Preachy Coworker

[2shihtzus]

We have a CNA at work who, as of late, has taken it upon himself to preach religion to everyone he comes across.

Dont get me wrong, I embrace religous diversity. But there is a time and a place.

He will sing hymns in patient rooms, at the nurses station, when transporting patients. He will write out scriptures on pieces of paper, photocopy it, then distribute it to coworkers. He has started preaching to anyone who will listen, and will throw the f-word in for emphasis.

Everyone on the unit is annoyed. Any suggestions how to tell a coworker to knock it off?

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

The f-word makes scripture go over better? Perhaps he's going into a manic state. If not I would notify a supervisor, proselytizing is generally frowned upon at work.

[2shihtzus]

Unfortunately, our supervisor doesnt seem to be very pro-active when it comes to addressing issues.

[Nursebarebari]

Just tell him to back off and that you are not interested in whatever he has to preach.

[Jo Dirt]

Tell him you belong to the Church of Satan and find his preaching terribly offensive.

Seriously.

[queenjean]

The singing wouldn't bother me; the handing out bits of scripture would.

First of all, tell this guy in no uncertain terms that he is annoying everyone, he is overstepping his boundaries, and that he needs to STOP with the proselytizing. Then if he does not, go above your supervisor's head. This guy's behavior is not kosher. Finally, have your own little handout prepared. Depending upon your religious inclinations, it could be about the joys of Islam, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Atheism.

Because I'm evil like that, my main m.o. would be to annoy the heck out of the guy with my own handouts, cartoons, songs, etc until either he backed off or management grew a pair and took care of his proselytizing.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I think HR ought to be included. I feel this behavior is probably out of line with corporate compliance guidelines.

[MedicalLPN, LPN]

Confront him, if he doesn't back off, and if your immediate supervisor does nothing then go up the chain of command. Go to your manager, go to human resources, and if that doesn't work go to the director of nursing. His behavior is simply unacceptable.

[RN1982]

I'm one of those people who really dislike when people try to push their religion or beliefs onto me, so if he continued this behavior even after I confronted him, I would speak to my manager. If my manager did nothing, I would talk to whomever is above my manager.

[mpccrn, BSN, RN]

i had a co-worker that created a situation similar to what was described. i found the direct approach worked best.........sorry, not interested! and i'd walk away or become engaged in another conversation. whenever she'd bring up her religion, we'd just ignore the fact that she said something. she never handed out anything which i'd make a point of throwing directly in the trash or refuse to accept it. she didn't last long. i feel bad for the captive patients that he does this to but he'll eventually preach to the wrong one and administration will have no choice but to address the issue. good luck!

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

You've gotten some great advice here.

Start with the person's immediate supervisor; if he/she's not receptive, go over that person's head. Go to the head of personnel. They might like to know why they might be seeing a couple of staff quitting, or get a heads-up on the patient complaints that are GOING to come in, bet on it.

[RN1982]

Kind of reminds me when I was an aide and our patients had semi-private rooms. Well, one patient's pastor came in and he started preaching and jumping up and down that I could hear him out in the hallway. I went into the room to see what the commotion. There's the pastor preaching like he was in church. The other patient looked a bit perturbed to say the least. I had to tell the guy to take a chill pill. Sorry, but preaching the requires you to jump up and down and resulting in frightening the other patient is inappropriate.