District46

Not a doctor, no - but still a lot more educated than a CNA! I have spent years trying to please CNA's by being the nurse that mucks in with them, so they wouldn't talk about me - only to be the nurse left finishing my own duties after all the others have gone home. We have our jobs, and you have yours - but they are not the same - and no amount of working as a CNA will help you in becoming a good RN except in the eyes of the CNAs!!

I have been in this position, and got really upset too, in your position. In the end it was obvious to me that there was a long line in people covering their own backs. In the end my case did not end up with disciplinary action as it had been shown that the mistake had been made numerous times and so the process was changed in passing that drug. Please don't get hysterical, they cannot just sack you. Get someone to represent you when they talk to you. Do you not have a union? Tell the truth. You are not a criminal, remember that. You are a human being who has made a mistake - that's all. Please let us know how this ends. I for one have an invested interest in finding out how you get on. Good Luck. I know you will be fine, and I am sorry it has to be you, but you know everyone else makes mistakes, they just cover them up and lie. You are the one I would rather employ.

I know how hard it is, when you own up to a mistake. The department are responsible for looking into these errors to identify the problem and find a solution. As you have said that other nurses have made mistakes around coumadin, then there is an obvious pattern here. Maybe you are the unlucky one, but what is their choice - wait for just one more nurse? then investigate? - I hope not because that means one more patient too!! There needs to be an investigation. They may find that the way the coumadin is written needs to change. This is a mitigating circumstance. I am certain that they will take this into account, as well as the fact that you are new, and any other factors. They will then either change the way the prescribing is done around coumadin, or not if they find it sufficient. They will certainly request that you do a medicine administration update in a clinical skills lab, which wouldn't be a bad thing. Then it would be over for you to continue, but you would now be that bit more competent and that much more experienced. Try not to take any of the process personally. It is just a process that the DON has to go through to ensure patients are not hurt and staff are competent. They won't want to lose you, because that means the hassle of beginning again.

I am really divided on this one. On one hand I do think that the OP could/should have either gone to library or googled, When I was training a large chunk of what we learnt was exactly how to research properly. Nursing is a never ending education, and if you cannot do your own research then you will really stuggle because even concepts that I was taught back then have totally changed. On the other hand, it could be that the OP prefers to ask experienced nurses who are on the job, rather than read a book or essay. In my opinion if I am researching a subject I would both google, and ask experienced nurses. I would probably have visited the local hospital though, having seen the responses the students do get on here when they ask. Isn't that what they are meant to do? I agree - a specific thread would be good.

That's a fair point. You certainly have got me thinking. I have in the past, when it was how the couple worked, provided a loving wife with all the requirements to enable her to do the care herself. WHat I meant though was in the instance where family have offered to toilet, change a family member because they can see I am busy (which happens a lot as I work in A&E) and I have sensed that they were being polite then I have said no, you be the daughter, wife, etc and I'll be the nurse! I'm not defending myself to the hilt though - I must admit I have not always given people a choice of male or female - that would be impossible! We just cannot work like that in our field as we have a small number of males in nursing generally. I am talking as an A&E nurse, it may be different on the wards. However, in the instance of catheterisation I have always offered a choice of male or female nurse. In that instance as it is so invasive I would grab a nurse from another department if I needed to!

Unfortunately I was taught to flick an erection when I was studying in 1990! I actually thought the trainer was joking and never took it on board. In response to a comment that some patients state their wives will take care of that part of things, I must admit whenever a family member, be it wife or daughter has offered to help me with hygiene care I have always steadfastly refused. In my opinion their place is as a wife and daughter, not a caregiver. That is my job. It is far less personal for a stranger such as myself, to do the care in a professional, no nonsense manner. I couldn't and refuse to imagine doing that sort of thing for my dad. I did offer to help my father-in-law when he was ill but he refused and I was glad he did!! My husband, that's different I guess. I would happily do all the care needed to make him comfortable. It's just a personal opinion, but at work, the point is that people do have their own personal opinions, and as such I respond individually, but always give them the choice. They are always the boss in my opinion!!!

