University of maryland medical

jayebug · Feb 27, 2014

Hi, I just finished an assignment there. At first I thought everyone was really nice. I have to say that they aren't outwardly hostile towards travel nurses. They seem to accept you as regular staff. Towards the end of my assignment, however, I really felt bullied by some (not all of the staff), and was being reported on a regular basis for simple petty stuff that other people were also doing but somehow managed to dodge any kind of reprimand. I haven't worked in Maryland before, so I didn't know the culture, but from what I have heard from the clinical resource team at my company, the RN is responsible for everything, and I mean everything from stripping a room after discharge, to drawing all AM labs, to monitoring the equiptment for malfunctions, to transporting a patient to and from a test and staying with them if they aren't allowed to leave the floor off tele. If anything untowards occurs during the patient's care, it all falls on you. For instance, I was off the floor twice during one 12 hr shift. During this time, the nursing asst did a fingerstick on my patient and the result was low. Of course when I got back, I had to catch up on everything and it made my day totally hectic. The patient remained vompletely asymptomatic. The NA never informed me or the charge nurse about the blood sugar. When this was realized in report later on, I got nailed for it. Sure, it's ultimately my responsibility but if you're swamped (which it seems to me to be the purpose of a having a nursing asst) and the techs help you, just know that they are not responsible for the care they deliver because they don't document it in the system, and they are not obligated to report anything of the ordinary to you. If the phlebotomist agrees to draw a lab for you, they aren't obligated to actually do it. If it doesn't get done, it's your fault. I'm just telling you this so you know upfront. The acuity is high, and the patients are needy, so just get your documentation done very early in the shift so that you can prepare for stuff that might come up later on. Parking sucks. Make sure you get your parkibg form into the transportation office early to get the 8 dollar rate. The staff is a younger set-mid to late 20s who have about 2-3 yrs of experience. They seem to prefer similar people. Hope that helps.