What grinds your gears about your coworkers?

Nurses Relations

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Specializes in ICU.

I absolutely HATE it when a pt is NPO and my coworkers document "0" as the oral intake labeled "NPO". Seriously? Just unnecessary.

What grinds your gears?

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Seems like a little thing to get worked up over. But instead of tearing coworkers down, why not post what you like about them? Sometimes framing the work environment in a positive light goes much farther than negativity.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand why this bothers you. I would think that documenting "0" for oral intake would be preferable to leaving it blank (which can be open for interpretation-did the patient have any intake, did someone even check).

Does it mess up your I/O's or something? We have to learn to be tolerant of other ways of doing things. We will likely never work somewhere where everyone always does everything exactly the way we would. As long as it's technically correct and doesn't cause too much confusion for others, let it be. I have struggled with this as I am a perfectionist, but I've learned that it's not fair to hold others to my personal expectations. Often what bugs us is trivial and petty and not worth getting our panties in a bunch about.

And, as stated above, don't sweat the small stuff.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Nothing...I'm sure there are things that I grind their gears about, but TBH, I don't care; we are there for the patients; as long as they are safe, and I can meet their needs, that's all that matters. :yes:

Back to your original question; what does grind my gears is when coworkers leave the patient's room or any shared work space a disaster.

In the med room: throws wrappers from needles and bags from IVF on the counter instead of simply turning around and throwing them in the trash.

In the charting/desk area: Leaving their old, coffee-stained cup for me to throw away. Same for food wrappers, scraps of paper, etc.

In the patient's room: not properly disposing of vials of meds and leaving them sit on the counter. Failure to utilize the trash can (again). Leaving me with 5cc of propfol or levophed in the bottle/bag or an empty tube feeding container.

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Now, I like RoseQueens idea of focusing on the positive. It really does something good for the soul when we choose to see the good in life. So here's what is positive regarding my co-workers:

When they come help me with that IV/ABG stick I just can't get.

When they willingly help me clean up a code brown.

When I get an admission and they all jump in and get the patient on the monitor, VS taken, changed/repositioned and then offer to look at my orders to see if there is anything they can do to help.

When they go the extra mile and cover my patients for me for a few minutes if I'm having a particularly rough day.

When they lend an ear and give me supportive feedback with a problem I'm having.

When they see a problem with my patient (climbing OOB, crappy rhythm on monitor) they don't just inform me and then walk away....we bounce ideas off one another to try to solve the problem.

I could go on and on.....

I work with a great team. Of course we have our few sit-in-the-corner-and-read-a-book-and-be-oblivious-to-what's-going-on but they are the exception. They learn pretty quickly that, although we won't let them drown or their patient suffer due to their laziness, others will not be too eager to help them out when they need an extra pair of hands/eyes.

Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.

Leaving a patient room in a mess with overfilling trash, linen bags and trays. Can't stand that.

Some of my coworkers don't meet my high expectations but they'd all take a bullet for me so apparently they don't hold it against me.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand why this bothers you. I would think that documenting "0" for oral intake would be preferable to leaving it blank (which can be open for interpretation-did the patient have any intake, did someone even check).

This.

Specializes in Family Medicine.

I have a few gear grinders:

When receiving report, I hate when it drags on and on. Keep it short and sweet. I got **** to do.

Not medicating a patient for pain all shift because, "they didn't ask for anything." Leaves me to spend the beginning of my shift catching up like a mad woman. Sometimes, you gotta force the narcs on peeps.

Nurses who run to "tell on" their coworkers before discussing the issue at hand with said coworkers. Can you say, "tattletale?"

Otherwise, I love the majority of my coworkers. If it weren't for them and the patients, I wouldn't keep showing up to that dump.

Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.
Leaving a patient room in a mess with overfilling trash, linen bags and trays. Can't stand that.

Every unit seems to have one nurse whose patients and rooms are always always a mess, even if she only has one pt and an uneventful day. Trash on the floor, old food trays, dirty gown and linens, sticky floors, yankauer on the floor, no venodynes or scds on the pt., etc. We all get tired of cleaning up after this person. Other than reporting the coworker, which I will not do unless there is neglect, how do you get these people to shape up? What has worked to get these not the good housekeeping award type nurses to clean up after themselves?

Every unit seems to have one nurse whose patients and rooms are always a mess. Trash on the floor, old food trays, dirty gown and linens, sticky floors, yankauer on the floor, no venodynes or scds on the pt., etc. I get tired of cleaning up after this person. Other than reporting the coworker, which I will not do unless there is neglect, how do you get these people to shape up?

This would bother me to no end, and so would mgmt's lack of handling it. Don't the other providers complain?

When I see fellow nurses that don't even try and work things out with one another. Instead, run to the office .

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