Why RNs cannot say 'That's not my job'

allnurses Guide · Jan 5, 2012

I have been a RN for over 3 years. I am not 'seasoned' by any means and I continue to learn new things everyday. However this is my problem. I got into a major debate with a Resp therapist recently that still burns me up. The resp said 'I am sick and tired of being here for 5 years and I still don't get paid as much as RNs do' I replied 'the reason nurses are paid more is because we are responsible for more care than respiratory is' She sneered and asked 'are you saying you do more than I do on any given shift?' I said 'No I am just saying that when a pt is sick, I clean it up. When a pt is bleeding, I make it stop. i have climbed up and fixed TVs because maintenance said 'That's not my job'. I have given a pt a tissue when a resp was in the room because the resp said 'That's not my job'. I had to get on my hands and knees and mop up vomit because housekeeping refused to loan my am mop or clean the mess themselves and they told me 'That's not my job'. I have fixed beds, remotes, telemetry leads, cleaned floors, changed linens, fixed computers, fixed vital machines, charged lift equipment, charted and cared for my pts all in one night. I have never said 'That's not my job'. So why am I upset? I get paid because I do my job so why can't everyone do theirs?

Amen!

We also look up stuff in the charts for dietitians, clinical therapists, doctors who are two inches away from the chart and everyone else who are too lazy to do it themselves!

nightnursecarol · Jan 5, 2012

I'm not sure why you took it there with that Resp. Therapist. From one nurse to another, please remember that there's never a need to put down another clinician (or non-clinician) as a way to prove a point! Furthermore, you could scrub floors on your hands and knees, do the plumbing, and fix the remote control because that's your decision. However, it's not he duty of a nurse :nurse: .

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 5, 2012

I'm not sure why you took it there with that Resp. Therapist. From one nurse to another, please remember that there's never a need to put down another clinician (or non-clinician) as a way to prove a point! Furthermore, you could scrub floors on your hands and knees, do the plumbing, and fix the remote control because that's your decision. However, it's not he duty of a nurse .

Disagree. The respiratory therapist walked right into that one. And what the OP states is true. The nurse is the backbone of patient care and the schooling is so intense. One mistake can easily kill someone.

brownbook · Jan 6, 2012

You had some valid points to make but I agree with nightnursecarol. If you would have given her an empathetic, therapeutic, reply. "Yeah we do make a lot more in comparison, it doesn't seem fair, all resp. therapy does is make sure patients keep breathing!" You would have made a good friend and ally instead of an "us versus them" situation with your fellow health care workers.

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2012

I put on a post on another thread re this not long ago.

We had a dementia pt, who had walked down a long corridor and trailed urine & faeces everywhere. I got my ENs/students to clean it as I was doing the med round & other things. Rang housekeeping (HK) to clean up the mess. No can do. I was baffled as THAT IS THEIR JOB. So, we had to get their mop, clean up all the mess, put the signs out warning people of a slippery floor, AND change the mop head as HK said they didn't want to touch it due to 'occupational health & safety'. Well what about our occ health & safety?? And other patients were neglected as we spent time cleaning up the mess. I was disgusted at the lack of cooperation, I mean we cleaned up most the mess. As I wasn't the charge nurse that day I couldn't push the issue. But the shift charge nurse didn't support us or call HK to complain. I was so disillusioned at the lack of support for RNs.

The OP wasn't putting down the resp tech, just making a point. We do everything after hours when the fat NUMs aren't there to swan around & criticise. It annoys me no end and I for one am getting out of it all soon, or at least away from the bedside.

RNs get blamed for everything that goes wrong. Not happy with what the DOCTOR said - take it out on the RN! Unhappy with what the anaesthtetist did/didn't do - yell at the RN (this has happened to me). And u try 2 advocate for ur patient and get told you basically don't know anything & u arent' a doctor, so just shut up OK?

But OP if u refuse 2 do the other duties, then someone else will HAVE to step in & fill the void. Complain to the NUMs (good luck with THAT as I've done it in the past & had no luck), & refuse 2 do duties not in ur scope of practice. That is what I am doing now.

rr82080 · Jan 6, 2012

Furthermore, you could scrub floors on your hands and knees, do the plumbing, and fix the remote control because that's your decision. However, it's not he duty of a nurse .

