wiley6coyote

how do you handle complaints made to you regarding staff who have a reputation for bullying, harassment, silent treatment and who you have reported several times for witnessed abuse of a patient and still nothing is done by the upper management. Staff are afraid to speak up and seeing that this person appears "untouchable" in regards to disciplinary action the situation is worsening. How do I continue to show up for work, knowing that this is going on and all my efforts in protecting staff and patients have been futile.

I am appalled at the lack of knowledge surronding care of long term diabetics when admitted to hospital for conditions unrelated ie. heart attack. A friend of mine almost died this week because his BS was allowed to drop to 1.3( canadian ) !!!! not once but 4 times in the span of a week. Long standing insulin doses which these people/or their families have been using/adjusting all their lives are thrown out the window and the hospital staff change up everything including diets etc. CBS are not monitored properly - my friend's wife asked that staff check his CBS when she was there and was told " its not ordered to be checked until 4 hours later". I have also witnessed a hypoglycemic situation being treated with 2 PB &J sandwiches, 2 OJ's with 2 pkg sugar and a banana- so that the patients' BS was then over 27!! How scary is this? These are registered staff - who were supposedly educated or at the very least should have policies and procedures set. What to do??? Family have to almost stay in the hospital and take over this aspect of care.

I recently found a med error and followed through with a med error report ( I am the charge nurse for that shift). There was no harm done but the potential was there. The nurse who made the error was devastated even though I spoke to her about it in a non threatening way and told her about errors I had made in the past. I felt so bad after, seeing how hard she was taking it. Fellow charge nurses have since made it known that I "over reacted" and felt I should have just let it go seeing there was no harm done. Did I over react?? I don't care to have my license suspended for non-compliance.

A wonderful, delightful elderly resident for whom I had great affection and rapport was found gasping for breath, ashen and moaning early one morning . According to POA directives, he was sent to hospital. When the POA was called to let them know what had happened they said he wasn't supposed to go, they didn't want that. ???? I felt terrible- it is my biggest peeve in LTC that we are too aggressive and should allow more natural deaths. However, one must follow family wishes. I thought back to the aggressive treatments this family insisted on only several months ago, the bullying tactics of family members trying to get this resident to eat, drink. The overwhelming picky directives staff were to follow about when he was to be up, what he was to wear or not wear despite the protests of the resident, he was TOLD he must do this or that... the numerous " stomping down the hall to hunt up the charge nurse to tear a strip off her". I am disheartened with my nursing role right now. If I didn't need the money I would work somewhere else. Is it guilt, miscommunication, lack of knowledge that makes these families so obnoxious? When a family makes the decision to move their loved one to LTC, don't they see it is end of life care, not rehab. We have care conferences, set up nsg care plans but it doesn't matter, if Mary wants her mom dragged out of bed every morning for breakfast and put in a hot fleece track suit we have to follow her wishes -even though mom might be stripping in the hallway because she is so hot- if we change her and Mary finds out or God forbid comes in and sees her like that there is Hell to pay. I have families who ask every day why their loved one, who is in a locked alzheimers unit, is restless, confused, agitated? Or better yet, the ones who insist on the MD discontinuing all their meds and putting them on vitamins and then at night when the sundowning kicks in they get upset because their father/mother fell, or hit them or attacked a co-resident.

Wondering what the thought on admitting a resident to LTC without giving said resident any warning. Over and over we are having to deal with new admissions who have been "duped" by their families- they are told the craziest stories, lies etc by the family, so the family won't have to " deal" with the after math. But we are left with these poor souls who are frightened, confused, angry, resentful ( I could go on and on) and then they try to escape- and escape they do- we found one a mile away hiding in the woods! And then, to prevent any more escapades, there is an order for a heavy sedative so they can't think about escaping anymore. The staff is furious, the management??? who knows - we never hear anything. Doesn't this scenario sound familiar??? like a scene from " One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" but it is truly playing out- I would like to know what other facilities do to manage or prevent this from happening???

