Survey: Are you confident that your nursing colleagues are competent?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Here are the results of last months survey question

Are you confident that your nursing colleagues are competent? :

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Please feel free to read and post any comments that you have right here in this discussion thread by clicking the "Post Reply" button.

Thanks

As an 18-year veteran, I'd like to say that yes, I am confident that my colleaques are competent. Of course, there are good and bad in every aspect of life, including nursing life.

However, let's look at the whole picture. I was lucky never to have made a mistake in my practice as an ICU/Trauma Nurse, but I know how easy it could've been. I got out of Nursing because of mandatory overtime, short staffing, and the lack of respect (to mention a few).

Let's take a look at the type, length, and adequacy of the orientation new-hires get. We, the senior Nurses, are also guilty of killing our young or new Nurses. I know I was guilty of this. I just could not be bothered with precepting the new-comers. I just wanted to do my job and get home to my family.

I'm not saying that there are not a few lazy, uncaring, noncommitted Nurses out there, but I truly believe that we're burnt out and have been pushed out.

We now need to be passionate about fixing the once wonderful Profession of Nursing.

Thanks for listening.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

yes and no. how is THAT for a stupid answer. some are and some are not. i watch the ones that are not like a hawk.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

:uhoh21: Nope. Not confident. Of course, as a patient I've had incompetent RNs and NAs. Immediately questioned them, refused tx and have asked for NM.

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As a new grad, I suppose that I cannot offer expertise of a veteran RN. I have already encountered both wonderful RN's/LPN's and scary ones as well. Focusing on the scary ones since this is the topic of discussion, I think that everything needs to be taken into context. Perhaps for some reason, that nurse is lacking in that area and just doesn't know. I don't see a problem with needing to be educated. Now, at the same time it is the responsibility of that nurse to see to it that they seek the appriopriate educational resources in order to perform a procedure/etc in the correct manner.

Now as a new grad, I admit there is a LOT I don't know. I am fortunate enough that even though I am in an ICU setting, I am working in an environment that is open to questions and assisting eachother. Just out of curiousity, are the environments that you all are working in that create scary nurses not as open to questions and admitting that you don't know how to do this or that you aren't sure what to do?

Even as a new grad, I do agree that there are some people that are not taken the intiative to become competent as they should. I personally am witness to this..not so much on my unit but in encounters with other nurses.

As far as reporting this to management, I personally feel that you should first talk to the person...perhaps they didn;t know the correct way to do this. If it happens again...go for it. Report them.

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How timely. It is 0300 and the most incompetent idiot of all time, who happened to be Charge on the psych unit where I work, sent me home because "...there's only six patients, and they're all quiet". Of course, you dumb ass, they're snowed out of their gourds:( This is the same guy who spreads newspapers along the counter so he'll have a sterile surface on which to work, after he swabs the counter with alcohol; the one who gloves in order to give a patient two Tylenol; who gloves to calibrate the glucometer; who is incredably rude to the patients; who hides out in the med room whenever things get rough; who has a whole set of OCD cleanliness things he has to go through or he'll freak totally, yet is not above rummaging through the garbage for stale pizza that somebody threw away, or stealing other staffs' lunches).

The alleged "quiet" patients include a two-weeks sober alcoholic who isn't very happy about being detained and has a history of physical violance toward staff (one of our FF's); a chronic paranoid schizophrenic who refuses all P.O. meds and fights like a rabid wolverine when we have to I.M. her; a newly-diagnosed schizoaffective who went off his meds and was found naked, wandering in the woods brandishing a shard of glass at the cops; a substance-induced dementia who can't remember his name:eek: And two of the above are Hep C+, which was relayed to us as kind of an afterthought (oh, by the way):( :devil: :confused:

Anyway, it feels good just to vent and, also, to realize that my facility isn't the only one saddled with lame fools who are kept around mostly because: they're male, they're willing to work midnights (why not? less contact with the patients) and they never call off:angryfire

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Your psych unit sounds just like mine. Not just the patients but the staff. I've actually had higher functioning patients state that some staff needs professional help more than they do. I don't comment but in my head I agree thats true for a couple of staff. I do know that some staff have had problems like the patients have had and thats okay...it makes them help the patient better 'cause they understand what their going through. But some may have problems and never got the help they needed and that makes it hard for everyone involved. Don't get me wrong, I'm only referring to a couple of staff, the majority are fine.

