I just want to hear what other charge nurses have done when a confrontational, abusive co-worker/nurse is voicing their disapproval and basically refusing to care for a septic infant placed in their area. This decision was based on a doctor's order and was appropriate.
I am not a charge nurse but I have nurses under me. If one of my nurses ever refused to treat a patient, especially a critical one at that; I would tell them,
"Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya"
Before I offer advice to this specific situation, I must ask if you can elaborate a bit more on the original problem.
First of all the type of behaviour you describe is unacceptable in any professional work environment. She needs to be counseled verbally and perhaps even written. If you are her charge nurse, you should be able to speak with her or refer it to a higher power, the nurse manager or nursing supervisor. Your human resource department should have policies against this type of attitude and you should have administrative support. Nurses need to be held accountable not only by administration but by their peers. If the nurse did this once, it is probably not the first time and this creates a serious problem on the unit. Take it up.
The nurse has the right to refuse to treat a patient if she does not believe the conditions are appropriate to treat the patient. This could include "Hey, I've already got XXX number of patients and I'm overloaded now" or "Hey, we need to transfer this patient to another, more appropriate hospital now", etc, etc. These concerns can be made discretely and without making a scene. Patient outcome should drive all decisions.
If that nurse had a bed open, no excuse. Foot massages are down the hall, we do nursing here. Nursing means taking care of people, even (gasp) really sick ones.
