Suspended for not doing as nursing super ordered

Nurses Safety

Published

I was told to sign off on my patients & go home & not return tomorrow (today) & call HR on Monday. Here's a little on what lead to this. One of my pts was a Q15 while she waited for a bed at a rehab. She overdosed at home which brought her to the hosp for the 4th time. She was agitated from go & was having tantrums throughout the day. Whatever. Her husband comes in mid afternoon with a black heavy duty landscape bag & a shoulder tote full of personal belongings. Due to the fact that she's a q15 on a Med-Surg floor I told him she cannot have it bring it home. She pitches yet another fit & states she's keeping it, which she does, & her husband leaves. She starts squirreling stuff away throughout her side of the room. I'm watching all this as I'm calling for my supervisor. Long story short, supervisor says she can keep all her belongings, just not in her room. The kicker is, I have to check in all these belongings that I said she couldn't have...make-up, perfume, jewelry, toiletries, & a weeks worth of a high-maintenance wardrobe. I flat out refused.

A little back ground on this supervisor...he had/has a habit or bullying. He was managing a unit that basically stood up & had him resign. Yes he's that bad. So in the place I work, that entitles a promotion. Whatever.

I, like most, have had issues with him in the past as well but haven't written him up...just verbally vented to co-workers.

I don't feel I was wrong in trying to maintain a safe & secure environment. There is no room to store her possessions & when you're in a hospital you wear a gown & scrub bottoms when appropriate. He reinforced to her that I don't matter & she can do what she wants. (btw he did that to another pt that told me to suck his ____ while calling me the 'C' word & told me he'd see me in the streets....super did nothing again of course....well no, he reinforced it was ok by not taking action, so yes, he did do something)

I have a call out to a union rep regarding the matter but I would like some feedback from you guys too.

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Specializes in CVICU.

Sounds like you and your co workers need to start writing this guy up. You also need to start looking for a new job Monday, because this guy sounds like he has the potential to get you fired if he really wants to. Sometimes unfortuanately we have supervisors/managers like this and as unfair is may seem sometimes the only solution is to part company.

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Sounds like a hostile work enviornment where u have no possibe support, yes, I would look for something else b4 u get fired or worse!

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Specializes in SICU/CVICU.

Hard to know exactly what to do. . . . I would have checked in the belongings, documented my conversation with the supervisor in my nursing notes and discussed the incident with my immediate manager on Monday. Sometimes descretion is the better part of valor.

Hope everything works out for you.

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Hope you are not called in Monday for the termination speech. I would start looking for a new job if you are not terminated on Monday.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I know you aren't going to like what I have to say..:sofahider..I am not judging you....I am giving you prespective on what happened from another point of view to help you learn....not criticicize you. I am so sorry you have had to deal with this....:hug:and if what you say is true about the supervisor...there are ways to handle that, just differently than how it's been handled up til now.

I agree that this patient should not have her belongings......in her room. However, she has a right to her belongings. This is where the consistant following of policy and procedure can head off some of these problems especially in the frequent flyer category. Does your facility have a search and secure/seizure policy? Which outlines the patients security watch level with what they are allowed to have at bedside. Was this patient on Q 15 for, SI? or just because they're a pain in the @ss.... What is the facilities policy about patient belonging in general for safety like knives and switchblades/swiss army knives or weapons policy? Consistancy here saves a lot of frustration for everyone......and if there is a policy...were you in violation of the policy at any time.

Usually, in my experience, Union facilities are policy heavy, mostly to try to trip up administration, but also for the protection of the union member against uinfair treatment by administration. The problem I see is that you refused a direct instruction/mandate from the nursing supervisor which is insobordination.......which happends to be the one that usually "leads to displinary action up to and including immediate suspension and termination". Your supervisor, no matter what kind of a jerk, is still the supervisor. He wasn't asking you to perform an unsafe/unlawful act nor hurt a patient. He was securing the enviorment by removing the belongins from the room and place them in safe keeping thus, making the patient happy (she feels she won) and safe (the belonging are out of the room). Which, the supervisor will point out.....you refused to do (insobordination). Another question.....do you have a policy that you do a belongins list on every admission? If you do then you broke that policy too......."list all belongings upon admission" Policies are great to protect you but they can also bite you in the back side.

So before you flame me:flmngmd:....I am not defending the supervisor because if he is a jerk then you need to file grievances through the union. I agree, you should not have allowed the patients belongs in her room for safety reasons, for both hers and the floors. What I am saying is that you may have picked to fight the battle with the wrong materials at the wrong time. Trust me when I say this, the administration are already very good at manipulating data to achieve their ultimate goal, and just by how I explained here can show that you handled it poorly and could be percieved as insobordinate. The union maybe able to do something but you can be fired/suspended even at a union hospital.

I know how these things go and this is how it will be percieved. Right or wrong, you allowed your opinion of this guy get the better of your judgement and blew up at the wrong time over the wrong thing. Because right now it looks like you refused to follow instruction and make a list of the patients belongings. I am so sorry you have to go through this.......:hug:. You were right not to allow the patient belongings in the room, but I am not so sure you should have refused to do what the upervisor told you to do. You probably should have done what you were told and filed a grievence against him later. Live and learn.....next time, know your policies!

