First let me start by saying I absolutely love having unit secretaries. Our unit secretaries have many responsibilities such as ordering supplies, keeping up with inventory, answering and diverting calls, placing consults to physicians. Our days are so much more stressful when we do not have a unit secretary.
My only issue I have with my current unit is that the secretaries are allowed to assign patients to nurses. When I work as relief charge I always make the assignments because I want to make sure acuity of patients are divided or a nurse doesn't get stuck with multiple blood transfusion, heparin gtts, or multiple admissions. However, I notice that the unit manager is perfectly OK with unit secretaries assigning nurses to patients.
I just think that nurses should be the one to make the assignments due to the above reasons. The few places I have worked as a nurse, the nurses were responsible for assigning patients to oncoming shift. Am I being too harsh? or unrealistic? Is this the norm on your unit?
When I have witnessed this I correct it in the moment, obviously would never take orders through their word of mouth, etc., etc. But...managers know full well about the inappropriateness that goes on when people are too big for their britches. My guess is they don't care because what they really want is for the charge nurse to have a patient assignment.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I wouldn’t be agreeable to this situation at all. Non-nurse unit secretaries don’t know how clinically weak or strong some floor nurses might be in certain tasks. Sorry, but as a former house supervisor, I’d only my assignments to be made by another nurse.
magellan
84 Posts
That's outside of their scope, it's not legal.