rants about work

Published

Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.

Just last week I had a patient going for an MRI scheduled at 0200. I got them all filled up with contrast dye, etc etc. At 0145 the MRI lab calls and says I'd have to bring the patient myself because there were no transporters available. Meanwhile all the CNAs had called in on that floor so I was all by myself with 4 patients. The other 3 pts were all sick...N/V city...not exactly the greatest time to leave. I was running around "putting out fires" and as soon as I'd take care of one another would spring up. Just a normal night, really. Not being overworked or stressed out but just busy. There was another RN but she had her own pts to deal with.

Significantly, The night time MRI lab is in a completely different campus which is literally a quarter mile away; down a tunnel and through a bunch of hallways.

Apparently there were absolutely no transporters to be found in my 450 bed / 5000+ employee hospital. I tried calling and paging the transporters myself with no response. Great. No response via vocera. No nothing.

Called the house supervisor but she said all the available people were responding to a code at the moment but she'd get back to me...

Oh yea, and my lunch break was at 0200 too, dandy.

Option 1: Take the patient down myself, be gone for probably an hour plus. Miss lunch. Get behind. Shove all my patients onto the other nurse who is just returning from lunch.

Option 2: Have the patient miss the MRI that I had so carefully prepped them for. Eat lunch. Be close on hand in case something goes down (I usually get my pts comfortable so they'll be good for a while and eat lunch within earshot of the nurse station anyways). Put my pt in potential danger by not getting this test completed.

Now, being the unselfish, professional, and giving person that I am, I chose option 1. As I was going over the details of the plan with my coworker, the ET nurse walked up. She was just getting off lunch, overheard what I was saying and offered to transport the pt for me. I thanked her profusely. It's not even her job to help out like that, but it was just a quirk that she happened to walk up right then and there.

They ended up being gone for nearly 2 hours!!! Ridiculous! And who would have caught the crap if that patient had missed the test? ME! It's not my fault I have patients with no one to help me! It's not my fault the transporter office failed to cover whoever it is that called in or magically disappeared in the middle of the night. Gah.

I'm also getting sick and tired of X-Ray people trying to worm their way out of doing portables because they don't want to touch/move immobile pts. So lazy! I had an X-ray tech actually argue with me about this the other day. I told her to just do it the way it was ordered but she wouldn't leave me alone. "Well the portable xray doesn't work as well." "Well, the doc probably wants a more clear picture" "well are you sure because the doc might not be happy!" And I was just saying, "Yea, do it" every time she'd pull another excuse out of her rear end. Dear X-Ray techs, if it's ordered portable JUST DO IT PORTABLE LIKE THE ORDER SAYS. I have an infinite amount of patience but I seriously almost went off on this girl (I was trying to get some work done and she was just hovering over me / interrupting the entire time). She probably spent more time arguing and trying to not do the work than it took her just to get the flat plate!

Okay, your turn.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

My phone. It always rings when I'm in the middle of something. I want to throw it out the window!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
My phone. It always rings when I'm in the middle of something. I want to throw it out the window!

Why does it do that? Mine does the same thing, it drives me insane. If I am suctioning a baby out or doing something else important and don't answer the phone, they call back! I just want to scream "HELLO, IF I DIDN'T ANSWER MY PHONE I WAS BUSY, AND I'M NOT GOING TO ANSWER IT 5 SECONDS LATER." Once I called the unit clerk after she called me 3 times in a row. I told her that I was sorry but I was in an isolation room and I couldn't anwer my phone in there and what did she need. She was calling to tell me that the resident wrote an order and didn't bring the MAR up with the chart and could I bring the MAR up. She must be related to November551's XRay tech.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Lab refusing to draw blood on pt's stating the pt refused.

Hello...the pt has a GCS score of 5!!!!! I've gotten little more than a mumble out of him in the past 12 hours! HOW THE HECK DID HE REFUSE!!! HE'S COMATOSE!!!!

Or refusing to draw on the confused pt's...yes, they didn't want any blood drawn, however they are confused, disoriented, delirious, and not competent to make decisions at this time, and if we don't get these labs drawn and find out what's going on, THIS PT MIGHT DIE.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Tele, ED/Pediatrics, CCU/MICU.

Oo OO me!

Me: "Hello, My name is ____. I am calling because Patient XYZ is coming over to you for a CT of his _____. Can you please bring him across the hall to Xray when you are done? He is to have films of his _______ after the CT"

Person who answers the phone at CT: "What was their last name? OK, Yup"

Me: "Thanks so much!"

1/2 hour later..... patient is hooked up to tele in room, on wall 02, pulse ox, BP cuff, etc...

They never made it to X ray.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion