I work on a Maternity & Term Newborn unit and lately a number of our nurses have been pulled to the Intensive Care Nursery or the High Risk Maternity units. We are told that we should only be assigned to take care of infants or women who we would be capable of caring for on our unit.Last night our nurse who had been pulled to the ICN was assigned to care for infants on TPN. They gave her a hard time about doing it and a supervisor had to be called in to resolve the issue.
Last week, the nurse who was pulled to the High Risk Maternity unit were given 3 of the 5 patients on the floor. This time the nurse told our manager what happened.
This is becoming a more often occurance and the nurses who have been cross-trained often come in asking who's getting pulled. Each unit has a different manager and it seems like they haven't discusses and worked out any of the bugs.
Sometimes they do two- or three-way pulls. An ICN nurse comes to our unit (to work in the nursery), our nurse goes to the high risk unit, the high risk nurse goes to the delivery room.
Is this common anywhere else? Especially with getting the "unfavorable" patients dumped on the pulled nurse?
Courtney
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March 17th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I can completely understand your concern and your anguish. I recently posted a similar topic like yours about floating to tele floors without being tele certified. Unfortunately, what is happening to you and the nurses on your floor is also happening on my floor as well, and I have yet to find a solution.
Managers will promise that you will be given an easy patient load, when most of the time you get dumped on with not only the most patients, but also the more complicated patients. This is the very reason why I am currently seeking employment elsewhere. I refuse to put my license on the line.
Several times we have called the Nursing Supervisor on call when we are floated to floors we don’t feel qualified to work in and told them we aren’t comfortable accepting the assignment and they do nothing to help, so we simply document that they have been contacted and made aware of the problem, and that they told us to care for the patient regardless of our inexperience. It’s all in the nurses notes and we name the supervisors by first and last name, and title. But I have no idea how well that will hold up in front of the board if the worst happens and an it is actually brought to them.
It is my belief that there is a reason why nurses in those areas are specialty certified and it is irresponsible to expect us to float to units we are not currently qualified to be in. Floating from one med-surge floor to another is one thing, but this is completely another.
I wish I had some advice other than keep making your concerns known, keep your patients safety and the safety of your license as #1. AND DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!!
Best Wishes!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Do you have a nursing union or association in the area where you can discuss this issue with them. If not, depending on how brave you are you might want to put a letter together (a respectful letter) outlining the problem and send it to your head nurse, supervisor and director of nursing (cc your employeement file) and keep a copy for yourself. You might suggest if this continues to be standard practice (floating to areas where special training is required)you wish to be given additional training.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
We do not have a union. The word creates harsh divides in the nursing population of our unit. If it’s ever mentioned – it’s in a whisper tone and only among like minds at that.
Yesterday, one of our floor nurses was pulled to the pediatric unit for shift coverage. We had a census of 15 with 3 admissions pending and 7 discharges. Since one of our nurses was pulled there were 3 floor nurses and 1 nursery nurse. Each floor nurse then was responsible for 5 dyads plus their respective admission. Each dyad is 1 mother and her newborn(s) – 2 patients for the price of 1.
The nurse who had been pulled came back 4 hours into the shift. What was pediatric’s census? 6.
Six patients. Two nurses scheduled, 3 with the pull. That’s 2 patients per nurse on pediatrics while 5-6 dyads (10-12 patients) per nurse on maternity.
None of us got to eat or use the facilities until the end of our shift. Last I heard, our care coordinator was tracking down the supervisor who made the call to pull our nurse to find out the logic (or lack thereof) behind it.
I’m sorry if I sound like I’m just complaining – but I am. And I just needed to vent.
March 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 am
It sounds like a ward/staff/management problem, not so much a problem of being pulled to another area. I’ve always been transferred to different units, especialy ICU, but I’ve had good expereinces. The nurses have generally always looked after me.
I just wanted to make sure that people aren’t against being transferred somewhere to a specialist area. It can and does work, but it’s all down to the people and management. It sound horrible where you are.