Unfortunately, we humans are essentially animals, and as such, basically sniff out vulnerability such as yours. I sometimes think it frightens other humans who are living fragile lives and that triggers them to reject you. You will find that it is the most grounded people who will treat you properly. Those who don't, have their own problems. With all that you have been through, you are a lot stronger than most people, and as such, need to acknowledge that. Give yourself a huge pat on the back. If you are attractive then be glad, because that will get you a lot further in life than you know. You need to take a good look in the mirror and congratulate yourself on being who you are, and be glad that you are not one of these sheepish workers who huddle in packs because they are so weak. You don't need them, they haven't got you to where you are now, and they aren't necessary to get you anywhere else either. Become one of the people that you admire, who take everybody equally, and don't gossip or hide in cliques. Be a person that you can look up to, I think you probably already are that person, but you just need to acknowledge it. Once you have some self respect and are aware that with all you have been through in life, a bit of backstabbing is nothing to you, it will stop. Guaranteed. The minute you stop being bothered, it will stop. I really hope that you will be ok and your life gets better. Your husband sounds caring and you have children who are healthy and happy I presume? Count your blessings. You sound like a great person but unfortunately in this life it is the nice people who suffer the most in my experience.

Sorry to hear this but it does seem typical. I have worked for an agency and now on the hospital bank of nurses. I work mainly in the A&E Departments. A drug error was made by six staff before it was noticed. We were following the wrong pathway for librium detox - no harm done but it has kicked off a huge investigation. As I was on the bank I have been told not to return, but the permanent staff who work there, who make same mistake are all still working and administering meds! The situation is so unfair. I have decided to leave nursing now and go back to teaching and assessing because I am so upset by this situation. I am fed up with nursing, and the way you have to watch your back every step of the way. I mean, it's not as if I have done anything really bad - I didn't steal or abuse anyone! But the investigation process makes you feel like a criminal. Also, I have seen so many mistakes made, that are covered up, but I just seem to be unlucky in that I make an error and get hung up for it. On the actual day I did report it and ask about incident forms, etc, but was told not to worry. The permanent staff nurse asked a doctor about it and was told no harm done, just carry on. It would have been fine, but the following staff made the same mistake so it has become huge!! I just think you are too vulnerable in agency or bank nursing positions. If you make an error it is so easy to just get rid of you but if you were one of the permanent staff I feel you would be supported and helped to make necessary changes to your practice. Hope you finally find something that you are happy in, and feel supported and safe in your job!

Ha ha, just finished my 14 hours on A&E and know exactly what you are talking about! Nice to see someone from UK posting too as some things are a little different to the USA, but most are the same!

Ha ha, when I think about why I became a nurse all those years ago!! My boyfriend was always eyeing nurses up, one reason. I wanted him to notice me. Thankfully I am not with him now. The other reason being that I had a job as a waitress and decided that I loved working with people - Of course people in restaurants, having a nice night out are a lot different to people ill, on the worst day of their lives. Nursing school was tough - but I got through. I am definately unsure of what the 'right' reasons are to be a nurse. People who are in it because they care, soon become dissillusioned and either burn out or fall out. As for the rest of us, well I think being human brings a certain amount of empathy and love for our fellow humans - it's what stops us from killing each other - well most of us anyway!

