hostile workplace- dangerous co worker, low morale

scrubs12 · Sep 19, 2011

thanks for the comments.

the dangerous co worker is a RN.

some surgeons have written him up but still get stuck with him and gave up, only a couple of surgeons (directors) have him banned from their rooms and have been successful.

our ADA actually has to help him on a regular basis- ADA prepping, foley insertion, trouble shooting as he watches. ADA documents it, has meetings with the DA and HR but he is still here!

management's rationale is b/c this dangerous RN's incompetence hasn't resulted in a patient being harmed! ***! that is b/c we ( the rest of the staff) step in to prevent it. there is no way anyone of us will just stand there and watch a patient get harmed, hence no patient harmed, hence- he is still here according the mtg! have no respect for mtg after they said this.

once, a scrub actually had to break scrub to telephone for help b/c the dangerous RN just froze when surgery suddenly went bad, the surgeons were asking for other trays asap, blood to be ordered, etc and he can only process one. thing. at. a. time. and. it. must. be. repeated..... ticking time bomb. another RN was sent to "help" while he just stood in the corner being useless.

regarding documenting conversations with management- how do i do this? usually, we write the dangerous rn up and give it to mtg but they never get back to us unless we specifically ask, but they never give an answer, a plan, their progress... nothing.

do i make my own personal documentation to turn into the DON- ie. spoke with xxx DA regarding complaint filed on dangerous RN. no answer given..... i would appreciate some pointers here:)

thanks.

Rob72, ASN, RN · Sep 19, 2011

1) Letter with your personal experiences with this RN, and the names of witnessing staff to the BON.

2) Your Office of Risk Management (bypass supervisors, and send a notarized copy of the complaint via Certified Mail. This places the liability fully on the facility. Managers may file some complaints w/o passing them to Risk Management if they treat the issue as, "Remedial/Corrective action on-going". If RM receives a complaint directly, it is supposed to be logged and followed to a conclusion. It is supposed to occur in conjunction with advice from Legal, so that the facility is in compliance with State and Federal law in management of the situation. Admin does not generally like things going to RM, bypassing the Supervisors, because it is then a matter of more readily accessible record, under subpoena (i.e., your filing may come up with several others if RM receives a subpoena; if your supervisor has the complaint, it will not (likely) come up in an unrelated investigation).

3) As above, in a complaint to JCAHO, if your facility is accredited.

Some helpful ideas: know your policy & procedure. Document every violation, be it sterile field, pump management, whatever. Specifically, it cannot be "technique", per se, but a direct violation of scripted actions or prohibitions within the department. This is purely objective, and cannot be said to be discriminatory.

If any of your surgeons are active in their State professional association, have them bug their committee rep to bug the Chair or multiple members of the BON.

Also, as previously noted, if this is potentially impacting your licensure, pay $200 to an attorney to write & mail those letters for you. Having said that, be sure your nose is veerry clean & make sure that your complaint(s) are established enough that ignoring it/them will get some senior adminsitrative people removed.

tvccrn, ASN, RN · Sep 20, 2011

Make copies of every form you fill out and send to management. If you have a conversations with someone, write it down (Date, time, who you spoke with and the content of the conversation)

Be VERY specific!! As Rob72 said state,

"On 9-19-2011 @ 1327 in OR#3, RN in question was observed by this RN, scrub tech, and circulating RN to touch hair then proceed to open sterile pack without re-scrubbing or changing sterile gloves. Once RN was appraised of noticed breach of sterilty, RN then continued to set up table and not re-scrub or changes sterile gloves. MD of case notified who then confronted RN who then proceeded to re-scrub before donning new sterile gloves."

Use names of witnesses, places, and specific times. Make note of your actions to correct situation and his reactions. You can not be too detailed, but do make certain that you are not falling into some of the same things you documenting about him.

Good luck!!

rn/writer, RN · Sep 20, 2011

As previous posters have mentioned, get risk management involved and document with incident reports.

Just because the nursing and medical admins are aware of the situation, you can't assume that risk management has been informed. They're an entirely separate group, an entity which admins sometimes don't want to involve because they want to do things their way and RM might not agree.

As for the incident reports, make absolutely sure that the accounts are factual, non-emotional and objective in nature. Incident reports are not the place to vent. Come here for that.

Make a lengthy and detailed paper trail of what occurs and what detrimental affects it has on patient care. If another nurse has to be called in, that results in a longer time under anesthesia.

My guess is that the powers that be are worried that he will file some kind of discrimination claim against him, and are hoping to avoid antagonizing him. A relative of mine works with such a person--hx. of launching lawsuits, subpar perfomance that others would have been fired for long ago, insistence that others are victimizing them and treating them unfairly. And management just puts up with the person.

I hope you can put your heads together and find the right buttons to push to deal with this difficult co-worker.