What is your biggest nursing pet peeve?

hotmama · Apr 14, 2004

lets see, my pet peeves are: sharp containers being full in most of the rooms, and noone seems to notice they need changing. people who dont stock med carts with supplies for the shift. Nurses that have discharges, but wait to discharge them at the end of the shifts, so they cant get admits, or conveniently have something to do. of course as already stated "thats not my pt" sorry that he cant breathe.... :angryfire

Jamesdotter · Apr 14, 2004

>>

I remember the night---The labor room nurse got a call from the floor nurse on the GYN floor that the triplet lady had ruptured her membranes and seemed to be in labor. This happened in July (those of you who work in teaching institutions know what that means.) By the time the 2nd year said "call the first year" and the (brand new) first year figured out where the lady was, baby #1 had already been born. The second year was supposed to take the call, and was royally chewed out by staff for his behavior, but that didn't help us in the middle of the night.

talaxandra · Apr 15, 2004

sound like a rough night indeed! Enjoy your day off

Thanks - feeling much better after four days off, particularly as (isn't this always the case) the ward has been dead quiet since I left. Fingers crossed it stays that way over the weekend :)

Sayow · Apr 15, 2004

To hear"...Demerol only works for me, I'm allergic to Toradol, Talwin, Codeine, and DHE..." or most of all "...so you're a male nurse..." :angryfire To which my reply is always: "No sir, I'm an ER nurse who happens to be male."

redwinggirlie · Apr 15, 2004

When I take care of someone who is in a wheelchair and the people ask ME how they feel, what they need, etc....... come on, ask the person.... sheesh

BGSUstudent · Apr 15, 2004

When I'm running my butt off, call lights going off, phones ringing off the hook, and my coworkers continue to hold a personal conversation at the nurses station. Oh the joys of being a nurses aide and nursing student.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Apr 16, 2004

The nurse who came down 4 floors' worth of stairs, into a BREAKROOM while i was ON LUNCH and made it CLEAR that i was on lunch, to tell ME that her pt. had diarrhea all over the bed, floor, etc. I get upstairs (after my 30 minutes) and the pt. is sitting on the bed, poop everywhere, while the nurse was checking out her Birkenstock order.

(This happened this afternoon, i have an appt. with my NM about this incident tomorrow, for which i also wrote an incident report on, BECAUSE this was a HUGE violation of pt. safety!!!)

critcarenurse16 · Apr 16, 2004

Thanks - feeling much better after four days off, particularly as (isn't this always the case) the ward has been dead quiet since I left. Fingers crossed it stays that way over the weekend :)

Now it's my turn to have a bad night. I came on to three pts and within an hr was down to one. Not the way to start a night. I hate losing patients--- it really stinks! :crying2:

critcarenurse16 · Apr 16, 2004

Pet peeve #11

Nurses who do not clean up their own messes. Came on to a sink FULL of rusting utensils. Other nurse said "its the next shifts job to clean them" What the h*ll??? I have enough children at home to care for. And what nerve to say THAT!

:angryfire

Nitengale326 · Apr 18, 2004

ok at the risk of ticking some folks off here is another one, although i am sure none of the smokers on here would do this.
smoker taking 3or4 smoke breaks a day then complaining about not having time to get things done and staying over and making ot
smoker asking you to watch their pt while they "go out real quick" and they have a dirty pt and they leave knowing the pt is dirty or on the bedpan.
smoker asking you to watch their pt and just saying oh he is stable, and you check to find out they are hypo or hypertensive and crashing, or better yet a one to one balloon pump and they don't even mention that it is a balloon pump pt.
smoker taking 3or 4 smoke breaks and a 45/min lunch because after they eat they go outto smoke.
sorry like i said i am sure none of the smokers who puruse this board do these things it is just a few things i have run into.

i am so so sick of these smokers. i worked in long term care for nearly 20 years and it is much worse there than in the hospital (from what i have seen so far) but i still see it some. the nurse i relieve is a smoker. she can't document her pain assessments, care plans or patient education sessions because "she doesn't have time" . 8 hour chart checks are not completed, orders not taken off but is waiting at the door with her purse on her shoulder everynite at 10:45 and she is usually reaking of stale smoke.

when i did long term care we had a "team" of supervisors, mds coordinators, educators, (all non-floor duty nurses) that would do a "code 34" over the intercom. within a minute or two here they all would come down the stairs or elevator and head out back to the smoking area. and these were not short breaks... 15, 20, 30 mins and then wanted to take lunch!!! evening shift believe it or not was worse. our supervisor would latch onto the smokers, (she didn't like to be out there alone) she would fire one right after the other up. guess who got to answer the phone, meet with families, docs,... whatever while she was away from her desk. the rn on skilled/subacute with 30 patients and 1 cna. oh the things i wished on those women.... not nice... not pretty!!!

Nitengale326 · Apr 18, 2004

1. Corporate...nuf said
2. Cold food
3. Nurses eating while feeding residents
4. Not toileting residents
5. CNA walks in room, turns on light, pulls sheet back, 1 swift move resident is from bed to w/c, all done by scaring the hell out of them.
6. Lack of privacy for residents, not pulling curtain, pushing resident down hall only in towel
7. Having All residents in bed by 6pm
8. Start getting residents "predressed" when they come in and then have them all up by 3 or 4pm
9. Skipping rounds
10. When they do rounds, forgetting pericare and oral care
11. Families that are way to involved and need to get lives
12. Families that are waiting for them to die, to get the money
13. Shower aide that can do 40 showers in 2 hrs or less
14. No nail care, oh we don't cut their toenails the podiatrist does that
15. Walking down the hall and seeing a resident being pushed by an aide going faster than the speed of sound, hair flying behind them.
16. Pulling a gerichair backwards
17. Turn off the IV or feeding while dressing resident, but then don't let you know
18. Applying a nitro patch to find that the resident already has 3 stuck all over his chest and back
19. Resident comes back from hosp with FC, and nurse doesn't D/C it when there is no Dx for having it
20. I knew I could think of at least 20 pet peeves...........lol
But, I haven't worked in over 7 months and can't find a job, I miss all of it.......lol
Oh one more........Calling family member, telling them the patient has taken a turn for the worse, family member asks, how long, should we come on out or do you think it will be awhile..........

spoken like a true long term care nurse... been there done that burned the friggin' T shirt!!! God love ya... but you left out a biggie.... The day the inspectors roll in the door you have total caos... The social worker is pulling your applesauce off the med cart because she can't see the date and the activities director FINALLY pulls the trouble residents in to do something besides wander the halls!!!

Nitengale326 · Apr 18, 2004

oh and supervisors and mds coordinators and DON and ADON come out and help pass trays ... can't let them get cold! Give me a break!