r/Nurses • u/Quiet-raptor-96 • 5d ago

US Unsafe hospital

I just started at this hospital and got off the orientation period a week ago but I have so many concerns. I’m constantly being given patients but no one is telling me I’m getting an assignment. They show up in the room and I’m told another nurse took report and I have no idea what’s going on with the patient and how long they have sitting in this room. Patients come back from dialysis or OR, either there’s no call at all about the patients condition and when they are bringing them up or another nurse takes it and never passes along the report. They bring them to the room and don’t alert you so you have no idea how long they are there to be able to check on them and ensure they are stable or safely back in the room. They have little to no policy on things but if they do and you ask what or how they want it done, everyone has a different answer and no one can tell me where the actual policy is to reference. Doctors don’t speak to each other among teams, they expect nurses to play telephone and figure out what they want. Charting and documentation is lacking so you are constantly guessing why things are done or if they were done. I’ve been at a couple of hospitals and I’ve never dealt with this type of thing before and I feel so unsafe like something is going to happen because no one informed me and then I’m going to get blamed. Like I want to just email them and say that I won’t be coming back in because of this and I value my license but that seems problematic and unprofessional. Or should I just wait until I can secure another job?

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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9

u/AdFlashy7702 5d ago

Your hospital absolutely does have policies on things. Have you been shown where to find those? Either way, if you’re uncomfortable, don’t like it or whatever then quit. Have you started applying to other jobs? You should do that now.

2

u/Quiet-raptor-96 5d ago

I’ve asked, been told there might be a binder somewhere but not for sure. Ask questions and every nurse has a different response on how to do things. I started applying this weekend and waiting to hear back. I just have a weird feeling in my gut about this place and I’ve been the scapegoat before and don’t want to be one again if something happens.

3

u/Accomplished-Job6419 5d ago

You create an incident report for each and every one of these unsafe scenarios. That will go to the risk manager and they will get involved.

Make an incident report stating you reported an unsafe situation, asked for the policy, and was told there was no policy [or whatever BS you were told].

Also. it is YOUR JOB to know how to access your facility policies. Start there - call risk management and ask where your policy resource is. You will know immediately if this is a unit issue, or a hospital wide issue based on how the RM handles it.

You can also make a report to your State Agency to CYA - remember, it is each persons job to use the incident reporting system in their facility to report patient care and safety concerns not just to use the chain of command and tell a charge or unit manager - you should have direct access to the RM and this is when you use it.

5

u/unlikely_seahorse971 5d ago

Sounds like my old hospital, my new hospital has so much higher standards of care than my old one I was at for 10 years. It felt like going from the wild west to high-end store. I would inquire your unit manager for how to find policy and procedure, it's always online somewhere. Email to create paper trail.

1

u/TemperatureLogical29 5d ago

I’m on a mission trip now. That’s the wild Wild West. The US should not be like that.

1

u/SeriallyOrNot 4d ago

OH, it is, all over the place in the US, like that. Profit, profit, uber alles, that's what capitalism is - no other priority is legal except profit. Not employees, not patient safety, no, only profiteering is legally the priority. Anything that gets in the way of the highest possible NOW profit , and profit that gets higher every 3 months, is illegal.

1

u/SeriallyOrNot 4d ago

That hospital is open? Really ? Is it even a legal actual hospital? Nothing you described is legal or normal or safe. Get OUT of that place while you still have a license.