The Lack Of Teamwork Is Astounding!

Midwest4me · Apr 22, 2008

Yep! Teamwork HAS worsened----drastically over my years in this career. However, you'll have the "bad eggs" or slackers in every environment. Just do the best you can and ASK for help if you need it (and if you see others are seemingly not busy).

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Apr 22, 2008

My honest opinion? I'd never stay at the job you described. Teamwork isn't really the problem, simple distribution of tasks and responsibilities seems to be. The expectations don't seem reasonable for the nurses doing the lion's share of the work. If the charge nurse on duty with me was watching tv while others are running around, I'd be handing in my resignation FAST.

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2008

We have awesome teamwork where I work. Some assignments are busier than others .... and those with less busy assignments help out those with the busier assignments. When you get an admit or have a kid that's really sick ..... you have a ton of people jumping in and helping out.

I wouldn't work another shift in that place you describe. It'll continue like that for as long as people put up with it.

snanan · Apr 22, 2008

I worked in a long term facility as and LPN for about a year, and the experience was horrible. There was no teamwork at this facility. If you were unable to complete your tasks, to bad. No one was going to help you. There was actually a nurse (long time staff member) who tried to tell me to give medication wrong. I said to her, "That is not how I learned to give this medication in school, and I am not going to give the medication in the way you instructed me." I invested in several books to which I could refer, if I needed to. I now have a Palm pilot which I carry around so I have information readily available. The work was so hard and so tiring, and we were always understaffed. You would have thought the staff would have welcomed a new nurse and the help she provided. In this facility nurses truly did eat their young. I could not endure this environment so I enrolled in RN school. That was the best thing that I have ever done in my life. Fortunately, there is teamwork in the hospital setting where I am now employed. I love being an RN.

loriangel14, RN · Apr 22, 2008

The hospital I work at makes no bones about it - teamwork is a must. We all help out each other and if someone is behind or has a crisis then everyone works together. The charge nurse makes sure that no one is struggling with their day and she is usually the first to jump in and lend a hand. No one EVER stays past when their shift is over. I wouldn't work anywhere else.

mamason · Apr 22, 2008

the lack of teamwork at my facility is astounding, needless to say there are a lot of lazy nurses where i work ! i work perdiem at a rehab/ltc facility 1 charge nurse and atleast 1 medication nurse is on each unit , usually i'm the medication nurse and over the last couple of months workload has been shifted from the charge nurses onto the medication nurses, the med nurses have either 20 or 40 patients to give meds to depending on which floor you work on and the dns has just enstated that the med nurse must do dressings, and the 24 hour report which the charge used to do! on top of already picking up orders, give feedings,+ iv meds, and fingersticks!, this leaves the charge with no tasks besides watching over the patients or managing the occasional admission and/or transfer to the hospital! since the charge nurses realize that they are no longer responsible for certain tasks some don't bother to help! they just sit at the desk all shift long and pretend to act busy!
the med nurses have complained about the workload but it hit a dead end! one charge nurse i worked with was on her phone all shift long and then was watching t.v then went home half and hour early! leaving me still on the unit still finishing my work and never even offered to help me! what has happened to team work! ? team work benefits not only staff but patients as well, management and administration have seemed to turn their back on this issue as too! some nurses make you wonder.

nothing ticks me off more than seeing one nurse drowning and the rest are just hanging out cutting up etc. :nono:

i've experienced this in the past at my former employer. when i put in my resignation and it was time for my exit interview. i explained that this was one of the reasons why i left. i'm not sure if it did any good or not. but, at least i voiced my opinion. i now work at another facility where there is an abundance of team work. the nurses on the floor work well together. some days are tougher than others. but, that's just part of it. needless to say, there are better units or facilities to work at. :yeah:

i don't feel as if my license is in jeopardy because of being too overloaded with complicated pts and no help from my co-workers. :wink2:

NurseCherlove · Apr 22, 2008

We have awesome teamwork where I work. Some assignments are busier than others .... and those with less busy assignments help out those with the busier assignments. When you get an admit or have a kid that's really sick ..... you have a ton of people jumping in and helping out.

