What happened to common sense?

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Well.....we have an on call rotation where I'm the DON. It's not really working out because the staff nurses are either as dumb as rocks or play dumb hoping someone else will do their work for them.

It does them no good in the long run if someone else does their admissions or their reports or their care plans or their whatever.

I got a call last night with a question about our smoking policy. We were in the middle of a huge thunder and lightening storm....a storm big enough for the DPH to send out notices.

One of the nurses called me and asked me what the policy was on people going out to smoke in a storm. Are you kidding me????? You can't figure it out by yourself that sending someone outside during a lightening storm in a METAL wheelchair is a bad idea.

Have we done so much for these nurses that they have lost their ability to think on their own? I fear for my own safety if I have to be a patient...and the nurses in the hospital are no better.

[litbitblack, ASN, RN]

LOL I feel you....Ive wondered where the common sense went for quite some time.

[Daisy4RN]

I totally agree with you that this is totally obvious that one should not go out in a storm. But maybe they were asking because the patient was insisting and the staff thought they might be in trouble for not letting the patient go outside, you know customer service and all that, maybe?? (Just asking...). But I do agree that common sense is no longer common!!

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Smoking in my facility is a privilege not a right. There are rules and these particular patients all know the rules and break them regularly. If it were up to me no one would be allowed to smoke. If this were an isolated incident about a ridiculous call, I might agree but these nurses call for every silly thing.

[_LTC_LPN_]

I question this myself. I recently started working as the charge nurse (while having my own full assignment) and I have nurses calling me every 5 minutes asking ridiculous questions or expecting me to do their job for them.

I am honestly speechless. Prior to me becoming charge nurse I never called the previous one for anything. Unless I was about to call the Dr. to try to get a resident sent to the hospitial. And more of FYI kind of things.

No I'm not doing your fall charting, or putting in your orders, or calling the Dr for you, or whatever else. And before you call me for help you better have tried yourself. I am about to go to my DON and tell her I can't do it anymore. Really I can't.

It's outrageous.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I AM the DON and I can't take it any more.

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Sad to say, common sense has left the building.

If 'everything' is right there on the Internet, you don't have to think, or know anything; all you have to do is crank up the search engine, type in something like "smoking-outdoors/LTC-facilities/metal-wheelchair/lightening-storm". If nothing else, the head-shaking "NO" emoji should show up on the screen.

But it might be easier to call your DON, so you can say to the others 'blaming you' for being safe and sensible, " NO, BECAUSE CAPECODMERMAID SAID 'SO!'"

One of my 'favorite' lack-of-common-sense scenarios is when a patient has a temp of 103, or a BP rdg of 190/110, and, while they might record it on a clipboard, or even in the chart, it is NOT REPORTED TO THE NURSE! AARRRRGGGHH! Because who is ultimately responsible? Why should the nurse have to follow behind her aides double-checking them?

If people don't understand 'safety issues', it's time for a mandatory, big, LOOOOONG inservice.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

From my own LTC exprience, between the emphasis on customer service and a culture of micromanagement, I'm not surprised someone would call the DON about a resident wanting to go out to smoke during a thunderstorm. If the DON says no, the nurse is off the hook if the resident complains. If the nurse simply refuses, they're probably looking at a write-up (I worked in a facility where everyone was written up about everything).

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

Common sense just isn't so common anymore unfortunately.

[rn2you]

Common sense is sooooo gone!!! I work as a wound treatment nurse, so the other day a nurse came to me saying that her patient's wound vac was alarming. I asked her did you check to see if the battery was low and was it plugged into the wall outlet? she said, "The wall outlet, what is that?"

[heron, ASN, RN]

From my own LTC exprience, between the emphasis on customer service and a culture of micromanagement, I'm not surprised someone would call the DON about a resident wanting to go out to smoke during a thunderstorm. If the DON says no, the nurse is off the hook if the resident complains. If the nurse simply refuses, they're probably looking at a write-up (I worked in a facility where everyone was written up about everything).

Gotta second this! As usual, there is lots of truth in these comments - some people are just plain dim and managing them is a misery. Holding an anti-hypertensive because the sbp was too high???? Are they trying to kill someone?

On the other hand - and there is always another hand - many of the examples cited here show signs of incompetent micromanagement in the past. Too much of that and automatons is what you wind up with.

I have worked with managers who second guess every decision made by the bedside nurses, dictate their every choice and lay blame on staff for every mishap and adverse outcome.

I can see how demoralizing and frustrating it is to deal with staff who refuse to function - but sometimes you may need to consider the history to find a solution.

[cyc0sys]

We have policies at my facility regarding everything. In fact, New ones are probably being drafted as I write. Binders clutter the nurses station with little rhyme or reason to content.

Some are feel good PC things while others are customer service related as another poster alluded to. Most are general for micromanagement because of a sentinel event or bad customer experience which could most likely be attributed to understaffing.

I ignore most of them, apply common sense and clinical judgment but other nurses are quick to the punch. They'll will call the DON behind your back after notifying you, sometimes before, of non-adherence to the policy. That might be something to keep in mind.