About two weeks ago, I had an unfamiliar CNA on my night shift. She was 'helping out' with a shortage apparently. I am new on the job as well. I had previously been instructed to ''hold accountable' the CNA's on my shift by 'writing them up' for every infraction (something I had chosen NOT to do) Not until the night I had this individual on my shift who would not provide vitals or answer call bell lights. When I witnessed her eating on the shift while charting and ignoring a light going off right next to her (her patient also) I asked if she was going to get that. I was asked in return if I was going to get that. From there, she just went off and proceeded to tell me to write her up because she was going to be just fine, that I was the one on thin ice and that they were always talking about me on the first shift. This behavior went on for the better part of an hour, despite my telling her I would have to write her up if she did not stop (I was professional about it), I tried to call the unit manager (she didn't answer), I finally called the DON (the one the CNA said would protect her). The DON didn't tell me to send her home, she didn't ask to talk to her, she said, "I'll take care of it in the morning." Well, when I go in with my documentation in the morning, the DON didn't give me the time of day. Everyone was looking at me sideways as well. I was told the CNA was out of town for a furneral and wouldn't be back all week. I was told my a fellow worker to take it to human resources, which I did. Long story short-girl was never out of town, she was at work the whole three days I tried to resolve this. She did not get in any trouble. They had her apologize. They said it was a clean slate. They said they wanted me there on the job (I offered to quit because as I told them how would I have any credibility on the job if a CNA was allowed to yell at me for an hour on the floor and still keep her job). I was ASSURED I was a desireable employee- blah, blah, blah.
Fast forward to today, when I wake up to a human resource/DON speaker call telling me I am being 'let go' for poor performance and, get this, being 'disrespectful to a nurse' and the claim of a witness on that.
Wow! REALLY??? I have this fellow RN, also new on the job, but been there a few months longer than me. When I take the shift from her, she gives me 'orders' as to what I am to do on my shift, without EVER being charge nurse. Meanwhile, she actively sabotages me to the DON and unit manager by tattle telling any imagined flaw from my shift (she's 7-3, I'm 3-11 lets also throw in there that an 11-7 shift exists) Basically, I got tired of her dumping her left over work on me so I chose not to do it. So, when I came in in the next day, she told me my assignment for the shift was to give 3 enemas!!!! Yeah, right. We didn't have 'words' but I did question her when she made the statement "I put Ms So n So on Sudafed". I asked her, "You put her on Sudafed? Or, you called the doctor and she put her on Sudafed?" This aggrevated her you see because my confused former classmate seems to not understand the scope of our nursing practice does not include up doing things like deciding on our own to say, do an Oxygen test and take away someone's O2 on our own initative while monitoring sats for 48 hours, and instructing all the other shifts to do the same, THEN taking the info back to the doctor to see if THEY would like to DC the order (instead of asking the Doctor simply if we can do it in the first place and following said order). She REPORTED me to DON for being disrespectful. The interesting thing is the claim of a witness when we were alone in the med room???
I'm venting her because I'm really frustrated about how to deal with the social aspect of being a nurse. How do you survive the sabatour who has the ear of the managers when you work solo on the evening shift so they don't know you. How do you manage CNA's when the managers don't back you up, but punish you for trying to do your job? (I forgot to mention that after I wrote her up, I discovered I was NOT parttime as my unit manager had told me, but was still PRN. For a month, I had labored under the idea I was a parttime employee and stopped job hunting). Once I turned in that write up, my hours were cut from 15 shifts (three a week) to every other weekend only! Turns out the CNA was a long term day time employee. And did she ever LIE through her teeth. Claimed I said, "I'm an RN. I DON'T answer call bell lights!!" I'll also throw in there that I am the minority in the building and the DON the protector is of another race as is her posse of CNAs.
SO it's back to the job junt. I'm just wondering if this will be the continual theme to nursing- back stabbing fellow nurses and lazy CNAs.
