Manipulation

Dealing with nursing at the community hospital (CH) can be very interesting. I feel like I'm trapped in a bizzare roll playing simulation, where the moderator is asking the students to act out various ways to motivate the un-motivatable employee.

For example, the second and third nursing shifts weren't recording the 'ins and outs' (aka I's/Os) for AH, a 21 day old patient with poor weight gain. Tracking how much a patient takes in and how much the patient puts out (in both stool and urine) can be critical when diagnosing the etiology of failure to thrive in a baby. Basically, without the I's/Os, we can't figure out what the hell is going on. And guess what, nursing has the primary responsibility for measuring the intake and weighing diapers for the output. It is kinda sorta part of the job description. And it isn't all that hard.

So why wan't it happening?

This was my question.

But if I said or did anything at all slightly accusatory, condescending or reproving, I would earn a bad rap with the RN's. Which would be a problem. If nursing don't like ya, and you ever want to get anything done ever again - you were screwed.

Needless to say, much ass-kissing ensued. Because, of course the nurse working today would never have made such an error, and could she please educate her co-workers about the correct and proper way to do things? And was there anything I could do to make her life easier?

So you see, when you see me and my nose is brown, you'll know why.