What would you have done?

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

OK. So I am out of travel nursing and onto my first reg. staff position in a long time. For the most part I like the unit I am on, except for a few personalities. The pay isnt great, but hey, its work and thats more than some can get right now. I also work nights though and that makes the whole experience less attractive.

Today I had my first run in with another nurse. Boy, I could not see this coming.

Turns out a pt. that was added to my assignment (because they sent a nurse home for low ratios) during the night didnt have his admit. paperwork completed. He's been here for a number of days and the fact that the admit. forms were not completed entirely have escaped everyone. The unit that admitted him (not ours) is infamous for not completeing their work.

So, I had two nurses yelling and whineing to me about how I should have caught this and corrected it. Mind you, I was told specificaly in report the admit. process was completed. Seems I am responsible for checking if everyone I follow has done their work and is up to snuff. I've only been here 2 1/2 months at this point and I'm just getting to the point where I am confident my stuff is done and up to snuff. Apparently thats not enough.

I dont get how something is missed for entire days but yet as soon as the pt. comes under my care, it must be checked and done. Where was the sense of urgency when everyone else had the pt.? I'll admit to the fact that I did not go back and go over everyone else's work with a fine tooth comb. Guilty. Thats not my job.

I basically told them to go choke on a fat one and that I was too busy to entertain them at the time. Which I didnt.

[JB2007, ASN, RN]

I would have told them that it was not my day to babysit my co-workers and to get off of my back. In the nicest way possible of course. I do not have the time to go over everyone elses work, unless they ask me to check something that they did I assume they did their work. However, if I am the one to find some paperwork is not done or done right I would correct the problem and let the person who did not do it right what was wrong. My motto is you find it you fix it. Unless it is a chronic problem then either the person needs to be shown the correct way of doing things.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

Yeah, this is a chronic problem on this unit. Far from the first time something has been "cough......missed" for days and all of a sudden I get the pt. and there is a sense of urgency that everything be perfect. Maybe they gave up on the other people and are just trying to keep me from being the same way or something. Thats how my wife said to take it.......turn it around into into a complement of sorts.

[JKidzMOM2009]

Good for you. I don't understand why nurses do this to eachother.

[JB2007, ASN, RN]

Yeah, this is a chronic problem on this unit. Far from the first time something has been "cough......missed" for days and all of a sudden I get the pt. and there is a sense of urgency that everything be perfect. Maybe they gave up on the other people and are just trying to keep me from being the same way or something. Thats how my wife said to take it.......turn it around into into a complement of sorts.

Either that or they are too lazy to take care of the problem. They decided that since you are the new person you could do their work and their's too. If the paper work was soooo urgent then it must have been urgent when they had the pt. All I am saying is do not let the nurses take advantage of you, because some people are all into breaking the new person in by having them do the stupid and senseless stuff that nobody else will do. Just know when to draw the line in a kind, but firm way. Start out the way you intend to go on, because you may have this job for a long time.

[oramar]

No doubt about it, new person hazing is going on here. You could point out to them that you are new to that unit but it does not mean that you are a new nurse. You sound like you have quite a bit of experience and know what is what.

[soulofme]

Slam the paper work down when the admit was done 2 the DON... case closed... let them deal with the BS...

[chicookie, BSN, RN]

I had something similar happen to me the other day except it was transfer orders. The charge nurse made this big BIG deal about it. I pretty much told her to shove it. While I don't recommend this(..maybe..) what I did do was take it to the higher ups. Got them off my back.

It's so stupid how we not only have to be responsible for our work but work done days ago by someone else!

Good thing you didn't let them push you around! GO YOU!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

We have a problem where there's a few things that HAVE to be done and in the conputer on every patient. One of them being height (peds hospital.) I always find it ironic that a patient can spend a month surviving in the PICU without knowing the height, but as soon as they hit the floor, it's all of the sudden a life or death matter of getting that height done and in the computer just in case Joint Commission comes!

[David13, MSN, RN]

It looks to me like a case of those nurses trying to take advantage of the fact that you are fairly new to try to get you to do work they do not want to do.

In my opinion, this is extremely unprofessional behavior on their part and should not be tolerated. There is a problem with the process, not with you, and you should not be made to take responsibility for someone else's carlessness.

I would bring this issue to the attention of administration so that the process can be remedied and this situation can hopefully be prevented from occurring in the future.

[truern]

This was a patient that was ADDED to your assignment because the other nurse was sent home and yet YOU are responsible for seeing to it that all the previous work was correct?!? Like you didn't have enough to do just finding out what meds were due, treatments, etc without double-checking to see that everybody else had done their work?

Yeah, right. You were actually NICE about it..hehe

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

I'll also add, this patient had been around for a number of days. Not like he was fresh on the unit and people were just unable to get to it.

A situation where the nurse before me doesnt get around to an admit that occurred on their shift is a completely different beast. This guy had been around for five days!!!!!