When should I resign? Can I lose my license?

Specialties Private Duty

Published

Hi everyone, new grad here. I graduated in May of 2020. For personal reasons, I desperately needed a job, and despite a lot of misgivings about it, I took a job as a pediatric private duty nurse. I had one day of online training, one day of simulation training, and two days following a nurse. There have been a lot of times when I've gotten uncomfortable about something (mostly about how to chart something or what to do in certain situations) and tried to contact my supervisor but she never answered me so I've just muddled along as best I could with the resources I could find on the internet and the research I've done personally. I have proof I tried to contact her though, as I've sent everything through email. 

Since I've been so uncomfortable, I kept looking for another job, and finally got a job at a nurse residency. I can work for four more weeks. When and how should I send my resignation?

Another thing that makes the private duty job difficult is that the mom speaks Spanish, I do not, and I don't always have an interpreter handy. Last week, we went to the doctor's office, where we discovered that the feeding orders on the patient's chart on my charting software (Kantime)were different from what the doctor ordered. The doctor was very upset with the agency, and since I had been taking notes on my phone, was also upset with me. So far, whenever the mom has done something different, I've done it while charting that I've done it "per mom's request" especially since I didn't think anything of increasing the rate of the feeding from 350ml/hr to 360ml/hr. This is what the nurse who trained me told me to do as well, and I thought it was just another difference between textbook and the real world. I'm discovering that that was an awful idea and that I should have made mom do anything different she wanted to do. I'm doing that now, but I'm now terrified that either the supervisor or the doctor will complain about me to the BON and I'll lose my license, or that the mom will become upset that I'm quitting and complain about me. What do you guys think?

You are upsetting yourself worrying about this when you probably needn’t worry. So far, except changing the rate from the ordered rate, you have done what most others do. Mother tells you to deviate from the plan of care, document it or tell her to do it if you are too uncomfortable and document accordingly. Tender your notice two weeks out. That is good enough considering the poor orientation you were provided. 

Get a translation app on your phone - I have used Google Translate in the past  -  may help alittle bit with communication with mom. 

Specializes in Peds.

I take issue with "Per mom's request". I always have,but do not know what else to document other go against mom's orders,follow doctor's orders, and suffer the consequences later.

On 1/19/2021 at 1:16 PM, AdobeRN said:

Get a translation app on your phone - I have used Google Translate in the past  -  may help alittle bit with communication with mom. 

I've done this in the past and a nursing supervisor told me not to do that.

She said if something was mistranslated it was on the nurse.

+ Add a Comment