Running late?, during report stay on topic so I can go home!

Nurses General Nursing

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I understand there may be times when us nurses are running late. I get it. Poo Poo happens but don't get off topic in this long rant that has nothing to do with shift report. I need to give you my patients so I can go home. Especially don't say something dumb like, O you could have given report to the charge, you didn't have to wait. I will tell you, I don't operate that way if you are only a few minutes but don't waste my time. I will bring it to your attention that you are wasting my time, meaning I will say excuse me, I need to give you report on so and so. Sorry guys but I just worked 4x12 hour shifts. ? It's amazing what sleep deprivation brings out in a person. ? Please tell me if you nurses have experienced this and what did you do about it?

On 9/11/2019 at 12:26 PM, Nurse SMS said:

I still remember the morning that I was coming off my 3rd 12 hour shift. The nurse relieving me was pregnant and had her ultrasound the day before. Instead of coming to get report she hung out at the nurse's station showing off the pictures and in general oooo'ing and ahhhh'ing with them over baby.

I love a new baby as much as the next person but that made me nuts. I was tired and ready to leave and of course only a jerk would drag someone away from admiring a baby. I grit my teeth and waited...but I resented it enough that I still remember it 8 years later.

She is there to work, not deal with her pregnancy. I would have called her on it.

"You know, little Mama, I know you're thrilled about your baby and you're going through a lot of exciting times right now, but I really need you to take Report so I can go home. I wish you all the best, but I really need to go. So please, take Report now. I really appreciate it."

Or something like this. You do not really owe her more than that. I'm sure she's a darling, but work is work and her private life should take a back seat to doing her job when she is at work - pregnant or not.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
On 9/12/2019 at 9:12 PM, turtlesRcool said:

It usually takes 40-50 minutes to do report, but that's because we are expected to do it bedside, AND we have to do a 2 RN skin check as part of the hand-off process. So, you can imagine that while nurse A is verifying the incontinence associated dermatitis nurse B has stated is on patient XYZ's buttocks, there's a pretty good chance they're going to find the patient needs changing. Which means they're going to have to clean the patient before they can go on to the next patient's report. I have had mornings where I've literally done 4 linen changes in the course of getting my assignment.

Today I was giving my patients to a nurse being double floated from another unit, so she had to hand off her patients before she could come receive mine. So, yeah, while shift change is at 1500, I started giving report at 1540.

That is completely unreasonable.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
15 hours ago, Kooky Korky said:

This is so ridiculous.

A nurse once relieved me on time. That is, we counted, but she refused to take Report until 2300. She purposely stood around talking with other staff about nothing work-related. She made me wait until 23 to let me give Report. Except that my shift ended at 2245.

I told the Sup, explained why I had OT that day. It never happened again.

Exactly. You don't have to gnash your teeth forever trying to get inconsiderate coworkers to cooperate. You just make sure to bill your employer for every nanosecond of overtime. The problem generally gets fixed after that.

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15 hours ago, Here.I.Stand said:

That is completely unreasonable.

Agreed, but at least our pressure ulcer rates are way down. Management says we're supposed to just do the shift change and call the PCT to do the personal care, but the PCTs are doing their shift change reports at that time, too, so the reality is that if we walk away, the patient is sitting in their own urine or feces for another half an hour or so, and that's not okay.

Sometimes I will record my shift change report if I know in advance that my relief is being double floated, but a lot of time I don't find out until after shift change starts and I can't find my person.

Another time-waster is when I'm giving or getting report with 5 different nurses. I'm seriously stalking people to finish up with the other nurse's report, so I can have my turn.

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1 hour ago, turtlesRcool said:

Agreed, but at least our pressure ulcer rates are way down. Management says we're supposed to just do the shift change and call the PCT to do the personal care, but the PCTs are doing their shift change reports at that time, too, so the reality is that if we walk away, the patient is sitting in their own urine or feces for another half an hour or so, and that's not okay.

Sometimes I will record my shift change report if I know in advance that my relief is being double floated, but a lot of time I don't find out until after shift change starts and I can't find my person.

Another time-waster is when I'm giving or getting report with 5 different nurses. I'm seriously stalking people to finish up with the other nurse's report, so I can have my turn.

Yes, taping Report is a wonderful time-saver. Of course, the oncoming staff can't ask questions if the reporter has already left.