Yes, I am not the floor cleaner, plumber or remote control repair man, but I AM the one who has to listen to it for the next twelve hours if family thinks the floor is disgusting, or if people keep coming in and slipping on the floor because of the broken plumbing, or a patient can't watch TV. I don't like it but it's true. Maybe this is the wrong answer. If we all stood up for ourselves there would be housekeepers, plumbers and remote control repairmen ready to do an A+ job at all times. Families, doctors and other employees wouldn't look at the nurse when something like this was wrong. But in my world, the above mentioned other employees aren't always there, and I don't want to listen to it for 12 hours.

I do agree though, do your BEST not to get into it with ANY other practitioners. You need everyone on your side. If people don't like you they will make your life miserable.

leslie :-D · Jan 6, 2012

You had some valid points to make but I agree with nightnursecarol. If you would have given her an empathetic, therapeutic, reply. "Yeah we do make a lot more in comparison, it doesn't seem fair, all resp. therapy does is make sure patients keep breathing!" You would have made a good friend and ally instead of an "us versus them" situation with your fellow health care workers.

i'm with you, bb.

while i do understand op's gripes, it was unprofessional to 'go there' with the rt.

rt was obviously unprofessional when s/he starting complaining, but it's always more beneficial to build bridges instead of burning them.

even if everything you said IS true (op), why stoop to their level and make it a peeing contest?

as (professional) nurses, we're supposed to be better than that.

don't give it or the rt, another thought.

it has already occupied too much space and time in your head as it is.

a simple "i'm sorry you feel that way" woud have been sufficient, and to redirect the conversation.

leslie

usalsfyre · Jan 6, 2012

Bull puckey. Horse manure. Rabbit scat. I run into RNs on a regular basis who throw out the "not my job" excuse. Two days ago I had to wait 20 minutes for an aide because per the LVN it was "not her job" to change the patient. If I'd had the stuff I would have done it even though it's most assuredly not my responsibility. YOU personally choose to do a lot of that stuff, which is great. It shows me you care about patient care and the company. Or maybe just keeping the whining to a reasonable level. The "not my job" excuse is weak sauce for the lazy. But so is running another clinician down because you don't know what they are and aren't responsible for.

Galaxy1 · Jan 6, 2012

Yeah, you got it! Thats right. I have seen it also. Everything falls onto the nursing staff, RN's, LPN's and CNA's. If you have anything to do with nursing and another area doesn't do it because it's not their job, I guarantee it will fall on nursing. I have seen other disciplines ignore a call bells because it is sooooooooooooooo easy for them to run away and not have to deal with it. I guarantee it allllllllllllllllllllll falls on the nursing staff. So i dont want to hear it when one out of a million actually change the TV channel for a patient.

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Jan 6, 2012

Like the time our pan flusher was broken in the ED.

We had to run all the way round the corner, down another long corridor to the other flusher with full bed pans, cos it was later at night & the oh so brilliant management wouldn't get a technician in to fix the flusher. Reason: IT COST TOO MUCH MONEY!

So we had to avoid people round the corners & leave pans by the bedside on the floor out the way, as we didn't have time to run down the corridor to empty them immedaitely. Had people bleeding, kids crying etc so couldn't leave them. Then one of the NUMs (they all seem to be fat in the ED I was working in), COMPLAINED we left bedpans in the cubicles! How can I run away with a bed pan when a patient is suddenly bleeding from what seems like every orifice; we even had one guy who was bleeding from his eyes too - Warfarin overdose. Now bedpans ARE our business, but running what seems half a mile to to empty it is not.

RNs cannot win. I wanted to vent that night GET SOMEONE IN TO FIX THE B****Y PAN FLUSHER! and we won't have these problems! If management had just paid someone their extra $20 or $30 in overtime - whatever - we could have avoided all these problems that night.

And I never saw ONE NM pick up a full bed pan & take it round to the only working flusher for us. This is why I despair at the lack of team work or support for nurses from management. And it never gets better, only seems to worsen over time.

Galaxy1 · Jan 6, 2012

When there is a state survey I guarantee the "NUMS" will be there answering call bells with a happy grin and mopping stool off the floor with a great big smile.