will_power27

I was not trying to say a 1 pt assignment is easy or diminish how much a nurse may need to do with a 1 pt assignment. All I was trying to get accross was that she wasnt giving me report on several pts. She did not leave late because I was asking questions, and was actually able to leave before her shift was officially over. Sorry if there was a misunderstanding

Thanks for the responses! I am not pegging her as a clueless person or anything. This post was intended as an attempt to reflect on the way I approached the situation and hopefully find a better way to handle a similar situation in the future. As I have mentioned I have been working on this unit for 3+ years and know where to find the information I needed and do review progress notes ect on all my patients. The information not given is expected to be passed on in report as per policy. I promise I was not trying to ask redundant questions and waste everyone's time. I have never had someone leave the way she did in report, which was what surprised me. We only give and get report on our patients and our patient load is 1-3 pts per nurse so time is not a concern. I know 12 HR shifts can be long and sometimes at the end giving report can be difficult especially on a new unit. I am always looking to find better ways to communicate with new and experienced staff, and to be the best nurse and person I can be. My biggest fear with approaching directly her is: her feeling I am trying to bully her, or finding out she thought her report was fine and I am wrecking her confidence. I was planning wait until I got report from her again to see if it was simply a bad day.

When an emergency occurs your training will kick in. Follow your NRP and CPR protocols, call for help and people will come running. Most NICUs have double checks and policies and procedures in place to prevent errors, as long as you follow these you should be okay. You will get extra training on caring for neonates, and with a little time you will learn what to expect for orders. If you are ever confused or concerned, coworkers should be around to help. It doesn't really matter what level a NICU you start in, you will start off caring for healthier babies and slowly be worked into caring for sicker babies. IMO It can be helpful to be in a higher level NICU, because you will see more and learn from others. Starting off in another area of nursing isn't a bad thing, it can help you gain experience in talking to docs and families. I felt comfortable in about a year, 2 years for really sick babies. I am turning 28 in 2 days, and frequently get ID'd, families at work take me seriously because I speak confidentiality, am knowledgeable and professional. When I was newer, I never wore colorful scrubs as I figured they made me look younger. Now I think it's all about how you present yourself. Introduce yourself as a nurse and they will have no reason to doubt you.

That's the way I look at it. If the important information isn't given, then we might as well not have report and simply hand over the chart. I should find the report pet peeve thread, it would be a good read! Thanks for the feedback! I'm hoping given time she is more comfortable and she doesn't get yelled at in the meantime.

We do have a protocol that is expressed during orientation, and she should have seen and done a quite a few reports while she was shadowing and buddying with other staff. I recall asking 3 questions: why surgery was following, why endo was following (we rarely have pts followed by endo) and what the pts resp support history was (intubated/hfo/jet). I guess she could have misconstrued the intent behind the questions. I easily found the information in my own after she left, my reasoning behind asking her was to help her in providing report the way unit expects. I have a shift with her next week, and have debated on approaching her about it, but didn't her to think I was picking on her.

I am straight nights, have been for 3 years. If I'm working I normally eat supper when I wake up (4-5pm), a meal and snacks at work, and breakfast when I get home. On my days off I wake up by 11 and do what normal people do ?. I work out on my days off, and can normally squeeze in 30-45 min before work. Pre-covid I would work out on my lunch break , but the work gym is closed. I do anywhere from 2-4 12 hr nights in a row, and occasionally pick up a 5th for ot. If you have other questions on my schedule let me know!

I too had some bad experiences when I first graduated, so I try not to be judgy. My thought process was rather than outright teach how to give report, I would subtly "guide" by asking questions. No video is coming unfortunately haha. I was planning on talking to her the next day, but I haven't seen her since the one interaction. I can see how it would be interpreted as us gossiping, but it wasn't intended that way. The subject came up in a discussion on how the new staff (10 RNs) were doing and what we could do to support them. No names were mentioned, just the odd report. Me and the other nurse are frequently asked to teach new staff, supposedly because we are good at it ?, and I mentioned the interaction because she was mentioning things missed in reports she had received.

Definitely! I was happy to figure it out myself, and didn't say anything negative to her in regards to her not knowing. The interaction went "why is surgery following?", when she said she didn't know we moved on. I know other nurses on my floor would not be happy with the lack of knowledge and that she missed out on 1/2 the report. I was taken back any one would find that mean and was trying to figure out if anyone else had a problem with maybe 3 questions in report and what I could have done differently.

Fair point. The nurse saying I was mean wasn't working that day, and didn't seem aware of the interaction. I was more taken back that she saw me asking a question in report as mean, as people frequently clarify or ask questions during report on our floor. The new nurse didn't seem upset when she left, she just seemed to think she was done giving report. I was trying to help her out cause some of the nurses we work with would be very upset with the report she gave. What would you have done differently?

Unit policy is to go over these things. The surgery and consults were all for the current admission as the patient was a couple months old. She didn't seem aware the patient had lung surgery which was when I got concerned. Full report takes us about 5 minutes per patient. Maybe I was expecting too much as she does come from a med floor, but information always passed in report wasn't. I've been in this unit for 3 years and nursing 4. I really wasn't asking the questions for the information, more the assist her with giving a proper report. She stated the pt had surgery and id following and I asked her why, which she didn't know the answer to. I didn't call her out, just asked if it was for a + culture and if the pt had lung surgery and she said she wasnt sure... Maybe I haven't worked adults in too long, I just assumed info on the current admission would be passed over.

So I recently got report from a nurse that is new to our unit. She didn't know the patients history (intubated/surgery ect) or why specialists were consulted. During the report, I asked questions as I assumed she wasn't mentioning these things because she wasn't sure how much information I wanted. Midway through, she simply got up, said bye and left, without going over the new orders, brady and apnea history, and medications as is expected on our unit. When talking with a coworker about the new staff on the unit I mentioned this experience as I was a little shocked. My coworkers response was to tell me I was being mean and as the new nurse was used to ward nursing it was unfair of me to expect her to know how we give report. The new nurse did receive our normal training, and has been on the unit for 4 months. I received report from another girl who started at the same time and her report was great. Am I out of line? I like to think I am good with new staff and many staff members routinely come to me with questions, but this has me doubting myself.

Hi, I am a VERY recent graduate (officially graduated a RN + BSN program Dec 7th), who sent in my resume to the health regions system about a week ago. Prior to finishing my final practicum I went and talked to the manager of nursing on the floor I was on and gave her my resume, but the floor is small and they are already 2 GN's working there. I met some of my preceptors from another rotation who encouraged me to apply for an available job at the NICU, but I cannot directly apply for that job as I am applying externally. They encouraged me to meet and give a copy of my resume to a woman we once met, but she is a Nurse Educator, and I think they don't normally deal with hiring..? I passed by the NICU today as I thought it couldn't hurt. I asked the unit aide if the nurse manager was around and she called her for me. I could only hear one end of the convo, but the manager didn't seem too interested and with the unit aides prodding basically said she was very busy today and that I could pass by tomorrow. I kind of feel like she was trying to brush me off, but I may just be sensitive, as I normally just apply for jobs online. ATM there are no postings for jobs where I am. I know this is partially due to the holidays, but I recently heard rumors of a possible hiring freeze as the health region was way overbudget. Do new grads normally go around knocking on doors? Or is this a good way to piss people off? Also would it be a good idea to pass by tomorrow? Thanks in advance for any input!