unprofessional behavior in RN community

[miphillli]

I work in a small rural hospital in Nebraska,you would think the nurses here would be as professional as anywhere,or more so,wrong-wrong-wrong...we have some younger 22-30 year olds that use the f word and others I don't care to think of,at the drop of their hat..they nit-pick and make fun of others all the time...our unit manager is well aware of the problem and I think she may have had a few words with them but their behavior has not changed...does anyone out their have a solution???

In my nurses training we were taught that 1. NEVER talk about another nurse or MD

2.NEVER use foul language 3. your appearence is very important.....come on ladies this is not a hard list to follow,is it? Thanks for listening

[James Huffman]

Interesting you should use the word "ladies" in discussing this matter.

How would you define "professional"? And are we talking here about professionalism, or being "lady-like"?

I'm not defending someone's bad behavior or language. But I've found that nurses often talk about professionalism without defining it.

Jim Huffman, RN

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

Don't cuss. Don't like to hear foul language but I am old enough to have heard most every cuss word invented. Don't like gossip. Too busy doing my job. Do appreciate a smile, understand when someone needs to let off stress. A few minutes in the lunch/break room can do the trick. Or a kind word or action from a coworker can help. Remember teamwork and team effort is a key to a good work situation.

[leslie :-D]

Don't cuss. Don't like to hear foul language but I am old enough to have heard most every cuss word invented. Don't like gossip. Too busy doing my job. Do appreciate a smile, understand when someone needs to let off stress. A few minutes in the lunch/break room can do the trick. Or a kind word or action from a coworker can help. Remember teamwork and team effort is a key to a good work situation.

you would think this would be the most basic of concepts, yes?

i'd work with you in a heartbeat.

leslie :balloons:

[Gromit]

Most often, I've seen this behavior (the reason for the thread) at the nurses station (or the so-called kitchen where the coffee is, and a second place (other than the nurses station) where nurses congregate). I miss out on most of the cursing, badmouthing, back stabbing etc. by not being at the nurses station. I'm still new, and far too busy charting, assessing/evaluating my patients, preparing the meds/ivs/tube-feeding pumps, and putting the ventilator tube back on the trach (for that matter, suctioning or cleaning the trach itself) to be hanging out there, listening to the abuse. Sorry. :)

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

How about next time they curse, you tell them to their face how offended you are by their language. Then document it in a letter to the manager.

There are going to be gossipers and cliques wherever you go. Best to not participate and just mind your business and do your work.

In defense of younger people, the worst offender I ever saw of being a foul mouthed, instigator and gossip mongrol was a 50something grandmother I worked with for a year and a half while she did a contract. Was so glad to see that busybody leave. :)

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

Some of our newer nurses are the same way. The med students and residents absolutely LOVE them, especially the guys. They think these girls are very cool and it almost seems like the girls are doing it to attract these guys. I think it's very unprofessional. Some of them will use the intercom to call a resident or attending to report lab results and stuff - and will say things like, "Baby Smith had a really sh***y blood gas, perfusion is cr***y, etc." With parents on the unit sometimes!!! :angryfire

There is one charge nurse who always keeps her cool about her and is extremely professional. But once in a very great while, when things go absolutely crazy, we'll hear her say the f-word. When she starts swearing, we know we are in sooooo much trouble!!! But that's understandable. Using swear words as adjectives on a daily basis is not.

[chris_at_lucas_RN, RN]

I hate to mention this--I'm sure I'm not the only one with this experience, but.....

Bad behavior is everywhere. And smiling really pretty while "being bad" doesn't dilute it one bit.

Not everyone is going to be well-mannered, good-natured and happy... what gets me is when the well-mannered, good-natured and happy are so outnumbered that they are systematically driven away.

That's a real shame.

[zacarias, ASN, RN]

"Baby Smith had a really sh***y blood gas, perfusion is cr***y, etc." With parents on the unit sometimes!!! :angryfire

There is one charge nurse who always keeps her.

I imagine this nurse looking at a blood gas report and deciphering the pH, PCO2, and HCO3. That takes skill, yet she uses the word "sh***" which almost negates all her intelligence that she displayed deciphering the blood gas.

[LPN4Life]

yeah I find it offensive too, even on my breaks. The F word is just an offensive word to me, and I think its disrespectful to use it in front of your co-workers or others that arent used to people just throwing it around without thinking about how nasty it sounds. It definately isn't lady-like, and unprofessional in my opinion.

[ayndim]

yeah I find it offensive too, even on my breaks. The F word is just an offensive word to me, and I think its disrespectful to use it in front of your co-workers or others that arent used to people just throwing it around without thinking about how nasty it sounds. It definately isn't lady-like, and unprofessional in my opinion.

I wonder if they would talk that way in front of their parents. I am 33 next month and if I cursed in front of my dad he would still try to wash my mouth out with soap. :uhoh21: Hate to sound sexist but there are some words that should not come out of a lady's mouth. Still not acceptable for a man to be cursing at work either or in front of the ladies. Gosh am I old-fashioned or what? It wasn't until after I married did I find out my dad ever cursed. And that is only because my husband told me.

[Boo439]

I am 22 and I am only a CNA. I am in school to be a nurse. I have noticed that nearly everyone that I work with either swears, doesn't care about their appearance or has an all-around bad attitude.

There is a nurse on a floor that I regularly float to. She has to be 60+ years old. Let me give you -1- example of the way she conducts herself. I'll call her "M".

I was going on my lunch break and I saw a patient dressed up and ready to go at the elevator. I asked him if he had been discharged and why no one was escorting him downstairs. He told me that he was leaving AMA and "forget this crap, I'm outta here." I ran back to M's floor and said, "M, one of your patients is getting ready to get on the elevator and he's leaving AMA without signing anything!" M didn't even look up from her paperwork and said "I don't give a flying f--- what he does. He has been a pain in my a-- during his entire stay. I don't care, let him go." I was dumbfounded... I went and told her nurse manager and she told me she'd take care of it. Other situations where M gets into verbal arguments with patients who are confused have happened, too. I have told MY nurse manager that these things happen when M floats to our floor. My nurse manager says that M is of a different species. No one ever says anything to her. I don't know if it's because she's so old or what, but it makes me so mad. I have to go around apologizing to patients on the behalf of the hospital because she made them angry.

In short, it's not only young nurses...

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

You folks that comment about certain words being inappropriate for a lady to say - do you really think that its appropriate for a man to say??

I don't think they sound any better coming from men, nor do I think it is more acceptable for men to use them, so it just struck me as odd that people singled ladies out. Profanity is profanity - the gender of the speaker does not change a thing about the words.