do other careers get "write-ups" as much as nurses?

[IHeartPeds87]

I was reading through the boards and notice lots of posts about getting written up. I remember when I worked as a caregiver I was constantly worried about getting written up....because really you could be written up for many errors that are human errors and have a high likely hood of occurring simply because of the nature of the work and the fact that there are a kajillion things to do and I only have two hands!

For example, I was written up for taking a pager home by accident. It was in my pocket. I realized as soon as I got to my apartment, when I reached in my pocket to take out my cell phone lo and behold it was the pager. I called work, let them know I had it, and drove it right back to work. This entire process took 20 minutes....and there was another pager at work that did the exact same thing. I am not doubting that I shouldn't have taken the pager home....but many other people took pagers home and didn't call work and just drove it back and discretely handed it off to another staff member, signed there name out, and were done with it. I felt like I was being almost punished for handing the mistake properly. Still, fine, I shouldnt' have taken the pager home and was written up.

Really, does this happen in other fields? I was a teacher's assistant for a couple summers and never even THOUUGHT about getting written up....I don't even know if the management there "did that." And I made similar money.....I mean okay I made about a buck less an hour than I did as a caregiver and I would give up that extra dollar to not have to be so worried about getting written up/fired.

It seems to me that nursing/axillary staff related to nursing are the only fields where you can get written up for "human" error rather than making a ginormous mistake/being lazy/intentionally doing something.

Am I wrong? I don't have much experience working in other fields since i've always had a draw to healthcare....is the culture this punitive everywhere?

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

I have worked places that write people up for everything...and it is a disciplinary process. I once was written up for not giving a girl enough stickers after she was seen in the ER. I was also written up for buttering toast wrong (I didn't get the butter and jelly all the way to the crust). I was written up for refusing to do an EKG on a patient when I was in the ER with the ambulance service and was very obviously off the clock. And, I was written up for refusing to help a patient in the ER when I was a patient in the ER.

That's a joke...right?!

Say it's a joke. Please?

How could anyone right up another person for those things and fail to see how ludicrous it is?

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I associate the term "written up" with lower-level jobs, not professional jobs. It's sad that the phrase seems so common in nursing. In a professional arena, a written warning would be a rare instance. In my former career I never heard this phrase.

I've seen a unit manager threaten her staff with the phrase "If you _________ I'll write you up" like it was a mantra - she kept saying it over and over again in a staff meeting. I left that staff meeting feeling like a widget, a non-person, who works at a factory.

[JBudd, MSN]

Another good reason to be unionized; any detrimental items in your file will be removed after 6 months if you request it be done. But, you have to put in the request to review the file, and make sure your request in made properly (there's a form). If you don't, it can be used against you no matter how long ago it happened; but we did get into the contract a way to get rid of old stuff. Doesn't mean it disappears from the hospital (they do need to track systemic errors etc., but if it's not in your file it can't be used against you).

Med errors here are anonymously reported, to help fix problems with the system. We also had a pharm tech who loaded a lot of meds in the wrong drawers one night, throughout the hospital! Nurses need to remember to read the label 3 times...we had 3 people get the wrong med because it was in the wrong drawer in the pyxis. But still, the nurses should have been reading the label! I wrote it all up (the situation, not the nurses), and the system was changed (no longer have look alike dosages) within a month.

[flashpoint]

I have worked places that write people up for everything...and it is a disciplinary process. I once was written up for not giving a girl enough stickers after she was seen in the ER. I was also written up for buttering toast wrong (I didn't get the butter and jelly all the way to the crust). I was written up for refusing to do an EKG on a patient when I was in the ER with the ambulance service and was very obviously off the clock. And, I was written up for refusing to help a patient in the ER when I was a patient in the ER.

If write-ups are handled in the right way, they can be a good thing...if not, they are a joke or degrading or a path to vengeance.

That's a joke...right?!

Say it's a joke. Please?

How could anyone right up another person for those things and fail to see how ludicrous it is?

Nope...I got called into the manager's office each time and had to give my side of the story and come up with some sort of corrective action so it didn't happen again. And when I was asked to resign, all of the above was mentioned. That facility talks to you and has some sort of written documentation for almost EVERY complaint against you.

I think my current employer does a pretty good job with the whole write up thing...I really think they make an effort to educate, retrain, or do corrective measures rather than discipline...if that doesn't work, obviously they terminate or suspend or whatever, but they try to give people a chance to change before they do anything like that. And major things are handled with disciplinary measures right away...things like refusing to do treatments...not giving meds...sleeping...telling your charge nurse to **** ***...will get you your walking papers in a big hurry.