What's the weirdest thing management has said to you?

[monkeybug]

Based on the thank you card thread, what's the most bizarre thing said to you by management or administration? I can think of a few that will always stand out in my mind.

When discussing our patient satisfaction surveys, our manager told me in a staff meeting, "Monkeybug, a patient would much rather have a nice nurse than a smart one. They don't care how smart you are, it doesn't matter. The "little things" are what matter! In fact, a family probably wouldn't care if you killed a patient if you were a really sweet nurse." My reply was rather colorful, and culminated with me saying, "give me the smart ***** any day if I'm the patient."

I had a negative survey once because the patient had rolling veins. The patient's comment was that I should have kept this from happening. I asked manager how I was to do this, for future reference. "Well, of course, you can't control rolling veins. But I'm sure if you just apologized enough, you wouldn't get these negative comments!" (my only negative that quarter, but enough of an issue to get called to the office)

[AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN]

My boss said,

Here sign this, I am writing you up. BTW, can you do me a favor and pick up an extra shift tommorrow.......

Seriously?

And what was your answer? And why the write up? That's hilarious.

[Race Mom, ASN, RN]

My unit director told me that a fellow RN had gone to the CNO to lodge a "few" complaints about me. First one: You spend too much time with your patients. (I was a L&D nurse and we almost always were 1 to 1 care). I told her that I don't just run in and run back out. I talk to them, I chart in their room, and I do all these things because they're IN LABOR and have come to the hospital so that we can monitor their labor/delivery! She said the nurse's complaint was that if there were an emergency, they wouldn't know where I was. Really? I thought you just told me where I was...in my pt's room! If I have one labor and I'm not sitting in the nurses station...you can probably guess where I am.

Second one: She complained that you go into the nursery and close the door. Hmmmm.... I thought we were SUPPOSED to do that! You know...infant security? She said...well, yes, you are.

Third one: She said that you act like you know it all (not the exact words she told me, but meant the same thing...just can't remember how she phrased it to me). Well, yes, I am the only NICU trained nurse here and everyone still does care as though it is 1975. I told her "I thought you wanted me to help with evidence based practice" and she said, yes, but that the RN was complaining about me trying to "teach" her (basically she didn't want the help to be up-to-date with her nursing knowledge). I said "fine. I won't bring anymore of my knowledge to this hospital since it is bringing complaints." She then IMMEDIATELY asked me if I knew how to do the Ballard Score". I told her yes and she asked if I would teach it to the RN's. UMMMMMMM......NOPE! Thank you for wasting my time though with this ridiculousness!

[monkeybug]

I am lucky to be working for(for 10 years now) a hopsital that doesn't much do this stuff. If we ask for supplies, it is the time it takes to get it delivered that we wait. The PTO is pretty straight forward. You get your breaks if you want them and there is no flack for call ins(other than weather related...I'll get to that) and if staffing is short, the boss works or is understanding.

Two years ago, during the iced over 4 days, it was a Wednesday night that I was scheduled. The ice came in very early Tuesday mornng(3am or so) and on Wednesday morning, the ICU manager was calling my house..about 7am. She left a message and I called her immediately back. She asked me if I would make it to work that night(12 hours from that time...from 45 miles out, on a dead end gravel road that goes up and down and around hill and dale to get even to a farm to market road.) I told her "not unless it thaws today", she said that it wasn't expected to thaw today, so was I calling in? (At 7am when SHE called ME?) I said I guessed that I was, since there was no way to get there. She tells me that weather should have been anticipated, I should have come to the hospital and stayed through the duration in order to work my shift. I ask, well, are we still not allowed to bring our kids?(Single mom, 4 kids, very rural where power was out multiple times during this, water and heat depend on power, water lines freeze and have to be thawed via a small camp fire in the well house...etc) She says of course you can't bring your kids, this is a HOSPITAL. I tell her, well, then, I guess I am calling in. She says that weather will no longer be considered an acceptable reason for call ins, each weather related call in will be counted as 2 call ins for the quarter. I ask, what am I supposed to do? I have kids. She says "Well, I have dogs, and I had to leave them in the garage with food, and I wasn't happy about that".

I still have the original message saved.

