i work nights in ltc as an lpn, i was charge nurse, so here's some facts about where i work and what happened
-shifts starts at 11pm
-at night there is one nurse(charge) and 2 cna's for 40 residents.
-staff must call in 2 hours prior if they cannot come in for work.
supervisor called my floor @ 11:40 p and says that one of the other units has no cna's, so she pulls one of my cna's and tells me that i have to share cna's with the hospice unit because they only have 8 patients. unsafe staffing but fine no problem, i tell one of my cna's to go to the other unit, i go to the hospice unit to confer with them about our the fact that i only have 1 cna left and that i have to share with them. i go back to my work. the cna goes to the other unit within 15 min of the supervisors initial call.around the same time the supervisor calls screaming at me asking why the cna isnt on the other unit, and asks me why i'm defying orders because i'm the charge nurse and not picking up the phone and that the other unit has no nurse or cna's, she was so loud on the phone and so disrespectful words couldnt even come to my mouth so i hung up the phone. half an hour later the supervisor comes to the floor and continues to argue with me over what happened and that there are so much things that she has to handle being supervisor.i told her that i and the cna followed through with her orders, and that no one had refused her decision and also that staffing the other unit was not my problem to take care of! she tells me that i should take this as a warning! apparently no-one likes this supervisor, she is not helpful, staff is always short when she works and on top of it all she tells other staff to find people to come in when they are low on staff, she even made a cna cry the same night because of a residents death i'm a new nurse and i could not believe that someone who supposed to be the supervisor could loose their cool and become so unprofessional, its almost as if she was blaming me for low staffing on the other unit! the only reason i maintained proper staffing levels that night on my unit is because the hospice cna called another cna at 12 midnight asking her to come in, i just had to vent!:angryfire
Specializes in Med-Surg, , Home health, Education.
Why is the answer to alot of problems/questions posted on here to just leave the job instead of dealing with the issue. I know there are alot of unsafe practices and situations that I have seen where the best option was to leave and I agreed with those situations however I do not feel from what the OP wrote that she should leave this position.
I agree with the posters who said she should not allow the supervisior to speak to her like that and in those situations I'd walk away and tell her I'd be available to speak to her about the situation when she calms down. I agree with documenting and going to the higher ups about the situation and if it goes unresolved then I'd go outside of the facility and contact a labor board/attorney regarding workplace abuse.
I just think that so many times instead of dealing with the issues regarding verbal abuse we as nurses walk away or tolerate it instead of dealing with it which in return just allows those in the wrong to continue to do what is not right.
I agree. Seems like a lot of the advice is "leave". I've run into a little ankle biting in my career and if I resigned every time a temper was thrown I'd have had several different jobs. Sometimes there are external stresses that may be going on with this nurse to make her blow her top. I think you should confront her about this and if it continues talk to the DON. Maybe this "supervisor" needs to return to staff nursing if the supervising is too stressful. Good luck.
Is it possible the cna u sent over to the other unit took a wrong turn(like out for a smoke )before going to other unit? You really don't know when she got there.
She behaves this way because she's able to get away with it. Fill out a written report and also arrange for a meeting with the director. If this is a problem other CNs, nurses, etc. are having then I would arrange a meeting with all of you and her superior ASAP. Remain calm, professional, and keep the focus on patient care and adequate staffing levels. I would then move onto respect and what constitutes a hostile environment because it sounds like you are working in one.
Give them a chance to rectify the situation. If they don't then find another job.
Dorito, ASN, RN
311 Posts
I agree. Seems like a lot of the advice is "leave". I've run into a little ankle biting in my career and if I resigned every time a temper was thrown I'd have had several different jobs. Sometimes there are external stresses that may be going on with this nurse to make her blow her top. I think you should confront her about this and if it continues talk to the DON. Maybe this "supervisor" needs to return to staff nursing if the supervising is too stressful. Good luck.