Question for experienced nurses about dealing with problem co-workers.

mazy · Apr 3, 2011

I'm not sure why reporting a skin tear would have been such a big deal for that other CNA. It happens all the time, it's not a big deal, the follow up is a pain for the nurse but it's really pretty routine, and can be done in a few minutes, and we all know that skin tears happen.

Now, an infected skin tear that no one knew about is a whole different story.

Or a different nurse coming on shift the next day and complaining to administration about the prior nurse having a skin tear on their shift and not reporting it (that'll be your next hurdle in the wonderful world of nursing).

You did the right thing in reporting it and a lesson here for when you become a nurse is to encourage CNAs to report these issues to you.

I think you are moving on in your profession in subtle ways, and the CNAs are just seeing that you are going on to bigger things and may feel resntful that you're not part of that world.

That being said, when you become a nurse you will learn quickly that time management is a huge stumbling block for new nurses -- well, for all of us.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 3, 2011

hello everyone! i should have said problems with co-workers - not problem co-workers but i can't edit that part.
i'm new and very close to starting my asn program. i have a question (or two) and would love some insight or advice of any kind that you might have any to offer.
i am currently a licensed cna. i love my line of work and want to move forward, but i've had a few problems, mainly with co-workers and only once with someone in a supervisory position...
i've worked in 3 separate jobs as a cna - 2 in nursing homes and one in home health. the home health care job was short-lived as i was very bored. i need a much faster pace.
while working in both of the nursing homes i had problems with other cnas complaining about me. in the first job the supervisor simply worked with me on a shift to "see how i was doing" and "be there to answer questions i might have". two hours into an 8 hour shift she finally told me that she was going home and that the reason she was there was because of some complaints from the other cnas that i was "too slow". she also said that the reason she was going home was because there was nothing i needed to do differently and that the reason i took longer per room than most of the other cnas was because i didn't cut corners and that she had absolutely no problem with my speed because the quality of my work and attention to the residents was "above and beyond". i experienced a lot of problems with the other cnas after that - although i never brought the subject up to anyone after that.
in the second nursing home position (i had only been there 5 weeks) i was working with someone who ended up causing a skin tear (nothing was done wrong, it just happened and i witnessed it). she decided not to report it. i urged her to report it repeatedly and told her that i would have to if she didn't because i felt i had to. she never filled out the incident report so i filled one out. i was never questioned about it and never heard anything else. one week later i received a call on my day off from human resources with a laundry list of false (in fact things that i could prove false) accusations and was fired over the phone on the spot without so much as a question or chance to speak. every attempt to speak as to how i could prove these things were false was ignored. a visit and 2 letters to my immediate supervisors were ignored as well.
can anyone tell me what i should have done differently, how i could have avoided these problems, or what the problem even is? i do have a strong personality and i am very no-nonsense about my work, i seem to have problems working with a lot of other women. i do not play the gossip game nor do i discuss anything unnecessary about the residents i care for. i wonder if this is making me more unpopular - even though i feel its wrong and unethical to do these things????
please respond if you have any ideas. i am open to hearing ideas - even if they might not be what i really want to hear. i want to try to avoid these things in the future, but i'm not sure what i'm doing.
thank you so much for reading and/or responding!

i'm nothing if not experienced, but i suspect you won't like my advice.

the "they all hate me because i'm so good at my job" defense is only a step away from the "they all hate me because i'm so beautiful" one. either way, the poster feels superior to everyone she works with, and that has to come through at work. it comes across loud and clear in the paragraph where she says she has a strong personality, a strong work ethic and has problems working with lots of other women. (because everyone knows that women are just a bunch of catty backstabbers -- all of them except me, of course!)

people like other people whom they think like them. so if you consistently behave as if you consider yourself superior to everyone else, they won't like you. work issues that they might let slide if they liked you will become magnified through the lens of "she thinks she's so much better than us." if enough of your co-workers are complaining about working with you, management will go looking for problems . . . there must be one, or people wouldn't be complaining so much, right? when management looks for a problem, they'll find one.