Umm, ok? So you are supposed to leave your kids in the garage with some cheetos and blankets? I have heard some nutty things, but this comes close to the top of the list. We also get the weather talks. Our hospital has rooms for rent similar to hotel rooms for families who live far away. We are repeatedly told that these rooms are not available to us during weather issues, and neither are empty patient rooms. So we are supposed to come into town well ahead of the weather and find our own place to stay, and pay for it. No, thank you. We had to take call in our unit, and we were supposed to have 30 minutes to get there if we were called in. If I had slept in my scrubs with keys in hand I couldn't have made it there in 30 minutes because of where I lived. My manager told me that technically I should get a hotel room in town on call nights, but, no, they would not pay for it. Again, no, thank you. I'm not on the trauma team or in the OR, and if they want me they'll take me when they get me. Or they can pay for me to stay in a hotel or hospital rental room and have me within 30 minutes.

[monkeybug]

I have such a severe dystonic reaction with both reglan and compazine that I list them both in my med allergies. There was a time when ER docs thought it would be cute to try to end migraines using reglan (you know, no analgesia, just reglan alone). That's how I first found out about the thrilling side effects. You're right, it literally feels as though you are going to crawl out of your skin. Later, I had the same experience with compazine.

I talked to one doc who said he doesn't use either because he'd seen the horrible dystonic reactions in several infants after they had been administered (reglan) and the images never left him.

Yep, IM Reglan to stop a migraine, I'm pacing as far as the IV tubing will let me and twitching. It took several very unpleasant hours for it to wear off.

[mc3, ASN, RN]

I work in LTC and our administrator told us that our facility should be comparable to a nice hotel. Really? I've never been to a nice hotel that had staff to toilet me, get me up and dressed in the morning and undressed and in bed in the evening, managed my medications and treatments, showered me, fed me and monitored my condition.

Perhaps they should supply the proper amount of staff like a nice hotel does? Oh, yah, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! I forgot we were talking about health care.

mc3

[mc3, ASN, RN]

That's crazy! However, it happens to SO many of us nurses!

Where I work, we HAVE to clock out for our 30 min MANDATORY lunch breaks. However, we work through them -- and if we clock in ONE MINUTE early - we get written up! My 30 min breaks usually consist of me clocking out, setting an alarm on my phone, gulping something down WHILE working, then clocking back in. How much sense does THAT make?

We're not ALLOWED to EVER write "No Lunch." Because then, they have to PAY us for that time - also, if we DO take our lunch, and get interrupted, we have to do a time-adjustment sheet, and take ANOTHER 30 minute break! Thus-if we end up taking another 30 minute break, we are behind an HOUR...and there IS no such thing as "allowed overtime."

I think management needs to look long & hard at the rules they make & expect us to follow, the amount of work we're expected to complete, and how ridiculous they are making it on us!!!

I would LOVE to have a lunch break -- a break away from the noise, complaints, etc. Just time to leave the building, sit in my car if I must, some ME time, to de-stress, actually EAT something instead of inhaling it, and to mentally REcharge!!!

There HAS to be a solution -- but I don't think HR has an answer. They aren't the ones who hold their bladders, get blamed for God-knows-what, has time-sensitive medication passes to complete, staff conflicts to deal with, all while doing our best to give our patients the time THEY need & deserve!!!

The solution is either to contact your local Labor Board, or a good lawyer...

mc3

[magdalena36]

When I was in my last semester in nursing school to become a RN, I asked my manager to let me leave one hour earlier from work on Tuesdays because I will have a test on those days, and she said and I quote: "can you not take the test?" I just looked at her for a good 10 seconds in shock and said calmly, So what is the purpose of me going to school if I don't take the required tests in order for me to pass; and for the record, before I started nursing school we had an agreement that my scheduled will be flexible.

[IdislikeCODEbrowns]

I have been on the bone marrow registry for many years now and never got a call until this past dec, I happened to be at work on that day and was excited to share the news that I was a 'potential' match for a stranger w/ cancer so I went in to my managers office to share the news and her first response was: "well, just make sure it doesn't interfere w/ your shifts"... Then a couple of weeks later when I learned I was a complete match and had several co-workers injecting me w/ neupogen shots in preparation for the donation (everyone knew what/when I was donating bone marrow), my manager switched my days and scheduled me to work the day of donation and being that everyone knew infusing the manager about what I was doing, I didn't even think twice to check my schedule, long story short my manager put me down as an unscheduled absence and disregarded the fact that I as an RN was out saving a life that day and not at work

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

"We aren't actually having this conversation"

Ooookay then...

[sandyfeet]

"You're all doing great with hand washing audits, but there is room for improvement."

"What was our score?"

"96%."

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

"We care about you as an employee"

[Scarlette Wings]

Last edit by nhnursie on Dec 12, '12 : Reason: posted before finished typing

That is the cutest and funniest reason (guilty myself) for having to edit. Loved it!