Am I being overly sensitive?

momdebo, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2006

is there any possibility that she was making a bit of a joke? we have a doc who's famous quote is "this job would be great if it weren't for these patients", he is only joking and we all know it, any way she could be doing something like that?

loquacity · Jun 16, 2006

uh...did you hear it yourself...maybe it'd make more sense in context....anywyas...sometimes ppl say things and they just come out wrong.....although sometimes not...but do you really just want us all to tell you this...

my best advice....is this a recurring event....is there a pattern of this behavior...

if not it probably was just a statement that came out wrong...

howevoron the other side...sometiems ppl are just arrogant, narcicists, demening..or any other colelction of words....hope the problem solves itself

~loquacity

steelcityrn, RN · Jun 16, 2006

Why not ask her about it. If she actually did say that, then she can explain what she meant by it.

emeraldjay · Jun 16, 2006

Ordinarily I would take the quote with a large grain of salt, however this was a quote in a newspaper article about her receiving an award. This same DON also considers it a time management problem when 4 CNA's can't attend to the needs of 40 LTC residents, of which half or more (depending on the unit) are assist of 2. Some units on weekends are left with 3 CNA's for 40 residents, one unit often is left with 2 aides for 29 residents on day shift of all times.

For the sake of workplace morale, I am hoping that she was quoted out of context or we're all just taking it wrong. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want her position for all the money in the world, I'd be committed to an asylum after my first day.

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Jun 16, 2006

Having been quoted in newspapers before, they are EXPERT in taking things out of context. I know several police officers that will not talk to the press and ALWAYS refer them to PR, for that very reason.

I think it sounds overblown. Dollars to donuts your DON is horrified by the way that was represented.

(I once ran for school board and told the paper - when asked how I was qualified to represent teachers - that teachers, cops and nurses share a similar vein. We are 'blue-collar professionals', in many cases holding advanced degrees and professional jobs but nevertheless, working 'in the trenches'. I said I have personal experience with the problems and pitfalls of trying to be an 'in the trenches' professional dealing with administration. As a member of administration, I would be attuned to that. Good answer, I thought. What did the newspaper write: this candidate thinks teachers are blue-collar workers. Sigh.)

Besides, I would think that a DON's biggest challenge IS staff. And rightly so. She's a director of PEOPLE. If her biggest ANYTHING isn't related to staff, then why is she DON? There is a maxim in management: 10% of employees represent 90% of problems. Unless you are one of those 10%, that comment was probably not directed at you, personally.

Finally, 'challenge' is not a negative word. Many times, my biggest 'challenge' of reading the newspaper is the crossword puzzle. But, that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy working with it.

~faith,

Timothy.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2006

I've seen our hospital in the paper two and seen how manipulative the press can be.

Even so, I don't find the statement insulting. As a charge nurse in the past my biggest challenge was working with the staff, so I can relate.

There's more to her statement than just her statement. You can read between the lines, invent what you think she means by it, or you can ask her directly what it meant to her/him (which may be the direction you're heading if you can't look the other way).

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jun 16, 2006

I have done mamagement in the past and the staff are the biggest challenge. Not in a negative way, but people and how they communicate or don't, and their personal entanglements and traumas present numerous challenges.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2006

emeraldjay. . .student nurse. . .petulant, precocious. . .staff works with staff differently from the way bosses work with staff. the duties and responsibilities of a don are quite different from those of a staff healthcare giver. when i was rewarded for my work as a staff nurse by being promoted into management i learned very quickly that my biggest challenge was going to be working with the staff. no matter how hard i wanted to still be a part of them, the fact was that i could not be and still do my job. i don't know why that conjures negative thoughts in your mind, but i can tell you exactly what those challenges were. it involved learning to deal with people who i was now supervising who were

- negative thinkers

- stubborn and absolutely wouldn't follow directions

- unable to compromise with their co-workers

- breaking every rule imaginable

- nasty to each other

- tattling on each other

- attempting to use me, their boss, to manipulate co-workers into doing something they wanted them to do

- never seemed to learn from their mistakes

- mean to others and didn't see anything wrong with that

- constantly calling off work

- constantly blaming their mistakes on everyone else but themselves

- unable to grow and learn

- doing some of the most incredibly stupid things to patients that you could ever imagine making you wonder just where they were trained

- making some of the most incredibly stupid decisions about patient care that you could ever imagine leaving the boss to clean up most of the mess left behind (and i'm not talking about the disciplinary action taken against the employee)

- in need of being fired

you need to understand that not all employees are "good" employees. you have to be in a management position to see some of the incredibly stupid things that people do. not all of it has to do with what they do with patients. a good deal is employee to employee conduct and employee to the facility conduct. for confidentiality reasons you are not privy to many of the problems the bosses have to deal with. you only find out about what occasionally gets into the gossip mill. give me a patient problem to solve any day--it is so much easier! budgeting and time management are terms that you should not take personally as a care giver. they are concepts the big bosses push onto dons and middle managers and we have no say about it except to follow what the big boss says or we are going to be shown the door out. they're not worth blowing a gasket over until you too become a manager. every day when i came in to work there were messages that had been pushed underneath my office door that were problems reported to me by employees that had to be dealt with. sigh! it got very disheartening after awhile. the worst was the gross behavior and firing people.

nambour51 · Jun 17, 2006

Thanks for your input daytonite (and others) - some very insightful comments. Staff morale, easily affected by misunderstandings and misinterprtations, can be further affected by staff 'discussions' about issues.'

There are many more in our facility that feel this was a slap in the face. I'm hoping someone could put a different light on this quote.' emeraldjay you can contribute to the unrest about the DON's comments through voicing negative perceptions, or you can attempt to improve morale by putting a positive spin on things. What was the award the DON was receiving by the way? How do the staff view the award?

There also seems to be an underlying problem of disatisfaction with staffing levels. Perhaps this very real and difficult issue is the what really needs to be addressed

LauraF, RN, ASN, CNA, LPN, RN · Jun 17, 2006

Maybe it should have read staffing. And if she was quoted correctly and it is staff here are some thoughts.

1. working around so many schedules

2. there is always personality conflicts going on

3. she has to deal with all the complaints about residents, working conditions, schedules and it takes a lot of time and energy just to listen, let alone act on them.

I say if you really want to know what she meant and it was quoted in the paper, take the paper to her and ask her. If she is a good supervisor and you present it correctly she should appreciate the chance to explain before the doo doo hits the fan.

emeraldjay · Jun 17, 2006

Daytonite, you bring up many valid points as to why I do not ever want to be placed in management. I did bring up to some co-workers my spin on the quote, such as maybe she was trying to say that the challenge is trying to please everyone while making difficult decisions. Unfortunately, while we are in the midst of a staffing crunch, many innocent statements such as the one I mentioned in my original post are being taken with a negative connotation.

nambour51, there are other issues and negatives, such as staffing, that are generating the negative feelings and I think this quote is just bearing the brunt of those feelings. Her award was for vocational excellence. Yes she does deserve it, judging by the fliers posted I would say she does quite a bit with the Allied Health students.

Going by all the responses I should find fault with the newspaper and/or article writer more so than the statement itself. It was paraphrased after all. Thank you everyone for your input.