Any nurses you dread giving report to?

mondkmondk · Oct 21, 2008

Oh yes...except the nurse I dreaded went the other way with things. She wrote every single thing I said down in quotes...I had to wait forever for her to finish writing or she would stop me until she had finished. Then, to top it all off, NONE of the day shift nurses got the report I gave her (I worked evenings, she worked nights). They barely got a "Mr. X is okay". She gave 5 min. reports while mine lasted a good 30 minutes for 20 residents! Oh how I dreaded working with her!

Blessings, Michelle

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2008

YIKES!!! that is over the top and insane!!! I am sure over 35 years someone has tried to do the same back to her to no avail, or tried to tape and hand off to no avail. If she has been doing this for 35 years I dont see her changing now!!!

But yes there are a few I dont like giving report to, Once when I was being grilled about the patient I finally said "you are going to go in and assess her yourself right?"

My only suggestion is next time you have to report off start by saying "Suzy I am apologizing in advance but I have an appointment across town in 30 min, so I am only going to be able to give you the highlights of each pt" Then just start talking. FAST!!!

But odds are that wont work, so pour a hot cup of coffee and be prepared to deal with her!!!

Good luck!!

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2008

Oh yes...except the nurse I dreaded went the other way with things. She wrote every single thing I said down in quotes...I had to wait forever for her to finish writing or she would stop me until she had finished. Then, to top it all off, NONE of the day shift nurses got the report I gave her (I worked evenings, she worked nights). They barely got a "Mr. X is okay". She gave 5 min. reports while mine lasted a good 30 minutes for 20 residents! Oh how I dreaded working with her!
Blessings, Michelle

Funny how some people will work really hard to not have to actually work!! Much easier to sit and write out a 30 min detailed report than actually get up and go assess someone!!!

rn-jane · Oct 21, 2008

I'm a nighter, and there's this very short unassuming asian lady that works days. She has been there for like 35 years. She's an absolute nightmare to give report to. She drills you like a boot camp. EVERYONE dreads giving report to her. It takes a long time. People wait in line to give report. For example, she'll ask for dates, times, places, doctor's, places, weights, heights, and it just goes on and on and on and on and on. Last night I had to give a report and it lasted 25 minutes. She wanted lab values, print outs, documentation, etc, etc, etc. Not related to the hospitilization, this patient was a borderline diabetic under observation - so we were just taking blood sugards AC and HS to monitor the glucose levels - no coverage though. Oh my God... she asked me if I had started diabetic teaching and I said no. She went on and on and on and on about it... why didn't I call someone, why didn't I play a movie, why didn't I explain a phamplet, why didn't I go over it with him, etc. He was put on a 1800 ADA diet so she asked me why he was on a diabetic diet - I said I don't know, why don't you call the doctor and find out. Then she said something like "Ok, I'll be sure to document that you didn't start diabetic teaching." I swear, this lady drives everyone insane. She's a nightmare to give report to. The only positive thing about her is the double time people get when they give report to her. And, she'll report you to the Nurse Manager if you don't do your best to explain your reasoning. Uggghhh....
On a positive note, there are some I absolutely love giving report to. They're laid back, only want pertinent information that's going to impact the patient right then and there. Report is short, sweet, and simple. They don't need to know the date and Dr. that performed a hysterectomy 10 years ago.

There seems to be one on every unit because I work with someone that was the same way. These nurses like to manipulate new nurses and make them feel inadequate. Is there a way you can tape report and just give her updates later, this will really cut down on the questions insteaded of being bombarded with "why didn't you"

If she continues to give you a problem and if she tends to be like this with other nurses maybe a meeting with your unit manager is in order because you can only get so much done especially on night shift.

HANG IN THERE!

Batman24 · Oct 21, 2008

I'm lucky because I work with great nurses so there is none of this passive aggressive behavior or anyone so miserable with their job that they wish to make others miserable too.

I bet she does the long reports to avoid caring for patients and saving her feet some walking time. Perhaos if she does this to all of you the group can band together and approach the CN with this issue. That's frustrating as can be especially after 12+ hours of work.

Batman24 · Oct 21, 2008

Funny how some people will work really hard to not have to actually work!! Much easier to sit and write out a 30 min detailed report than actually get up and go assess someone!!!

Yup. Saves her 30 minutes from dealing with patients and she can rest her feet while taking report. It's passive aggressive and lazy.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Oct 21, 2008

Our hospital is firm about no overtime unless warranted by a pt's condition, so off-going nurses must keep report short and sweet.:nuke: For those who constantly interrupt, I try to find out exactly what they want and tailor my report if possible, but no, I will not tell you the name of a surgeon from 20 years ago, and so sorry, I haven't even had time to potty let alone read the echo results. :rolleyes: Perhaps you can do that after I'm gone.:wink2:

I do have to check myself periodically so that I am not grilling the folks who are reporting off to me... :bugeyes: Mostly I want to know about anything critical or pending, can they use their call light and how do they move.

labcat01, BSN, RN · Oct 21, 2008

There are two nurses that I dread giving report too.

One will not talk to me except to grill me about why I did or didn't do something. Then she asks me question after question until she finds something I don't know the answer too and then makes a little superior noise and starts talking to the other nurses in a different language that she knows I don't speak. It's incredibly rude.

The other nurse is SO NICE and she is everyone's friend. Always asks about your day, family, etc. She interrupts report every minute to greet someone walking by and ask about their day, family, etc. She's a lovely person but report with her takes FOREVER!!!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 21, 2008

There are a couple I hate reporting off to. One of them is everyone's least favourite because she doesn't listen to anything you say to her, only to ask you about it 20 seconds later. She's busy tidying up the supply cart or fiddling with a blanket or looking to see who else is around. Getting report from her is almost worse... it's disorganized, rambling and repetitive.

Another one is never happy with her assignment so she sighs loudly and rolls her eyes almost continuously. Our assignments are usually 1:1 or at the most 1:2 but heaven forbid she has a double because she's going to complain all night. She feels that her skills and talents are being wasted by assigning her anybody but the sickest of the sick cardiac patients so she totally doesn't want to hear about how best to do things with a "chronic". It's frustrating and insulting.

Then there's this guy who is usually in charge, but occasionally has to take a patient. He's so annoyed at that turn of events that he doesn't listen to anything, doesn't ask any questions, doesn't look at the kid, isn't even "there" for report. I hate working with him.

debi49 · Oct 21, 2008

Have you tried taping report?

annmariern · Oct 21, 2008

I would last about 10 seconds with this nurse. Ask me questions when Im done, Relevent questions, don't expect everything to be done, we are not closing at midnight are we? Passive aggressive BS.