O.k., I know you've all come across Princess Nurses.  They're the ones who

1. Won't answer the phones


2. Set up a "throne" from which they work all day


3. Make or take at least 20 celll phone calls during the shift


4. Pretend not to see when you need help turning a patient


5. Never see or hear their own patient's call light going off


6. Can't put orders into the computer or pull lab work off the computer


7. Don't know where anything is on the unit even though they've worked there longer than you


8. Vanish off the unit leaving you to help doctors with their patients situations


9. Assume you are available to help them despite the fact that you are in the middle of a procedure, a serious family conversation, a bed bath, on the phone or even in the bathroom!

The best part of these "princesses" is that no matter how many times to confront them with their behavior, they feel so incredibly entitled, they are immune to normal communication!

How frustrating!!!

I'm a communications expert & I'm at a TOTAL loss as to what to do with Princess Nurses!!!  When I was the Manager, I would deal with them easily...1 warning, 2 warning, 3 warning.........GONE! 

Now, not so easy...hmmmm...

I have no idea how to deal with  them since I've been dealing with them for 33 years.  Not just RN's either.  I've had my fair share of prima donna LPN/LVN's and CNA's

I am a Medical Assistant, and saw that in an Internal medicine practice that I worked in. We had 4 physicians and a PA. Each one had a CMA, plus me- the float - who helped out where ever needed and handled 3 days of "nursing visits" where patients needed a visit but not a doctor (BP checks, immunizations, b-12's, Holter monitors etc). We had a few MA's who happened to work for the busiest MD's in the office. They would never take their patients phone calls, would send a ton of messages to my inbox to handle (electronic medical records), never handle any of their paperwork, etc. I would be swamped with my own stuff, helping out with the extras for every other MA... and have a boatload of work sent over from this particular MA... who when I walked through the office to make copies etc she would be snacking at her desk, turned away from her computer chatting up everyone else... or out on a smoke break. I thought... you have GOT to be kidding me. Needless to say, we didn't get along much and a few times I sent a bunch of her stuff right back to her and said I was too busy to handle it all... and thus was subjected to menancing glares and office gossip. LOL. Oh well.

Press Ganey...vivid memories, not many of them good. Some of the pts we remembered and 9 times out of 10, they were upset at someone in particular, but we paid for it. They are as reliable as 1 ply tp vs Montezuma's Revenge. I've worked with some excellent nurses who thought nothing of pitching in when and where needed no matter what it was. Some would barely move out of the chair long enough to give meds. I worked with one particular RN who had long red polished nails, much too much jewelry on her neck, ears and fingers. One of those people I refer to as wearing all their jewelry at the same time. Gloves will tear, nails get contaminated underneath, alcohol gel does not clean that area...on to the next pt. And so it goes. There are teamplayers in every profession, I suppose, and then there are the other large percentage...job title be d....

 I have not met a princess nurse I have worked with yet, in labor and delivery it was too busy same NICU and in home health, no one is around but you it is great no princesses around!

What about princess nursing students? We have a couple of them in our program.  Will they turn into princess nurses?

Oooohhh...if they're still students, I think we can Stop the Maddness!  We should definitely try to steer them to a different profession

I just started working at a hospital as a CNA/PCT.  I plan on going to nursing school, so I watch everything they do OR DON'T DO...YES, there are a lot of princess nurses out there.  But, I deal with it this way...............just tell them they have a light on and I'm not able to deal with it since I am not a nurse yet.  That usually gets them!  OR, just keep telling them over and over and over.  Eventually they get sick of hearing me.  OH, also, the chair deal..........move the chair somewhere different when they get up...it will throw them off big time!  Princess nurses are a part of life and always will be......I am just glad I will never be one of those!

In my opinion- single princess nurses are only there for a husband- once they snag their doc they will retire to stay at home to take care of his kids.

I often don't know why married ones even both to work.  They are the ones that only want to work from 7a to 7:30a on the 5th tuesday of every month but would like to be paid full time "to keep up their skills"  I have one princess nurse that was a nursing assistant in our dept prior to becoming a nurse and she seems to have forgotten what nursing asst can and can't do.  She has been a nurse for over 2 years and still hasn't gotten her acls or tncc or even tried.   She won't work up in cardiac after she was finally forced to get her acls because she does't know the meds- how is that an excuse- you should be able to take a cardiac patient anywhere in the dept because you never know when someone is going to arrest or have an acute mi!  Lastly she was offered to come in and the preceptor would work with her in cardiac on her own time and she has never done it.

I do agree that I just mainly do what I am suppose to do and ignore the princess nurses- just was nice to vent right now with that one.

Sometimes I think we help foster the "princess nurse". Before every jumps up at me think about it...Who answers the pt call lights because we know it needs to be done..who fills the Dr's orders because a delay would not be good..Who picks up the slack.....All of us with a conscience. All because we have the right priorities.But,  because we do we become enablers.. think we need to start in nursing schoolm out or as preceptors  make sure they or their behaviours are weeded out before they hit the floors as independent nurses.As we stop enabling it does not take long for them to see it is a team effort and at times you need someone at your back.

We  hired a new nurse at my work. She is a new grad and did her preceptorship with us too. Well come to find out she cries everytime she has to do a dressing change because she is trying not to vomit. The patients just close their eyes and pretend not to notice how obviously disgusted she is. It is awfull!! But to make matters worse we recently let her go because ... get this... She lied about passing her boards!!!!!!111 She was just to proud to say she had failed and had workied for us for 4 months with no License!!!! I was horrified! Needless to say the state board of nursing got involved. ( they where the ones who informed us of her mistake) and I don't beleive she will work as a nurse again. I felt kinda bad for her but maybe it's for the best.

sewnew says ...

Nursejenny1310 says ...

We  hired a new nurse at my work. She is a new grad and did her preceptorship with us too. Well come to find out she cries everytime she has to do a dressing change because she is trying not to vomit. The patients just close their eyes and pretend not to notice how obviously disgusted she is. It is awfull!! But to make matters worse we recently let her go because ... get this... She lied about passing her boards!!!!!!111 She was just to proud to say she had failed and had workied for us for 4 months with no License!!!! I was horrified! Needless to say the state board of nursing got involved. ( they where the ones who informed us of her mistake) and I don't beleive she will work as a nurse again. I felt kinda bad for her but maybe it's for the best.

What???? This is just too bizarre. How did she get hired in the first place if she didn't have a license???

Well, our SDC is kinda not really doing her job. She is in charge of all that stuff and she said she was just so busy with paperwork she guesses she just forgot. We all thought she was working under a temporary license until she took her test.... but she already did, which makes her temp license void!