Need advice...irritating co-worker

Reblflowrs · Oct 1, 2001

:eek: It depends on your personality, from my point of view. If you are a blunt, confident nurse, who's not afraid to speak her mind...you just take her aside and tell her that this is very irritating to you and all the others, and that if she has legitimate complaints she should take them through the correct channels .

If you're a peace loving kind of person..talk to the supervisor. Tell her/him what you've just told us. At any rate, this needs to be aired as it makes for poor moral in any place of employment ..

Good luck .

frustratedRN · Oct 1, 2001

i work with someone like that too but she is full time and has been there for years. she is the old school nurse ive mentioned before.

at first i found her behavior extremely annoying and petty but i have come to understand that in her way she is actually trying to help me.

i didnt learn this right away...it took a while.

and ill tell you what, i get along better with other nurses on the unit but if i really need some sound advice, i go to her.

it still gets on my nerves that she answers questions i dont even ask but its a small price to pay for her help.

best advice is to shut your ears and ignore her. sounds like thats just what she does and no matter what you say or who you tell shes just going to keep doing it. if you say something and she is reprimanded, she will still do it but she will do it to you behind your back. (sometimes that IS better)

id talk to her about it and ask her why she does that.

some nurses, as you know, just like to *****

jaffy · Oct 1, 2001

Hello frustrated, I too used to work with a nurse that acted about the same way you described of the one you work with. She might have been alittle worse! funny it was also a LTC facility for children with all kinds of medical problems. This nurse had/ has the worst attituide of any person I have ever met, is extremely hateful, puts everyone around her down nonstop-----cusses on a daily and very loud basis and nothing is ever done! all the management was and still is aware of the situation all I can say is at the time we were very short staffed so I guess the powers that be felt it was better to have a awful nurse rather than no nurse! anyway I decided that she was a very unhappy person, must really not like herself! If you look real close at people like this it usually says more about them than the people around them! It is extremely tiring to work around a person like this and I left my job! she still works there I still have friends that work there and they say she is as bad as ever! To this day it saddens me that the management continues to let this go on!! My only advice is to talk to your supervisor and if they let it go on as mine did then maybe you too should begin looking elsewhere!

EXOTIC NURSE, RN · Oct 1, 2001

I just ignore irritating co workers, every job has one. I would never let anyone run me away from my job. I deal with nurses who have problems in a way that I let them know by my comment that I am not up for the sh##. Then I go on about my day in a professional manner. It is up to you to make or break your morale, you should never leave it in the hands of other people to set your mood for the day. I had a confrontation discussion with one of my co workers and she asked me if I had a problem with her. I told her no, but I had a problem with what she asked me and how she asked me, but now that you are aware of it....I have no problem with you at all. You just get things off your chest in a professional manner but in a way to say "HEY leave me alone with all that drama! then proceed with your day.

h vigliotti · Oct 1, 2001

knock her block off! are you sure her name isn't ouiser? (steel magnolias). so you're a nurse right? and she's a nurse right? remember your "I" statements. you know 'sharron', it really hurts MY feelings when...if she has any grey matter in her head, she'll understand what your doing and get the point, but then you are also dealing with the situation in a PLEASANT AND PROFESSIONAL manner. or if you did want to get a little stinky...e-mail every one in the office a rendition of our little transaction here! now if that doesn't capture her attention, like i said, clock her upside the head! (just kidding)

Originally posted by Kristie71
I am looking for some advice from other nurses on how to best deal with a situation with a colleague. "Sharon" has worked(casual/on-call) in our facility (a long-term day facility for disabled children) for a few years more than I have been employed there, full-time. Whenever Sharon comes to work, she nit-picks every chart, every decision, and every detail of our clients' care. We full-time people have a close and special relationship with our kids, and we believe we do a great job with them. What I can't handle is the constant critcism from Sharon. She speaks to me in the most condescending manner. She behaves as if all of the staff is incompetent, and that she is just superior to everyone.

Does any one have any thoughts on how to handle her without making myself crazy??

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Oct 4, 2001

I would tell her to mind her own patient care, and lay off me, please, and then respond with a "yep, OK, alright, thankyou" to all suggestions, and continue to do my own job.

Make sure before you ignore her that she doesn't have a small, but good point. It can be so frustrating when the people that are most annoying turn out to be right once in a while, but it's worse if they catch you being wrong. :D