about the skin tear issue -- either let the nurse who caused it report it, or report it yourself. but to make a big deal of it begs attention . . . and if you have difficulty getting along with others, you don't want attention. believe me, if you make a big deal of others' mistakes, they'll make a big deal of yours. and no one is so perfect that they don't make any.

you can only monitor your own practice, you're only responsible for your own. trying to monitor the practice of all of your colleagues is a losing proposition. for one thing, it's just not possible and for another they don't like it. so make sure you're the best that you can be, and unless someone else is in danger of killing someone or causing immediate and permanent bodily harm, you can let their less than desirable practices go . . . until you're in a position where you can actually do something about it. managers and educators can change practice. cnas usually not.

aee1977 · Apr 4, 2011

i'm nothing if not experienced, but i suspect you won't like my advice.

i don't think any of the advice offered is bad so there is no reason not to like it. i think that a few assumptions that were made are incorrect and i addressed those.

the "they all hate me because i'm so good at my job" defense is only a step away from the "they all hate me because i'm so beautiful" one. either way, the poster feels superior to everyone she works with, and that has to come through at work. it comes across loud and clear in the paragraph where she says she has a strong personality, a strong work ethic and has problems working with lots of other women. (because everyone knows that women are just a bunch of catty backstabbers -- all of them except me, of course!)

i feel the need to say here that i certainly don't think that "they all hate me". i think that there is a percentage of people i work with that i rub the wrong way, and those people tend to be women. (i'm not sure how that translates into "women are just a bunch of catty back-stabbers"?) those that i get along with, i get along with very well, but those that don't like me just really don't like me. i hardly think that i am superior, however i also do not feel inferior. if someone else is a better aide than i am then i approach them and ask for advice as to how i can be better, but i do not offer advice unless asked. i've always been open to criticism because i don't take it personally. i tend to take things that are done behind my back and false accusations very personally.

people like other people whom they think like them. so if you consistently behave as if you consider yourself superior to everyone else, they won't like you. work issues that they might let slide if they liked you will become magnified through the lens of "she thinks she's so much better than us." if enough of your co-workers are complaining about working with you, management will go looking for problems . . . there must be one, or people wouldn't be complaining so much, right? when management looks for a problem, they'll find one.

this is probably true in some way, but that reason is not because i feel or view myself as superior. having said that, i cannot say with certainty - as evidenced by your response - that others do not think i feel that way about myself. however, if that is the case, but is not how i actually feel or see myself then what, after reading this response, could i be doing to portray this?

about the skin tear issue -- either let the nurse who caused it report it, or report it yourself. but to make a big deal of it begs attention . . . and if you have difficulty getting along with others, you don't want attention. believe me, if you make a big deal of others' mistakes, they'll make a big deal of yours. and no one is so perfect that they don't make any.

this i also true, but i'm still not sure how i should have done it differently. i know that it had to be reported. i also know that ultimately it shouldn't have been me reporting it. i felt that it was best to make sure she had the chance to report it herself and that to do it quietly behind her back would have been viewed as "****** and underhanded". i have no idea why making the report was such a big deal for her, but it was a much bigger deal to not report it - for me. so, my question is, should i have:
not reported it at all?
not offered her the chance to do it on her own?
or should i have only mentioned it to her once and then dropped it?

you can only monitor your own practice, you're only responsible for your own. trying to monitor the practice of all of your colleagues is a losing proposition. for one thing, it's just not possible and for another they don't like it. so make sure you're the best that you can be, and unless someone else is in danger of killing someone or causing immediate and permanent bodily harm, you can let their less than desirable practices go . . . until you're in a position where you can actually do something about it. managers and educators can change practice. cnas usually not.

i'm quite uncomfortable being in a position where i feel that i have to go to a supervisor about anything. this is, in fact, the only instance where i felt that i had no other choice. i have to add here that a good part of my reasoning and why i felt that i had no other choice is because the resident was non-verbal and couldn't have told anyone what had happened if she had wanted to. having said that, i will admit, part of it was covering my own a**. i can say with absolute certainty that my goal was not to effectuate change or exercise some imagined authority.