Someone pllleeeaaaasseee help me

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Specializes in PACU, telemetry.

I have posted before about the job that I currently have which I will update about ... but I REALLY need advice about Shawnee Mission Medical. I just got a phone call today about a PACU job offer there. Since I've moved all I've wanted to do is go back into PACU. My question is... am I leaving a hellhole place only to walk into another one?

To start out listing all of the things that have went wrong so far at this telemetry job... well actually last night I was floated to another unit in the hospital and it clearly says on my float sheet : NOT TO BE FLOATED UNTIL 12/1/09. Keep in mind I JUST got off orientation 2 weeks ago....

A patient under my care has had a fall. Here's the total and complete story of how that's happened. I was hanging blood in another patient's room when the fall happened. The lady I was giving blood to had NEVER had blood before and her mental status was questionable (she couldn't repeat any of the signs and symptoms that I had previously educated her on about the s/s of a reaction.) So when the lady fell, I was down the hall way and there was THREE nurses sitting at the nurses station who didn't answer her call light. Not to mention the fact that that night EVERYTHING under the sun went wrong.. one of my patients started having chest pain.. abnormal troponin (that was missed on admission I might add) so I ended up caring nitro in my back pocket all night, then my other lady who had angio seal bust that I had to deal with.. and i might add this place has been investigated by the state 3 times in the past year! point of the story.. there have been MANY.. I mean TOO MANY things that have happened to me at this place while I have worked there that has caused me to start having panic attacks everytime I walk in the room.

Plus .. the night before last they have made a CHARGE nurse who's only been a nurse as long as I have charge of the whole floor. It was me, the charge, and a brand new grad. That to me.. spells trouble. I don't even want to think of the things that could've went wrong and the outcome.

To make a long story short.. I am desperately seeking advice from anyone who works at Shawnee Mission. Whether they like it or love it.. I just don't want to leave one horrible job for another. I just want to find a place where I feel like I can take care of my patients effectively and not being stuck trying to be superwoman at this place I am now. Because at the current situation I am in.. my patients tell me that I am a wonderful nurse.. that they are excited to see me walk in the room.. because they know I CARE... but what has happened to me so far at this place doesn't reflect that. Im not america's next top nurse.. but I am freaking SURE I am not a bad one either. I love nursing.. I love taking care of my patients and I really am taking everything that has happened to me (the first time I might add that in my nursing career so far that anything has ever happened to me like this..i.e a patient falling on me) to heart. I've lost 10 lbs in the last two weeks beating myself up over everything that's happened that's been out of my control. In the end, even if the job interview doesn't work out.. I've still got to get out of the place I work for now. That's without question.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Wow. First, do you have malpractice? www.nso.com Do that STAT.

Second, how could it be worse?

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To start out listing all of the things that have went wrong so far at this telemetry job... well actually last night I was floated to another unit in the hospital and it clearly says on my float sheet : NOT TO BE FLOATED UNTIL 12/1/09. Keep in mind I JUST got off orientation 2 weeks ago....

You being floated is nobody's fault but your own. If you have papers that say you're not to be floated until 12/1...you should have refused to float and/or refuse to accept the patient assignment.

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Im going at this with a compassionate attitude. I have been a RN for over 20 years and It just breaks my heart to hear of your challenging experiences as a new Grad. Regardless of what your next position will be you need to RUN NOT WALK from that unit ASAP! You are well past the point of wondering if the grass is greener. I guarantee you it is in your case. Your own health be that physical and mental well being are not worth losing over the situations you have described. You have to GET out of there and soon.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Going back to the PACU? You're a new nurse though..you have to start somewhere, and I'd think going to a new hospital would be the first start.

New nurses do not belong in a fast-paced PACU.

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Get out and get out NOW! The situation you describe is on ripe for Catastrophe.

I am a new grad and just resigned after 7 weeks on a telemetry unit. No I don't have another job to go to. That does not matter. The acuity on the unit I was working was WAY WAY too severe for a 1:6 ratio. I had 4 preceptors in the first 6 days. Only one preceptor had a year + experience. I observed things that curled my toenails and worried me. I"ll just leave it at that.

I do know this: I don't want to be a TASK focused nurse. I want to care for my patients. If I can't find an appropriate setting where I can do thorough assessments, thorough care, thorough charting, and respond thoroughly and deliberately to the questions and concerns of my patients and their families, then I will NOT work as a nurse. I will not compromise my integrity or my patient care.

I think nurses are their own worst enemies at times. I am familiar with the Nurse Practice Acts of two states. The ACTS state that it is a nurse's duty to refuse assignments that are unsafe. If nurses would get over the super nurse and can't say NO syndrome, and start refusing unreasonable and unsafe assignments, then it would force facilities to bring in more nursing staff to properly care for patients.

I encourage you to leave the snake pit you are in, and BY ALL MEANS, get some medical . NSO has a good deal on it.

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You being floated is nobody's fault but your own. If you have papers that say you're not to be floated until 12/1...you should have refused to float and/or refuse to accept the patient assignment.

I must say that I'm disappointed by this comment. Perhaps, rather than berating a new grad for not "refusing an assignment" the comment could have been, I know it's hard to stand up for yourself as a new nurse. Look at this as a learning experience. I suppose I can see why your user name is mean dragon. let's try not to eat our young, okay?

To the op, I hope that you decide to find a job in a different facility. What you have just described makes me think that there's a lawsuit just waiting to happen. You worked hard for your license and it's up to you to protect it. If you continue to work in an environment such as this one, the chances that you'll be named in a malpractice lawsuit are pretty high. I would run, not walk, away from this job.

Good luck to you

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Specializes in PACU, telemetry.

Thanks guys =). In response to the previous comments.. I knew it was wrong that I floated but I didn't mind it because the unit wasn't very bad at all. Not to say it was right.. but I documented it and told the nursing supervisor what happpened. (no response i might add). And I am just excited about going back into PACU. I've only been a RN for one yr + some months so I think being back to the specialty will only make me into a stronger RN. And I am hopeful for the interview... hopefully this will be a job that I can prosper and enjoy! Thanks for everyone's comments!!! Really appreciate it. =)

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Specializes in PACU, telemetry.

Does anyone work @ shawnee mission that can tell me what it's like working there?

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