Thank you so much for the supportive replies. I have learnt so much from this experience. At the moment I am just happy to have moved on, and start a permanent position at a more local hospital in two weeks time. In the meantime I am working as an agency nurse. I have refused to go back to the A&E Dept, but they have also asked the agency not to place me there and that is what smarts - how they can do that when I was not in the wrong. My ten year old daughter comes home from school with her playground problems and I have had to tell her that she needs to develop skills to overcome these people because she will encounter this type of problem even when she becomes an adult and goes out to work!! Maybe one day I can make use of the experience and use it to help in some way - teaching or counselling other nurses, or even helping to make policies for this type of problem. It is interesting in that it does affect patient safety. Nurses who are under this type of attack don't tend to have their minds fully on the job. This is where managers should be concerned if there is a difficulty in proving an episode of bullying, which is often the case. Please understand my use of the word "bullying". It makes people feel ashamed, and that is why so many people fail to report it and keep quiet. Although I was being made to feel uncomfortable, I am not a weak person, and these people did not ............ok here I am now, trying to justify myself and how others see me. It is a complex problem. Im my case it would be difficult to prove that their intentions were anything other than concern. And that is why I was left without a leg to stand on in terms of retaliation. It still makes me angry just thinking about it. On the good side though, there are also a lot of really lovely nurses, who abhor this type of behaviour, and have redeemed my own faith in human nature. For as much bad, there is good, in the world.

Not sticks related, but related all the same. I had a phobia about lifts prior to nursing school. I couldn't go in one, chose stairs every time but once I realised that I would have to transfer patients around in lifts would be involved and just got over it. Seems we aren't always as phobic as we think we are!

There does seem to be an inconsistency between agencies and how professionally they are run. I joined my agency 13 years ago as a newly qualified RN. I have occasionally worked full time with them, or when permanently employed, stayed on the books until I needed agency work again. However, when I first joined them they have plush city centre offices, great management and were really on the ball. Now, after several management changes they have lost the plush offices and have moved to a grotty place in an outskirt high street. The management lose paperwork, cannot spell anything medical, I am always arriving for work to find that I am not on their schedule, the manager is rude (other nurses have said this too), if you have a problem she is never available to contact! even though you know she is there, I have walked into the offices once for a meeting with her and she was sat at her desk with her shoes off and made me wait while she finished eating her sandwich!! - the problem is it takes so long to register with another agency or job and we have to pay for Criminal Record Clearance with each application, which I cannot afford. I am waiting to start my new permanent position in July though and this time, I will be waving goodbye to my old agency permanently too!! At times I have felt like writing to the Directors to say that I could run the place with much more professionalism and ask for the job!! Your agency staff member sounds petty and rude OP. I would run now while you can, and join a more professional company to avoid tears in the future. If a complaint came in about you that was unfounded you can bet she won't have your back!! You don't need it, you are a professional person and should be treated like one.

Actually, everything happens for a reason as they say! It has spurred me forwards in applying for some permanent positions, and enrolling for my teaching qualification. These things I always said I was going to do, but for some reason wasn't getting round to it! So it has pushed me forward. I have a new job - permanent, starting at a hospital much closer to me, but I also have an interview on Tuesday for an occupational health position, which I am really interested in. I have done years of emergency nursing, but want to get a more sedate position now I am in my 40's. THanks for the replys. Mainly, I get asked to go back time and again in my agency jobs, so this was unusual, but I am not giving any more thought - life is too short for haters as you Americans say!!:rcgtku:

Wow! I have learnt two new things just reading this thread! The spacer information was new to me, and also the elevated vital signs can be enough to keep the O2 saturation at 100%. This place is great!!! By the way, I agree with others, having worked in the ER, we, as nurses get blamed a lot by people who are just anxious for their relatives. As long as you can document and rationalise your actions, you are fine.

On the first instance, when I was confronted, I did ask for a test, three times but the sister refused, saying it wasn't necessary. I was in shock but I agree, I should have absolutely insisted. The second time, I wasn't aware that this accusation was being made until the following week when I was called into the agency and asked if I had a problem. There are other agencies, and I intend to get a permanent position. I just wondered if I could sue for slander? I am so angry right now I cannot describe what I want to do to this girl who is making the trouble for me.