You are lucky!! That's the way it SHOULD be! I have a lot of contempt for lazy nurses, and yes, we have our share where I work.

To the OP, definitely ask for help and be sure to specify what you want, since people like the ones you speak of have no initiative...."could you change pt. so and so's dressing while I try to get the rest of these meds out on time?". People like that ought to be made to feel guilty. If I hear a lazy nurse talking about going to lunch and it looks like I may not get one after running like a fool, I can't help but to say something like, "Wow...lunch...that must be nice. I think my BG must be about 40 right now" (ok so I'm a little dramatic).

ktwlpn, LPN · Apr 22, 2008

workload has been shifted from the charge nurses onto the medication nurses, the med nurses have either 20 or 40 patients to give meds to depending on which floor you work on and the DNS has just enstated that the med nurse must do dressings, and the 24 hour report which the charge used to do! on top of already picking up orders, give feedings,+ IV meds, and fingersticks!, this leaves the charge with no tasks besides watching over the patients or managing the occasional admission and/or transfer to the hospital!

As a former charge nurse I can attest that there were days that I rode the desk all day long. Unless you have done it you have no idea of what is going on.Your post tells me you have not experienced it.

Every phone call results in a call to the doc,a new order,lots of documentation,etc.You have the residents and families approaching with their requests,complaints,concerns (again often resulting in calls and documentation) and then you have staffing issues and you have to monitor services provided by other departments because when the poo hits the fan your name is on the top of the list.The facility I work in now is structured similarly to yours. We have 2 med carts-we each grab one.We do fingersticks because we give the insulin.Feedings are hung on evening shift but we used to hang them in the am ,too..The charge nurse does as many treatments as she can and handles the desk but we feel that as soon as we are done our med pass we jump in and continue on with any treatments that have not been completed. The charge nurse does the 24 hr report and completes the documentation and vital signs.However if a doc is rounding or it's time for team or some other meeting then we med nurses will get any vital signs and assess and resident on our med pass as needed..The charge also works on the care plans,the signage at the desk for the floats staff and cna's,the paperwork that goes on and on and on. The quarterly assessments,the significant change assessments,etc. Don't forget the resident's weights! A 5 lb loss or gain triggers a slew of paper at our facility and many of our people are on weekly wts.She works on the supply list,she is responsible for the roster. She'll call the docs with any problems and take off any orders.She'll handle transfers,too.AND-the charge MUST check through everything that was done since her last shift worked to make sure it was completed correctly.The buck stops with her.

There are days when the charge is so busy putting out the fires that the other 3 med nurses do most or all of the treatments.Why should'nt I? For instance I have my big am med pass-maybe an hour and a half,my noon pass-maybe a half an hour so what else do I do all day? I am passing meds for maybe 3 hours-it does not say in my job description that med admin is all I do.I don't want to sit at the desk-I hate that.

I used to float so I saw many different styles of leadership.I worked with many charge nurses that seemed to chit chat all day and have plenty of time to smoke.But-they always had the roster ready when the DOH rolled in.The care plans were always up to date when a resident or family called the state with a complaint.The documentation was always on point to protect us in those instances. I also worked with nurses that gave the appearance of being very busy but they were just keeping there heads above water.

I truly believe that all LTC nurses should have to be acting charge nurse for a few weeks or a month.I hated worrying that I had missed something-worrying about the responsibility on my shoulders-and believe me,I used to wake up at night worrying.I don't do that now-I go in-I work straight through the shift and I go home.I think you really need an attitude adjustment-are you familiar with the amount of paperwork at the desk? Ask your charge nurse to show you sometime-the quaterly assessments alone will gag you (bowel,bladder,braden scale,AIMS,fall risk,side rail)

We have a pretty high accuity on our unit right now=we are all busting our humps all day.

