So I recently have begun to do charge nurse on my floor. For us this basically consists of managing the pager, assigning admissions, communicating staffing to the house supervisors, collecting various data on accuchecks, d/c's blah blah blah, plus a team, blah and MORNING PATIENT ASSIGNMENTS.
Ok well, I am a bit of a perfectionist, and also have a habit of being a bit of a pragmatic controller...does that make sense? Anyway, around 3am I get detailed report on the floor from the nurses, then I sit down and very carefully distribute teams. I look back multiple days to see which patients the oncoming nurses had and try to get patients matched up with familiar nurses. I then review each team deciding if I would be happy with that team and how I would handle it.
Well...sufficed to say, I can take criticism, but I don't take it well when I feel I have done the best I can, and of course at 655am we have...
"The Grumbler"
Barely says hello, acts like you don't exist, grabs her papers and sits in the same exact spot everyday. She filters through her papers and snarls if you have given her too many PCA's.
"The Bi-Polar Shifter"
She comes in much like the Grumbler, however the minute someone from her own shift gets there, she is all excited and chipper, continuing to ignore anyone from night shift. This, combined with the Grumbler, is deadly.
"The Perky Complainer"
Never without a smile this nurse can begrudge her whole team, without even having looked a the summaries. This nurse is never pleased, but she thinks because she says it with a smile, that it doesn't hurt just the same.
"The New Grad"
Sweet and focused, this RN comes in early, grabs up her team and then begins to look panicked and stressed 10 minutes after report is finished. Like the PC, this RN is never satisfied.
"The "Let's Move On"
This RN doesn't care what you give her, and all during report she will make you feel like she doesn't care what you are saying either. She may be varying degrees of "ok, and? ok let's round".
"The Float"
This RN is not from your floor and is really hoping you don't dump her with the incontinent hip fx in 32 with VRE and MRSA. If she can avoid that her day will be fine as she "visits" your floor...remembering not to do anything extra, like stock or clean.
"The Team Player"
This nurse will rip you a new one if you move one person from her team, even if that means she has no isolations and the New Grad has three. Severity varies.
"The 8 Hour"
This RN seems to have gotten grandfathered in somewhere to eight hour shifts. Between your house supervisor, manager and her you have been reminded she is only here for 8 hours a dozen times, and that you have to make sure the oncoming shift knows.
"The Too Many Discharges"
More than two and this nurse will have your head in a whirl for twenty minutes about how this is just unreasonable...too bad there are 12 D/C's and five nurses?!
Now don't get me wrong, I love all my nursing friends, but somedays I just want to grab them, shake them and say "do you realize I spent an hour pouring over your assignments, making micro adjustments to assure you have the best day possible and every day you come in and *****?"
