tough time giving report.

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i'm been working at this hospital on a med-surg floor for almost 7months. i love my night shift crew. but i have a hard time giving report to the day nurses. one of the nurses would laugh at me. for eg. i had this pt with dx of neutropenia and there was an order not to have rectal temp. her platelets were 0.3!!! that day nurse asked me why such an order? i told her that i think that it's because the patient is neutropenia. the day nurse just smirk at me. she's 7 credits away from being a np. i felt really bad because if i am wrong then please correct me. her smirk hurts more than words. it makes me feel stupid.

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Hi,

Do not take it to heart. Some of those nurses like to "eat their young" so to speak. But to answer your question. I do not think that the low platelets indicate neutrapenia.. I think that would be thrombocytopenia. She is at a VERY increased risk for bleeding/injury. You were correct about why she cannot get rectal temps..just the wrong terminology..Try not to let it get you down.. Just smile back at her. It usually just pisses people off when they know they CAN NOT get the best of you!

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oh no, the pt was dx with neutropenia. a cancer pt with all labs off the wall. she's only been a nurse for 3 yrs.

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NEVER, EVER let her slap you down. Some people are just that way-just try to be the most confident person you can be and smile right back at her!!

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Neutropenia is where the patient is at an increased risk for infection due to a low ANC, which is a calculation based on WBC x the percentage of neutrophils (segmented (fully mature) neutrophils) + the bands (almost mature neutrophils).

Low platelets is thrombocytopenia and puts a patient at an increased risk of bleeding.

I would say either one would indicate a reason to not do rectal temps.

I get all of that too, the laughing and everything. Just remember how far you have come and keep learning!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Just ignore her. She's just picked up on your insecurity and decided to give you a jab just to satisfy her own ego. She knew it would upset you. Some people are like that. Sad, isn't it?

I responded to a post recently about being a head nurse and this just reminds me of something I was thinking about. Just because someone is in a position of authority doesn't necessarily mean that they know how to act appropriate to that position, or that they need to act with a superior attitude. Many people get into positions of authority because they want them while others take those positions quite seriously. I think this future NP is in the first category and doesn't know how to act appropriate to her position. I'm sure her professors would be groaning if they knew she was treating you the way she is. Many practitioner programs focus on the educational role of the nurse. She's not much of an educator to her co-workers is she? It sure doesn't say much about the kind of reputation she is going to have as she starts out as a nursing leader, if she even makes it to that point, does it?

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Sometimes People Like To Make Others Feel Bad Because Of Their Own Insecurities. I Say F**k Her, And Keep Up What You Are Doing. You Are Too Good To Deal With That Sort Of Thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in Emergency.

LIke all have said, don't worry about it. There is a version of the "report game" we've all seen. The game is for the nurse receiving report to ask more and more obscure questions until they get an "I don't know", at which point, the receiving nurse can act smarter than the reporting nurse. Sometimes, its a competitive night vs day shift thing. Sometimes, its an interdepartment thing. Sometimes, the receiving nurse just wants to feel smarter. Fine. I've got other patients to see or kids to get home to. Life is too short to worry about petty stuff.

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LIke all have said, don't worry about it. There is a version of the "report game" we've all seen. The game is for the nurse receiving report to ask more and more obscure questions until they get an "I don't know", at which point, the receiving nurse can act smarter than the reporting nurse. Sometimes, its a competitive night vs day shift thing. Sometimes, its an interdepartment thing. Sometimes, the receiving nurse just wants to feel smarter. Fine. I've got other patients to see or kids to get home to. Life is too short to worry about petty stuff.

After reading this reply I had an "ahh ha" moment! Some nurses really ask information that, although important, is not the most urgent details that needs to be conveyed. I thought maybe I was being naïve, but now I know I have been an unwilling participate in a very sick game!

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Don't take it personal - I'm sure she does that to others. What a total snot-bag!! Some people have to act like total jack-a**es sometimes. Just keep up your work. I've worked both nights and days and know there is this wonderful love-hate relationship between the two. I'm sure you are doing a great job. Guess it makes her feel important to be a condescending b****. BUT, we both know who looks like the idiot in the long run. :clown:

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

At our facility we do taped reports. Often I will be next door to the nurses report room signing off last minute paperwork when a certain nurse decides she wants to listen to report ASAP. She will then stop the recording periodically and make smart comments such as "Since when has Mr. X been a diabetic? Why on earth did she get a BG on him?" Well, possibly because he was cold and clammy, evenings says he skipped his dinner and no one on day shift reported how he ate so I can only assume that low blood sugar may be the culprit! She finds something to say each and every time. I was told to ignore her, she does it to most other nurses as well. It does hurt, and it does make you second guess yourself.

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I have to agree with JMBM. In terms of how RNs take report there are two kinds of nurses: the ones who are truly interested in knowing what they need to know to take care of the patient, and the ones who enjoy turning report into a competition of some sort. I'm at a place now where they do taped report and I'm not too fond of it. At my other place where I did verbal report, a majority of the RNs were sincerely interested in an intelligent and polite exchange of information about patients, but there were always a couple who enjoyed the humiliation or unnecessary grilling about a patient's obscure details. If I didn't consider it obscure, I would find out whatever information they were asking about, but if I knew the other RN was just trying to get into a humiliation-fest with me at the end of my shift, I never really indulged her. I would politely answer that I didn't know, tell her where she could find whatever obscure detail she wanted (like the flowsheet) and keep moving right along without letting it bother me one bit.

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