Oh, The Politics...

[DeepFriedRN]

Hello all, been a while. But I have a "thing" going on at work, and need to hear from some of you who might have some more experience with this kind of thing. So I changed jobs, and now I'm working in an office/clinic type environment, in orthopedics. Learning new stuff, like most of the people I work with just fine. Here's the thing though. This is a hospitalist program. So we have most of the staff working for the hospital, and then we have the hospitalist coordinator, who obviously works for them. I am the only clinical person there (besides the MD's of course).

Here's what I am coming across.. As it is a hospitalist program, these MD's have not CHOSEN to practice together, they are just thrown in together. Therefore there are a few who are CLEARLY not fond of one another, and aren't shy about the fact. Which is fine, but my problem is this. They are making it impossible for me to do my job!! For instance, one of my responsibilities is surgery schedules. Since MDs rotate through clinic, very often one will order and another will actually do the surgery. So I'll get the order, set it up, and inform the MD. More often than not, the MD will decide he's being "dumped on" ("why am I getting this one??") and so, instead of just calling me, will call the Medical Director, who then calls the coordinator, who will more often than not bow to the whining and change said surgery. And tell me AFTER the fact. So then, why is it you are having me do this stuff if you are just going to re-do it anyway?! I'm also finding that the coordinator kind of foments the bad feelings, by repeating to the docs what one has said about the other.. So inefficient, such a total lack of meaningful communication..There's a lot more crap, but this is already a novel LOL. This is a new program, and it's only been 2 mos. I consistently make attempts to deal with people directly to avoid this stuff but feel as though I am continuously circumvented by the coordinator..am I not giving it enough time? Is this kind of crap normal? This is my first job in a clinic setting, so maybe its just different and I'm not used to it yet. I just don't feel any "teamwork"..

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

I think the coordinator needs to adhere to the "just the facts maam" and not try to swirl each dilemma into a soap opera. She is not assisting with teamwork-she is thorn in the side of calmness that could occur.

Does the supervisor/manager know about the coordinator's antics???

otessa

[DeepFriedRN]

yeah, it's just one of those weird situations where they are on the same level but work for different entities... she asked me what she could do for me to help (as she could see I'm getting frustrated) but I'm kinda at a loss..sigh. I'm starting to miss the floor. Yes, it's that bad, LOL.

[Riseupandnurse]

My experience with ortho surgeons is they have egos and tempers the size of Texas. But they will unite against a common enemy, like cardiologists, GI doctors or neurosurgeons. Natural enemies. Any chance of using that against them? Like other large beasts of prey, they're not as smart as they think they are.

[lorelei1973]

It sounds like they're really not used to efficiency or having an employee who does what they would most prefer not to happen, which is to drive them. Good grief, time to have a conversation with the principles. You can do your work and circles around it; you need some clarification and commitment from your coworkers and supervisors. This is laziness (it seems sp at face value), but maybe it's the culture, and so maybe it works. It's your job now to find out if and how you fit in. But you have to have that conversation. So much room for misinterpretation when you're in a new situation -- better to hash it out than call it politics and resign yourself to feeling disconnected or sh*t upon.

[DeepFriedRN]

Thanks you guys. I realize thatI definitely have to hash it out. I guess it's just the whole politically correct direction that I have to take that's irking me. I'm used to the floor, where when you have an issue you just kind of duke it out right then and call it good. This whole picking the appropriate words and being careful about your approach is new to me, but I'll learn. I think I just needed to vent. Thanks for the words of wisdom and support. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

Don't you just love it when these well educated professionals act like small children. I think you should start handing out pacifiers. Color coded. Blue for the men and pink for the woman. And tell they cannot give them back until they can learn to start acting like an adult.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

My experience with ortho surgeons is they have egos and tempers the size of Texas. But they will unite against a common enemy, like cardiologists, GI doctors or neurosurgeons. Natural enemies. Any chance of using that against them? Like other large beasts of prey, they're not as smart as they think they are.

HA. She speaketh the truth... OP, it will require you to wrangle. Got kids? Lots of "Now, now, it's gonna be OK... you can do it this time, and he'll do it next time" kinda stuff. LOL

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

Time for a group meeting. Coordinate. If it doesn't fix it, move on. I can't work in an environment that is driven by personalities.

Too much of a headache.