1. "What recourse, if any, do you have in pursuing the disciplinary policy in the manner described in the case? You know the disciplinary policy lists "sleeping on the job" as an infraction.
2. Assuming that you believe the problem to be severe enough to constitute a risk to patients under your care, what can you about the troublesome employee?
3. If no follow-up from the director of nursing is forthcoming, what might you eventually consider doing to protect yourself?"

Imagine yourself as a night-shift charge nurse on a medical surgical unit. For several months you have had a problem with a staff nurse whose performance you consider unsatisfactory. She seems to continually take advantage of quiet times during her shift to doze off at the nurses station. You have reprimanded her several times for sleeping on the job, and you have reached where you believe you can no longer simply scold her for her conduct. Her position, however, is that "it's no big deal," that she's always certain to hear call signals as long as she's at the nurses station. (Your hospital has a clear policy concerning written warnings, but policy is relatively loose concerning oral warnings; these can be unlimited and issued at your discretion, so you can deliver as many as you believe necessary.) 

    For a written warning to become official and entered into an employee's personnel file, it must be agreed to and countersigned by the unit's nurse manager and the director of nursing. You issued the offending nurse two written warnings; both warnings cleared through the unit manager. However, you believe you can go further without backing from the office of the director of nursing, and there has been no follow-up from that director. Meanwhile, the employee continues to be a problem.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Recourse for Pursuing Disciplinary Policy As a nightshift charge nurse you have the authority to document oral warnings for unsatisfactory performance You have already issued two written warnings for ... View the full answer