The on coming nurse -a nurse whom I've never met comes into the patients room, and announces to the family and myself that she is from XYZ agency and that she works 24 hour shifts. The family is shocked are like "how is that even legal?" And she didn't say anything and I said " Um maybe she means 12 hr shifts (the scheduled shift)" She was like "oh I guess that's what I meant."
This nurse was supposed to replace me for one on one nursing. Things got weirder when she expressed that she didn't know what the pulse oximeter was. I showed it to her. This agency says they require 6 months experience.I'm seriously asking...do some schools not have these in clinicals?
Then I was trying to give report at the bedside on this patient (family had left the room). This had been a 13 hr shift for me at this point.I was giving it succinctly and SHE INTERUPPTED ME and said that she was going to put her stuff in the break room.....downstairs....across the building.AND that she needed to introduce herself to all staff on duty.
I was just shocked! She wandered off... and the family wanted my attention and I had other things to chart.
When she came back she began doing a full set of vitals and I thought okay,maybe things will be OK......then she yelled "I need someone to write these vitals down STAT!!!" On a peacefully sleeping elderly patient. Um remember them or write them down on a scrap piece of paper like everyone else?
Then she wanted to write her notes in military time, and asked me how to do it. I explained to her how to do it, but she still struggled with the 'math' of it.
Next she began asking me what descriptive words to use in an assessment. I'm not joking it was like she had never done even a basic assessment.She kept asking me what would I write.....we're talking LTC not an ICU.
There is more but I'll leave it here. Am I getting old and crochety or is this cause for concern. There was something 'off' about this person. I really want to say something to the agency but WHAT? I know how small nursing circles are and I don't want this to come back and bite me in the you know what.I just feel that the agency needs to know the situation, because like I said, there is more.
On the other hand, these types usually disappear or get fired quickly, should I say nothing and let things take their course?Mind my own business?
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Perhaps she wasn't a nurse at all, but was impersonating one! Did the "agency" fully vet her? There have been cases of indiviuals who steal someones nursing license number and make fake ID's to obtain gainful employment. This person either had some serious deficits, or wasn't a nurse at all. IMO
That's exactly what I was thinking. Time to make a call to your friendly neighbourhood BON.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
I'm thinking she wasn't joking when she said 24 hr shifts and she was on something. I know I've gone 24 hrs without sleeping before and I was confused, delirious and not making any sense by the time I went to bed.
I've been that was after a normal shift. I dont do doubles for that reason.
If you see a clear danger to the patient then report your concerns to somebody. By the sounds of it I would report it to a supervisor. If the supervisor does nothing with it and that nurse does something wrong it's on them and not you. I also wouldn't gossip to other nurses about it. I would report what I saw in writing and keep a copy for myself and then I would forget about it.
If you have a positive relationship with the person in charge how about connecting with him/her and making sure he/she is aware of what's going on? I'd say, for the safety of future patients, that at least having this conversation early is the right thing to do.
The OP already gave the update that this nutjob got fired. Yay!
I read through the thread before posting because I was sure someone was going to say (many even many were going to say) what I thought about this situation, that this is a con artist. NOT a nurse. NOT someone sleep-deprived, but an all-out FRAUD.
I've seen sleep deprivation, I've BEEN sleep deprivation, but it doesn't make all your nursing education fall out of your brain.
She didn't know what a pulse ox was. Didn't know what PRN meant. Didn't understand assessments....heck, if all she did was holler that she needed VS writen down "STAT!!" on a stable patient, that'd be enough for me to go with 'psycho' rather than 'RN'!
And what's up with an agency that doesn't check license/ID status of new hires?? They'd be reported asap in my world!
Yeah, our aids and unit secretaries know more than that "nurse" did. Heck, most people that have ever been a patient in a hospital know what a pulse ox is. My family knows these things just from talking to me.
Perhaps she wasn't a nurse at all, but was impersonating one! Did the "agency" fully vet her? There have been cases of indiviuals who steal someones nursing license number and make fake ID's to obtain gainful employment. This person either had some serious deficits, or wasn't a nurse at all. IMO
I immediately thought this!!! Maybe I watch too much TV but it does happen in real life as we have heard about.
We routinely have agency nurses rolling through our department. Some of them are excellent, many are OK, and a few are... along the lines of what you describe (though never to that extreme).
While it's not a reflection on agency nurses in general, the truth is that it's easier for sketchy nurses to job-hop via agencies, especially if people don't provide feedback. The one that you describe sounds like some combination of deranged, stupid, and intoxicated. Whatever the relative proportions, that's not a nurse that I want anywhere near my patients.
I'm about the last person in the world to do the write-up thing but in this particular case, I'd have to give it some real consideration.
Nola009
940 Posts
Tell your boss for sure.