New Grad Co-worker driving me NUTS!!!!

[dinah77]

Okay, full disclosure, I am still pretty much a new grad on the floor myself with a whole whopping seven months on the floor- I work in a very busy TCU, with a patient population that ranges from Total knee replacement A&O x3, to higher acutity with us to see if they need LTC services in the near future

Having said that, here is what I have learned on the floor thus far about being a new grad

1. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times

2. Ask questions all the time!

3. Be very honest about what do you do and don't know from the get go! which as a new grad is NOT MUCH

4. Addendum to #3, be humble

5. Obvioulsy follow all rules and company policy to keep management happy but first and foremost form good bonds with your co-workers, especially the more seasoned knowledgeable nurses- you need them more then you can ever know initially!

Having said that, one of my coworkers is driving me frickin' nuts, and is the EXACT OPPOSITE of eveything I wrote aboved

She's a new grad in her mid twenties, been on our floor two months- very OVERLY confident- refuses to admit she doesn't know something, in fact for the first two weeks she had managed to trick me- whenever we would explain a new procedure/tx on the floor with a patient in report she would say " Oh sure just like in the hospital!" which I thought meant she had worked in one until I found out SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT CLINICALS

anyhow, due to being a family friend of the one of the higher ups she got position as a shift supervisor after one month on the floor- ( the word on the street is that she plans to stick at our facility as a supervisor for a year so that she can go have her pick of hospital jobs) I told her straight up when she told me "You're crazy to take that job- I wouldn't have- it's stressful for nurses with 20 years on the job"

So basically she is overly nice Suzy sunshine , but really passive agressive too- yesterday was a hellish day at work for me- one of my patient's went into crisis, every annoying demanding family member that has someone on our floor all visited at once, several meds were missing resulting in more work phone calls for me to pharmacy, etc.

THen PM shift pulls a no call/no show, so after waiting for 1/2 an hour past my shift to go home little miss Suzy is gonna take the shift so I report off to her- I explain my hellish day, how all I wanna do is get the hell off the floor and she is all sympathetic-

so what does she do as we are counting narcs? a bottle of liquid oxycodone is a little OVER (thank god not under) the # of MLs in the book ( my theory pharm over filled it a little initially, they have done so in the past) She creates this big drama about how " I'm not signing off with you until this is resolved!" and gets managers from other floors who happen to be hanging around haivng just all completed a meeting on our floor- Most of the managers were just like " Just be happy it's not under, just waste the extra"

BUT OH NO!Suzy has gotta get an official stamp from the DON, calling her at home while she has taken the day off to visit her new grandbaby

I finally get out of there, and an hour later I get a VM from my actual manger sounding weary, stating "Suzy has found a few meds you forgot to sign out, you need to call us so we know what meds you didn't give" (okay, bad I know, but given my constant interruptions during med pass yesterday I'm surprised I got half of them signed out- we are old school, use carts, cards, and paper charting- and I ALWAYS give all of my meds, wanna know how you can know? MAYBE CHECK THE EMPTY BUBBLE NEXT TO THE DAY'S DATE)

This btw, in light of a conversation I had with Suzy where I made it clear that no one should call me at home for little things that can wait until the next day- correction, you can call me, but if it is petty, I will not call you bak on my own time, sorry.

In short, how do I work with this newbie without punching her in the Larynx?

If you read this far MANY THANKS

[murphyle, BSN, RN]

I think if someone got a shift supervisor job here in Aust with so little experience, the ward nurses would probably riot. It must be very different over there.

Not every place in the US holds those standards. Most hospitals in this area, my own included, require two to five years' experience and two years in-unit before you can be considered for any supervisory role. In one month a new hire, be they experienced RN or brand-new GN, wouldn't even be off probation, let alone be up for a Charge Nurse / Clinical Nurse Specialist slot. Yes, there's a limited degree of "who you know" no matter where you go, but that typically doesn't serve more than getting your toe through the door. It's up to you at that point to prove that you're worthy of taking up a staff role. The requirements are only getting tougher now with the economic downturn, as so many places have scores of applicants beating down the door for every position.

To the OP: as galling as it's going to be, the best thing for you to do in this position is, to quote my grandfather, "keep your nose so hard on the grindstone that your ass is in the air." If this Suzy Snowflake did get her job through the Old Gals' Network, calling her out will not end well for you. Instead, lay low for a while and see what she does, and in that meanwhile make sure your own practice is letter-perfect. Leave her no avenue to question your work. Be pleasant, be conscientious, but above all be thorough. If she's as weak as you say, she'll burn herself out in due course. If not, you've saved yourself from making a very dangerous enemy.

Best of luck to you.

[Scrubby]

I think if someone got a shift supervisor job here in Aust with so little experience, the ward nurses would probably riot. It must be very different over there.

It's in our Enterprise Bargaining Agreement that an RN cannot be put in a supervisory position until they have had a minimum of 6 months experience.

Now I personally think 6 months is not enough for the majority of new grads but at least you don't have RN's fresh out of uni running the floor.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Dinah77,

I'm sorry. I should have left my own experience out of my responses to you since I'm not in acute care like you are - it's comparing apples to oranges. Good luck to you.

I don't think the OP is in acute care either....TCU usually is Transitional Care Unit....between hospital and LTC, or acute rehab.