1st agency shift, horrible

[zacarias]

Hey all,

Last night I worked my first agency shift in a brand new city. I am nurse with 5+ years experience in med/surg tele stepdown but last night they had me work in ER psych hold. I wasn't alone thank goodness but...

The night shift nurse I worked with had been a psych nurse for 40 years. In Psych they have tons of legal papers and documents that are foreign to me. I would ask questions and she wouldn't help. She would explain some things but if I mentioned something, she would act like she didn't understand me. She was loud, she talked for an hour on the phone, and she actually fell asleep and snored for a while in the psych hold room!

At 600, I tried to get a Keflex for a patient and I couldn't find it in the pyxis and in another, the drawer was empty. The patient had dropped off of Pyxis, and I added him back in my myself and still couldn't get the med, I let her know and she told me loudly, "YOU HAVE TO ADD HIM." I said "It's not there, I think I'm gonna call pharmacy." She said "why are you gonna do that?" She wouldn't help me but had a problem if I was trying to take initiative. I tried for an hour looking for the med and could not find it. The day nurse came and was irritated that I hadn't given it even though I told her I would keep working on it to get the medication. What she did was go to the pyxis to check the med and it was not in the drawer like I told her. I felt like no one trusted that I had checked the pyxis.

She did end up finding the med in another 4th pyxis in another part of ER that I didn't know about. She, I'm sure felt vindicated, but she was irritated with me.

I admit in the night, I might have twice sounded irritated with this horrid night nurse that was difficult to work with. But the day nurse and night nurse got irritated at me? I felt awful. I left so upset I couldn't think.

I'm in a new city, struggling to get a travel contract when there are no contracts and my first agency shift ended horribly. Is there something about me that gets people upset? I also don't have a very thick skin. I can't understand how nurses can do agency....walk into a new hospital, new floor, new paperwork, new everything and hit the floor running. I learn fast but within reason. Oh well, thanks for letting me vent!

Zach

[leosasha]

Have been an agency nurse for a number of years. Have refused to return to a few facilities due to craziness. Others have been great. Most generally, if I recieve flak I confront it directly having the expectation that I will recieve assistance with questions. On a rare occasion I have spoken to the nurse manager if I decide that a situation is salvagable. I'm all about the patient and I am very forthright about this. Let your agency know how you were treated. I work for a premier agency and they are very supportive.

[Magsulfate, BSN, RN]

While working as agency, you WILL find those places that no one wants to work at, thats why they need agency, their nurses have left because they didn't want to put up with the crap!

Good thing is, you don't have to go back to those facilities. If you're in a large city, give it a decent shot. You might find your niche in a different hospital, different unit. I worked agency in ICU for over 2 years. Most of that was contract with 2 different hospitals. I was part of the group, but was still considered the redheaded stepchild. lol

[leosasha]

I agree. There are some places that no one wants to go. Management is most definitely a full fleddged, active member of what I term the "Mushroom Club). No sense talking to them. Don't throw in the towel because the first experience is a bust. There are something good out there for you. Every winter I return to a hospital because I really like it there and have bonded with a large number of the nurses. They staff appropriately also. If you need to be in the hospital here is the place to be. The manager is wonderful also. Even though she is a member of the club simply by being management she is aware that she is in the club. This place helps keep me going. You must accept that the work most generally will be hard. Nursing is in a crisis also. Crisis can bring out the worst in people as well as the best. If you present yourself with an expectation that you will get support oftimes you get it. Remember, I am all about the patient. If nurses are unwilling to support me then they are incapable of truly supporting the patients. Those are the places no one wants to work. The best advice I can give is.....Go in. Do your job. Assert yourself when necessary. And always always stay out of the politics. Be pleasant with eveyone. Agency is a tough job. One needs to be well grounded.