Being called "ignorant" by your boss- am I over-reacting?

[Cat_RN]

Long story (kind of) short, I have worked in this rehab facilty for over 3 years, I am one of their most loyal employees and I am required to orient all of the new nurses on my shift. I have never been disciplined for anything, never an issue, no complaints. (There is a point to my saying this; I am not just tooting my own horn;). Regardless of who is on, I usually get calls about if something happened with someone/something and a LOT of pressure is put on me, which is fine because I like nursing. My facility has an extraordinarily high turn-over rate. Most new nurses last on the floor less than 2 weeks and it has the reputation to be the most difficult of places to work in the area. The DON runs it like an absolute tyranny.

On the rehab floor we have 60 patients and 3 CNA's, one nurse for 38 patients and the other nurse takes the rest and floats upstairs to take some of the dementia patients. For a 120 bed facility thats 3 nurses and 6 CNAs. These patients are extremely demanding and the facility expects us to provide the utmost 'customer service' for them, of course.

Anyways, this morning, me and about 10 other people are at the nurse's station giving/getting report. A call bell is going off. (Call bells are always going off; that's what happens when you staff 3 CNA's for 60 medicare patients!). The manager in question approaches me and only me, to ask 'where my CNA's are". I tell her I don't know, but given the time they're probably in rooms finishing rounds. The other nurse for the majority of floor does not get questioned. She keeps ranting about the call light and I tell her I'll find someone to get it- all the while knowing since I'm in report, why can't she get it? She ignores the CNA's standing at the desk, who could have very well answered the damn light.

Anyways, later on, she pulls me into the office to tell me 'I'm ignorant' and that I should always know exactly where my CNA's are and that 'my pt could have been on the floor' etc etc etc. This pt wasn't even assigned to me!!! She conts on verbally belittling me in FRONT of another nurse. I keep my cool and remain polite and leave. I end up bawling my eyes out in anger all the way home.

I'm going to be putting my 2 weeks in. This incident is the icing on the cake to the chaotic hell that is my workplace. I am contemplating calling corporate. This manager I used to have a great rapport with, and today she suddenly has turned on me. Am I overreacting or is calling your employee 'ignorant' for such a small thing TOTALLY uncalled for? I would never dream of calling a CNA that.

tl:dr: Manager acts as if I am the only one who can do anything and should be responsible for everything and then calls me ignorant when I fail to rise to her unreasonable expectations.

Life is more than treating someone poorly over a call bell in a nursing home.

[MySonIsAdorable]

I say you try your best to make it until you find other employment, that way you can say that you are leaving for another job. I am so sorry that you got treated that way. I can honestly say that when some insults my intelligence it hurts more than anything. AND there is no reason for her to speak to you that way in front of another staff member. You should talk to her about it in an assertive and professional way...that way you know that you have followed the chain of command...if she does it again regardless if you are leaving or not I would file a complaint with corporate or the owner. Good luck I'm sending a prayer your way!

[Imarisk2]

We warriors need a different strategy for conquoring our stressful jobs. We cannot do this unless we present a unified front in healthcare. It is totally unacceptable to treat each other with less honor and consideration than we treat our patients. When we accept disrespect and mistreatment from each other, it has a negative impact on the care we are able to provide our patients.

We need a new standard of care that endorses healthy treatment from the inside out of all healthcare organizations. Nurse managers and leaders should have special training in how to make this happen in their facilities. As a floor nurse, I know what is expected of me. I have supervision and constant upgrading of my skills. Nurse managers need supervision and constant upgrading of skills, too, but they often do not have mentors and preceptors to turn to. Therefore, everything heads south when their "big picture" starts to melt.

In your shoes, I would try to set aside my anger before confronting my manager, and then I would try to open up a two-way conversation about the incident. Think about the way you might do that with a patient under your care who might have called you "ignorant". Be prepared to tell her how it made you feel. Remember that honor and respect are contageous for most of us, and she can only benefit if you model this for her instead of her own attitude mirrored back to her.

If she can't or won't bend, get out. Find a place where you can be honored and respected for your work. Even your patients will benefit by your self-confidence and peace of mind.