Am I being too sensitive?

[SweetNothings]

I've been working nights on a busy Ortho floor for about month now. With a little over a month to go on orientation, I'm still trying to learn all the ropes, names of equipment, names of doctors etc. On our floor we give taped reports. Last night, I had a terrible, stressful night and while taping my report this morning I accidently mispronounced one of the names of the equipment. After day shift finished listening to report, a day shift tech came up to me and very loudly (and rudely IMO) , in front of everyone said "It's pronounced so-so. And by the way last week you said Dr. So and so's name wrong during report. It's pronounced Dr.??? I'm telling you so people can stop laughing at you in report." I felt kind of embarassed 1. because she just randomly confronted me in front everyone and 2. the fact that people were laughing at me because I accidently mispronounced a word/name. I know I'm still very new and by all means if I'm doing something wrong I want someone to tell me, but I guess I'm upset with how it was handled. I would've been ok, if she had pulled me to the side and told me or better yet if one of the day shift nurses would have told me instead of laughing behind my back. Am I being too sensitive about this? Should I say something about it?

BTW: Sorry for any typos....still haven't slept yet. lol

[themoreyouknow]

As always, rn/writer has hit the nail on the head -

Remember this one thing:

If you laugh at yourself, they have nothing to laugh at.

It does diffuse the situation!

When I graduated nursing school, I also went to work on a busy Ortho unit with a taped report. :) There are so many different doctors it is IMPOSSIBLE to know how to say all of their names!

When I transferred to labor and delivery at my current facility, I came from a very large hospital with an IV team and techs who did our foleys. This hospital has neither. Pregnant women's lady partss are much different than the 90 year old grandmothers I have had to cath before. I had a hard time at first and one LPN loved pointing out how incompetent I was. "Yeah. She says she's been a nurse for three years but she can't even put in a foley right or do an IV!" It made me want to cry. It made me even more nervous when I had to do it in front of her because I KNEW she was going to tell everyone who incompetent I was.

I thought of some "comebacks" and kept them stored. The next time I had to start an IV I joked "are you guys sure you want me to start one on this girl. She seems awfully sweet. Don't you have an old grouch I can stick 4 or 5 times before I get it?"

Tom and Jerry cartoons were playing in the waiting room. Tom was shot and when he drank water, it came out of his sides like a sprinkler. I laughed "Hey there is one of my IV victims!"

They couldn't make fun of me any better than I could do it myself.

Bullies still exist. And they feed off insecurity. If they see it gets to you, it becomes a game for them. Laugh at yourself and it takes the power away from them.

And I have found that techs are often the worst to new nurses. When I worked ortho, we had an ortho tech and another tech who treated me like a turd at first. One of them threw a pair of TED hose at me in a patient's room and said "You need to put these on him" and walked out. That was the last straw. I finally approached her and asked "Do you have a personal problem with me? Do you feel I disrespect you in front of the patient? No? Then please do not ever disrespect me like that again." Sometimes, they need to see that you'll stand up for yourself before they respect you.

~Sherri

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

Oh yes, you feel dumb, and that is EXACTLY what this person was trying to make you feel. I agree that if you laugh it off, and intentionally mispronounce things in her presence, she will laugh with you. This will completely disarm her, and she will no longer have any ammunition. But just like kids on a playground, if they know that you went home crying about it, they will target you. Silly, but true.

Be funny about it. Humor is the best medicine. The next time you have difficulty saying a doc's name right, TRY to butcher it to a ridiculous level. The other nurses will get a good laugh, and then they will teach you how to pronounce it correctly. I was always in awe of one of my co-workers, because she had this self-deprecating sense of humor that just made everyone love her. She was BRILLIANT, and seeing her stumble over a name, and then make fun of herself for it was so endearing.

You will get the pronunciation down, don't worry. It takes a while to learn all of the things that we must learn as nurses. Give yourself a break, and then go do something FUN!

[belgarion]

Many years ago a trainer from another department tried very loudly calling me down for some very minor transgression. I simply pulled out a piece of paper from my wallet and said just as loudly, "nope, your name isn't on it." When she asked what I was talking about I replied "This is a list of people who work here that I am supposed to take **** off of and your name isn't on it!" She beat a very hasty retreat to the laughs of her coworkers and never said another cross word to me again.

I would love to have a week working with the tech the OP is talking about.

[SweetNothings]

Thanks for the responses everyone. It really makes me feel better. I guess my biggest issue was the way she did it and the laughing part too. There's already so much animosity between so many workers on this floor, so I really don't know how to take her. I'm going to try not to worry about it. My preceptor says that I'm doing really well and she's listened some of my reports and says that I'm doing ok.

[hcox1975, BSN, RN]

She would have a field day with me! I have the hardest time with pronoucing words right. I work in a teaching hospital and we have new doctors all the time. They can't have easy to pronounce names either which doesn't help! we make up names for them anyways and sometimes call them by those names!

Don't sweat it, she's just trying to get to you. Most of the time when women act like that, they're jelous for some reason. Just do your best, and realize this is the way God made you and leave it at that.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

If you laugh at yourself, others can't laugh at you, because they'll be laughing with you. She was being a snot, but hey, she gave you some good information.

I'm sure there are things I do that others find entertaining. Great for them!

As for pronunciation, I still pronounce things wrong or sometimes just different. If you're sitting around one day, ask everyone how they pronounce "umbilicus." Guarantee there will be more than one pronunciation in the group. With the big long words we use, I'll often have my tongue twisted. It's no big deal, unless you make it one. Laugh it off. There's plenty of other things to get riled up about!

[SarcasticNurseCares]

um. if you've never heard the quote "nurses eat their young" it's true. I always feel like the best response to someone laughing at you is for you to laugh harder. there are always ways for you to play off your mistakes. that way you will not come off as "someone to walk all over" because believe me, you do not want that title in a new facility. just play it off, ask someone neutral how to say his name, and be non-nonchalant (but still a respectful team member) to your less then helpful staff. i bet they mispronounced it too when they first started.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

um. if you've never heard the quote "nurses eat their young" it's true

um. This came from one of the aides, not a nurse. So there was no nurse doing any eating.

[Flying ICU RN]

On our floor we give taped reports

I'm telling you so people can stop laughing at you in report

If they could look you in the eye during report, they wouldn't be so quick to make fun of you to your face.

[nursetmj]

To the OP: The 3 biggest personal things I had to learn after I became a nurse were:

1. Grow a thick skin. This took time and was not easy! It could still be thicker

2. Stand up for yourself without getting emotional. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

3. As everyone has already stated, and probably the best advice, you have to laugh at yourself. It's the best way to handle/diffuse a situation and shows that you acknowledge your screwup without looking insecure.

Sounds like you are doing a fine job -- hey, your preceptor even said so! That's all the matters. Welcome the constructive feedback and let the rest roll off.

[Florence NightinFAIL, BSN, RN]

How about:

Smile and say "Thanks so much for the heads up. If I ever have anything to say to you, I will remember to talk to you privately, but hey, that's just me". Stare, smile again, and leave humming.

[scoochy]

If I absolutely know I am the subject of a conversation, I say, "please make it good!" It has embarrassed others to the point they walk away with their tails between their legs. "Conversation" aborted...