I have worked mainly as an agency nurse, for family and health reasons. I have a genetic condition that causes blood clots, and I have suffered three DVTs and one PE. Of course, at the time this made me unreliable and I decided that rather than accrue sick time, I would stick to agency work. Now my condition is stabilised with anticoagulants and I want to get a permanent position. The cons of agency are really getting me down now. I was wondering how much the years of agency and no actually permanent position on a ward would go against me obtaining a Band 5 post? I have held permanent posts as a sister in nursing homes in the past, but more recently, agency work fitted in around the rest of my life. I also helped my husband run a factory until the recession hit. Would you, as an employer, steer clear of me? and what could I do to help myself gain a ward post? I actually see my experience as being bountiful due to agency work. I have worked with charge nurses, who after report, I have asked about investigations required for pt's and the reply was that they had only just come back after days off so did not know the patients yet! As an agency I have aquired the skill to know a patient, and their needs within an hour of being on duty! I have experience in all aspects of nursing too! Would a prospective employer recognise this also?

I have been working as an agency nurse in the UK for many years on and off. I have worked in the A&E Dept in one hospital mainly and had thought I had a good reputation there. I did have some years off for health and family reasons and when I got back to work some of the faces were the same, some had changed. I was always treated with respect from the staff I had worked with previously, but some of the new nurses, that didn't know me treated me terribly. ie. they wouldn't give me the code for staff room, wouldn't let me do my own meds, and used me as a porter for them on many occasions! They were also barely friendly. One shift I was on with a particular nurse, and had noticed that the shift wasn't quite right, every time I asked for a recap of the patients I was shunned. Near the end of the shift the co-ordinator called me into office and apologised initially (she knows me well), and asked me if I had been drinking alcohol on duty as two staff nurses had reported smelling alcohol on me! I denied it - I am teetotal actually, and offered to do a breathaliser and blood tests there and then. She said that wasn't required as she believed me. A week later, following a shift where this one nurse in particular (who had accused me) was obviously friendly with the coordinator of this shift and was obviously ******** about me, that I actually spent some time in the wc crying. I went on my break (night shift) to my car and sat listening to the radio, when I fell asleep and was 1/2 hr late getting back from break for which I apologised profusely. Anyhow last week after apparently no shifts available all week, I was called into my agency and again asked if I had a drink problem. The statement read that when I had returned late from that break - I had smelled strongly of perfume and mints!! Guilty obviously. I find that a quick freshen up does wonders to keep you going on a night shift, and yes, I do eat mints. Now this week there are no shifts available once again. Thanks to the recession I am the sole breadwinner in my family, and it seems that I am being denied work for something that I am innocent of. I have had an investigation a couple of months ago as an agency nurse, for withholding tinzaparin as I had noted that it was order 3 days previously and their nurses hadn't given it. I brought the staffs attention to this and no one could provide an explanation. I couldn't get access to pt's INR as agency nurse, and other staff were clueless. I ended up being cleared of malpractice and apolgised to but I cannot help but feel that the agency now think I am trouble - despite the fact that I was cleared and innocent in both scenarios. What can I do?

Where I work, they don't let the bank staff work nights until they have a good amount of experience! That is because of the smaller amount of staff available when people get ill. You actually have to have a stronger background because you are generally on your own when things go wrong.

I remember when I was a student and I went to work for an agency as an auxiliary to earn some extra money. I was sent to a nursing home and I remember crying all the way home at the way those poor people were treated. There was no unusual abuse or practice going on, just standard everyday nursinghome care. Patients were dragged around, left on commodes undressed, etc, due to short staffing and burnt out nurses. About ten years later I was on duty and exhausted one night when I checked on a patient and could see they needed changing. I put the covers back over the patient and decided to leave it for the next set of rounds. I then spent the next few minutes with the fact that I could even think like that plaguing my mind. I got another staff member and went back and did the change, and then I went home at the end of the shift and resigned. I spent a couple of years as a tutor because I knew I needed a break from it for the sake of the patients but I can definately relate to the article. It is sad because when I started I was a good, compassionate human being but now - not so much. I am back as a nurse now, but in the ER where the patient contact is short and sweet, and it suits me better. I have noticed though that with family members who are ill - I am not a normal compassionate ear. Also when a family member dies I do not seem to get as upset as other people. It worries me. I sound awful I know, but at least it worries me, in that there must be hope!!!:icon_roll

