Am I stepping on senior nurses toes?

GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN · Mar 20, 2007

I used to work with a crusty old nurse, too. :lol2:But it wasn't in an ER. It was on an adolescent psych unit. There were no such things as admission packets. Nothing was organized well. One sheet would be in one filing cabinet drawer, another in another drawer, another sheet in the closet, another sheet in the desk drawer, etc. She seemed to like it that way, so she could watch the newbies struggle with all of the paperwork with a new admit. She liked being the only one who was able to find everything fast. I also wonder if this nurse you are discussing gets a little satisfaction watching newbies struggle.

WYRN1 · Mar 21, 2007

No way! I think its great that you have taken the initiative to make your work place more efficient and organized. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder, and maybe has another underlying issue that she is dealing with. I've been nursing for a long time and find my younger colleagues with fresh ideas welcoming and am all for anything that will make our jobs easier, just try to keep in mind that your older colleagues have put in there time so to speak and also have much valuable insight and knowlege for you to learn from also.

CRNI-ICU20 · Mar 21, 2007

Well, the ole crusty battleaxe! She likes her shelves dusty, her papers disordered, and her coffee black, thick, and putrid....

And here you come...all fresh and ready to help out...do a good job....and you did this nice thing.....and you end up stepping in her territory.....

(shall we all raise one leg and mark our territory, here??) A seasoned and less toxic nurse would have thanked you....and saw your effort as a way to make life more efficient.....

You did a good thing....because ultimately, time reflects off of the patient laying there...and if you are scrambling to find whatever it is you are looking for....it's less time for your patient's needs...

It's a shame that in her acquired years, she's lost her compassion and ability to support a newcomer...

Don't let the ole grizzled one get on your nerves....even when they haven't been in nursing a long time, they can develope nasty attitudes....some people are just born that way....

Stay your helpful self....and don't let some old crank rattle you....

ICU20

lacunawestward · Mar 21, 2007

Well.. I'm a student nurse, so I don't really have this kind of experience yet, but my instructor is always encouraging us to be innovative. She tells students about simple interventions that they say they have forgotten about.

I don't know if this still works in the field, and it's sort of demeaning, but I was reminded of how we were recommended to pry information from doctors.

"Excuse me Dr. ____, but I'm just a student and I know that you would know about ______"

kinda suck up a bit....

Personally, (even though I'm not the most confident person) I think we should be more confident than that.

mom4sure · Mar 21, 2007

I have been a nurse for thirty years. I still welcome an opportunity to do things better even if it is done or suggested by a younger nurse. We can all learn form each other. The nurse who was upset about the premade packets was not a good example of progressive learning. The only way to improve things is to change them. Any one who has a problem with progressive change will soon find themselves out dated!

bluiis923 · Mar 23, 2007

Hey,

Just a thought... we have to complete a computer database on all new admits and I quickly tired of dragging around a computer to the pt rooms so I created a paper "cheat sheet" to quickly fill out for my database info. I thought about doing what you did but decided not to since most nurses don't like change from a newcomer (not a new nurse, just new to the unit).

Instead, I just made copies for myself and started using it. It wasn't long before people started noticing and asked about it. Long story short... now many of the nurses on our unit use it and love it...!

Keep up the innovative thinking and just remember... there's more than one way to skin a cat! Just a thought from a silverback.... lol.

nickola · Mar 24, 2007

This sounds like my first ER job, small hospital, I was very low man on totem pole!! I stayed a year & then went to a larger trauma center, teaching hosp. which was great. Personally I see nothing wrong w/organizing the file drawers!!! You've been there a year, not like it was your first week. I cannot STAND digging thru piles of paper to find things!

Johntaasu · Apr 11, 2007

Poor you! So you were actually expecting to be thanked for making someone look incompetent. No way! Have you ever heard that old nurses eat young ones? Well that is what makes them eat you up fast. Your action deserves commendation not condemnation - this is what makes the old nurses unhappy because you are no longer juicy but you are horny and tasteless.