Now say nothing more!!! and do exactly what the union rep tell you to do!!!! Good luck..:heartbeat

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It's a patient's rights issue, she was entitled to her belongings. It would have been preferable if the supervisor had merely stated that to you, instead of ordering you around.

I don't know if your union has the pull to protect you in this situation. At the very least , get the option to resign.

Either way, time for a new job. That type of supervisor always win.

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Specializes in FNP.

A patient having her wardrobe and make-up is not a hill I'd choose to die on. I agree with Esme. Now that you are in this mess, listen to your Union rep and hope for the best. Next time, I'd stick with obeying "lawful orders."

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ITA with what Esme12 said in her post. Good info to keep in mind for the future.

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The problem with my facility is....the nurse is the last to know. Policy is good for the moment. Everything is flexible. Smoking is okay for the cop in his own room but not okay for the drug addict that is sharing a room. I have to assume if the addict had his own room it would be okay for him too? New rules show up in the bathroom. No joke. While you sit & do your business you can read all about it. They threaten suspension to all when the upper eschilon has messed something up. Weapons are okay to have as long as you don't threaten anyone. When you do, you get your own room. Again, no joke. I work at a facility that caters to the system abusing population. I along with my co-workers, pay them for their abuse. My immediate manager doesn't tolerate us being abused but unfortunately she's not there 24/7. The union isn't welcome on the floors so they can't really see what we deal with & we honestly don't know he rules or our rights. We are all lost & ask one another what is okay & honestly wing it. And as far as this last incident...the super went through her stuff with security & theneft it in her room. They didn't check to see what & where she stashed stuff. And our security is a complete joke as well. They don't even look up from their phone orlaptop to see who's comin or going. Anyone can come at any time & never be acknowledged. I had a guy storm in to kick my butt because the doc took away his drug addict wife's iv diludid away & made it po. All I can say is that I would have never thought nursing meant abuse. It's very disheartening after a year & a half to want out. But I guess it's no surprise when I hear nurses that have been there for years that they would leave too if it wasn't so close to home.... And I wonder if it's just the hospital I work or is it like this everywhere???? It's my first and only job as a RN (18ish months)

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
The problem with my facility is....the nurse is the last to know. Policy is good for the moment. Everything is flexible. Smoking is okay for the cop in his own room but not okay for the drug addict that is sharing a room. I have to assume if the addict had his own room it would be okay for him too? New rules show up in the bathroom. No joke. While you sit & do your business you can read all about it. They threaten suspension to all when the upper eschilon has messed something up. Weapons are okay to have as long as you don't threaten anyone. When you do, you get your own room. Again, no joke. I work at a facility that caters to the system abusing population. I along with my co-workers, pay them for their abuse. My immediate manager doesn't tolerate us being abused but unfortunately she's not there 24/7. The union isn't welcome on the floors so they can't really see what we deal with & we honestly don't know he rules or our rights. We are all lost & ask one another what is okay & honestly wing it. And as far as this last incident...the super went through her stuff with security & theneft it in her room. They didn't check to see what & where she stashed stuff. And our security is a complete joke as well. They don't even look up from their phone orlaptop to see who's comin or going. Anyone can come at any time & never be acknowledged. I had a guy storm in to kick my butt because the doc took away his drug addict wife's iv diludid away & made it po. All I can say is that I would have never thought nursing meant abuse. It's very disheartening after a year & a half to want out. But I guess it's no surprise when I hear nurses that have been there for years that they would leave too if it wasn't so close to home.... And I wonder if it's just the hospital I work or is it like this everywhere???? It's my first and only job as a RN (18ish months)

Are you not represented by nurses? You have no union reps that are nurses that can fight your battles? If you have no nursing representaiton in the union it has been my experience it's worhtless to belong to the union. What we nurses do is unique and can only be understood by nurses......It' sounds like an unsafe enviorment too....I'd report them to OSHA. DOn't judge all facilities by this one....maybe it would be better for you to get a job away from that place.....it doesn't sound safe. But remember....saying "I didn't know that was against the law" won't get you out of jail time is the same as "I didn't know it was policy" won't absolve you from responsibility. Always know the policies for your self.....you are responsible for you.......:redbeathe Don't judge all facilities by this one bad one.....Chin up!

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Supposidly one rep works at my facility. I've never seen her or met her. We've been told in the past to fax her concerns like nurse pt ratio issues but we never hear boo. I was all about the union trying to get people to rally with the issues I saw when I started. Everyone elses attitude was forget about it, union only collects dues. Yup, I too agree now. We had such issues with staffing & we would fax away. Never anything. Which at my place it's safe to have 2 nurses on a floor that can accept 40 pts. We did it with 3 nurses once since I've been there. I don't feel that's safe but again I have no outside experience. I know I nee to move on but it's like a bad relationship....it's familiar & I hate change! Awful haha

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