what does PRN staffing REALLY mean??

[sasha2lady]

I just need to vent here for a minute.....Ive been in LTC for nearly 10 yrs now...the past 3 of which as an LPN. It was my understanding in general that PRN means..'AS NEEDED"....correct? Now...as far as working PRN...does that not mean you come to work when you are needed? Lets say to fill in for a call off or someone took vacation etc etc...????? When did PRN become "Ill work when I WANT TO and when I dont feel like it Ill just call in or get someone else to do it for me????" Maybe Im just old school or crazy....Im not sure. Here lately....at work we have a PRN nurse..who by the way is about as useful as tits on a boar hog, who signed up for a bunch of shifts (2nd and 3rd) and has been in the process of begging other nurses to take the shifts she signed up for over a month ago! She is supposed to work over the holiday.....we'll see...Id almost put money on it that she calls in either for xmas day or eve...she is supposed to work the night shift those nights. If I have to work a double on xmas eve...I will be beyond ****** off! I know that that will be my last straw...I'll blow my top for sure. When she does work...shes so lazy! She doesnt do her paperwork or assessments, she leaves early by getting an aide to count the narcs with her....I wont take keys....Im not going to be responsible for her patients. She sleeps, she comes in hungover, she already gets unemployment...She called and cried to the DON and begged for these shifts shes got...said she needed to work.....and now this????? Umm....what????? She doesnt sign her MARS, barely documents if at all. And there have been 2 instances within the past 3 weeks where she left early and on 3rd shift 2 different patients she had had to be sent out and were admitted to the hospital...one was septic and the other is in major CHF and from what we were told..isnt doing well at all. She failed to assess either of those patients within her shift...both times was too concerned about leaving so that she could hit the bars and clubs with her girl friends. I am sooooo aggravated! I hope and pray that after this schedule is over...she isnt given any more shifts...I tried to warn the DON about this......she failed to listen...but this has been going on for over a year now...since she was hired. Shes called in numerous times, been late, made huge med erros, sloppiness, alot of discrepencies in her work and holes all over, no call no shows......I dont get it.....How can someone with such a lacking work ethic still maintain employment? Oh...and she cant get hired on anywhere else because of her huge criminal history. Like I said...maybe Im crazy and wrong in what I thought was the definition of PRN. I just know for a fact that if I pulled half her stunts...Id be jobless and most likely without a license.

[caliotter3]

She gets an aide to count narcs with her? Has this been reported to the DON? This woman is an accident waiting to happen. Watch yourself around her. And you are entitled to feel peeved about the situation. Voice your concerns to management, in writing to cover yourself.

[agldragonRN]

is this the same person who you went to school with that comes to work "high", "sleep" on pt beds, "leaves" whenever she wants, "steals" narc, and the one that the husband killed himself a few months ago?

just a suggestion for your next post, can you break the post in paragraphs so it is easy for us to read.

[sasha2lady]

yes...same one is at it again. Whatever sympathy I had for her .....thats gone...I did let mgmt know about her sleeping .....they did nothing. I even tried to talk to her personally about her leaving early and signing up for shifts then backing out of them.....didnt work either. ...so I quit...lost cause as far as Im concerned...and Yes...she is getting aides to count the narcs......I wont count it with her. The other nurse wont count it either b/c we dont think its fair for her to leave every single time she works....so I tell her if she leaves its on her....that Im not responsible for her or her people....makes me absolutely SICK! I have an interview today at 2 pm....wish me luck.....maybe something better will come my way. Its with home health.......so we will see.*fingers crossed*

[agldragonRN]

yes...same one is at it again. whatever sympathy i had for her .....thats gone...i did let mgmt know about her sleeping .....they did nothing. i even tried to talk to her personally about her leaving early and signing up for shifts then backing out of them.....didnt work either. ...so i quit...lost cause as far as im concerned...and yes...she is getting aides to count the narcs......i wont count it with her. the other nurse wont count it either b/c we dont think its fair for her to leave every single time she works....so i tell her if she leaves its on her....that im not responsible for her or her people....makes me absolutely sick! i have an interview today at 2 pm....wish me luck.....maybe something better will come my way. its with home health.......so we will see.*fingers crossed*

sounds like a toxic environment if management tolerate these behaviors from staff.

good luck with the interview.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

That you'll be working short a lot.

[kat7ap]

How does this nurse still have a license????

To answer you original question, I think PRN is whatever you employer allows it to be. I work with a new RN BSN who is PRN. This is his first and only job as a nurse. He has been offered full-time with benefits but declines. He is actually a bit dangerous and does not have a clue what he is doing. Comes to all the other nurses for help while he is making over $40/hr! He is always on the schedule for only 3 weekdays of HIS choice, yeah not where we NEED staff but when HE wants to work... It's a little annoying not like anything compared to your situation!

[sasha2lady]

The interview went well I think. They are checking my references and background and will let me know something soon maybe. I'm willing to give this home care a try. It would help me gain more knowledge and experience with trachs and offer me a change of scenery with a slower pace for once. I noticed a few staff members who came in while I was waiting on the boss they all had smiles on their faces and were so cheerful and friendly they seemed to enjoy what they did. At my FT job it would be so much better if mgmt improved and stuck to policies and didn't allow so many people to skate by with their slackness. If they'd deal with issues that have been brought to them repeatedly instead of trying to pass the buck I think improvement would be iminent.