Published May 1, 2008
labrador4122, RN
1,921 Posts
I am still very new, got off orientation march 14 and there is still a million things that I have to learn.
I'm all about team work, if a med needs to be given, and my co-worker asks me to give it I will, help changing a diaper etc. etc.
there was a med yesterday during day shift that was discontinued, but on the computer it showed as "not given"
I asked my manager if it was ok for me to put "not given" she told me "no, that is dayshift, not your fault, leave it alone"
so I leave it.
the new day nurse comes in, and the med is still there showing as pink "missed dose" and I told her, that it was day shift, not mine. and she said "but you could of put it as not given, you can do that, we work as a team here". and I said "well, I asked and was told no", and she kept on lecturing me on how I am supposed to click it as not given because during report I was told that the order was discontinued.......
so I just said to her "well, I asked, and I was told no, so I am not clicking it", and finally I just agreed with her, and said "next time I will go over the computer mars so this doesn't happen" but did not click that missed med.
she looked at me with the meanest look on her face, like I was doing something wrong... and it made me upset.
I am new, so I hate when everyone has different things to say, before I asked the manager if I could click "not given" I asked 2 other nurses and they were ok with it........ but before doing that, I asked the manager and she told me "no"
I hate being bombarded by different opinions. I wish there was way that everyone would just follow the rules, and did things according to the rules of the unit.
One time on 4/1 I omitted a dose, that the day nurse told me it was a PRN but on the computer it showed as scheduled. I was talked to about that, and the day nurse did not click "not given" on one of my meds.
but she was right, it was my responsability to have documented as refused medication. I learned, and God willing I will not make that mistake again.
Everyday we make mistakes, and no one is perfect, and hopefully most of us learn from mistakes.
I cant' stand people who just keep lecturing me until I agree with them.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I explained myself to this day nurse from today, and that should of been it. "we work as a team" she said to me.
when I have heard so many complaints from several dayshift nurses on how everyone doesn't help eachother out in dayshift.
that even when the manager makes the assignment, she actually has to "buddy up" the dayshift nurses just for the reason that they dont' help eachother out.
I want to be the best employee I can be, and I believe that the rules are there for a reason.
so anyways, I wanted to confirm what this day nurse had said, therefore I called the clinical nurse specialist to ask if it was ok for me to click "not given" and she said "no it's not, you asked the manager and she said no, and I say no, that medication was dayshift problem not on your time"
so I will leave it at that.
thanks for reading:uhoh21:
UM Review RN, ASN, RN
1 Article; 5,163 Posts
Not familiar with computer MARs here, but couldn't you have called pharmacy and corrected the typo on the d/c'd med? Seems to me that the root of the problem was whoever entered erroneous information into the MAR, not how the nurses handled it by either checking it off or not.
jjjoy, LPN
2,801 Posts
I hear ya there! Some people just won't lay off! Sometimes, when all useful communication has been had, it's best to change the subject or suddenly have to take of care of something (was that my pager?!)
that was for the dayshift time, not mine. I asked the manager what I should do and she said to leave it, as well as the clinical nurse specialist. So I believe I did the right thing.
It's just frustrating when other co-workers tell you something is OK then your boss tells you it is not.
exactly!
I explained my actions to her, but she still kept going on and on.
Everyone is responsible for their own actions, as am I. I don't work under anyone else's license but mine.
when they ask her why she didn't give the med, she will say because it was D/C'd, It is not my responsibility to click something not done during my shift.
BTW all the charting is done by computer, so it does not take long to chart or check your mars
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
On my unit, we work as a team, as well, but not to the extent of doing each other's charting.
We check off meds on the computer, as well, and it sometimes occurs that a med scheduled late in the day, or ordered late as a "now" dose hasn't arrived from the pharmacy by the time the day nurse leaves. If she tells me about it in report, I'll pass it when it comes, or if it arrives too close to the next scheduled dose, I'll check it not given and "awaiting arrival from pharmacy" as the reason. Our system gives us a choice of several reasons, plus a place to type in, so I suppose it would be possible to type in "dayshift forgot." But I think I would hesitate to do that.
I dunno. I have a theory that our primitive ancestors, back before we had all this technology, were nocturnal animals who hid from predators during the day. I think that may be why people who live on a diurnal schedule, today, always seem just a little bit hyper.
But I suppose it's possible we are naturally diurnal, and those of us on nightshift are just too sleepy to fuss.
Virgo_RN, BSN, RN
3,543 Posts
Oh boy, I do know how you feel. I had a similar experience recently:
https://allnurses.com/forums/f9/cardizem-gtt-reasonable-295628.html
CO2emission
100 Posts
Don't you worry about being the best employee, you just be the best nurse. You have learned! You have learned about the sort of person you don't want to be. Let it wash over you, smell the roses and say "I'm sorry and thankyou for letting me know."
Oh boy, I do know how you feel. I had a similar experience recently:https://allnurses.com/forums/f9/cardizem-gtt-reasonable-295628.html
OMG! I hate when you try to follow the rules, and not go out of your nursing practice and yet people still keep on getting mad for something outside of your hands.
I never thought nursing would be like this.
OMG! I hate when you try to follow the rules, and not go out of your nursing practice and yet people still keep on getting mad for something outside of your hands.I never thought nursing would be like this.
It's not and it gets better
Longie
19 Posts
:twocents:ok patty, a couple of thoughts here:
1. you asked your manager for advice who advised you and you took the appropriate actions based on same advice. 'nuf said.
2. as to the nurse who gave you the hard time and wouldn't let it go:deadhorse, might have been a couple of things going on:
a. she's having a bad day/week/month/personal life is shot....and you're at the receiving end, lucky you
b. she's burnt out and you're at the receiving end, lucky you
c. she's mean-spirited and doesn't like to see new nurses trying to succeed, and would rather spend all her time complaining about the lack of teamwork rather than trying to be a part of the team, lucky you :sasq:
if you can ascertain her attitude is due to situation a, a little compassion goes a loong way. if it's b, i've found sometimes (but not always) trying to approach these nurses and ask for their 'thoughts' on certain nursing issues/policies/procedures during a relatively (haha) quiet time helps each of you to see each other in a different light and communicate hopefully better during stressful times at work.
if the situation is c, though....i work with someone who initially was on the opposite 12 hour shift of mine and boy did i dread giving report when she worked the next shift--i would usually walk out of the report room feeling like i needed to be typed and crossed because i had been ripped a new one that badly. it didn't matter what i did on my shift, didn't matter how crazy it had been, even didn't matter if i had an excellent shift and not a thing left undone--she found fault and reamed me out in front of everyone in the room--unit secretaries, aids, students--didn't matter. she found fault until i stood up to her one day and defended myself. i now work with her on the same shift and she still has more than a few moments of making comments around me/to me, but i stand up to her and i have come to realize that i am not alone in how she treats people--it's pretty much across the board.
stand up for yourself when you know you are right--know your policy/procedures and people can argue all they want, patty! :icon_hug: