Charge nurse soloing me out

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Hi all, asking on behalf of my wife.  My wife is a RN in Med/Surg and started working earlier this year.  She works the night shifts.  She was very excited when she started because she took a long break (moving to the US, married-kids life, etc.) She first dealt with anything that was given to her openly.  She was ready to take on any challenge, and prove to herself she can still be a good nurse.  But as of late, she has notice how some of the assignments are given out.  She feels she is given the hard cases, and she's not alone.  Even her co-workers have said it out loud that how you getting these difficult cases.  Luckily her staff is very helpful.  But the morning Charge Nurses who give out the assignment seem to have it out for her.  But she noticed it's not just her but other minorities (especially those of the Asian decent).  She's seen few have felt they were being bullied, cried at times, and in the end quit and left.  She has other Asian co-workers who have been at the hospital for a long time, and they said "ya thats how it is here, not much you can do".  She want's to talk to her Manager (who may understand her side).  But the so-called Charge Nurses seem to play favoritisms with their friend in real life, giving them easier assignments, seem to mostly sit around, and give a hard time to the minorities. 

She said she'll talk to her Manager first (she has already thought about transferring to another hospital - not final yet).  I suggested she take this to HR as well.  She went from excited and enjoying her work to being completely burnt out.  

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Specializes in Justice ⚖️ Nursing.

At one point in my career I thought this was happening to me also, and I also took it personally. I even tried to think that maybe they just believe I am THAT competent to handle higher acuity pts. 

Found out that it was just that the nurses who worked 3 12hr shifts in a row like to get their entire assignment back the next day and since I was the only 8 hr nurse....I tended to get the tougher assignment so it could be easily divided after the returning Nurse got her full assignment back from me. 

Totally not fair to me though. However, if she doesn't address it, she'll never know why. Things will never change because they are only making it easier for themselves when dividing the assignments. I would bet that the one doing the assignment doesn't even know who is higher acuity and who is not. It's usually only done with their convenience in mind. It's not until a charge RN sees you struggle with tough ppl that they say, "Hmm maybe we should divide your assignment next shift"!! ?  Yeah, ya think? It should have been divided this morning, or last night! Also, I know that if there was a float or RN sent to our floor to fill a call off, or need....they always got one patient from each RNs assignment. The Charge would ask what pt do you want to give up? Of course each Nurse would say the more difficult one. Those pts would collectively go to the 8hr float Nurse. Cause "she only has to deal with it for 8 hrs and not everyday"...was the literal rationale. So unfair and unsafe, but they wouldn't know which RN was coming in...so it couldn't be considered personal. 

In my younger years and naivety, I would "Just take them...it's fine", as if I had to prove to myself that I could do it...and do it well! But that's not safe for me, or them. It wasn't very smart of me to just "suck it up"....cause I wasn't scoring any promotions or awards LOL. And the assignments stayed hard until one day I spoke up about it. Of course, I waited until I had a resentment, in my true old self style LOL! So it probably didn't come out gently as it would have gone if I just explained my situation and the unsafety of it right away. 

I'd hope that it isn't a personal vendetta, or racism, and it's just laziness on the the one making the assignments. 

She should remember also that as RNs we do NOT have to accept an assignment. Especially, if she feels it is unsafe in any way. Refuse it. I know it is hard to do at first, especially if we aren't used to doing so, but it gets easier! It builds up our RN muscles and makes the whole floor safer!! 

Best wishes to her! Tell her to keep having the hard conversations! That's growth! ?

I just noticed that she said other Asian Nurses feel the same way, so maybe she can talk to them and if there is no other explanation, and if they each have a convo with director and things don't change....Collectively go and speak to HR...then the Dept for Human Rights and Justice. That'll help. Racism is real within nursing, sadly. 

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

That sounds like a frustrating experience for your wife and the other nurses that are feeling like they are being singled out. I would also encourage her to speak to other nurses and see how they feel before she brings is forward to anyone as a racial incident. If she isn't backed up by other people (that certainly wouldn't mean she shouldn't pursue it if she feels strongly), it could potentially put her in an even more difficult situation. 

It's unfortunate that any treatment like racial discrimination would be going on, but I guess these days situations like this still occur even though they shouldn't. Until then, I'm glad that at least some of the other nurses seem to recognize the challenges she's facing and hopefully give her a hand when needed. 

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Specializes in Customer service.

If she gets the same assignments and with much higher acuity, she can turn around and let that charge nurse worry about who to replace her.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

She needs to talk to the charge nurse who gives her the assignment.  She can say she's been trying to roll with the tough assignments but she needs the occasional break.  If she's running when others are sitting she needs to be assertive and ask for help.  She should do what she can on the floor before going up the chain of command.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

It's bullying to give the highest acuity/hardest assignment to a newer nurse who may be perceived as not likely to speak up.

Your wife can either arrive early and talk to the day Charge Nurse: "This assignment is very high acuity and unsafe, can you change it, please?" (because bullies back down when confronted), or quit and go to another hospital.

The benefit of assertively confronting the Charge Nurse is that your wife will feel empowered and proud of herself for speaking up, regardless of the outcome. It's actually an opportunity for self-growth. She's at a breaking point and has nothing to lose, anyway.

Best wishes

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On 10/19/2022 at 4:14 PM, AKP25 said:

Hi all, asking on behalf of my wife.  My wife is a RN in Med/Surg and started working earlier this year.  She works the night shifts.  She was very excited when she started because she took a long break (moving to the US, married-kids life, etc.) She first dealt with anything that was given to her openly.  She was ready to take on any challenge, and prove to herself she can still be a good nurse.  But as of late, she has notice how some of the assignments are given out.  She feels she is given the hard cases, and she's not alone.  Even her co-workers have said it out loud that how you getting these difficult cases.  Luckily her staff is very helpful.  But the morning Charge Nurses who give out the assignment seem to have it out for her.  But she noticed it's not just her but other minorities (especially those of the Asian decent).  She's seen few have felt they were being bullied, cried at times, and in the end quit and left.  She has other Asian co-workers who have been at the hospital for a long time, and they said "ya thats how it is here, not much you can do".  She want's to talk to her Manager (who may understand her side).  But the so-called Charge Nurses seem to play favoritisms with their friend in real life, giving them easier assignments, seem to mostly sit around, and give a hard time to the minorities. 

She said she'll talk to her Manager first (she has already thought about transferring to another hospital - not final yet).  I suggested she take this to HR as well.  She went from excited and enjoying her work to being completely burnt out.  

I am an ER-Trauma & Critical Care Nurse. I have also worked Med-Surg & Endoscopy. Your wife needs to speak up & be more assertive. Sometimes it’s favoritism. Sometimes the best Nurses receive the toughest assignments because the Charge Nurse knows the worst patients are in hands. She won’t know what the situation is unless she asks. I have never seen discrimination against races in my career but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem in some problem in other areas. I do know as a Charge Nurse I have been the one assigning the best Nurses to the most difficult patients. Why? Patient care is of the utmost importance! Knowledgeable & capable staff is not always the norm. Is it not fair? Yes it feels that way. It can be an awareness of how terrific the Nurse is. It can easily burn one out though. It can also make one stronger. It made me stronger & better at managing my time & resources. That’s how I became a Charge Nurse in all my fields of expertise. Never a Nurse Manager because I am not into Bureaucracy! Hope I helped.

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