Do you feel obligated to work extra shifts on your days off due to management not having the foresight to fill shifts due to vacations, LOA's etc. I work part-time of my own choice but get calls every day because of shortages. I feel for my co-workers- I have worked short too but the hours I choose are enough for myself and family- why must I feel like i have to explain myself - like I'm doing right now???

A very nice co worker admitted to me that she is resigning due to the stress of working with another registered staff member who is abrasive and domineering. This RN does her work well but is slower at some things - she takes her time, is meticulous and hard working but is not able to handle alot of extras. she works only part time. When we started working together she was so afraid of doing some skills and was constantly asking for help. Now, I see a huge improvement in her confidence- however, since this other person began on the floor she is a wreck. This other person writes people up, reports them, plows around the unit with a loud, intimidating voice. I saw this coming -that my co- worker would resign and I have been thinking that maybe I should, as a senior staff member go to our DOC and have a talk about how we failed this girl by not mentoring her and encouraging her rather than letting the other girl bully her ( management loves a snitch). We are always being told to respect each other, help each other out and yet that certainly didn't happen here. Should I stay out of this?? What do you think??

I hate MDS with a passion.

Good for you!! I stayed out of nursing for 13 years raising my family and never missed it - later, much to my surprise, I re-certified and found a part time nursing job. I really enjoy my time at work now and of course the extra pay helps. The only thing I would have done different -looking back - is that I would have tried a little harder to find something that fit my family's schedule rather that quit outright- because we really could have used the extra money. We managed but it was a big load on my husband.

Well this is EXACTLY the problem in our facility at the moment and the employee morale is zero. It is a well known fact that if someone is in from head office, the upper management is throwing their arms around the employees and being BFF!! but when corporate leaves it is a whole different scenario. We are losing great staff at an alarming rate.

Why are we so quick to judge others? Lately I've seen so much backstabbing, accusations, negativity at work that I'm in total shock that fellow registered staff members could be so cruel. I am not talking about one or two people here. I have seen staff get an idea in their head that someone is " out to get them" and by the end of the shift and into the next the poor person, who was going about their business and oblivious to the gossip, is almost tarred and feathered and hung out to dry. Then, in the next moment the accusations are proven false and no one - not one person- apologizes!! I have been left notes and had insinuations made that I am sitting around on my shift when in fact, I almost never get a break and spend a lot of time " housekeeping" because others leave charts, old notices, etc laying around and I like my work area to be tidy. I have stocked med carts, emptied trash, washed and dried bottles that were coated in old drippings ie. colace bottles and still .... I hear " what are you nurses doing??" As for common courtesy.. what happened to that???? I was out the other day shopping and I had one person after another walk in front of me in an aisle where I was trying to find something, and not one person, young or old said excuse me. I'm sure we could debate this one forever but I just needed to vent. We need some civility brought back to our lives, thats for sure.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I hope we can implement many of them and make our unit something to be proud of. The staff that works there really love the residents and we do try to be flexible - in some ways it is my favorite place ( I work in several units) to be.

The residents are not able to comprehend/ give an opinion which is probably why it is the most neglected area- no one complains except the staff.

Any suggestions for redecorating an Alzheimers/locked unit?? Ours is painted the most depressing shade of green with dirty flooring to boot.It always smells and does not feel uplifting in any way, shape or form. The staff would like to make it more welcoming and homey but feel overwhelmed as to where to start.

I took a break from nursing and swore I would never go back- the best feeling in the world was getting on the elevator and walking out of the hospital for the last time. Now. years later I returned and I love it. I work in LTC and would never go back to hospital nursing. LTC definitely has it's issues but my attitude is I try to be the very best that I can be when I'm working- I put 110% into it and if that is not good enough well I can hold my head up anyway. I find in general, the public is ruder, more demanding and narcisstic than ever before. I don't have any real advice for you except maybe it's time to look at a different area of nursing - something that will ignite the passion again for you. All the best.