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22 hours ago, turtlesRcool said:

Agreed, but at least our pressure ulcer rates are way down. Management says we're supposed to just do the shift change and call the PCT to do the personal care, but the PCTs are doing their shift change reports at that time, too, so the reality is that if we walk away, the patient is sitting in their own urine or feces for another half an hour or so, and that's not okay.

Sometimes I will record my shift change report if I know in advance that my relief is being double floated, but a lot of time I don't find out until after shift change starts and I can't find my person.

Another time-waster is when I'm giving or getting report with 5 different nurses. I'm seriously stalking people to finish up with the other nurse's report, so I can have my turn.

Yes, I dealt with this issue a lot in my previous job. What helped was that the they switched the tech reporting time so that they arrive 30 mins prior to RN's and are finished with getting report when RN's start so they are now available for pt care. This really helped the flow of the unit and shift change, although they did all groan when their reporting time changed to 6:30am instead of 7am.

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On 9/13/2019 at 9:47 PM, Kooky Korky said:

Not to ignore all that you said, but I am just wondering - how come there weren't enough CAL's printed up?

The unit clerk printed them based on the number of nurses and aides coming on but sometimes someone would grab an extra because they "messed up" theirs or someone would take one and then be floated; it just happened but I wish I could say it was rare.

Did you ever speak to her? Let her know that you were super exhausted and needed to give Report so you could go home? I did but I remember her being fairly new and so while I wanted to make it clear this wasn't a pattern I was OK with upper management also didn't want us "scaring off" new people. I guess being no-nonsense equated to bullying with the newer generation. Dealing with lateness versus dealing with the managers and HR about bullying, even if it wasn't, was easier I suppose.

Did anyone ever correct her for being consistently late? And for being unprepared to start working the instant the clock struck 7? I know it happened at some point, I don't remember details, it was a long time ago. Do remember it took longer than I believe it should have based on what I wrote above. And I don't remember what got her fired in the end but I do remember she was terminated and there wasn't a big surprise on our end.

This is so ridiculous. Absolutely.

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I don't play when its time for me to go home. I told one nurse that next time she is late I will call her on her cell and give her report over the phone. I don't mind if someone is late once in a while, but it's always the same people all the time.

It also drives me nuts when nurses aren't ready to give report when I get there. I want to start and end my shift on time as much as possible. If the nurse giving me report is doing something else for 45 mins it throws my entire shift off. Then I'm late giving meds, doing assessments, etc. If the previous shift had a horrible shift I will offer to help. Sometimes people are just standing in the hall charting. You can do that after you give me report.

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Thank you all for your comments that explain your different experiences. Sometimes you can wait for someone (if they aren't going to be too late) and sometimes you have to put your foot down and let them know your time is valuable.

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I'm struggling with this issue right now. I'm a new nurse, have been on the job for only a few months, but I NEVER get out on time because most of the nurses I give report to either arrive late or claim they're "not ready" to get report until they check on their pts, set up their computer etc., I always arrive 15-20 min early so I can do those things before I get report. I've had some words with a couple of these nurses about this situation--no change. I think I'm going to have to start charging the employer overtime and see if that works. I wish nurses were more considerate of other nurses.

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Ah ha ha! Who redelivered this baby in 2020... These are POST GOLD!! I am on here dying at yall!!

"only a jerk would drag someone away from admiring a baby"...Nurse SMS?

"write down her assignment in her Special Special Notebook"..Waiting for Retirement?

"Tardy Marty"..Wuzzie?

"I might say, "I've got five minutes to be out the door and then point at it! ha ha ha!! 'Four minutes' or 'Three minutes"..Sour Lemon?

"I don't need to know how many nose hairs they have"...MrNurse(x2)?

"If you're taking 40 minutes to do this, then it's no longer called a report because you're giving them a powerpoint presentation"..Crash_Cart?

Gotta love it!!

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Specializes in NICU/Mother-Baby/Peds/Mgmt.

At one of my jobs I had two nurses slowly walking down the hall saying they were going to get breakfast. At 0655. Report started at 07. It would take 2-3 minutes to get to the cafeteria, assuming they didn't meet anyone in the hall to stop and chat. Like WTH? Put a stop to that real quick. And they were considered two of the "really good" nurses. ?

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