PeaceRN

I can understand your frustration. We merged with another unit last summer and it was a nightmare, at first. Most of the difficulty was a result of poor communication between management and staff. Once this problem was identified, we began having staff meetings every two weeks to discuss problems and possible solutions. A list of "absolutes" were given to the staff. (For example, you must have competency to care of all patients admittd to the unit and the unit will not be divided up again). Staff was encouraged to voice problems in a positive way and to think of possible solutions to the problem. We discovered through these discussions that most of our problems stemmed from fear of the unknown. Once proper orientation and education was given, the transition moved smoothly. By involving the staff in change process earlier, we probably could have avoided many of our problems. We are about to merge with another unit again. We have already started the change planning process with involvement from staff members. The attitude of the staff is remarkably different. I hope this helps.

Our facility requires newly hired nurses to pass a pharmacology test before they can pass medications. They have 3 chances to pass the test (3 different versions) and are terminated if they fail the 3rd test. Approximately 1/3 of the questions are calculations. The remaining 2/3 are adult medication questions about drug reactions, administration, and nursing concerns. The nurses receive a generic study guide listing possible drugs included on the tests. As a pediatric educator, I find it difficult to believe failure to pass an adult drug test will predict a nurses ability to competently perform on a pediatric unit. The test has been protrayed as a critical thinking test, however specific drugs are used in the testing questions. Are there other facilities who use this type of screening test to "weed out" nurses?