Lateral hostility

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 14, 2018

Seeking advice. Have been working in this PACU for almost 2 years continuously received lateral hostility from a coworker who is suppose to be our leader. I have attempted maintaining a nice demeanor. That didn't work. I attempted seeking constructive feedback and she never gives me anything. So all the complaints she gives me seem like lies since she gives no details (The Who, what, where, when) and no feedback when asked. Lastly, I have asked management to assist in our talks because I feel like I can do nothing right and I'm not getting anywhere with her on how to better myself or improve. After the management conversational she cancelled me 4 times in two. Multiple same shift coworker have talked to her about wanting to be cancelled instead of me and she has persistently told them no they should come in and go home early. Continue to receive lateral hostility from her and her friends within the unit. So now I just give up. Stay away from her and her friends have little to no conversation with them unless I have to. Lastly go into bed spaces far away from them.
What should I do?
I have worked other nursing jobs and never had this issue. Also was a manager in a different field before and never experienced someone so passive aggressive. I know I'm the youngest one in the unit but I feel so not supported I never get a good job for anything from peers. So I just feel like they are out to "get me". It's not healthy for me. I love my patient and I love the variety and have never received any complaints and have cared for multiple peers post op and "VIPs". But I am coming to a conclusion I need out of it nothing gets better. I don't wanna do grievance because I don't wanna be that nurse.
Sorry for the novel. I am seeking advice from everyone. I can't ask my peers because it become gossip in the unit and I don't like it.

Is it just this one nurse who is giving you difficulty, or are there others? If, after two years and multiple attempts to resolve the issue, it may be best to get your resume polished up and start looking for work elsewhere. I'm sorry.

Hotburnout · May 25, 2018

I am just seeing this. I was a CCRN in the CVICU for 15 years and have been in PACU for 24 years; yes , I've been around a while and, yes, things in nursing have changed.....dramatically. I completely sympathize with your situation. I will not tell you to go to a different unit until you just can not bear it anymore. I think it is obvious you love what you do but do not love the manner in which you are being treated nor the manner in which you are being coerced into caring for your patients. I am in a somewhat similiar situation. There have been hospital- wide hiring freezes in my facility. Money is now the main focus- I know that sounds like an exaggeration but, trust me, it is not. In our PACU we have actually been told- by our manager- to get our patients in & out of the PACU as quickly as possible because, and I quote," time is money and our numbers are being watched; if we can't validate our numbers and turnover times, charts will be audited and nurses who don't discharge their patients quickly enough will be identified and dealt with." A thinly veiled threat. Continuity and quality of care should "be maintained but in a timely manner so we don't have to put the OR on hold because if we do that, our numbers look bad." Seriously???!!! I have been criticized by my manager for giving "too detailed" of a report on a young 20 y/o trauma patient who was unbelievable and miraculously alive and neurological intact after an extremely horrible and gruesome car accident. "Too detailed" of a report? I suppose I wasn't supposed to mention the drains replaced during surgery, or the crushed hand which the hand surgeon miraculously saved, or the chest tube the surgeons had been safely able to remove. He had surgery on a de-gloved arm and had a skin graft to a leg that was abraded past the dermis. I did not even get to report all of this nor give an account of the emotional state of the young man and his family. That was "too detailed" and I was cut short by my manager who told me I needed to get off the phone because I had a fresh post op arriving soon; this said at 3:30 PM and I was one of 2 nurses out of 5 who still had not had lunch. I am greatly disheartened and fightened by the lower standards of nursing care my facility has adopted all for the power of the mighty dollar and the importance of "numbers". I will not quit- if I do, who will give these patients-and their families the compassionate and competent care and time they need and deserve? Many nurses in my facility feel they are walking on eggshells; we keep our heads down and our mouths closed continuing to care for our patients and their families in the manner we would want our own loved ones cared for willing to take the, (very possible), chance we could be fired for taking care of our patients as individuals, not numbers. We have a clique of whisperers and passive aggresive nurses in the unit who kowtow to this new "style" of nursing - our manager is a part of that group. I am very sympathetic for your situation; I can not suggest to you what action you should take - you must make that decision yourself and it is not an easy one. I am staying and hoping to be to others an example of what nursing should be in hopes others will stop being so scared of administration's incomprehensible and horrific style of "cost efficient" nursing care and stand proud in their profession taking care of the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of all their patients and their families. If nursing becomes more about money and numbers, well, God help us all.

HeySis, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2018

Sorry to say I have seen this type of person, worked with them and watched them run off nurse after nurse. The problem is, if your manager won't help.. you have no help and stuck between deciding to work there in relative isolation or finding someplace else to work. Both of those options suck, and are not fair, but they are the reality. Good luck.

skp27, BSN · Dec 18, 2020

On 4/14/2018 at 10:06 AM, Ruby Vee said:

Is it just this one nurse who is giving you difficulty, or are there others? If, after two years and multiple attempts to resolve the issue, it may be best to get your resume polished up and start looking for work elsewhere. I'm sorry.

After posting this and attempting , that is what I did. It was the charge and half the unit would copy as she would. But when I left I didn't say anything to anyone other than her and the managers until the last week. Transitioned back to ICU and soooo much happier. Even when staff reached out from the other unit seeking if I can come back because when I left it was a cascade of people leaving or retiring.