AirforceRN, RN · Apr 11, 2007

There's a reason why there are classes available on how to initiate change. It can be very unnerving for many people who are stuck in a rut or fear the unknown. Like many of the other posters, I believe the older nurse probably felt threatened by your sense of initiative and angry that it wasn't passed by her first. My suggestion for future changes would be to recommend them first and test the waters.

After spending 4 months consolidating in a busy ER I would have bought dinner to anybody that made up paper packages. The number of times I had to stare at an open filing cabinet drawer looking for 1 piece of paper...Ohhh of course!!! Blood forms are under "H" not "B", how silly of me.

rn46 · May 2, 2007

Hi. Have a question for you. I work in an ER which is staffed with one nurse and one doc for each shift. Small hospital. Anyway, I have noticed that when I am with a critical patient and cannot leave them, I have had to have nurses fromt he floor come back to help with getting transport papers ready for transfers, either by ambulance or helicopter, call other facilities for the doc, and/or find admission orders for the doc. well, because they were having problems finding all the correct papers, I took it upon myself to make transfer packets for ambulance and helicopter, and admission packets for med surg and ICU. I also tok it upon myself to clean out the file cabinet as there were forms in there which were 12 years old and never used. Well, the problem came when one of the nurses came on and I asked her what she thought of what I had done and she completely tore me apart. :angryfire
She said that She is tired of conforming to people that walk in here. She said that if people do not know where things are, they are not oriented, and that she does not like it. she said there is no reason to make packets. all the forms are in the drawers. And she is right, but they were not put together. Now they are all safety clipped together in seperate packets. Then she replied with don't ask me my opinion I obviously don't have any say back here. Ask the other nurses who have been here longer than me. Mind you, she has been there 15 years and the others have been there longer. I have been in the ER 1 year. I am trying to help our ER run smoother for everybody. Do you think that I am stepping on toes by doing this without asking them what they thought first? :deadhorse
b eyes

:welcome: to the wonderful world of E.R. nursing. You did do a good thing!!!! Let us all not just say it is the Silverback nurse it is any nurse that works in a specific area that has been there longer than any new comer. We are type A personalities :idea: and very territorial:smiley_ab even to a fault. I have never seen such cut throat, gossiping, back stabbing and sabatoging people. I love :loveya: being a E.R. nurse though. Remind yourself why you are there for patients make that your focus and the :devil: H with everyone who gives you a hard time. I am a traveler and deal with a lot of this all the time. I have to remind myself I'm not there to make life long friendships. It doesn't mean that I don't want to have friends :cheers: I have just found that the world in which we live in is very clickish and self serving. Anything you can do to make your job easier and helps you manage your time better is always a positive. Don't keep:banghead: trying to make this nurse happy you can't and she won't allow you :madface: too! Focus your energy on any new folks :mortarboard: that come in. Best Wishes!:balloons:

rn46:studyowl:

crawlyberry · May 2, 2007

I worked in a surgery clinic and there were individual papers and packets that we made. Some people dont welcome change, but I am sure that when she sees how efficient it makes everything she will come around. Again, she didnt think of it, so it probably did rub her the wrong way. Next time, share your ideas before making a change. People like to be included.

RNinED · May 7, 2007

I think the fact that you just did it without asking for any opinions is what rubbed her the wrong way.

However the more experienced opinion was that the packets were useless and unwelcome. The very experienced :devil: nurses have not all realized the changes to the ED numbers and clientel with higher acuities requires streamlined processes so new resources can be utilized (like floor nurses to prepare records for tranfer, admit, etc.). Fortunately you have inexperience on your side and can simply put it that the change was the only way you could manage at this stage of your carreer while she is free to manage it her way when she is there. Good changes usually carry themselves and you may not ever be appreciated fully by the few who hate change... the new nurses comming on and especially the pts. will benefit from your efforts and suffering. Use numbers when you tell the boss, supervisor etc. "using this packet decreased the time for tranfer by about===minutes putting the helping nurse back to her own area sooner."