Was I at fault? the nurse embarrassed me in front of others.

[crunchytaco]

I am a nursing assistant in the float pool. I got floated to a med-surg floor. It was going okay, and then it got very busy when there were 3 new admits. I was in the room with the new admit and the nurse for that new patient. I was changing sheets, getting the patient situated, and getting vitals. When I come out, I check on each patient. One patient tells me he's in pain. I tell his nurse. Then that nurse asks me in a attitude in front of other nurses, if I heard the call bell going off for 1 patient for like 10 minutes. That patient needed a bed pan but ended up pooping on the sheets etc. I told her I didn't know because I was in the room with the new admit. Then she gives me an attitude in front of others saying that she cleaned him up. I was so embarrassed. I didn't know the patient had his call bell going off. I was in the room with another patient. Was I so at fault that she embarrassed me????

[mikala3]

Sounds like she was just mad at having to clean a patient up. It happens.

[goodyuvm]

If she knew the call light was going off then she should have answered it. This really frustrates me when RN's think they are above answering call bells.

[missk88]

Just as others are saying; she is being a jerk. Try not to let her get to you, because if you let her, she will continue to do so. Kill her with kindness and don't let it show that she bothers you. As long as you know the truth that is all that matters. I'm sure other nurses will notice her attitude and will not appreciate it as well. Even though they aren't actively sticking up for you, if they have a clue as to what is going on, they probably realized you were right and she was just being rude. She can only embarrass you if you let her, so don't. Kindly and calmly explain your side of the story and if she still wants to respond with attitude just smile and walk away from it. People like that aren't worth your time.

[SarcasticLVN]

The only time I get mad at the cnas is if they are some where hey aren't suppose to be and call lights are going off.. Other than that if they are busy with a shower, getting residents up, etc I try to answer them as long as I'm not in the middle of my med pass or tx. That was extremely rude of her. Hope you feel better'

[MInurse.st]

If an aide gets my light, great. But ultimately it's my responsibility, because they're my patients.

[RNnLTC]

The patient to CNA ratio in the hospital can be more than slightly unfair. I worked on a cardiac step-down unit and our rooms were constantly full. We would have 2 CNA's for 40 patients. Needless to say, we nurses were always working short and had to take on more patients and half of the patients being total care patients! That meant we had to pass bed pans, change briefs, answer call lights, pass meds, hang IV's, complete assessments with vitals every four hours, print and read tele strips every four hours, perform EKG's and blood draws, weigh patients, chart, call doctors, complete admission paperwork and assessments, talk to family members, draw blood again, participate in codes while a drug seeking patient in the next room over watches the clock for the minute of IV push Morphine and threatens to pull out their PICC line if you don't ignore the critical patient and push that medicine in that line in less than five minutes! They do it and come bleeding down the hall zombie style! Even then I didn't act out rudely to any of my CNA's. So, there's no excuse for that nurse's behavior! However, the point is the patients are "our" patients and it is all of "Our" jobs to answer call lights and do what is needed to provide care for the patient. That nurse sounds like an A_h*le. I see a lot more of those types working in Long-term care. We have almost just enough CNA's to attend to the basic needs of the patients on our unit, but many times the needs exceed the hands! When that happens, I see lots of nurses that refuse to put a patient on a bed pan, change a brief, change clothes or even transfer a patient from bed to wheel chair to prevent them from injuring themselves! They run down the halls looking for a CNA! I'm thinking to myself...really? The time it took you to find a CNA, you could have already completed the task! Perhaps I think like that because I was a CNA for 11 years prior to becoming an RN... Part of being a nurse includes butt wiping, passing bed pans, dressing, bathing etc. What the heck did they think Florence Nightingale did? Lol.

[nursel56]

I've noticed that too many people feel like they can treat float personnel like crap - and I never understood it when it happened to me. Just because you may not see that person the next day or on a regular basis they deserve less respect? We were sent here to help you.

[sheilamarie]

VERY UNPROFESSIONAL!!! This so called nurse has no place or business working with people. To call you out in front of other's is a big no no on so many level's If I were you and if you feel it necessary to do so, I would report her to the DON and make sure that something is done about this. I can almost bet that you wont be the last she does this too, and it's unfortunate b/c the only people that she is really going to hurt in the long run are the pts, clients/residents of the facility that you all work at.

I had an instuctor do this to me while I was in school and I was on clinical site when she called me out for something she could of assisted me with w/o doing what she did and how she did it, needless to say she got repremanded, and last I've heard she no longer works at the school I went too. I do not put up with that sort of behavior from anyone, doesn't matter if they are my peir's or not. When one takes it to that level, your a nobody in my book.

I don't know if your situation has been handled accordingly, and you do what you feel is right for not just you, but for everyone that has to deal w/this so called nurse.

[amygarside]

I believe it is not your fault. First of all, she should have said it in a nicer manner because that should be how it is done. Second, if she has some criticism to say, it should just be between the two of you. There is really no excuse why a nurse should embarrassed another nurse in front of others. That is really not acceptable.

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

I don't know why you would be embarrassed, unless you were issued one of those Hermione Granger time turner necklaces and failed to bring it to work with you as instructed. If that's the case, yes, you should be chagrined for leaving your necessary equipment at home. Otherwise, no. You are not the one with the problem. Move on.

[FMF Corpsman, MSN, RN]

I was fortunate where I worked; we never had an issue with answering call lights. If a light went off, the staff would practically knock each other over answering it. But that is what comes from working in a close-knit unit. Remembering back to when I worked out on a floor, it was fairly much the same there. We didn’t rely on the aids to answer the lights, as they were usually busy, if a light went off, it didn’t matter whose patient it was, we simply answered it and told the nurse that such and such patient was on the pan or we took them off the pan and their output was such and such or they were in the BR blah, blah, blah. Just a spirit of cooperation, if you keep that in mind, instead of trying to get out of doing more or less work than the other team...

[lavender59]

Obviously, she didn't like the fact that she got her hands dirty cleaning the poop. You'll find in many workplaces the powertrip divas.

Had she forgotten what teamwork means?