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As far as reporting nurses, I have only reported twice in 16 years. The first was when I came to 3-11 shift and a seizure patient was into seizures. We checked meds and found that the nurse had not given her meds all day. (She often came to work where we felt she was under the influence and bosses allowed her to work cause she would work doubles etc.) She was on another unit so we called her about the meds. She came to the unit, gave all meds at one time (pt was on high doses of pheobarb plus others) then she lied to the Dr. plus signed as if she gave them at the correct times. It had to be reported by all who witnessed it plus the Dr. said to write it up. (Later she came back after being fired to threaten some of us) The other was when two of us witnessed a staff slamming a pts head into the wall. Any abuse I will report. But as far as if nurses don't know a procedure...I think we all learn every day. It would be impossible to know everything so I think a nurse should not be reported for that... we should just teach each other. With the stress of high census, low staff, I think it's easy to get upset with each other but we should all try to help and support each other.

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originally posted by cheerfuldoer

not everyone is cut out to be a nurse, i don't care if they were able to "pass" the nclex and somehow get a license to practice patient care. recognize who you are, what you do as a nurse, and what scares you.....evaluate yourself often.....if it just isn't clicking for you like you thought nursing would.....it's time to open up the other egg in your basket of goodies that you do do well. :kiss :nurse:

as usual, renee, in her very eloquent way, put it as i see it: just because you can do the textbook job does not mean you can practically and critically use it! please know who you are! ;)

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Cheerful Doer was right on: just because you can pass the NCLEX and graduate from an accredited nursing school, doesn't mean you're a competent nurse:rolleyes:

My bozo male co-worker that I keep harping about is a perfect (?) example. Yes, he passed the Indiana State Board, and yes, he graduated from an accredited school:confused: He's still one of the sorriest excuses for a nurse I've ever known: lazy, rude, sexist/racist, opinionated, all in addition to his OCD stuff. He's one of those people who "interview well", get the job, and then crash and burn,so to speak, after a few months:angryfire

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Well, cheer up, mamabear. Sounds like a perfect candidate for management, which he will no doubt become some day. (Does anyone yet not know how I feel about management?) :)

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Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU,.
originally posted by rned

i'm not sure we are the best ones to make or pass judgement on our co-workers and co-workers on other shifts. yes, we should file and report errors and potential errors, concerns regarding safe practice and nurses, docs and other heatlhcare workers.

however, unless we are the ones with the authority, responsibility, skill and training to investigate, evaluate and analysis nursing care, we should probably stick to reporting our concerns and leave the investigations to those responsible for that aspect of nursing.

to often, i hear nurses make derogatory remarks of care that was provided by so and so. it is suprising how frequently these nurses can instantly assess the appropriateness of care 5 minutes after they arrive to start their shift. these truely are the "special" nurses because to listen to them they know absolutely everything that went on that night and yet they did not work that shift. therefore, they must be "special".

we need to provide the best possible care to our patient during our shift and we need to report our concerns. it is not our job and we do a disservice to our co-workers when we say so and so is a bad nurse. report your findings, not your assumptions, that is part of the job.

now - if you are the boss, that is different, you are special !!

thank you for your post.
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Youda:

Excellent reply. The scary thing is that the OCD bozo coworker already displays a lot of managerial behaviors: delegating the most petty, insignificant things ("...watch the back hallway between 0700 and 0800"), making endless "to do" lists, palming his work off on whoever, and being too lazy/cowardly to go to the Big Boss with his concerns ("...when you see [what's-her-name] be sure to tell her...":chuckle;)

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