Role of RN/Supervisor on the floor?

Published

We have a new NCC on our floor and from what Ive seen on other floors her role is to do care plans, paper work etc. The supervisor on our floor who is very militant and territorial has not let her even look at a care plan since shes gotten to the floor. On other floors the ncc is not considered to be a floor nurse, never seen them push meds and usually not doing treatments, on our floor, the schedhuling department has short staffed us even more so since the ncc has gotten there which makes her the fill in .. so shes always on the floor working primarily doing treatments, finger sticks etc. The supervisor and I were talking the other day about something unrelated and I asked her why do they have the ncc running around being a floor nurse isnt that not apart of what shes to do in her job description. Her response "shes a nurse just like you and I are and if we need her to work the floor then she will. Even if she wasnt here, if we were to be short staffed then I would even have to be on the floor working" This convo took place just last week, so why is it that yesterday we were short staffed on my 6-2 shift. My floor is divided into a north and south side so it was One nurse to 36 residents on each side. So I had to do paper work, push meds, treatments( lots of DU's) and my supervisor who said if need be shed work the floor too..... picked up ONE order for me. So my question for all is what exactly are their roles at your facility the ncc and supervisor and does your supervisor ever help with the work load?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

There are only 3 RNs employed at the facility where I work. One is the D.O.N. and the other 2 are elderly RN weekend supervisors. The weekend supervisors are both in their 80s, have held their nursing licenses for 60 years, and basically sit around to sip coffee. They are not accustomed to the paperwork load of today's nurses. In addition, they do not know how to operate computers or send faxes.

I'm honestly not sure of the role of the RN weekend supervisors at my facility.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What it the difference between NCC and Supervisor?

At a place I worked at before we had 47 on my unit. beds, 2 LPNs did the meds and treatments, and charting. I would do the MDS, Careplans, Assessments, call docs, take orders, round, general all around supervision, etc. If we needed a replacement for one of the lpns I never really had a problem filling in, but it wasn't needed that often. This was for a day shift.

On 3-11 they had 2 lpns and a house RN. The house RN super would help with admits, IVs, or any other out of the ordinary incidents. On 11-7 one LPN and then the house RN.

Where I work now....48 beds Days has one rn and one lpn each does the same thing (except for picc lines and centrals) same or 3-11 and 11-7 has just one nurse. Our DON helps alittle when we get crushed with admits, etc. We do all of our own orders, calls, admits, incidents, meds tx, ivs. the RN has about 26 pts and the LPN has 22.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

In our facility, each floor has an rn dubbed the ncc as well as each floor having its own supervisor. The descriptions of their roles seem to change with every person i encounter thus leading to my confusion. On the day shift we also have an lpn for meds and a a charge nurse lpn doing treatments,orders,admissions,transfers, all paper work excluding care plans. There are using the rn to fill in for when we are short staffed with LPNs on our floor and like said previously it seems to be a common occurence now that we have her(the rn) on the floor which is why our previous rn left. Simply makes no sense to me

Up Vote Up Vote ×
They are not accustomed to the paperwork load of today's nurses. In addition, they do not know how to operate computers or send faxes.

Ok then......and they are supposed to be supervising you??

There is nothing wrong with wanting to work well into your 80's as long as you are still competent, but not knowing how to send a fax, do the paperwork, or operate computers is definitely not ok.

If your supervisor could not step into your role in the event that you could not make it to work in an emergency, then they have no business supervising you.

There is a lot more to being an RN than the little piece of paper issued by the state some 60 years back.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Help...what is a NCC vs Supervisor.....we all use titles differently?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

As an RN supervisor & later unit manager for a 300 bed and 240 bed facility

my role was to be available if the LPNs needed something, do initial assessments and help with admissions, fix staffing call-outs, talk to families if they had problems or questions, do incident reports if a resident fell or was hurt in any way, do employee incident reports if there was an injury etc. Pool calls to the MDs, pronounce deaths, help with IVs, start lines if necessary, make sure staff was providing resident care appropriately, obtaining supplies for units as needed, organizing transportation for resident appts., keeping all residents safe, filling portable O2 tanks. Do any needed RN assessments if a resident was declining and make sure I documented everything. Also letting the staff know I appreciated everything they did and thanked them when we had an uneventful day/night !

Up Vote Up Vote ×
As an RN supervisor & later unit manager for a 300 bed and 240 bed facility

my role was to be available if the LPNs needed something, do initial assessments and help with admissions, fix staffing call-outs, talk to families if they had problems or questions, do incident reports if a resident fell or was hurt in any way, do employee incident reports if there was an injury etc. Pool calls to the MDs, pronounce deaths, help with IVs, start lines if necessary, make sure staff was providing resident care appropriately, obtaining supplies for units as needed, organizing transportation for resident appts., keeping all residents safe, filling portable O2 tanks. Do any needed RN assessments if a resident was declining and make sure I documented everything. Also letting the staff know I appreciated everything they did and thanked them when we had an uneventful day/night !

Kudos! That is pretty much what my RN's do for me! This is a great reply so often we all think our job is the only one that is so busy but we all have our stuff to do. Sometimes we need to be reminded!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
:mad: :uhoh3: :uhoh3: staffing situations so often now the norm, I have always held to the principle that CNA-LPN-RN Supervisor distinction (Except for the obvious) is out the window...we have 120 patients who need us able bodied clear thinking human beings to help them with what they are no longer able to do independently. Forget rank! If an RN Supervisor thinks for one second that she or he is too elite to change a brief or help the LPN with treatments of maybe do the accuchecks for the morning, then get another job because this situation promises only to worsen with time. Soon we may all find ourselves in the kitchen cooking and serving the trays! I am so passionalte about this lately. Of course we always are mindful of our designated positions and attendant responsibilities, but we are all people too and should we ever willing to pitch in to help one another and the patients. PS: I do not know what ncc means, what is that?
Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion