Nurse with bad attitude during report.

Nurses Relations

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Looking for advice on how to deal with a nurse that is rude.

We can officially clock in at 640, though the shift is 645-715. I only need about 5 minutes to make my med/task grid and skim labs. I am almost always ready to get report by 645 and this is not a problem for anyone but this one nurse.

I think it's very important to have a general idea of what is going on with your patients before report to help create a good idea of whats going. I like to know about early BG checks, early meds, labs trending down, etc so I can start prioritizing. So every morning when shes handing off to me, she rushes me. I've started very politely saying "I'll be done in a few minutes." Mind you I'm there earlier than we have to be but still at an allowed time! I'm not a nurse that expects a lengthy report. I read quick and can find what I need in the chart. I think knowing some stuff ahead of time actually makes report quicker.

During report she's very short with me and cuts me off.

In past reports with her I've found things like blatently bad IVs, VTE ordered hours ago and not addressed, and patients in pain that could have had a PRN hours ago, etc. I have asked her to address it, because thats the right thing for the patient. I make sure I round the hour before report to address needs and pain meds so night shift starts off good, I just think it would be considerate to get it in return!

How would you handle this? She is escalating with her attitude. I'm experienced and am not losing sleep over this, I'm just fed up with her attitude. I'm thinking I should just pull her aside privately and tell her I feel she has a short tone with me and I want to have a good relationship with my coworkers. Thoughts?

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Specializes in CVICU.

The short answer is "yes".

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Specializes in PICU.

It sounds like something else must be going on with her. Maybe nicely ask them, "I've noticed lately things have been really quick, is everything okay?" I wouldn't press her about the nursing care since that nurse may likely be defensive. What time does report time start, as in what time do you have to give and receive report. It is possible that this nurse may have to leave at a specific time to care for someone else or be somewhere,this isn't an excuse though for leaving out pertinent information in a report or not giving a complete report. There might be something else going on as well

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I'm not delaying receiving report. This nurse rushes everyone and she's not friendly about it. I'm a nurse to be a nurse, not to show up and give some meds and leave. I take report seriously, I want to give the best care.

One time I had a slightly hyperkal pt going for dialysis that night and she was giving me an attitude for not asking the doctors to address the K level and my efforts to explain they are about to be transported to dialysis were pointless. I'm absolutely not trying to pick a LPN/RN fight, but I do sense she has an issue with that. I'm a RN.

I want to address it with her to improve communication but I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to word this without making it worse.

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Specializes in PICU.

I am sorry if I insinuated you were late giving report as that was not at all my intention. When you stated 6:40/6:45, I wasn't sure if that was the start of report or if that was just your arrival and organizing time. The places that I know shift starts at 7 AM/PM and there is a huddle, then about 7:10 nurses go to get report.

Definitely sounds like this is an ongoing issue and needs to be addressed. Sorry that you have a co-worker like this as it does make things very uncomfortable.

Is there a way you could ask her what she thinks are the important aspects of a good hand off? Then tell her, for me, I need to have these items addressed in your hand off to me because this will help keep our patient safe. Maybe by making it about OUR patient safety might help.

If it is an RN/LPN issue it could be a sense of her having some feelings about that. Sorry to hear you are going through this

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If you are taking report from this nurse, then you know that your first priority after report is to check on the patients, especially those whose labs are trending, who have IV meds, that type of thing. I would go in and do a quick once over of the patients, to be sure there is nothing pressing at that moment.

If there's bad IV's and orders not addressed, that is a patient safety issue that has to be dealt with. But by your charge nurse, not by you.

The other nurses personality is nothing that you can control. I think you saying "I will be ready for you in 5 minutes" should be sufficient. That her attitude is less than stellar as she is giving you report is again, a personality issue. When it becomes a safety issue is when I would have to bring that to someone who could do something about it.

Otherwise, to take her aside and speak with her 1:1 is not always a good thing. And could come back to bite you.

Another thought process is to give specific examples to your charge nurse. "Pt in room 333 has an infiltrated IV, and it appears red, hot, and swollen. Could you come and look at it with me?" or "The orders for patient in 621 were for last evening, and were not signed off or completed. Could you direct me as to if I need to call the MD?"

Stick to the facts, and not the subjective personality stuff. Just remember to be mindful and careful with the patients you get from this nurse, cover yourself, and get someone else involved who can direct you, who will see the same things as you, and help you with the plan of care going forward. Also be 100% sure that you are specific in your reporting off to her about what may be coming up for her shift. ie: "Patient in room 888 has been having pain control q 4 hours, and it is difficult to get his pain under control if it is more than that. The next dose is due at 10pm." "Really watch the IV in room 484. It is positional, and she is declining a new one at this time, I am able to flush it, and the meds are running fine, but the pump will go off if she is bending her arm".

It may be a matter of time until you do the "bedside reporting" thing, where all of this is seen, talked about. noted, and fixed at bedside by both the off going and on coming nurse. I think bedside reporting is ideal for this type of situation, in that you can see what you need to prioritize from the get go.

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Definitely address it with the nurse manager or charge nurse. I'm sure you're not the only one that feels this way about her.

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If she leaves you with bad ivs or outdated ivs- tell the charge nurse. If there are labs not collected, etc write a PSR or have charge write a PSR. If shes rushing you to get report, hide from her or tell her " My shift starts at 6:45, thank you." Ive had experiences with giving and getting report from snippy nurses and they were like that with everyone. I dont think you should expect her to change if that is just how she is. It should not be an allowed behavior though and maybe you could speak with the manager about it.

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We do utilize bed side report. I do glance around the room because I want to know if everything is situated so I can fix it if need be, not to fuss at her. I don't have time to fuss over IV tubing due on her shift, I just want to address it. I'm sure she thinks I'm "looking" for things. But if nurses kept up with things then the next nurse doesn't have to look like the detective!

I think what someone said is right, addressing it 1:1 may come back to bite. I'll continue to draw boundaries and let her know I'm here early to get prepared, I'll get report when report time starts. I am just really trying to help teamwork on my unit, we have a lot of new nurses and more on the way. Trying to rush people and give a rather crappy report is not cool.

Thanks for listening

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