Yes, to dip your toe in the water you could try and register with Protocol National. I have done a bit of work for them, as long as you are in the process of getting a teaching qualification then you can work as an assessor/tutor. I did some work teaching in nursing homes - I did small group lectures on infection control, moving and handling and dementia. The staff worked through their own folders, and had to get certain skills signed off - by me or a senior staff member and eventually after about 6 months they would finish their book and gain what used to be an NVQ but now they are doing SVQs. It was nice work, and as I said, you could start immediately. I am looking to gain my assessors awards V1 and A1 I think they are called - once I can afford it, and then maybe assess at a higher level.

I worked today in A & E and it was a really lovely, sunny day. Strangely, the department wasn't nearly as busy as it is on the miserable rainy days. Just more proof that people obviously had better things to do today than come and get those 'emergencys' seen to!!!!

Hi, I am in the UK, and my dear husband had to close down his factory last year as it was too expensive to continue making audio visual equipment here in UK as opposed to importations from China. Our local Tesco sold the tv stands cheaper than he could make them. Luckily, I was able to go back to work but he is really struggling, being the one at home. We have managed to stop all the awful phone calls from creditors for now and have halved our utility bills by shopping around on comparison sites. We have gone down to one car because of the insurance. He is applying for 20 plus jobs each time he goes to the jobcentre - which is normally 2 -3 times a week and most of them don't even acknowledge his applications. The only 'good' thing is that there is not so much stigma, because there are so many of us at work who are now the breadwinners!!! I have a clotting disorder and got a PE and DVT last Sunday, but found myself working on Thursday onwards because if I don't work we will lose everything - so I was limping around A&E, out of breath and had to beg the sister to let me stay - I am an Agency Nurse - which she kindly did. I am rather proud of myself today, having just finished a long day on a Sunday, as my daughter is going off to her first camp in a week and I want to make sure she has all the equipment she needs. My leg is not sore today and I am breathing better so I have worked it off - feeling really hardcore!! But I know my poor other half feels so bad that I had to go in, if he was working I could have waited until the clots had actually cleared before returning to work. It is going to be tough for a lot of us, and it is nice to see a thread of support.

Just got an interview for Thursday. I'm not running away, just really angry with the way the Agency have handled this. According to those on high - ie UKCC - I should still be working so I am so angry that my career is in the hands of this office manager, with no nursing background, who doesn't really know what she is doing. She keeps on stating standard letter to me, and tells me to ignore them, when I told her about a letter from head office that implys that I should still be getting shifts from Apex, just not at the facility where the investigation is happening. For the record, the mistake is not mine, in fact I was the person who brought the nurse in charge's attention to it, but she didn't follow it up or pass it on! So angry with these people. I do feel that I am being scapegoated. At least you have some work! I have two children who won't have any sort of a Christmas thanks to this! I am so upset for them.

He won't be drug seeking trust me. Drug addicts have much easier ways to get hold of thier hits than to go into hospital and put up with judgemental staff just for a small (to them) hit! I can hear from your post that you are not judging this patient and want to help so from experience I will tell you that the methadone your patient is on actually stops his body from producing any painkilling endorphins at all, he has not capacity at all to tolerate pain - none. However hard it is for you, it is harder for him. One thing that strikes me is that all the painkillers are opiates, and yet painkillers work on different pathways. As the methadone is already blocking all the receptors in that part of the pain he may be better with an anti-inflammatory type painkiller, such as voltarol. I have seen addicts get a lot of relief from two paracetamol, who are on huge doses of opiates, that you wouldn't think paracetamol would touch the sides! Try not to lose patience with him, you are doing a good job, and just having an understanding, non-judgemental nurse will help him immensly.