Interpersonal conflict in Nursing

[sweetmama81]

I have been a nurse for almost 7 years. I started working at this facility last year and it was deemed one of the best hospitals in the area. Once I started working on the unit, I could feel the tension between the nurses. It is particularly between the shifts. I know this happens everywhere, but it is disturbing because there is such mistrust and back biting. Day shift feels that Night shift doesn't have much to do and should pick up on some of their duties. Night shift feels that day shift gets favoritism by the NM and gets away with a lot of things. People are quick to tell what you didn't do to the NM and some (i have heard) have tried and succeeded in getting some one in trouble or pushed out of the door because they didn't like them. I am a staight to the point person and I don't like playing games. I try to be polite and professional to everyone. If I have an issue with someone, I bring it to them. I told a nurse that she signed off on something but the order wasn't in the computer. She blew me off and and now the nurses on that shift have been very standoffish towards me. I was trying to look out for her even though people told me it would not make a difference; she won't change and this is part of her MO. Being new to the hospital makes it worse because they see you as the new kid on the block and feel that you should just adjust to it. How can I help them see that working together and looking out for each other not only improves patient satisfaction but will change the morale of the entire unit?

[Five&Two Will Do]

i know how you feel. i'm still trying to overcome my new kid status which is especially tough when my preceptor didn't care for me. it wasn't anything i did - she planned on not liking me. there is one nurse in particular (who happens to be friends with the preceptor i had) who constantly makes smart comments or blows me off. she'll even flat out ignore me sometimes when i ask a question if i'm not looking her right in the eyes. i asked her a question the other day about where something went in a chart and she heard me, but said nothing. i said, "okay, awesome." and just walked away. her patient, her chart, her problem if i put it in the wrong place. another example - someone told me to tell "jane" when i saw her that a doctor was on the phone. when i saw her 30 seconds later i said, "jane, there's a doctor on the -" ..."i KNOW!" i was like, "yeah, okay, and i had no way to know that."

i'm nice, but if they want to give it then i can give it right back. amazingly, she's started being nicer to me lately. i think some people just like to test you to see how far you'll let them go.

I hear you on that! I have been on my unit since November, and most of the nurses are great. There are a couple of the long time CCRN's that have mega attitude toward me. I think that if you are willing to learn and are a team player people should not care if you are new. I do my job very well and don't need there approval so the heck with that ****!