What is your biggest nursing pet peeve?

Ellie G · May 25, 2016

"old" is when you start making mistakes (that you have never made before) and start forgetting things. By then you need to retire! When I was a tech there was a nurse that I would work with (sometimes) whom was in her 60's. She starting making med errors...

Med errors like your grammar errors maybe. I'm 62 and I do just fine sweetie, but nice of you to worry about us old folks.

Ellie G · May 25, 2016

i never understood it. it's not a big deal to do and it's something you wouldn't forget to do for yourself (or i would hope).

unless you have to do it on a patient who fights you every step of the way and clamps his jaws shut like a crocodile and then you can't pull out the toothette because you're afraid they'll swallow the foam.

Neil B. Ball · May 25, 2016

Not a nurse myself, but after a semester's co-op placement in my local hospital...

Any disorganization is unpleasant to deal with. I spent a considerable amount of time organizing the silliest, messiest things. This pet peeve has likely already been mentioned, but it's important!

Seriously. Always leave something in an equally or more organized condition than what you've found it in. :unsure:

Ruby Vee, BSN · May 25, 2016

You don't graduate as an RN. You graduate with a BSN or ADN and are then granted the opportunity to take the NCLEX. If you pass, the state you applied for licensure in will THEM bestow upon you the coveted RN.

But if you correct the person who is going to "RN school", then you're a nasty, bitter old hag who is jealous of their youth and beauty. And a nitpicker besides.

Ruby Vee, BSN · May 25, 2016

Not a nurse myself, but after a semester's co-op placement in my local hospital...
Any disorganization is unpleasant to deal with. I spent a considerable amount of time organizing the silliest, messiest things. This pet peeve has likely already been mentioned, but it's important!
Seriously. Always leave something in an equally or more organized condition than what you've found it in.

I sincerely hope that isn't your real name you're posting under. Or your real photo. Sooner or later you're going to say something ignorant, arrogant or otherwise offensive and when you do, you will welcome the relative anonymity that this board offers. Please change your user name and your avatar.

And recognize that "I'm not a nurse, but I'm going to contribute to this thread on nursing pet peeves" may irritate, annoy and otherwise cause nurses to react negatively to you.

Marisette, BSN, RN · May 25, 2016

what annoys me most is nurses who talk about what annoys them to everyone but to the person who is causing the grief. Also political correctness, people who don't say what needs to be said to manipulative and lazy people for fear of retrobution or courtesy and because they believe it will do no good. It may not but when our coworkers are causing trouble I've found calling them a spade at least lets them know, I know it and I will tell anyone I feel like about it and their crap won't fly by me.
And staff who see unpleasant changes coming and preemptively complain their way into a meeting with management and find themselves solving the problem to managements benefit, still upsetting themselves and simply didn't sit back and let management figure it out. For example with their schedule, when an established worker is forced or coerced into working someone elses hours because management can't keep help, we should stand firm that our personal time is just as important as this job.

So true. I have to chyme in with mine. Managers who hide in their office while their nurses are working understaffed. Managers who ask nurses to find coverage if they need days off. Managers who focus on customer service, but refuse to provide the staff needed to make customers happy.

In general, any organization, that is top heavy with management that spends all day at meetings adding layers of bureaucracy to my day. Same with government regulators that add unnecessary regulations to an overwhelmed health care system. Layers and Layers of useless management and regulation.

TSemperger · May 25, 2016

I report off at 7:30 am but we used to have staff meetings before the day crew even came onto the floor. Thought it was highly rude and unsafe of management and the day nurses to come in and sit for an hour or so while they had a so called staff meeting that the night staff couldn't even attend since we're expected to cover the floor for the hour that the day crew is sitting on their butts. After a 12 hour shift, I'm exhausted and I'm ready to head home. We're always short staffed anymore and I don't think it's unfair of me to expect them to take report and responsibility for their assignment before grabbing a coffee and or snack and sitting on their butts for an hour.

Ben_Dover · Mar 18, 2017

"Diagnosis vs Diagnosysis"

"Oriented vs Orientated"

"Palpitation vs Palpatation"

"Palpitate vs Palpatate"

A new nurse asking re: the differences bet. the ffg. insulins: Novolin R, Aspart, Humalog, Novolog, & Glargine and the likes! I do help and explain the differences between these medications as a precaution for everyone's safety. I actually don't mind. :)

RNOTODAY, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2017

Registered Nurses that are intimidated by talking to / calling / paging/ questioning physicians...... I work with the top two prima donnas of medicine-- surgeons & anesthesiologists.... first name basis , I have zero qualms about telling them right off when ( and it's often ) they are acting like asshats...

Seriously though, they respect you more if they sense confidence, and initiative....other than that , they can be sharks, smell blood in the water? And it's open season...

RNOTODAY, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2017

Oh, and grammar and spelling errors, I'm kind of ashamed to admit it, because I don't want to appear like a jerk, but YES, I judge!!!

jen.lu · Mar 27, 2017

When there's dried blood under the tegaderm of the IV. It drives me bonkers.

Ellie G · Mar 27, 2017

Single lumen PICCS are such a waste of time. Give me a double lumen at tleast, better yet a triple lumen PICC. Especially in the ICU.
I hate being left with bad IV's too. That annoys me. I had a nurse tell me that she left the IV in because she knew she wouldn't get another one in so she didn't try. Meanwhile his IV site is all red, and leaking propofol. Great. Thank God that pt got a PICC that day.

i had one come from the ER with vancomycin infusion in a 24g in the thumb! Aargh.

When I was doing PICC's I never did singles unless it was for home infusion. It's ridiculous for an inpatient. The day shift put a single in on a step-down patient who ended up in the ICU that night. I ended up replacing it with a triple over a guidewire in the unit.