have once put in orders are not familiar with our current system.

It's weird. I can't exactly say what our unit secretaries actually do, except stock. Our unit makes them stock our linens. And I did practicum on a unit in the same hospital where the US was expected to answer call lights, provide patients with stuff like water if they could have it, and help out house keeping with stat cleans when needed. (!!!)

Things do seem to move smoother when we have a secretary on, as in "that's one less thing that I have to do" things. Charts get made up. Admissions gets hounded more to put a new patient in the computer. I'm not the one chasing down old records from another hospital. The secretaries that have been around for a while know exactly whom to call to get X weird piece of esoteric equipment.

However, in the zero-sum game of ancillary personnel, I think most of my coworkers and I would agree that we'd replace our unit secretary with an UAP position in a heart beat.

HazelLPN, LPN · Oct 15, 2014

LPNs are taking the place of unit clerks. They can enter med orders, answer call lights, and do nursing stuff in a pinch.

Do nursing stuff in a "pinch?" The last time I checked, the "N" meant nurse.

Even if they paid me LPN wage to do the clerks job, I wouldn't do it. I went to school to be a nurse.

What an insult to the education of the LPN

Get rid of unit clerks? Sure! Why not! Get rid of someone with a ton of responsibility who probably makes $13/hr. Nurses can learn that role no problem, lets ask them to do more with less. Need to make sure that CEO makes as much money as possible!

tokmom, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2014

You're lucky there is a charge nurse that doesn't have a load. We have units in our hospital (I'm in Louisiana as well) that don't have unit clerks and the nurses just fend for themselves. The charge usually has a patient load as well. Those units carry around the Spectra-link phones, but patients still tend to use the call bell. Not to mention it doesn't help if you're in a room, and a doctor calls back, and no one is at the desk because they're busy with their own patients.

That's crazy

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Oct 15, 2014

Just another task ... for the good little nursie.

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Oct 15, 2014

My first job we didn't have clerks. I had no idea they existed until my second job. I love them. Out of principle I don't think I could work somewhere where they aren't. They have the best sense of humor regarding all the ridiculous calls we get in our ED. "How long is your wait, can I talk to a doctor because the doc I saw 3 months ago said I could call anytime." Etc. They're pure gold