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Apr 22, 2008

Let's all face it, nursing today is a stressful job and, no matter the position, we could all be better team players.

ontocrna · Apr 23, 2008

Just an observation...depends on where you work. In floating I can honestly say that different parts of our hospital don't even feel like part of the same building. Some staffs gel and some have a bad apple that taints the whole bushel. You have the choice to do what is right. And by the way, interesting case of a nurse helping out with a code on someone elses patient got sent to BON because she missed her own patients code in doing so and the patient died. We have a CYA attitude in this field and it contributes greatly to our ability to be a team.

gt4everpn, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2008

as a former charge nurse i can attest that there were days that i rode the desk all day long. unless you have done it you have no idea of what is going on.your post tells me you have not experienced it.

every phone call results in a call to the doc,a new order,lots of documentation,etc.you have the residents and families approaching with their requests,complaints,concerns (again often resulting in calls and documentation) and then you have staffing issues and you have to monitor services provided by other departments because when the poo hits the fan your name is on the top of the list.the facility i work in now is structured similarly to yours. we have 2 med carts-we each grab one.we do fingersticks because we give the insulin.feedings are hung on evening shift but we used to hang them in the am ,too..the charge nurse does as many treatments as she can and handles the desk but we feel that as soon as we are done our med pass we jump in and continue on with any treatments that have not been completed. the charge nurse does the 24 hr report and completes the documentation and vital signs.however if a doc is rounding or it's time for team or some other meeting then we med nurses will get any vital signs and assess and resident on our med pass as needed..the charge also works on the care plans,the signage at the desk for the floats staff and cna's,the paperwork that goes on and on and on. the quarterly assessments,the significant change assessments,etc. don't forget the resident's weights! a 5 lb loss or gain triggers a slew of paper at our facility and many of our people are on weekly wts.she works on the supply list,she is responsible for the roster. she'll call the docs with any problems and take off any orders.she'll handle transfers,too.and-the charge must check through everything that was done since her last shift worked to make sure it was completed correctly.the buck stops with her.

there are days when the charge is so busy putting out the fires that the other 3 med nurses do most or all of the treatments.why should'nt i? for instance i have my big am med pass-maybe an hour and a half,my noon pass-maybe a half an hour so what else do i do all day? i am passing meds for maybe 3 hours-it does not say in my job description that med admin is all i do.i don't want to sit at the desk-i hate that.

i used to float so i saw many different styles of leadership.i worked with many charge nurses that seemed to chit chat all day and have plenty of time to smoke.but-they always had the roster ready when the doh rolled in.the care plans were always up to date when a resident or family called the state with a complaint.the documentation was always on point to protect us in those instances. i also worked with nurses that gave the appearance of being very busy but they were just keeping there heads above water.

i truly believe that all ltc nurses should have to be acting charge nurse for a few weeks or a month.i hated worrying that i had missed something-worrying about the responsibility on my shoulders-and believe me,i used to wake up at night worrying.i don't do that now-i go in-i work straight through the shift and i go home.i think you really need an attitude adjustment-are you familiar with the amount of paperwork at the desk? ask your charge nurse to show you sometime-the quaterly assessments alone will gag you (bowel,bladder,braden scale,aims,fall risk,side rail)

we have a pretty high accuity on our unit right now=we are all busting our humps all day.

[color=#483d8b]no attitude adjustment needed, i have been charge nurse numerous times, i have also had to do hours of paperwork, i know the feeling! quarterly assessments are what? every 3 months, so i'm assuming that is the only time you feel the pain of work, based on what you stated, my facility has an mds department, so they review the careplans and do all the paperwork, along with the rn manangers, i created this post to describe the work conditions at my place of occupation, maybe you need to review my post once more and understand the question being stated based on what i said about my facility, adjusting my attitude doesnt make the lazy nurses around me work any harder nor does it change the environment! can you imagine giving 110% of yourself and having that same lazy charge nurse threaten to write you up for a minor error, because that's what went down where i work, but maybe your working conditions are better, if so show me where, i'd love to know, thankyou for your post:rolleyes: :twocents: