And while we're at it-things you'd LOVE to ask/tell management and get away with

[HelenofOz]

cos they really get me going!

Why is it that when the nursing staff ask for new equipment it is refused, but if we get the doctors to ask for it we get it. I HATE having to play that game, it's so unprofessional. If we need it, we need it, regardless of who asks for it.

Why do you cave in to the doctors, why not back up your unit managers some times when they tell the doc 'no, you can't do that' (not necessarily so bluntly). You're just rewarding bad behaviour, and it'll just get worse.

Don't think I can be bought off with a burnt sausage at a staff BBQ after I've been racing round like a mad thing because you think we're overstaffed. (see below)

Do not walk through PACU in our quiet time, please come through half an hour later -and help- when we are packed and most of the pts need one on one care, and we've had to stop theatres bringing out pts for the third or fourth time that day

And, no, I will not have any respect for you when you've been here for 4 years and you still don't know who I am as you present me with a long service award-it's not that big a hospital, make an effort!

[SoundofMusic]

If you're going to leisurely sip your cup of Starbucks and titter and tee hee with the other dozen or so management types just wandering aimlessly on the floor -- might you be a dear and just scamper on back to your office -- SO I DON'T HAVE TO SEE IT??

You see, during the time you've you've leisurely sipped that steaming cup, I've been up to my elbows in

God knows what, taken vitals, charted, and given meds to 4+ patients, answered probably at least 50 calls, ran up and down the hall a few miles for supplies and fought w/ a few techs over whatever needs to be done for all the patients in my group this a.m. I'm sweaty, my mascara is already running, and MY a.m. cup has LOOOOOONG wore off -- so if you don't skedaddle, I might just grab it out of your hand at any moment and take a good long SLURP!!!

Oh, and while your're back there, could you please perhaps defend me in front of our PCD. I hear she's gossiping about me back there while I work like a dog on the floor with yet another dozen or so management types for no good reason. Maybe you can deflect some of it before it heats up too badly.

Thanks now!

[NurseKitten, MSN, RN]

Know why I don't want to stage?

Because I don't need yours or anyone else in this place's validation that I am the bomb at what I do. You run those staged nurses around like trick ponies, and work their asses off...I'm sorry, it's just not worth it for a measly 2000 extra bucks a year. It's not. I can do vent-dependent home care, one-on-one, and make twice that, working day shift, two days a month.

And while we're at it, no, I will not be participating in helping with the "tattle on your peers" handwashing audits. Don't you know we just fill those things out and give each other all 5's, in about 5 minutes, together? We wash our hands. How about taking it up with the docs, housekeeping, dietary, Speech, OT, (sorry to say) chaplaincy, and anyone else who walks in. They touch the patient and things in that room just like we do.

I'm so sorry I went off on your trained automaton, Stepford-wife of an administrative assistant when she put me down for a 12-hour shift. I have said time and AGAIN that I physically can't work 12's. You KNOW I need hip surgery. You have SEEN me hobble out of that place at 8 am. STOP putting me down for 12's. If I was a little harsh in my delivery of that message, chalk it up to pain.

Maybe you need to stop believing the family and start believing the two licensed nurses who were witness to the conversation with the patient.

More to come as I think of them...and there have been plenty over the years.

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

Yes, I know the economy's in the toilet, I do live in the same country you do. Yes, I know the hospital's not making much money. But instead of buying shrubs in front of the hospital, could you please buy some BP cuffs that don't have dry rot? I'm pretty sure my CIWA pt who's throwing furniture around the room doesn't have a BP of 89/30.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

night shift works hard!!!!

I don't think anyone, including that poster, disagrees with you, as a general rule...I am sure that was said because there is a specific problem to that facility. It wasn't a generalized, shift-bashing post.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

If you have a concern about me or my work, please bring it to my attention ASAP. Please don't spread gossip or talk behind my back. I am here to provide the best nursing care I possibly can but if the care I am providing is mediocre or needs improvement, I want to hear it directly from you, not from the gossip mill. Please don't tell me, several weeks after the fact, that I did something wrong or failed to follow policy in some way. If I make a mistake, please tell me right away so I can correct that mistake and learn from my error. Don't wait until my annual evaluation or until it's serious enough that you feel I need to be "written up". Tell me right away and in a respectful manner that upholds my dignity.

Moogie, I loved your entire post, but this paragraph especially stuck out to me.

Our "new" (going on 1 1/2 years now, so the newness is wearing off) director has the bad habit of this, we're finding out. As we're all going through the cycle of our yearly evals, she's calling people out on things that they had NO idea were issues. I was surprised when I had my yearly recently that she DIDN'T do that to me, and that she was as positive as she was, because as a general rule she doesn't like me (that's another topic, though). I've heard from a few people now that when they had their last evals, they were told about attitude problems, etc, that she's not only witnessed but also been told about by other staff, and that was the first time these coworkers had heard about it. It would be MUCH more appreciated if things were brought to our attention promptly, so it could be dealt with right away. It leaves you wondering who complained, HOW many people complained, and for how long........NOT a good feeling.

[SoundofMusic]

A lot of managers need to read The One Minute Manager. It's about giving immediate and truthful feedback on the spot, and then moving on.

As we're seeing here, so many of them delay giving feedback, allowing it to fester. It's unfair to nurses, and any employees.

I also learned a week or so at work my manager was angry with something I said to her, totally in conversation only. I had no idea that she was mad -- another co-worker overhead her gossiping about me behind my back to a few other managers.

I no longer feel as if I can have any respect for this manager -- and I really, really liked her before and DID respect her a lot. But to hear that she's talking about me behind my back and does not even have the B**** to come out and confront me directly -- totally blows it for me.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

night shift works hard!!!!

I agree - on most units. Unfortunately, on our unit some of the night shift workers are not working hard. They are leaving pts in wet beds. They don't do vitals. They don't call the MD if the pt is in pain. We've had pts complain that they didn't see a nurse all night. They won't answer a call bell in the last 1/2 hour of the shift- they just tell the pt to wait for the day shift (I've heard this myself). They don't get specimans. Ya get the picture? I've worked nights and I did all these things. These people aren't. And management won't address it.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Moogie, I loved your entire post, but this paragraph especially stuck out to me.

Our "new" (going on 1 1/2 years now, so the newness is wearing off) director has the bad habit of this, we're finding out. As we're all going through the cycle of our yearly evals, she's calling people out on things that they had NO idea were issues. I was surprised when I had my yearly recently that she DIDN'T do that to me, and that she was as positive as she was, because as a general rule she doesn't like me (that's another topic, though). I've heard from a few people now that when they had their last evals, they were told about attitude problems, etc, that she's not only witnessed but also been told about by other staff, and that was the first time these coworkers had heard about it. It would be MUCH more appreciated if things were brought to our attention promptly, so it could be dealt with right away. It leaves you wondering who complained, HOW many people complained, and for how long........NOT a good feeling.

IF anyone actually did complain.....there is no way to know.....management staff splitting at its best!

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

Fire her. Just fire her. She is not going to improve, and she makes all the nurses miserable. Why don't you just fire her sorry behind?

[southernbeegirl, BSN, RN]

Stop using me as your scapegoat for EVERYTHING and stop throwing ME under the bus!

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

IF anyone actually did complain.....there is no way to know.....management staff splitting at its best!

Very true....I detest behavior like that in any situation. "Someone told me this, someone said that." Are you sure? Making statements like that, even if they ARE true, IMO undermines the original point, much more so if it's well after the fact. Specific examples are definitely needed, I think.

[prison_nurse]

And how am I supposed to cover these shifts???? You don't let me hire any nurses... If I could pull em out of my ass I would have my own agency......