Want to hear your pet peeves in LTC nursing

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Right now I'm having an issue with the night shift LPN. She is always crabby when she comes in and criticizes almost everything I do or say to her. Supposedly she has a bad home life, but she shouldn't take it out on me. Sunday evening when I worked, I was really busy...and when she came in, she jumped my case about all the changeover paperwork not being done. Every other facility I've ever worked in, this was night shift's job. I apologized to her and offered to stay over and help her with changeover. Her response? "I don't need your help; the only thing I need you to do is stay the hell out of my way!"

I'm seriously considering filing a grievance against her. I asked my preceptor yesterday when I happened to see her which shift is supposed to do changeover and she said nights. So this night shift nurse is really chapping my hide!!!

I'm sure I'll think of other pet peeves too....what are some of yours?

Blessings, Michelle

What a good way to vent!

1. CNA's that whine about being short staffed, but then still spend a lot of time hanging around the desk watching me work.

2. Having to hunt for supplys. Isn't it someone's job to stock the units????

3. A bruise gets reported to you with the info that they saw it last night but forgot to tell the nurse.

4. Med carts that aren't stocked.

5. When a resident's room is SOOOO hot and you have to do a long and involved treatment.

6. When the pharmacy can't send a narc without a script, its after hours, you're out of the med, the res really needs it, and the on-call doc won't call in the script.

7. Change of shift falls/ skin issues/ etc.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

Vital sign machines that shut off in the middle of taking a b/p because they weren't charged. Reaching for the cord, to find that only half is attached to the machine; the other half is in an outlet somewhere down the hall.

Call-offs every single weekend.

Failing to mention that a medication was delivered in liquid form, and is stored in the fridge, so you end up running to the backup box (in another unit) to get pills that aren't in the cart.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

1. Nurses who can't remember something even though they've been told/shown/taught 5 times

2. Doctor's who can't be bothered to keep up with new "stuff"

3. Doctor's who order PRNs we can't use...duh can't have a PRN antipsychotic in Massachusetts unless there is already a standing order for the same med

4.Call outs

5. Call outs at the last minute

6. Staff members who complain about admissions...um...if the beds are empty we don't get paid

7.Nurses who complain that the residents are sick...yep they are. If they weren't sick they would be at home.

8. Anyone who doesn't pick up after themselves

9. Staff who won't answer a call light or IF they do answer it they don't help the resident because he/she isn't on their assignment

I could go on

I gave up on treatment carts long ago. Completely useless for anything but skin prep. Can never find anything there. Whatever I leave there is gone the next day, and no replacement. Always go straight into the med room, even for something trivial like gauze 2x2s.

Specializes in LTC.
I gave up on treatment carts long ago. Completely useless for anything but skin prep. Can never find anything there. Whatever I leave there is gone the next day, and no replacement. Always go straight into the med room, even for something trivial like gauze 2x2s.

When I do my treatments at night I say.. "its a treatment cart with no treatments'. Theres nothing! I hoard the supplies that I need for treatments I know are ongoing and I make sure theres enough supplies for the next couple of days. I go back and its gone. Creams in the wrong drawers.. no gauze, no NS, nothing!

"Originally Posted by JenniferSews viewpost.gif That "lunch" is deducted from your pay, although I have yet to take a lunch or see anyone else take one either. :/"

I was told by Payroll, that if she gets called back to work for any reason during her lunch, then she would clock back in. So, I started doing it. I always got paid for those days that I didn't get lunch/or had short lunch. Thankfully, we had computerized time cards. If I'd had handwritten timecards, I think it'd be really easy for work to not pay for time worked during lunch.

I only got through the first page of this thread and felt the old anxiety attacks again.. :uhoh3:

When I worked LTC, my biggest pet peeve was passing pills. Hated, hated, hated it.

Hated walking into a room of a pt. every single day to give them pills and hearing "what the bleep are these? I'm not taking any bleeping pills!" for the hundredth time in as many days.

Hated covering a different floor and hearing "where were you? I've been waiting for my pills since 8:00! Mary Nurse always gives me my pills at 8:00!" Or better yet hearing from the CNA "room 112 is waiting for their pills" when I'm at the other end of the hall.

Hated when a pt. would decline pain meds during med pass then ask for them an hour later because therapy told them to.

Oh please let me add a med pass peeve that's not even related to LTC, but rather SNF in hospital. Getting a call from a nurse who's with my patient getting a blood transfusion 3 buildings away. "Your patient wants a pain pill. Can you come bring him one?" Really???

Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.
The family member who says, "You look busy. I don't mean to disturb you, but..."

Well, you just did. WHAT?!

This is just SO ANNOYING!!!

Specializes in LTC.
I only got through the first page of this thread and felt the old anxiety attacks again.. :uhoh3:

Hated covering a different floor and hearing "where were you? I've been waiting for my pills since 8:00! Mary Nurse always gives me my pills at 8:00!" Or better yet hearing from the CNA "room 112 is waiting for their pills" when I'm at the other end of the hall.

This bugs me! :mad:

Specializes in SN, LTC, REHAB, HH.
This is just SO ANNOYING!!!

LOL! That is so true.

Specializes in SN, LTC, REHAB, HH.

Omg this thread is so hillarius. i thought i was the only one who had these things happen. especially the one about pt's saying " i always get my pills at such an such time" then look at you and say "are you new"? LOL... I had this happen to me today. I was running behind on med pass for 6am. i goes to the pt's room with her meds and she complains that i'm late and she ALWAYS gets her 6am pills at 6am, yeah right. ok i'm only 25 min. late lady give me a break!

Specializes in Home Care.

There she was, sitting in her wheelchair right beside me, staring hard at me and we were down the opposite end of the hallway from her room. I told her her meds were on the other med cart and that I'd give her her pills when I completed the 20 people before her. "well when will that be?" told her "when I get onto the other med cart". Thankfully, she got taken down to the dining room for dinner.

Ping pong resident between our LTC and the hospital. He's not sick enough for the hospital to keep him under Medicaid, and too sick for us to really give him the care he needs.

Family members who are out of the country and neglect to assign an alternate contact. He told me he was leaving the country and I told him he needs to assign an alternate.

Doctors who's voicemail box is full, there's no other way to get hold of him and he has no alternate contact number.

This all happened to me today.

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