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Discussion

Should Supervisor help??

Would like to know how others have handled this situation or what their experienced have been...Anywhere I have worked, if we had call-outs or were overloaded with admits, the supervisor would help out. Well,we have a supervisor that refuses to do anything.

Past Sat. had 42 pts. on a Dual Diagnosis unit....3 nurses were there on Fri. but only 2 scheduled for Sat. well, one called out.. So there I was alone with 42 pts. must chart 5 pg. note on each one, tx. plan mtgs. c drs., and numerous problems...I asked the Sup. 3 different times when she paraded by with clipboard in hand, if she could help me out. She never did.

The last 3 Supervisors that we have had always helped on the floor if we were short.

Isn't it their job to help out if you are so under-staffed ???? I was so close to saying, if you don't help out, I am leaving. But then I would have gotten written up, for sure.

Featured Replies

Yup-I learned that bad leadership of charge nurses to sit on their butts while running myself and other nurses were running around with 8-9 med/surg patients, snapping heads off when asked to help out. Some take leadership to mean "I get to sit on my a**."

Have any of you ever been a supervisor? What are the supervisor's other responsibilities? Were there other responsibilities that needed to be taken care of? What does the supervisor's boss want her to do in these situations? etc. etc. etc.

Without that information, none of can know what the supervisor SHOULD have done. However, if she could not help you out, she probably should have given you some sort of explanation as to why not.

Thank you. I supervise a 220 bed acute care hospital and my duties include bed management from the ED, PACU, and direct admits into and through the hospital; verifying that patients are where they are supposed to be based on their acuity, dealing with pt and family complaints, responding to every code/trauma/alert/PAMI/stroke alert, starting IVs on the impossible to stick pts, tracking down central supply when they don't answer their pages, staffing/covering sick calls, data entry of all of the above; so NO, I'm sorry, I don't have time on an average night to help out with routine tasks on a floor that the manager didn't bother to staff correctly. If I'm not doing anything else, I am happy to help turn a pt or wipe a butt, but if my pager goes off with a code blue or a trauma, you bet your ass I'll be off and running.

I wouldn't have accepted the assignment. 42 beds sets you up for failure. I wouldn't risk my license nor would I put the patients in harm's way. It's just not worth it.

If I'm not doing anything else, I am happy to help turn a pt or wipe a butt, but if my pager goes off with a code blue or a trauma, you bet your ass I'll be off and running.

And that is the fundamental difference between you and the supervisor I was talking about. You probably wouldn't sit and chat with the secretary about your flower garden if I was looking out of a room and asking loudly for help because I just had a giant poop explosion.

And that is the fundamental difference between you and the supervisor I was talking about. You probably wouldn't sit and chat with the secretary about your flower garden if I was looking out of a room and asking loudly for help because I just had a giant poop explosion.

If YOU had a poop explosion I'd definitely help out....and fetch ya a pair of scrubs too.

Just be careful when you decide to walk out. In a lot of states once you accept the assignment...if you then leave that is considered abandonment. If you view the assignment....protest and then leave...it is not considered abandonment . Check with your Board...they will have a position statement. If your supervisor was aware of the staffing issue and did nothing to help you ( They could have at least tried to call in some help) they will be held legally responsible should anything untoward occur. Do you have a union b/c if you do there is a process they have to help you as well. In California, thank God we have safe staffing ratios.

you worked a unit by yourself??? not in this lifetime! i would have been on the phone immediately to everyone and anyone, including the top hospital administrator! :angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:nono::nono:

  • Author

Thanks for all responses.....yes, I agree that if she had other duties to attend to I would not have expected help.....but she does not....the last sup. was a good friend of mine and I am aware of her duties...we call her if we need her for help dealing with families (charge usually handles) and if there is a call out she should make calls to try and get help in....that is about it on the weekends...I was so busy I asked her to draw a stat lab for me and she went to another unit and got THAT nurse to do it..!!!!!!

she is making it clear that she will not help us, I can see that...or maybe she just can't draw....I don't know....but thank you all for letting me vent and for all of the responses....:loveya:

What does the supervisor's boss want her to do in these situations?

i agree with this.

and you need to go to the supervisor's boss for clarification.

leslie

  • Author

earle58---good advice, I will do that...I need to know for next time because I have decided I will NOT DO IT AGAIN BY MYSELF!!!!

btw----found out that on Sun. (I was off) one called out also. the nurse that was there told the Sup. either she gets help or she is leaving.......Sup pulled a nurse off another unit for her......

Now that you know she won't help, this is how I would handle the situation in the future. I would not take report and refuse the assignment. I would only stay if the house manager and sup immediately found another nurse (if that is the expected staffing). If sup said she'd help or that they would work on getting another nurse, I'd only *consider* staying if the house manager was present to hear expectations and assured me the situation would be monitored.

  • Experts

i was an acute hospital house supervisor before i became a unit manager. it was part of our job to make sure that the staff that was available was distributed around the house fairly. it didn't mean we were supposed to lend a hand when help was needed. our administrative coordinator would have given us hell for doing that. it was up to our discretion to either delegate other staff to come and help out a busy unit for an hour or two or pitch in ourselves and help. often i would pitch in and help if i had time, but i have to tell you that if there was something else going on in the hospital that demanded my presence my first priority was to be there. a supervisor represents hospital administration, all other department managers who are not in the building and must be able to move about the house freely. i would find you an extra pair of hands somewhere if that was what i had to do. i would never, however, summarily ignore your requests. if help wasn't available you would be told why and you would be helped in some way even if it meant having the er hold admits or telling admitting not to admit to your unit (as a supervisor i had authority over bed assignments) for a few hours or the remainder of the shift. that is because the supervisor is the only person who sees the whole picture of what is going on in the entire house and knows what resources are and aren't available. if some staff nurse thinks they know what's going on in the house better than the supervisor, they are either nuts or they are out gallivanting around the hospital instead of working on their unit where they are supposed to be doing their job and leaving their coworkers in a lurch!

i have been staff nurse and supervisor. how is it so many of you know what the supervisor does during her shift if you've never had the job? how arrogant! that is no different from a nursing assistant who claims they know the rns job and that the rn isn't doing it. it took me 6 months in training before i felt comfortable in the supervision position and most of what was totally new to me involved exactly what this op is posting about--staffing issues and not just for the department of nursing. it's not as easy as you all think it is folks. don't be so quick to criticize when you've never walked in those shoes.

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