Drawing the line with staff demands

[caroladybelle]

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That's garbage. You're not paying tuition to do anyone else's bitch work. You are there to learn and care for patients.

In the OR, I used to fetch my own gloves, help position and move the patient, start an IV and foley, etc. These are all related to learning and/or patient care. Mopping the floor is not even the NURSE's job, one of the OR techs has to do that. Usually the same dude or lady who makes sure the cabinets are supplied, etc. I was never asked to do that, but then again I doubt I radiated a soft, malleable aura to any of the nurses. They knew I was there to do MY job and that's it.

Just say no and give her your back. DO NOT "help her mop the floor today only" as the guy above me suggests or you open the door to be stepped on from here on forward. Put them in their place early.

It should not be an issue of "bitch" work or putting "them in their place".

It is a matter that it is not remotely in the Med student/intern job, and the nurse had no business, expecting/asking you to do it.

Heck, it is not generally part of an RN's job in any facility that I have been to. And in the one that I currently work for, the staff unionized (one of the only unionized hospitals in the state of Florida, or foe that matter, the South) and threatened to strike over the facility deciding to go "patient centered", eliminating much of housekeeping, transport, phlebotomy, supply staff, and telling the nursing staff/aides that they would have to clean rooms, toilets, etc. They lost a huge amount of staff, until retracting the plan.

( I am not a member of the union - don't care for them - but would quit if someone tried to require me to mop the floor - it is not what I went to school for)

While I will clean up spills, the nurses on the floor don't generally have access to mops, nor the properly OSHA approved cleansers. And working w/hemo/BMT patients, I really don't need to be tracking contaminants around or getting them on my clothing, by major janitorial work. And a med student/intern, also should not be risking contaminating their clothing by major cleaning duties.

At least as a nurse, I can bleach my clothing. Unless ya'll are wearing scrubs, street clothes can not be sanitized as easily, and how often do ya'll clean those white coats, anyway.

As far as answering the phone, if you do not know how to "page", "forward", know all the staff names, and are not expecting a call, it does little good for MDs to answer the phone. Unless the call is for you (rarely), you will just have to ask another staffer to take the call.

On the other hand, things like handing the pt their phone if you are in the room and they ask for it. I have had pts that asked the MD to hand them their phone on the side table, just to have the MD buzz the nurse to come to the room to do it. On the other hand, I have known attendings that assist pts to the BR and have put pts on the bedpan.

You shouldn't be expected to mop floors, but don't refer to it as "bitch work". It is necessary work and one owes respect to those that do it. They may not have your education, but they are very important to you being able to give proper care to your patients.

 

[Tired]

You're much more fun when you're not being reasonable.

 

[anon-y-mouse]

As far as answering the phone, if you do not know how to "page", "forward", know all the staff names, and are not expecting a call, it does little good for MDs to answer the phone. Unless the call is for you (rarely), you will just have to ask another staffer to take the call.

Serious question: What is the protocol if the phone rings rings rings rings rings (bananaphone) and no one is around to answer it... i.e. you're at the combined nursing/physician's station and the nurse is a room w/ a patient and it's clearly for her? I feel rude for just letting it ring in case someone random walks by, but I know all I can do is take a message or tell that person to call back, etc.

 

[ubcredfox]

I've sat right beside a ringing phone for a good 3-4 minutes until the nurse came running over to answer it. I don't answer phones.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Serious question: What is the protocol if the phone rings rings rings rings rings (bananaphone) and no one is around to answer it... i.e. you're at the combined nursing/physician's station and the nurse is a room w/ a patient and it's clearly for her? I feel rude for just letting it ring in case someone random walks by, but I know all I can do is take a message or tell that person to call back, etc.

Honestly I don't answer it because it's really not any help. As mentioned above, we really don't have any clue what to do once we answer the phone and are likely to screw something up if we do answer it. I'm lazy and all, but I think not answering it is perfectly reasonable.

 

[nope80]

What other types of requests have people gotten from nurses and how have you handled them? It seems like managing nurses is going to be a big deal next year and for some reason, I just assumed that nurses would realize what their job entails and not ask us to do work that isn't part of our responsibilities...any examples/stories that people want to share?

 

[anon-y-mouse]

What other types of requests have people gotten from nurses and how have you handled them? It seems like managing nurses is going to be a big deal next year and for some reason, I just assumed that nurses would realize what their job entails and not ask us to do work that isn't part of our responsibilities...any examples/stories that people want to share?

"Oh hey, you have Mrs X's chart, can you write down her fasting glucose? It's 82 mg/dl"

At an oldschool hospital without electronic charts, but I was totally willing to write the number in since I checked that particular section every day. Also, I think the Accuchek machine feeds directly into the laboratory computer system anyway. I thought this was a reasonable request from a busy nurse which I didn't argue with.

 

[Tired]

What other types of requests have people gotten from nurses and how have you handled them?

As a MSIII:

"The patient is coding, call Dr. _______ !" <um, no, you start bagging, you start compressions, and you call a Code Blue>

"I'm trying to get this patient cleaned up, will you grab me a towel from outside?" <sure>

"Your patient crapped his bed, will you help me clean him up?" <once in a very rare while if I really have nothing else to do, otherwise sorry, I have to go to _________ >

"You need to tell Dr. ______ that the patient's lab value was ________ ." <No, by protocol you need to page the appropriate intern/resident and document it.>

"Help me move the patient from the OR table to the gurney." <sure>

"Help me transport the patient from the OR to the PACU." <sure>

"Take the patient down to the xray for the routine test your team ordered." <no>

"The patient needs a stat CT, and I need help pushing the bed." <sure>

"The resident ordered ______, but I want to give _______. You can approve that, right?" <no>

"We couldn't get the blood, so you try." <do it, just for the experience>

"The patient wants to know why he's on medicine X. Go explain it to him." <no, but I'll pass it along to the intern/resident>

"I am a hot 20yo student nurse on an exchange program from Italy who craves your touch. Can you take me in that empty room and make me moan like an Iraqi detainee in Guantanimo?" <sure, as long as you don't expect me to buy you dinner or anything>

 

[fab4fan]

Serious question: What is the protocol if the phone rings rings rings rings rings (bananaphone) and no one is around to answer it... i.e. you're at the combined nursing/physician's station and the nurse is a room w/ a patient and it's clearly for her? I feel rude for just letting it ring in case someone random walks by, but I know all I can do is take a message or tell that person to call back, etc.

Just let it ring. It's really more of a hassle to have someone answer the phone who doesn't know who to look for/how to handle the call. If it's a true emergency, they'll call back. Trust me, 95% of the calls that come through are annoyance calls. ("Do I really have to be NPO before surgery? WHYYYYYY??????")