What is it with co-workers who constantly chat and basically think out loud, with a constant stream of words coming out of their mouths in a tight, crowded nursing station with others all around them who are diligently and seriously trying to get their own work done?
I mean, I sit there just trying to THINK -- and the nurses all around me just walk around YAPPING out loud about what just happened with her patient, or what she still needs to get done for the shift, or what she is doing at the moment, needs to do next, etc, etc. It's like diarreah of the MOUTH of some of these people. And then there are just the socializers who never, ever stop talking about things not even related to the workday.
I feel a nursing station should be a place of "relative" quiet. Of course, it also is a place where communication has to take place - but if you are one of these folks who "thinks out loud" all day long -- please be aware and realize this could seriously be disturbing your co-workers.
How does anyone cope with this? When I tune it out, then all of a sudden, people are calling me, buzzing me, and it seems I'm not paying attention - and well, because I'm not -- I'm trying to tune out the noise!
Well amongst all the docs, NPs, PAs, social workers, students, nurses, resp therapists, PT/OT, and case managers.... Sometimes I can't even hear myself talking to myself..... haha..
And honestly I didn't think anyone ever noticed that I talked to my self... except occasionally when they chime in. Then they get really confused when I look at them like "I wasn't talking to you." haha
We also have a sub station, but it's also located in the hallway where pts, family members and just about anyone on their way to another part of the hospital will stop and bug us while we're trying to chart or do assessments, whatever. I'll be sitting there trying to do report and people will be asking me where the bathrooms are ...there is just NO place to find peace.
And I don't think I need to lighten up. I'd just like a quiet professional work environment -- what's so hard to understand about that?
Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.
Im sorry SoundofMusic but I agree you do need to lighten up. Everyone talks about professionalism and yes that is important but we work in a place where we are in constant communication between patients, doctors, social workers, family, supervisors, dietary, pharamcy. Of course you will not find peace and for you to ask a co worker to stop talking is to ask pharamacy to stop talking to you and the doctors or to ask patients to not tell you whats wrong.
Sometimes we talk to destress ourselves. We again work in a very stressful atmosphere dealing with things that some people cannot even imagine yet we manage to stay sane without breaking down.
If you cannot stand the loudness of a nurses station then maybe you should consider a different aspect of nursing because bedside nursing is anything but quiet and peaceful
I rarely talk to myeslf -- occasionally I will talk to myself when doing a med math calculation and I just need to say it out loud to help me understand it -- otherwise I am pretty quiet.
I am not too bothered by those who talk to themselves. There is this lady on the IMC floor I am doing my clinicals, and she talks to herself ALL THE TIME. I always think she is talking to someone else, and will at times ask her "I'm sorry.. were you talking to me?" when I forget that she is talking to herself. But it doesn't bother me.
If we didn't talk, crack jokes once in a while, or laugh while at work I think our job would be even more taxing. I think it goes without saying that there should be a level of professionalism held inside the nursing station, but not as far as restricting others from talking. Vicarious trauma anyone?
I'm not a talker myself, but my unit constantly has the phone ringing, call light alarms, vent alarms, cardiac monitor alarms, IV's beeping, doctors on rounds or on the phone, as well as nurse conversation. That all adds up to sound overload sometimes.
Some things I cannot control.
My solution was to pick an unusual break time for lunch (about 3pm) when I could have the break room to myself. I would close the door, turn off the TV(useless thing), and savor the quiet with a book.
Specializes in Peds Critical Care, Dialysis, General.
I talk to myself as I chart, do calculations. etc, as do several of my co-workers. This I can handle. We laugh at ourselves and acknowledge our little idiosyncracy. I've done it in patients' rooms, and I'll explain to the parents what & why I'm doing it. They think it's okay, especially if they understand I'm really thinking about what I'm doing to/for their child.
That being said, sometimes lately I really get a little overwhelmed by all the noise, which is for me a very recent problem. When I get a little too overwhelmed by all the noise, I find a quieter place (we do have them in our new unit) or, failing that, I just pop out my newly acquired hearing aids!
But sadly, in my experience, there are few units with low noise levels from any source.
I find it distracting when people are talking TO ME when I'm trying to chart--but if you work best in complete silence, then maybe you picked the wrong place to work. I'm sure there are places out there where people don't talk, but I can't think of any.
I do talk to myself, I try to keep it down. But I also think that it is habit--I basically narrate what I am doing in the rooms so that my pts know what I'm doing with them; it carries over into charting.
Control what you can control, let the rest go....that's a good one.
Our noise levels have increased tremendously during shift report. I blame verbal report for this.
That said, sometimes the only way for me to concentrate on what I need to do is to talk myself through it, loud enough to drown out the background noise.
Otherwise, I find myself wandering in circles in some endpoint spot (the nurse's station, the supply room, the linen room) and wondering why I'm in there.
If I get really distracted with too many tasks on the back burner, I start doing weird things like when I tried to use the hole-punch and didn't realize that my finger was still holding the paper in the stamper part of the machine. :smackingf
Speaking of which----our supply room uses a code to get in. I get in there and turn the thermostat all the way down at the start of a hectic shift and then when I come in to get things, it's nice and cool and quiet, and it helps.
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TigerGalLE, BSN, RN
713 Posts
Well amongst all the docs, NPs, PAs, social workers, students, nurses, resp therapists, PT/OT, and case managers.... Sometimes I can't even hear myself talking to myself..... haha..
And honestly I didn't think anyone ever noticed that I talked to my self... except occasionally when they chime in. Then they get really confused when I look at them like "I wasn't talking to you." haha