I normally work in a cath lab and on rare occasions, we will have no procedures scheduled. On these days, we are floated to various floor as "helpers" (BTW, we are all RNs doing the floating here). We are not given assignments because something nasty always comes through the doors and we are called back to the cath lab.
The other day I had to float to our cardiac step-down unit. When I arrived to the floor, the charge RN gave me my assignment. My assignment was to do the first assessment of the shift on 6 patients. She started to give me a mini-report on each when I asked, "Am I being assigned these patients?" I had no problem with this as long as she had a back-up plan in case I had to leave suddenly. But she said, "No. These are Betty's (an RN) patients and she wants you to do her assessments."
Me: "What will Betty be doing?"
Charge: "Passing meds and dressing changes. You know, tasky stuff."
Me: "Wouldn't it be better if I did the "tasky stuff" and she assessed her own patients?"
Charge: "This is how she wants to do it."
I refused in the nicest way I could, but ended up with the manager of the floor, who for some reason felt she had to get involved, being very rude to me in the process. But I still refused.
So I started doing the tasky things. . .started a couple of IVs, passed meds, gave a few pain meds, answered call lights, walked a patient, etc.
After a couple of hours, the charge RN approached me and asked me if I would help Mary RN admit her new patient. "Sure!" I said. I get into the room and Mary tells me, "Why don't you do her physical assessment while I go check her orders." Huh? What is it with this floor? I again refused. And again I was the bad guy. And you guys, I have to interject at this point that I am very nice and easy going. It really bothered me that I was making people mad at me, but I felt like no one was listening to my reasoning. I was made to feel like I was being lazy or acting like a "snooty" cath lab nurse which was not the case at all.
The reason I was refusing to do these assessments is: When an RN accepts her assignment, is it not her duty under her state practice act to assess her patient and then plan that patient's goals around that assessment? (I realize I way over-simplified that, but for the sake of time. . .) What I was being told was that the law requires each patient be assessed by an RN each shift and they didn't care who the RN was doing the assessment just as long as it got done.
I just could not get through these nurses heads that THEY SHOULD WANT TO DO THEIR OWN ASSESSMENTS!!!!! How would they know what was going on with their patients if something would go wrong? Sure, it would have been documented. But, honestly, I just could not believe a nurse would accept her assignment and not want to do her own assessments. Especially a new admit!
I have had a few nurses on that floor stand up for me, which makes me feel better, but I am the type of person that wants everyone to like me and it really bothers me if someone thinks bad of me. (I think this is my "Middle Child Syndrome" rearing its ugly head!)
Anyway, does anyone out there think I was wrong? Should I have done those assessments?
